Environmental deregulation under EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Case Since January 2025, the Trump administration has pursued what it calls deregulation and 'energy dominance,' rolling back a large body of environmental and public-health rules. Documentation Trump reversed more than 125 Biden-era climate policies in his first months back in office, following a similar pattern to over 100 rollbacks during his first term. He signed an executive order in February 2025 creating a National Energy Dominance Council to expand drilling. Executive Order 14219 (January 31, 2025) imposed a '10-to-1' deregulation mandate, requiring agencies to identify 10 existing rules to eliminate for every new rule created - a structural incentive to remove protections regardless of their public-health record. On February 12, 2026, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the repeal of the 2009 Endangerment Finding - the legal basis for federal greenhouse-gas regulation of cars, power plants, and oil fields - calling it 'the single largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States.' EPA had already announced in March 2025 it would review 31 major environmental regulations for rollback. The Associated Press reported the EPA froze billions of dollars in previously allocated clean-energy funding and disrupted agency scientific research during 2025. Early actions included delaying a Toxic Substances Control Act rule addressing trichloroethylene, a chemical linked to cancer, liver damage, and Parkinson's disease. The EPA's largest employee union president called resulting staff cuts 'devastating,' citing the dismantling of research and development offices and the firing of employees who had signed a dissenting letter. Historian Douglas Brinkley characterized the agency's posture as reverting to a pre-EPA, pre-1970 regulatory environment. Perspectives Official position — EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Zeldin called the Feb. 12, 2026 repeal of the Endangerment Finding "the single largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States." The entry's dispute note says he argues growth and public health can coexist and that Biden-era rules were excessive. Critic — EPA employee union and historians The president of EPA's largest employee union called the staff cuts devastating, citing the dismantling of research and development offices. Historian Douglas Brinkley characterized the agency's posture as reverting to a pre-1970 regulatory environment. AP reported EPA froze billions of dollars in clean-energy funding and disrupted scientific research during 2025. Editorial read — The Author (site author) The Author's view is that rolling back this many protections at once, while cutting the staff and research that measure their effects, makes the harms harder to see until they arrive. This is interpretation. The entry notes the long-term health costs of the rollbacks will take years to measure. Note Zeldin argues growth and public health can coexist and that Biden-era rules were excessive; the long-term health costs of the rollbacks will take years to measure. Sources [1] Earth911 (https://earth911.com/business-policy/trump-policy-costs-to-the-environment-and-people/) [2] DevelopmentAid (https://www.developmentaid.org/news-stream/post/191994/trumps-war-on-climate-policies) [3] AP, via SEJ/Yahoo (https://www.sej.org/node/51866) [4] AP, via Castanet (https://www.castanetkamloops.net/news/World/591670/Trumps-EPA-in-2025-A-fossil-fuel-friendly-approach-to-deregulation) Connections Same context — California's Clean Air Act waivers: from the 2019 revocation to the 2025 Congressional Review Act resolutions The 2025 waiver revocations are part of the broader rollback of vehicle and climate rules. Same context — Chemical accident rules: the 2019 rescission, the 2024 rule, the 2026 rollback proposal and the push to close the Chemical Safety Board The chemical-accident rollback is one of the rules EPA moved to reverse under Administrator Zeldin. Same context — Coal ash and power-plant wastewater: deadline extensions and proposed relaxations (2025-2026) Specific water and waste rules within the broader Zeldin-era rollback. Related — Collapse of environmental enforcement against polluters Same agency outcome: fewer rules and less enforcement of those remaining. Related — DOE emergency orders keeping retiring coal plants open at ratepayers' expense Same 'energy dominance' agenda. Related — DOE's secret 'Climate Working Group' built the case for repealing the Endangerment Finding Cause/effect: EPA cited the illegal DOE report 22 times to repeal the Endangerment Finding. Same context — Endangerment finding rescission and the repeal of vehicle greenhouse-gas standards (Feb. 2026) The rescission is the largest single action in the Zeldin-era rollback covered there. Same context — EPA drinking-water testing for abortion pills (mifepristone/misoprostol) Same EPA and administrator (Lee Zeldin) pursuing a politically-driven testing priority for abortion drugs while the agency simultaneously rolled back the Endangerment Finding and other public-health regulations — same agency, opposite direction of scrutiny. Same context — EPA staff, research and budget cuts, and DOGE grant cancellations (2025-2026) Staff, research and budget cuts sit alongside the rule rollbacks covered in the broader entry. Same context — EPA's "electronic mailbox" for Clean Air Act exemptions and the presidential proclamations (2025-2026) The exemptions are one of the tools in the broader EPA rollback under Administrator Zeldin. Same context — Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program: repeated delays and the proposal to end reporting for 46 of 47 source categories (2025-2026) EPA ties the reconsideration to the same executive orders on deregulation covered there. Same context — NEPA: removal of CEQ regulations and rollback of agency environmental review procedures (2025-2026) Part of the second-term rollback of environmental rules under the energy and deregulation executive orders. Related — Oil and gas insiders running the energy agencies: Wright, Burgum, and the appointee pipeline Same administration energy team; EPA appointees from industry. Same context — Oil and gas methane rules: deadline extensions, relaxed flaring limits and the end of the methane fee (2025-2026) The methane rule delays are part of the broader Zeldin-era rollback, which began with his March 2025 reconsideration announcements. Same context — PFAS in drinking water: EPA's proposals to rescind four standards and delay PFOA and PFOS compliance (2025-2026) The PFAS proposals are part of the broader Zeldin-era rollback of Biden-era health and environmental rules. Same context — Power plant pollution rules: repeal of the 2024 mercury standards and of most greenhouse-gas standards (2025-2026) The power-plant repeals are specific rules within the broader Zeldin-era rollback documented there. Same context — Rescinding the Roadless Rule: ending national road and logging limits on 44.7 million acres of national forest (2025-2026) Both are part of the second-term push to roll back environmental protections under the deregulation and resource-development executive orders; USDA cites the same order on deregulation. Related — Synthesis: profit over public protection, from East Palestine to the EPA (2017-2026) Broader rollbacks under Zeldin. Related — U.S. withdraws from the IPCC, UNFCCC and other international climate science bodies (Jan. 2026) Both are part of the administration's broader retreat from climate policy and science.