The United States’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a series of what it describes as  “historic actions” which will include reconsidering the country’s mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP).

The EPA will look to roll back GHG reporting restrictions, scrap former president Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandate and expand the country’s wastewater discharges for oil and gas extraction rules.

In announcing the move the GHGP decision the organisation’s administrator, Lee Zeldin said it had been taken because unlike every other mandatory information collection by EPA under the Clean Air Act, the GHGRP is not directly related to a potential regulation nor developed with that intention.

Currently The program requires over 8,000 facilities and suppliers in the United States to calculate and submit their emissions reporting annually.

“It costs hundreds of millions of dollars that could be better used to improve and upgrade environmental controls or other items at these facilities to have a noticeable impact on the improvement of the environment,” he explained.

“The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is another example of a bureaucratic government program that does not improve air quality. Instead, it costs American businesses and manufacturing millions of dollars, hurting small businesses and the ability to achieve the American Dream,”  Zeldin continued.

The EPA said the move was announced in conjunction with a “number of historic actions” to advance President Trump’s Day One executive orders and Power the Great American Comeback.

“Combined, these announcements represent the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in the history of the United States,” it added. “While accomplishing EPA’s core mission of protecting the environment, the agency is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to unleash American energy, lower costs for Americans, revitalise the American auto industry, restore the rule of law, and give power back to states to make their own decisions.”

As part of the programme Zeldin announced the agency will reconsider the Model Year 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles regulation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles.

The EPA  added in addition to imposing over $700 billion in regulatory and compliance costs, these rules provided the foundation for the Biden-Harris electric vehicle mandate that takes away Americans’ ability to choose a safe and affordable car for their family and increases the cost of living on all products that trucks deliver.

“The American auto industry has been hamstrung by the crushing regulatory regime of the last administration. As we reconsider nearly one trillion dollars of regulatory costs, we will abide by the rule of law to protect consumer choice and the environment,”  Zeldin continued.

Additionally, EPA said it is reevaluating the other parts of the Biden EPA’s problematic “Clean Trucks Plan.” This includes the 2022 Heavy-Duty Nitrous Oxide (NOx) rule, which results in significant costs that will make the products our trucks deliver, like food and other household goods, more expensive.

“Protecting and Bringing Back American Auto Jobs is Pillar 5 of Administrator Zeldin’s Powering the Great American Comeback initiative,” added the EPA. “President Trump and administrator Zeldin are fulfilling their promise to bring back American auto jobs and invest in domestic manufacturing to revitalize a quintessential American industry.”

The EPA also revealed  that it will modernise outdated regulations on wastewater discharges for oil and gas extraction facilities to lower energy costs while supporting environmentally sustainable water reuse.

The agency said the review will evaluate modern technologies and management strategies to provide regulatory flexibility for oil and gas wastewater – also known as produced water – to be treated for beneficial reuse, including for Artificial Intelligence and data centre cooling, rangeland irrigation, fire control, power generation, and ecological needs.

“EPA is playing a central role delivering on President Trump’s energy agenda,” said Zeldin. “EPA will revise wastewater regulations from the 1970s that do not reflect modern capability to treat and reuse water for good. As a result, we will lower production costs for oil and gas extraction to boost American energy while increasing water supplies and protecting water quality.”

Under current regulations, discharge of treated wastewater is only allowed for agricultural and wildlife water uses in the western United States. EPA will consider expanding the geographic scope where treated wastewater can be used and discharged in the United States.

The Clean Water Act requires EPA to revise industry-wide wastewater treatment limits, called effluent limitations guidelines, to keep pace with innovations in pollution control technology. Technologies to treat produced water to a quality for safe discharge and reuse have become more effective and affordable.