EPA deadline on endangerment finding is here

By Jean Chemnick | 02/19/2025 06:08 AM EST

The agency is supposed to tell President Donald Trump on Wednesday whether it plans to challenge the landmark finding that underpins its climate rules.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks in Ohio last week.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin sidestepped questions Tuesday about whether he would attempt to roll back the endangerment finding. Rebecca Droke/AP

The deadline has come for EPA to show how it will address “unduly burdensome” policies for fossil fuels, and whether it will back the repeal of a foundational scientific finding that underpins all climate regulations.

President Donald Trump in an Inauguration Day executive order gave EPA 30 days to provide a blueprint to “suspend, revise, or rescind” policies that impede the growth of oil, gas and coal. He also required the agency to make recommendations for whether the administration should jettison the endangerment finding for greenhouse gases — the predicate for regulation of heat-trapping gases under the Clean Air Act.

The order gave EPA just 30 days from Jan. 20 to send both things to the White House, though it’s unknown if they’ll be released publicly.

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EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said Tuesday he was working to meet the deadline on the endangerment finding.

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