March 13, 2025 - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has announced that the agency will implement 31 deregulatory actions. Calling it the "greatest and most consequential day of deregulatory action in U.S. history," EPA's plans advance President Trump's Day One executive orders and align with Administrator Zeldin's "Powering the Great American Comeback Initiative." Zeldin emphasized: "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 cost of living for Americans, revitalize the American auto industry, restore the rule of law, and give power back to states to make their own decisions."

Starting last November, the National Mining Association (NMA) has shared our priority deregulatory action items with the administration's transition teams and the White House once President Trump took office. Many of the mining industry's priorities are on EPA's deregulatory action list, including reconsideration of:

• Regulations on power plants, specifically the Clean Power Plan 2.0, that prioritized shutting down power plants while raising costs on American families 
• Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that improperly targeted coal-fired power plants, including a two-year compliance exemption during the rulemaking process
• Limitations, guidelines and standards (ELGs) for the Steam Electric Power Generating Industry to ensure low-cost electricity while protecting water resources 
• Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) that shut down opportunities for American manufacturing and small businesses, including releasing guidance in the near term to increase flexibility on NAAQS implementation, reforms to New Source Review, and direction on permitting obligations.
• Clean Air Act (CAA) exceptional events rulemaking to work with states to prioritize the allowance of prescribed fires within State and Tribal Implementation Plans 
• CAA Risk Management Program amendments
• CAA National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, including for copper smelting

EPA also is planning to: 

• Restructure the Regional Haze Program that threatens the supply of affordable energy for American families, to ensure that it fulfills Congressional intent, is based on current scientific information, and reflects recent improvements in air quality
• Overhaul the Biden-Harris Administration's "Social Cost of Carbon" 
• End the so-called "Good Neighbor Plan," which the Biden-Harris Administration used to expand federal rules to more states and sectors beyond the program's traditional focus and led to the rejection of nearly all State Implementation Plans
• Prioritize the coal ash program to expedite state permit reviews and update coal ash regulations and review the legacy coal ash impoundments rule and impending compliance deadlines

Additional details were announced separately by EPA, which are linked above for each deregulatory action. The NMA team will be providing additional information as it becomes available and will activate additional discussions within the appropriate NMA committees as we develop advocacy plans. We will be working closely with the administration to provide input and offer detailed recommendations on the path forward for these actions.

If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact me at tbridgeford@nma.org.