Trump to repeal climate finding for federal greenhouse-gas regulation

President Trump is set to repeal an Obama-era climate finding that was the basis for federal greenhouse-gas regulation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Repealing the finding, which was a scientific determination that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, would remove the legal basis for greenhouse gas regulation, Reuters reported.

The repeal is expected to be published later this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the repeal would be "the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States."

With the repeal, regulatory requirements to measure, report, certify, and comply with federal GHG emission standards for cars would be removed, administration officials told the Journal. However, the repeal would not apply to stationary sources such as power plants.

An EPA spokesperson said the finding was used by the Obama and Biden administrations to "justify trillions of dollars of greenhouse gas regulations covering new vehicles and engines."

Last month, a federal court ruled that the Department of Energy violated the law when it formed a climate science advisory group to produce a climate assessment report, because it convened the group without public meetings or notice. The Environmental Defense Fund and Union of Concerned Scientists had filed the lawsuit. Both groups oppose the use of fossil fuels, and they are concerned that the DOE report will be used to support a repeal of the endangerment finding. 

The American Petroleum Institute said last month that it supported a repeal of the finding for vehicles but that it should be left in place for stationary sources, which would require the EPA to regulate methane from the oil and gas sector.