Administrator Lee Zeldin said ending the program will reduce costs for businesses, calling it ‘bureaucratic red tape’ that fails to improve air quality.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Sept. 12 a proposal to end a greenhouse gas reporting program, citing ineffectiveness and high costs for American businesses.
The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) has “no material impact on improving human health and the environment,” the agency said in a statement, adding that ending the program will result in regulatory savings of up to $2.4 billion for businesses in the country.
“The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in the statement.
“Instead, it costs American businesses and manufacturing billions of dollars, driving up the cost of living, jeopardizing our nation’s prosperity and hurting American communities. With this proposal, we show once again that fulfilling EPA’s statutory obligations and Powering the Great American Comeback is not a binary choice.”
Introduced in 2009 during the administration of President Barack Obama, the GHGRP is part of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Under the GHGRP, sources that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent per year are mandated to report emissions data along with other relevant information.
The GHGRP requires 47 source categories, covering over 8,000 facilities and suppliers in the country to submit their greenhouse gas emissions data report on a yearly basis, said the EPA.
The EPA’s announcement is part of efforts to implement Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order that called for unleashing domestic energy production, along with canceling “burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations” that impede the development of these resources.
Moreover, Trump had modified CAA sections under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, postponing certain emissions data collection under the Act to 2034, the EPA stated.
In light of these policy changes, the EPA has initiated a reconsideration of the GHGRP and sought public opinion on the matter. If finalized, the proposal is expected to remove reporting obligations for most large facilities, all fuel and industrial gas suppliers, and CO2 injection sites, said the statement.
