Released September 16, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Trump administration continued its efforts to reverse federal energy and environmental policy Friday when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a forthcoming draft rule eliminating the 15-year-old Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) in which about 8,000 industrial facilities across 47 industries are required to disclose their emission of greenhouse gases each year.
The move, which must go through a public comment and finalization process, will save industry about $303 million annually over the 2025-2033 period, the agency estimated.
"The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality," EPA Administrator Zeldin said in a 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."
Congress created the program during the George W. Bush administration. It is not clear if Congress needs to kill it, or if the EPA could do that on its own.
The move continues the Trump administration's efforts to revamp U.S. energy and environmental regulatory framework governing businesses in pursuit of its "unleashing American energy" agenda. For more on that, see January 22, 2025, article - Far-Reaching Executive Actions on Energy Pour Out of White House.
This past summer, the EPA proposed vacating its own "endangerment finding," the foundation of a significant amount of U.S. energy and environmental policy. For more on that, see July 30, 2025, article - EPA Proposes to Repeal its Own GHG 'Endangerment' Finding. In June, the agency proposed repealing two major federal rules limiting power plant emissions: one limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), and the other reducing emissions of mercury, acid gases and other hazardous air pollutants. For more on that, see June 12, 2025, article - EPA Would Axe Regulation of Power Plant Emissions of Greenhouse Gases, Air Toxics.
Also over the summer, the Department of the Interior took several steps to expand coal mining, a reversal of policies put in place during the Biden and Obama presidencies.
The EPA's draft rule repealing the GHGRP will be published in the Federal Register in the coming days. Public comment will be taken for 47 days after it is published. The agency reportedly hopes to finalize the rule next year.
The draft rule would apply to about 8,000 facilities operated in 47 industries, including:
The WEC will be suspended until 2034 under the EPA announcement.
The EPA's statement continued: "Unlike other mandatory information collections under the Clean Air Act, the GHGRP is not directly related to a potential regulation and has no material impact on improving human health and the environment."
That's not a view shared by a variety of environmental organizations and Democratic lawmakers.
By hiding pollution information from the public, "Administrator Zeldin is denying Americans the ability to see the damaging results of his actions on climate pollution, air quality and public health," said Joe Goffman, who led the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation during the Biden administration. "It is yet another example of the Trump administration putting polluters before people's health."
Edwin LaMair, senior attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement, "Information gathered through the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, as required by Congress, is publicly available and is used by a wide variety of state and local governments, businesses and communities."
"Eliminating information about pollution will not make the problem of climate change go away, it will only make it more expensive and difficult to deal with. EDF will vigorously oppose the Trump EPA's proposal to eliminate the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program."
Proposed reversals of energy and environmental policies by Cabinet-level agencies follow the president's "Day One" executive orders, in which he declared an "energy emergency." Numerous energy-related initiatives have drawn legal challenges.
If the EPA draft rule is finalized, it could expose industries to conflicting regulation at the state and federal level. States led by Democrats are unlikely to back off their laws, rules and policies designed to decarbonize industries, which suggests a future crop of legal challenges.
Industrial Info was unable to reach spokespersons for several industries that would be affected by the draft EPA rule. But one industry group, the Carbon Capture Coalition, came out strongly against it. The nonpartisan group, representing over 100 companies, labor unions, and conservation and environmental policy organizations, said the move would eliminate the "regulatory backbone" of the carbon-management industry and cast doubt on the continued existence of the federal 45Q carbon capture tax credit program.
"Carbon management project developers have already invested an estimated $77.5 billion in capital expenditures across the nation in existing and near-term projects," said Jessie Stolark, executive director of the coalition. "This amount is far more than the $2.4 billion in savings cited by EPA in their announcement. This proposed rule endangers billions of dollars in investments from American businesses in these technologies."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The move, which must go through a public comment and finalization process, will save industry about $303 million annually over the 2025-2033 period, the agency estimated.
"The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is nothing more than bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality," EPA Administrator Zeldin said in a 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."
Congress created the program during the George W. Bush administration. It is not clear if Congress needs to kill it, or if the EPA could do that on its own.
The move continues the Trump administration's efforts to revamp U.S. energy and environmental regulatory framework governing businesses in pursuit of its "unleashing American energy" agenda. For more on that, see January 22, 2025, article - Far-Reaching Executive Actions on Energy Pour Out of White House.
This past summer, the EPA proposed vacating its own "endangerment finding," the foundation of a significant amount of U.S. energy and environmental policy. For more on that, see July 30, 2025, article - EPA Proposes to Repeal its Own GHG 'Endangerment' Finding. In June, the agency proposed repealing two major federal rules limiting power plant emissions: one limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), and the other reducing emissions of mercury, acid gases and other hazardous air pollutants. For more on that, see June 12, 2025, article - EPA Would Axe Regulation of Power Plant Emissions of Greenhouse Gases, Air Toxics.
Also over the summer, the Department of the Interior took several steps to expand coal mining, a reversal of policies put in place during the Biden and Obama presidencies.
The EPA's draft rule repealing the GHGRP will be published in the Federal Register in the coming days. Public comment will be taken for 47 days after it is published. The agency reportedly hopes to finalize the rule next year.
The draft rule would apply to about 8,000 facilities operated in 47 industries, including:
- stationary fuel combustion sources
- electric generation
- aluminum production
- ammonia manufacturing
- cement production
- electronics manufacturing
- natural gas distribution
- petrochemical manufacturing
- petroleum refining
- pulp and paper manufacturing
- underground coal mines
- petroleum products, natural gas, and natural gas liquids
- carbon dioxide suppliers
The WEC will be suspended until 2034 under the EPA announcement.
The EPA's statement continued: "Unlike other mandatory information collections under the Clean Air Act, the GHGRP is not directly related to a potential regulation and has no material impact on improving human health and the environment."
That's not a view shared by a variety of environmental organizations and Democratic lawmakers.
By hiding pollution information from the public, "Administrator Zeldin is denying Americans the ability to see the damaging results of his actions on climate pollution, air quality and public health," said Joe Goffman, who led the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation during the Biden administration. "It is yet another example of the Trump administration putting polluters before people's health."
Edwin LaMair, senior attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement, "Information gathered through the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, as required by Congress, is publicly available and is used by a wide variety of state and local governments, businesses and communities."
"Eliminating information about pollution will not make the problem of climate change go away, it will only make it more expensive and difficult to deal with. EDF will vigorously oppose the Trump EPA's proposal to eliminate the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program."
Proposed reversals of energy and environmental policies by Cabinet-level agencies follow the president's "Day One" executive orders, in which he declared an "energy emergency." Numerous energy-related initiatives have drawn legal challenges.
If the EPA draft rule is finalized, it could expose industries to conflicting regulation at the state and federal level. States led by Democrats are unlikely to back off their laws, rules and policies designed to decarbonize industries, which suggests a future crop of legal challenges.
Industrial Info was unable to reach spokespersons for several industries that would be affected by the draft EPA rule. But one industry group, the Carbon Capture Coalition, came out strongly against it. The nonpartisan group, representing over 100 companies, labor unions, and conservation and environmental policy organizations, said the move would eliminate the "regulatory backbone" of the carbon-management industry and cast doubt on the continued existence of the federal 45Q carbon capture tax credit program.
"Carbon management project developers have already invested an estimated $77.5 billion in capital expenditures across the nation in existing and near-term projects," said Jessie Stolark, executive director of the coalition. "This amount is far more than the $2.4 billion in savings cited by EPA in their announcement. This proposed rule endangers billions of dollars in investments from American businesses in these technologies."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
