The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its proposal to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which has been used to justify over $1 trillion in regulations, including the Biden-Harris Administration’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate.

If finalised, says an EPA statement published on 29 July, the proposal would repeal all resulting greenhouse gas emissions regulations for motor vehicles and engines, “thereby reinstating consumer choice and giving Americans the ability to purchase a safe and affordable car for their family while decreasing the cost of living on all products that trucks deliver.”

Speaking to an audience gathered to hear the announcement at an auto dealership in Indiana, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the Obama and Biden EPAs had “twisted the law, ignored precedent, and warped science to achieve their preferred ends and stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year.” He added that the EPA’s GHG emissions standards themselves, not carbon dioxide, which the Finding never assessed independently, are the “real threat to Americans’ livelihoods.”

EPA’s proposal cites updated scientific data that challenge the assumptions behind the 2009 Endangerment Finding. Cited data includes the updated studies and information in the Department of Energy’s 2025 Climate Work Group study, concurrently being released for public comment.

The Endangerment Finding is the legal prerequisite used by the Obama and Biden Administrations to regulate emissions from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines. If finalised, the new proposal would remove all greenhouse gas standards for light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and heavy-duty engines, starting with EPA’s first greenhouse gas set in 2010 for light-duty vehicles and those set in 2011 for medium-duty vehicles and heavy-duty vehicles and engines.

EPA will initiate a public comment period to solicit input. Further information on the public comment process and instructions for participation will be published in the Federal Register and on the EPA website.

Read more.