Administrator Lee Zeldin says the Environmental Protection Agency will eliminate 31 protections against air and water pollution.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States has announced the elimination of more than two dozen air and water protections.
In a statement on social media, administrator Lee Zeldin said that the EPA would slash protections regulating areas such as tailpipe pollution, waterway protections and power plant emissions.
“EPA is initiating 31 historic actions to Power the Great American Comeback in the greatest day of deregulation in American history!” Zeldin wrote.
The move comes as President Donald Trump and his allies continue their push to dismantle or radically restructure the federal agencies they see as obstacles to their agenda.
Among the regulations Zeldin identified were standards concerning mercury and other air-based toxins released from coal-fired power plants.
He also said he would reform regulations surrounding coal ash, a dangerous byproduct of the burning process that often contains carcinogens and heavy metals that can pollute waterways.
Climate-change initiatives were also in the crosshairs of Wednesday’s announcement.
“We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the US and more,” Zeldin said in an accompanying statement.
As part of his announcement, Zeldin expressed support for rewriting a 2009 EPA finding that declares that pollutants that worsen climate change — like greenhouse gases — are a danger to public health and welfare.
Under his leadership, the EPA is also set to abolish a series of offices set up to address disproportionate levels of pollution — and commensurate health issues — in low-income areas across the country.
“President Trump wants us to help usher in a golden age in America that is for all Americans, regardless of race, gender, background,” Zeldin said of the move.
Conservatives in the US have long sought to curtail environmental protections that they say constrain businesses. In that vein, Trump has issued an executive order calling on federal agencies to repeal 10 regulations for every new one they impose.
He has also signalled a shift away from clean energy initiatives, often repeating the slogan “drill, baby, drill” on the campaign trail. He has asserted that “clean coal” and unregulated oil and natural gas exploration could boost the US economy.
Within the federal government, Trump has also pushed an agenda of widespread layoffs, in the name of reducing alleged fraud and wasteful spending.
The EPA, for example, is slated to cut about 65 percent of its workforce.
Environmental protection groups have responded with anger to Wednesday’s deregulation push, noting that many of the rules singled out have played a central role in tackling air and water pollution.
“President Trump and his allies have no regard for the wellbeing of people living in America and care only about protecting the profits of polluters,” said Chitra Kumar, the managing director of the climate and energy programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy organisation.
“This abhorrent move will leave those living, working, studying and playing near polluting industries, smog-forming traffic, and contaminated waterways and soil, with little support from the very agency they rely on to enforce protective law.”