EPA administrator Lee Zeldin says Trump deregulatory actions won’t have adverse effects on people and the environment

Washington — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said Sunday that he can “absolutely” guarantee Trump administration deregulations won’t have adverse health impacts on people and the environment.

“We have to both protect the environment and grow the economy,” Zeldin said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

As part of President Trump’s pledge to unleash American energy, Zeldin announced in March that the EPA would reconsider rules across a number of sectors, including regulations on power plants, on mercury and air toxic standards that target coal-fired power plants and on wastewater regulations for the development of oil and gas. The Trump administration touted the 31 deregulatory actions as the “most momentous day” in EPA history.

The decisions are the start of what’s expected to be a yearslong effort to repeal or revise dozens of environmental rules, much to the dismay of climate experts and advocates.

Zeldin, who formerly represented New York in the House, said at the time of the announcement that “today the green new scam ends,” while pledging that the EPA will do its part to “usher in the golden age of American success.”

While Zeldin says the policy changes won’t have adverse health effects, The Environmental Protection Network, a group of former EPA employees, found otherwise. They analyzed EPA data of 12 of the 31 proposed rollbacks and estimate that air pollution would increase as a result of the deregulation that would lead to nearly 200,000 premature deaths and cause more than 10,000 asthma attacks every day in America.

Already, the EPA has provided exemptions to 47 power plants operators from complying with stricter mercury and air toxin standards that are due to go into effect in 2027. Power plants in 23 states are on the list and several are coal plants that emit fine particulate matter, which pose the greatest risk to health. This comes after the EPA announced it would accept emails from companies and industries looking to avoid environmental regulations if they could prove it was in the best interest of national security.

On Sunday, Zeldin told senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang on “Face the Nation” that the American people want the administration to “make sure that we are applying common sense,” arguing that regulation brought over the finish line during the Biden administration was too broad and targeted entire industries.

“When the American public went to vote last November, they were talking about economic concerns, about struggling to make ends meet,” Zeldin added. “What we’ve also heard are the costs of compliance, which amount into the trillions and what that does to the American economy as well.”

Zeldin said he doesn’t prejudge outcomes, noting that there will be a process on the deregulatory actions that includes public comment, while encouraging Americans to “weigh in when they have that opportunity.”