As previously discussed, President Trump issued a executive memorandum on January 20, 2025 titled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” that directed the heads of Executive Departments and Agencies to consider postponing for sixty days from the date of the memorandum the effective date for any rules that had been published in the Federal Register but had not yet taken effect. The memorandum was published in the January 28th issue of the Federal Register (90 Fed. Reg. 8249).
In response to this memorandum, EPA has issued two final rules delaying the effective date of six regulations that had been issued by the Biden Administration but not yet gone into effect. The purpose of the delay is to give EPA the opportunity to further review the rules consistent with the President’s memorandum and to determine if a new rule should be issued. It is also possible that EPA may consider further delaying the effective dates the affected regulations beyond March 21, 2025.
On January 28th, EPA published a final rule in the Federal Register delaying the effective date of the following four rules to March 21st (90 Fed. Reg. 8254):
- Trichloroethylene (TCE); Regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) published in the December 17, 2024 issues of the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg. 102568);
- Appendix W—Revisions to the Guideline on Air Quality Models published in the November 29, 2024 issue of the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg. 95034);
- Air Plan Approval; Illinois; Alton Township 2010 Sulfur Dioxide Redesignation and Maintenance Plan published in the December 30, 2024 issue of the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg. 106357); and
- Air Plan Revisions; California; Feather River Air Quality Management District published in the December 31, 2024 issue of the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg. 107012)
Note that the TCE rule issued under section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. 2605(a)) to address the unreasonable risk of injury to health posed by that substances was originally slated to become effective on January 16, 2025. However, 13 petitions were filed challenging this rule. On January 13th, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a petitioner’s motion to temporarily stay the rule’s effective date. The petitions were then consolidated by the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation and transferred to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. By an order dated January 16, 2025, the Third Circuit left the temporary stay of the effective date in place pending briefing on whether the temporary stay of the effective date should remain in effect. Because of the decisions of the Fifth and Third Circuits, the rule never went into effect and is therefore became subject the Regulatory Freeze Pending Review memorandum.
On February 5th, EPA published a final rule in the Federal Register delaying the effective date of the following two rules to March 21st (90 Fed. Reg. 9010):
- Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule, the Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals Rule, and the Definition of Solid Waste Rule; Technical Corrections published in the December 11, 2024 issue of the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg 99727); and
- Implementing Statutory Addition of Certain Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Beginning With Reporting Year 2025 published in the January 6, 2025 issue of the Federal Register ( 90 Fed. Reg. 573)