--- title: Donald Trump's EPA Executive Orders Expected Soon description: President Trump is expected to announce his most significant roll back to environmental regulations as EPA pick Scott Pruitt takes office. canonical: https://time.com/4676732/donald-trump-epa-executive-orders/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-21T20:21:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:37.357Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Is Expected to Sign EPA Executive Orders og:description: As Scott Pruitt takes the agency's helm og:url: https://time.com/4676732/donald-trump-epa-executive-orders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Is Expected to Sign EPA Executive Orders twitter:description: As Scott Pruitt takes the agency's helm twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # President Trump Is Expected to Make a Significant Rollback to EPA Regulations > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: A Trump Presidency and the Future of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): A Trump Presidency and the Future of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/U3bhooK6.m3u8) (2:27)  _Published 2016-11-15. Donald Trump has repeatedly indicated that environmentalism is not his priority. Now, Climate scientists, policymakers and diplomats are questioning how his presidency will shape the future of climate change policy._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 21, 2017 8:21 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 21, 2017 8:21 PM UTC President Donald Trump is expected to announce his most significant moves yet to roll back environmental regulations this week as his newly confirmed pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enters office. Trump is readying multiple executive orders to roll back several key EPA regulations including the central Obama-era policy addressing climate change, according to [reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/02/20/trump-to-roll-back-obamas-climate-water-rules-through-executive-action/?utm%5Fterm=.940d98a12e5b) in several [outlets](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-16/trump-said-to-prepare-directives-dismantling-obama-climate-rule). The executive orders would not undo the policies immediately but would direct the agency to begin the long process required of undoing federal regulation. The Clean Power Plan, former President Obama’s main policy aimed at addressing climate change, ranks high among the likely targets of Trump’s actions. The regulation requires states to come up with plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, a policy that is widely expected to hasten the transition away from coal-fired power plants. Trump promised repeatedly to undo the Clean Power Plan on the campaign trail, though the process will take require more than a simple stroke of a pen. Many environmental policy experts have speculated on how Trump might try to achieve that goal following his election win in November. The administration could have refused to defend the rule in court or asked Congress to pass a law amending the Clean Air Act, which was used to issue the rule in the first place. But the use of executive order suggests the administration will instead take the most straight-forward option of simply unraveling the rule, a years-long process that will almost certainly result in litigation. **Read More:** [EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt Acknowledges Global Warming But Wants to Restrain the Agency](http://time.com/4637905/epa-scott-pruitt-global-warming/) But Trump will have a capable ally implementing his order at the EPA. Administrator [Scott Pruitt](http://time.com/4637905/epa-scott-pruitt-global-warming/), who took office last Friday, has gained extensive knowledge and experience with the intricacies of EPA regulation at least in part through his 14 lawsuits against the agency as Oklahoma’s attorney general. Environmental law experts say that his expertise will help the Trump administration navigate a bureaucracy that might otherwise flummox an agency outsider. “He’s got some experience and knows how to get things done in government,” said Brendan Collins, an environmental lawyer at the firm Ballard Spahr, prior to Pruitt’s confirmation. “That is something that may distinguish him.” Pruitt has not yet laid out detailed priorities for the agency, but in remarks on Tuesday he cited federalism and the rule of law as guiding principles. Presumably Trump’s orders, which could come as soon as Wednesday, will fill in the blanks. “Process matters,” Pruitt said in address to the agency’s career employees. “Regulations ought to make things regular. Regulators exist to give certainty to those that they regulate.” **Read More:** [Donald Trump Supported Addressing Climate Change Before Calling It a ‘Hoax’](http://time.com/4362393/donald-trump-supported-addressing-climate-change-before-calling-it-a-hoax/) Other targets of Trump’s executive orders could include U.S. participation in the landmark on Paris Agreement climate change. Trump vowed to renegotiate the deal or pull out it altogether last year but softened his tone after winning the election. Because the agreement is not a formal treaty, the president has the right to withdraw. But such a move cannot occur until 2019, three years after the measure took effect. [Reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/us/politics/united-nations-trump-administration.html?%5Fr=0) last month suggested that Trump might sign an executive order calling for a reevaluation of a wide range of United Nations measures that could include the Paris Agreement rather than pulling out full stop now. [Secretary of State Rex Tillerson](http://time.com/4598499/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-exxon-mobil-climate-change/) has said he supports the climate deal. Another executive order is expected to target the Water of the United States rule, a 2015 policy that classifies which bodies of water are under federal protection. Critics have said the government lacks the authority to regulate many of the bodies included in the rule and argued that it impedes economic development. The executive orders will build on a series of actions taken by Republicans in Congress to undo environmental regulations issued by the Obama administration in the final months of his presidency including a [measure](http://time.com/4657438/congressional-republicans-environmental-regulations-coal-streams/) that protects streams from coal debris. Undoing those measures required only a majority vote in Congress and the approval of the president under the Congressional Review Act. ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax. It'll get cooler, it'll get warmer. It's called weather. Now that he's President- elect, here's what at stake for the future of the environment. Thank you. Paris Agreement which was negotiated last year and came into effect just a few weeks ago was a monumental step for addressing climate change. And setting a path forward for the coming decades to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Donald Trump has promised to cancel the Paris agreement, or at the very least, renegotiate it. Stop all payments of the United States tax dollars to UN Global Warming Programs. He does not have the authority to cancel it. It's an agreement with more than 190 countries. He also doesn't have the power to withdraw from it. Immediately at least, it would take at least three years to go through those processes. He does have the power to ignore it. It's unlikely that other countries will feel comfortable making big reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions, if the United States is not taking the lead. Another policy at stake is Obama's clean power plan. [ APPLAUSE ] Single most important step America has ever taken in the fight against global Climate change. Trump has said that he would cancel it. Environmental Protection, what they do is a disgrace. Every week they come out with new regulations. He has the authority to do that. He could direct the EPA to eliminate the clean power plan. We'll be fine with the environment. We can leave a little bit, but you can't destroy businesses He will definitely if he does face litigation from environmental groups that will argue that it's the EPA's role to do that. It's a long winding process. And certainly not something that he's going to be able to accomplish in his first 100 days. Environmentalists are trying to remain Optimistic and looking at a lot of the market trends that have resulted in the reduction in coal power and other greenhouse gas emissions. A lot of it is outside of the realm of regulation. But also trying to stay optimistic about the Paris agreement. Some of them say even if Donald Trump Withdraws, they are confident that other countries will step up to the plate. I'm 16 years old from Mwanza, Tanzania. Looking forward, there's a lot of things that Trump can do to slow progress on climate change, but many of the trends he doesn't have control over. So there is reason for optimism if you're looking in the long- term. 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