Legend of Zeldin: Trump's EPA pick poised to rescue trucking from regulations
Environmental Protection Agency regulations have greatly weakened trucking uptime and driven up costs over the past few decades, with new rounds of emissions-reducing rules set to make things even more untenable. To provide some relief to trucking and other industries, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to roll back regulations, a strategy he also enacted in his first term.
As part of this new plan to limit government intervention on U.S. businesses, Trump announced he would appoint Lee Zeldin, a Republican and former New York U.S. representative, as EPA administrator. In the announcement, Trump promised that Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses.”
The nomination requires Senate confirmation in 2025, and will be a major step in Trump’s plans to once again roll back environmental regulations.
What the new EPA head means for trucking
A second Trump administration will likely bring major cuts to emissions standards, significantly changing the trucking industry’s regulatory future.
See also: FMCSA’s administrator turnover troubles have been bipartisan
Zeldin’s fossil fuel history
Zeldin has a track record for promoting fossil fuels and opposing emissions regulations. As Politico reports, Zeldin pushed for fracking practices and pipeline construction while opposing gas taxes and bans on combustion engines.
Trump's campaign also promised to weaken emissions regulations. “On Day One of the Trump administration, not only will Crooked Joe’s electric vehicle mandate be terminated, but any Biden waiver allowing gasoline-powered cars to be outlawed will be immediately revoked,” the Trump campaign told Politico in March.
As administrator, Zeldin would have influence over the trajectory of EPA’s emissions rules. Regulations like the controversial heavy-duty greenhouse gas standards (GHG3) could be significantly weakened.
Environmental regulations affect equipment costs
Emissions standards are important for environmental and public health but also tend to make heavy-duty equipment more expensive.
“We’re looking at projected increases in vehicle cost of $25,000 or more beginning with the 2027 model year, including higher prices and increased extended warranty coverage expenses,” Brian Antonellis, SVP of Fleet Advantage, said in May.
With deregulation, the increase in future vehicle costs may be less severe.
Deregulation would not likely remove GHG3 altogether but rather replace the rule with a much weaker version, similar to what the first Trump administration did with vehicle emissions standards in 2020.
This article originally appeared on FleetOwner.com.
