USA – TEXAS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Gerald J. Pels, Gerald D. Higdon, James Beers, Jr., Elizabeth Corey and Brett A. Miller, Troutman Pepper Locke
of rules that will be covered by the sunsetting requirement. It is likely that many climate change-related rules will become subject to examination based on these EOs. For example, the EPA has already announced that it will reconsider the GHG Reporting Program (GHGRP), which requires the energy industry to calculate and submit annual reports of generated GHG. In doing so, the EPA noted that the GHGRP is not related to a specific rule and, according to the new administration, does not improve air quality; rather, it creates cost burdens, particularly on small businesses. Impact on State Law and Regulations The administration is looking to handcuff states from focusing policy, regulatory and enforce- ment initiatives on the fossil fuel industry. On 8 April 2025, the administration issued EO 14260, “Protecting American Energy from State Over- reach”. This Order provides that the administra- tion will seek to dismantle “burdensome and ide- ologically motivated ‘climate change’ or energy policies…” This is an unmistakable effort by the Trump administration to target state efforts to develop their own initiatives to address climate change concerns in the absence of federal action. For example, certain states impose more stringent requirements on fossil fuel development – such as strict geographic restrictions on development and labyrinthian permitting procedures – than they do on renewable energy development pro- jects. Other states have filed or indicated their intention to file lawsuits against energy com- panies for alleged climate change harms under state laws. The EO also directs the US Attorney General to identify such state and local laws and to take
necessary actions to stop the enforcement of these laws, to the extent that they are ille- gal. Laws specifically targeted include climate change-related Superfund-type laws, certain carbon cap, trade and ESG-based laws, cli- mate deception laws, and others that impede review of fossil fuel-related permit applications. Towards that end, as of 5 June 2025, the Depart- ment of Justice already initiated suits against Hawaii, Michigan, New York and Vermont chal- lenging those states’ ability to seek damages from fossil fuel companies for alleged climate change harms. Other Important Environmental Developments Affecting Specific Regulatory Programmes The administration is aggressively seeking to minimise environmental regulatory burdens. If upheld, these efforts would result in significantly reduced costs for the industry. A few of these initiatives are described below. Waste Emissions Charge (WEC) rule filings and payment Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, the final WEC rule was disapproved, and the EPA has announced that WEC filings due on 2 Sep- tember 2025 – including the waste emissions tax payment – are no longer required. The final WEC rule was published in November 2024 and, among other things, provided methodologies for calculating the methane tax, as well as guide- posts for emissions netting and exemptions from the methane tax programme. The EPA is evaluating its obligation to imple- ment provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that authorised the methane tax. In light of the WEC rule disapproval, the administration will look to erode these statutory provisions. It is interesting that the US House of Representatives did not seek to address these provisions of the
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