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Gratitude for the Trump EPA

Lee Zeldin wants to end Biden rules aimed at killing fossil fuels.

By The Editorial Board, WSJ

Nov. 28, 2025 5:34 pm ET

Congress is trying to rally the will to tackle permitting reform, or so we hear. Meantime, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is doing yeoman’s work rolling back burdensome Biden-era regulations, which all Americans can be thankful for.

On Monday the EPA told the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that it is dropping its defense of the Biden-era fine particulate matter rule. These particulates can damage public health, but regulation has caused industries to limit their emissions to the point where they now pose little risk.

The EPA asked the court to vacate the rule because the agency had “exceeded its authority” by lowering the standard without first completing a “thorough review” of air quality standards, as required by the law.

The Biden EPA reduced the fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) standard to 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air from 12. This would have rendered some 584 U.S. counties out of compliance and effectively meant new factories and gas-fired power plants couldn’t be built there.

Manufacturers might also struggle to get permits for projects in another 2,204 counties that would have been at risk of falling out of compliance. Maine, New Hampshire, Wyoming and Montana would have been among the few places in the country where manufacturers could build new plants, and good luck finding enough workers there to operate them.

The rule was part of the Biden Administrator’s multifront war on fossil fuels. Yet the biggest sources of PM 2.5 are fires (2,491 thousands of tons a year), dust (902), agriculture (795) and residential fireplaces (337). Fuel combustion (289) and industrial processes (270) contribute far less. Rescinding the rule will ease some permitting pain for energy and other projects vital to U.S. prosperity.

The EPA on Wednesday also said that it would delay a Biden methane rule that requires expensive upgrades to oil and gas infrastructure to prevent leaks. Mr. Zeldin’s regulatory reprieve is one reason the U.S. economy has shown tremendous resilience amid President Trump’s tariff barrage.