The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a proposed rule to terminate the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), which has provided key transparency into industrial emissions through mandatory disclosures from thousands of the country’s most carbon-intensive facilities. 

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin described the program as “burdensome,” aligning the move with President Trump’s executive orders issued on his first day in office, including a pledge to “unleash American energy.” According to the EPA, ending the rule could save businesses approximately $303 million annually, with oil and natural gas companies expected to account for nearly 85% of those savings. 

Launched by the Obama administration in 2009 and implemented in 2010, the GHGRP required facilities emitting more than 25,000 metric tons of CO2e annually to report their greenhouse gas emissions, covering most major sectors except agriculture. The program aimed to provide comprehensive nationwide emissions data to inform policy and climate initiatives. 

The proposal follows a broader pattern of efforts by the Trump administration and state-level Republicans to reduce transparency and scale back climate-related rules. Recent actions have included attempts to overturn a key scientific finding underpinning GHG regulations, canceling clean energy funding, halting defense of the SEC’s climate disclosure rule, and launching investigations into environmental reporting platforms such as CDP and organizations like SBTi. 

In its statement, the EPA emphasized that the GHGRP is not tied to regulatory requirements under the Clean Air Act, and argued that continuing the program imposes unnecessary costs without “material impact on improving human health and the environment.” 

Under the new proposal, only limited reporting for the Waste Emissions Charge (WEC) would remain, though President Trump recently delayed the program’s data collection start date to 2034. 

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