Updated: Latest on EPA Rules Extended, Delayed in 2025

Among the Executive Orders signed by President Trump to start his second term was an order to “freeze” ongoing regulatory actions and to postpone, where appropriate, the effective dates for published rules. The order, Regulatory Freeze Pending Review, directs Federal agencies like US DOT, EPA, OSHA, and others to: 

• Withdraw unpublished rules to be reviewed and approved by a department or agency head appointed by the President since taking office. 
• Consider postponing for 60 days (or more, as appropriate) the effective date for any rules that were published but have not yet taken effect.
• Consider re-opening the comment period on postponed rules. 

Delayed and Extended Environmental Deadlines 

Update: April 17, 2025 

• In response to stakeholder requests, EPA again extended the deadline to submit comments on a Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment for PFOA and PFOS, until August 14, 2025 (Details) 

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Update: April 2, 2025 

EPA postponed the effective date for some provisions in a December 2024 Rule to "ban" all uses of the chemical trichloroethylene (TCE):

• The postponement—for 90 days, until June 20, 2025—applies to new workplace conditions the Final Rule imposed on non-prohibited uses of TCE—i.e., those uses that will be phased out gradually and are granted exemptions per TSCA §6(g) and 40 CFR 751.325 (Details)

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Update: March 25, 2025 

EPA has taken action on several ongoing rulemakings this month, including:

• Extended the deadline for submission of greenhouse gas reporting data for fiscal year 2024 from March 31, 2025 to May 30, 2025 (Details) 
• Extended the comment period on a proposed rule related to national air emissions for chemical manufacturing process units using ethylene oxide (EtO) until April 14, 2025 (Details)  
• Re-opened the comment period on proposed amendments to the CAA new source performance standards (NSPS) for stationary combustion and gas turbines until April 15, 2025 (Details)
• Announced the intention to revise the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act and better address the US Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA, and issued new guidance for the regulated community (Details)

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Update: February 28, 2025

EPA is extending the comment periods for two announcements concerning chemical risk management under TSCA, as amended: 

• Draft Scope for Risk Evaluation—Vinyl Chloride (Comments due 4/2/2025) (Details) 
• Proposed Rule—CI Pigment Violet 29 (Comments due 4/29/25) (Details)

EPA announced the extensions via email updates from the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention on Friday, February 28, and plans to publish official word in the Federal Register soon. 

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Update: February 26, 2025

EPA extended the comment period for one proposed rule until March 18, 2025: 

• Review of NESHAPs for Polyether Polyols Production Industry (Details)

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Update: February 21, 2025

EPA re-opened the comment period for two proposed rules until March 24, 2025: 

• Toxics Release Inventory (TRI); Clarification of Toxic Chemicals Due to Automatic Additions of PFAS Under the National Defense Authorization Act (Details)
• Clean Water Act Methods Update Rule 22 for the Analysis of Contaminants in Effluent (Details)

EPA extended the comment period for two recently published notices: 

• Draft National Recommended Ambient Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Human Health for PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS (Comments due 04/25/25) (Details)
• Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment for PFOA and PFOS (Comments due 04/16/25) (Details)

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Update: February 5, 2025 

EPA delayed the effective date for two Final Rules until March 21, 2025:  

• Technical Corrections: Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule, the Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals Rule, and the 2018 Definition of Solid Waste Rule (Details)
• Implementing Statutory Authority of Certain Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Beginning with Reporting Year 2025 (Details) 

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Update: February 4, 2025

EPA extended the comment period for three recently proposed rules:

• 1,3-Butadiene; Draft Risk Evaluation Under TSCA (Comments due 03/05/25)
• Atrazine; Updated Proposed Mitigation for Interim Registration... (Comments due 03/05/25)
• NPDES 2026 Issuance of the MSGP for Stormwater Discharges... (Comments due 04/04/25)

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Update: January 28, 2025

EPA delayed the effective date for four Final Rules until March 21, 2025:

• Trichloroethylene (TCE), Final Rule Under TSCA (Details)
• Revisions to Guidelines on Air Quality Models (Details)
• State Air Plan Approval for Illinois (Details)
• State Air Plan Revisions for California (Details)

EPA will publish the rule delaying these four effective dates to the Federal Register on January 28, 2025. In addition, a forthcoming proposed rule to create new water pollution limits for manufacturers of PFAS was reportedly withdrawn from consideration by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on January 21.

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A new Executive Order puts a temporary "freeze" on new and pending regulations.

EPA Final Rules with Upcoming Effective Dates 

In the rule delaying the four rules above, EPA states that the agency "may identify additional regulations in subsequent notices." Other recently published EPA Final Rules with upcoming effective dates that could be delayed a minimum of 60 days include: 
 

• A revised, more stringent secondary NAAQS for sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and updates to the related data handling provisions. (January 27, 2025).
• New Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) for about 30 chemical substances subject to pre-manufacture notifications (PMNs) under TSCA. (February 10, 2025)
• A rule adding five amendments to the RCRA hazardous waste regulations. These five updates were withdrawn previously, after EPA received adverse public comments. (February 10, 2025). 
  Update 02/05/25: The effective date for this rule has been delayed until March 21, 2025.

Lion Members: The Monthly Regulatory Summary available to you is especially valuable at times like this! View the latest summary here to see all significant final rules, proposed rules, agency notices, public outreach, and other rulemaking activity published in December 2024. 

Check out this Member Bulletin for insights about how a "regulatory freeze" will impact ongoing EH&S concerns like OSHA's heat exposure rule, regulation of PFAS, chemical risk evaluations under TSCA, and more.