On President Trump’s first day in office, he signed 26 executive orders and issued several presidential actions. An executive order (EO) is a presidential action that directs federal agencies on how to operate. It carries the effect of law provided it aligns with constitutional powers. Executive orders can also amend or revoke prior orders. Three of the orders directly influence APGA’s priorities: Regulatory Freeze Pending Review, Unleashing American Energy, and Declaring a National Energy Emergency. There are also several others that potentially impact agencies that APGA works closely with.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) LDAR Rule: Trump’s Regulatory Freeze Pending Review EO immediately rescinded PHMSA’s Leak Detection and Repair Rulemaking (LDAR) that was pre-published on the PHMSA website and sent to the Federal Register. PHMSA staff must now ensure that the requirements of the rule and the cost-benefit analysis used to justify the rule align with the president’s policies. One of those policies is found within his Unleashing American Energy EO. Section 6 of that EO states that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must issue guidance to address “harmful and detrimental inadequacies” in the calculation for the “social cost of carbon” – including consideration of eliminating the “social cost of carbon” calculation from any federal permitting or regulatory decision. When PHMSA proposed the LDAR rule, and to the best of our knowledge in the draft Final Rule, PHMSA relied almost exclusively on calculated environmental benefits from the rule. These calculated benefits relied upon the aforementioned “social cost of carbon” calculation. The EO continues to set a policy that the head of each agency shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, initiate a process to make such changes to any rule, regulation, policy or action as may be necessary to ensure consistency with the Regulatory Analysis. This will require PHMSA to recalculate the cost-benefits of the LDAR rule without the reliance on social-cost of carbon.
DOE’s Instantaneous Water Heater Rule: Additionally, the Unleashing American Energy EO established an administration policy to “safeguard American people’s freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads, and to promote market competition and innovation within the manufacturing and appliance industries.” APGA believes the recent Department of Energy efficiency standard rule for gas-fired instantaneous water heaters (GIWHs) is in direct contradiction to this policy. Trump’s policy established in the EO supports APGA’s legislative and legal efforts to roll back the rule, as the rule would face administrative hurdles to roll-back due to its enacting statute's "anti-backsliding" provision. APGA joined other trade associations, attorneys general, and one manufacturer in filing a legal challenge on the efficiency standards. Additionally, both chambers of Congress have introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval this month.
PHMSA’s Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant (NGDISM) Grant Program: Finally, in the same Unleashing American Energy Executive Order (EO), President Trump issued an “immediate pause on the disbursement of funds appropriated through” the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) if they are inconsistent with the policy outlined in Section 2 of the EO. PHMSA’s Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety & Modernization grant program was authorized under the IIJA; however, APGA staff has been informed that PHMSA is continuing to process reimbursement requests. As additional clarity on this issue is shared, APGA will provide updates.
APGA is developing a robust, ongoing analysis of the Executive Orders, and we will make our analysis available to members shortly.
For questions on this article, please contact Erin Kurilla of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at ekurilla@apga.org.