US EPA Proposes Ending Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed eliminating a mandatory program that requires around 8,000 facilities to report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The agency argues the program is a costly burden on businesses and provides little benefit to public health or environmental protection.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program “bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality.” If finalized, the rollback would remove reporting obligations for major facilities, fuel and industrial gas suppliers, and CO₂ injection sites, though large oil and gas operations would still need to submit methane emissions data tied to a federal waste emissions charge.

The move stems from a day-one executive order by President Donald Trump aimed at boosting domestic fossil fuel production by cutting environmental regulations. It follows other major rollbacks, including plans to repeal the “endangerment finding” that allowed the EPA to regulate emissions from vehicles and industrial sources.

Critics warn the proposal will undermine transparency and public access to emissions data at a time when the US is also preparing to exit the Paris climate agreement. The Trump administration has further taken steps to halt collection of environmental databases across agencies and end NASA’s greenhouse gas-monitoring satellite program.

The GHG Reporting Program, introduced under previous administrations, currently covers 47 industrial sectors. Environmental groups argue its removal would severely weaken the nation’s ability to track progress on climate commitments and hold major polluters accountable.

Ending mandatory GHG reporting doesn't eliminate the underlying data need - state-level rules, SEC-adjacent expectations, EU-CSRD and institutional-investor pressure all still require it. Our ESG-strategy and sustainability-due-diligence teams help US corporates avoid dismantling emissions-reporting infrastructure they'll almost certainly have to rebuild within a cycle.