The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared its purpose to cancel vehicle emission regulations established by the Biden administration to speed up electric vehicle (EV) adoption. Historically the Trump administration has focused on dismantling environmental policies established by its predecessor through this recent development.

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The EPA plans to review vehicle emissions standards for 2024 that meant almost 50% better emissions control for tailpipes from cars in 2032 compared to 2027. The rules required between 35% and 56% of new vehicle sales as electric vehicles during the period from 2030 to 2032. The United States already received backing from Ford Motor regarding these particular regulations.

The EPA has decided to reexamine the heavy-duty truck soot and smog emissions regulation from 2022 because it presents possible increased costs for truck manufacturers. The 2022 standards surpass their predecessor regulations by 80% yet projected to stop about 2900 fatal diseases per year and produce USD 29 billion in total benefits.

Also Watch | Trump administration unveils sweeping environment rollbacks

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Government actions from the Trump administration reach past emissions control standards to other matters. The EPA sent Congress an EPA-approval of California's 2035 gasoline-only vehicle sale ban plan that Congress has the option to invalidate. The same organisation confirmed that this decision cannot be reviewed by any agency. Congress currently explores the elimination of EV tax incentives.

Leadership at the Department of Transportation under Secretary Sean Duffy canceled the fuel economy standards while halting funding for EV charging network development. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) they enforced new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards which would reach 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031 to minimize gas usage along with pollutants. The current director of NHTSA received orders from Duffy to review existing regulations on heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans.

Environmental organisations strongly criticize these administration actions as they believe these changes threaten public well-being while obstructing clean energy development. Supporters of the rollbacks argue that they will reduce costs for consumers and businesses, and that the previous rules were overly burdensome.