Environmental Deregulation Harming Workers and Communities: EPA Rollbacks, Paris Climate Withdrawal, Weakened Emissions Standards, and Reduced Workplace Safety Enforcement
Tier 3Ongoing2017-01-20 to 2026-04-09
Factual Summary
Across both terms of his presidency, Donald Trump pursued an aggressive program of environmental deregulation and weakened workplace safety enforcement that has had measurable impacts on workers, public health, and communities. These actions are documented through official regulatory actions, government reports, and data on inspection and enforcement activity.
During his first term, the Trump administration rolled back or weakened more than 100 environmental rules and regulations, according to tracking by the New York Times, the Brookings Institution, and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School. Major rollbacks included weakening the Clean Power Plan (which regulated carbon emissions from power plants), relaxing fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, weakening methane emission regulations for the oil and gas industry, and loosening restrictions on toxic chemical discharge into waterways.
On June 1, 2017, Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, the landmark 2015 international accord in which nearly every nation committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The United States was one of only three nations (along with Syria and Nicaragua, both of which later joined the agreement) to initially reject participation. The withdrawal took effect on November 4, 2020. After President Biden rejoined the agreement in 2021, Trump withdrew the United States a second time during his second term, and in his second term also withdrew from the underlying 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
In 2020, the Trump EPA finalized a rule weakening the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which had been established in 2012 to regulate mercury, arsenic, and other toxic emissions from coal and oil-fired power plants. The rule reversed the EPA's prior finding that regulating mercury emissions was "appropriate and necessary." Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that poses particular risks to developing fetuses and young children. The American Lung Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and numerous public health organizations opposed the weakening of these standards. During Trump's second term, the EPA granted additional exemptions to power plants from the 2024 updated Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.
In March 2026, the EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin rescinded the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, the foundational scientific determination that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. This action, described by the EPA as "the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history," eliminated the legal basis for federal regulation of climate pollution from vehicles and other sources. The decision removed all federal greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles.
Workplace safety enforcement under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declined significantly during both Trump terms. During the first term, OSHA conducted 20 percent fewer inspections compared to the preceding period, according to data compiled by the BlueGreen Alliance and the National Employment Law Project. OSHA's budget was reduced, and staffing fell to levels below those of any administration since the agency's founding in 1971. During the second term, OSHA proposed an 8 percent budget cut and a more than 12 percent reduction in staffing, with plans for nearly 10,000 fewer workplace hazard inspections. In July 2025, OSHA issued new guidelines that reduced penalties for safety violations at small businesses and redefined "immediately" for hazard abatement from the day of inspection to up to 15 days, giving employers more time before they were required to fix dangerous conditions. Data from the first six months of the second term showed 42 percent fewer fines issued for severe workplace violations compared to the same period the prior year.
Primary Sources
1. White House announcement: U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, June 1, 2017
2. EPA final rule on Mercury and Air Toxics Standards cost-benefit analysis, 2020
3. EPA press release: "President Trump and Administrator Zeldin Deliver Single Largest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History," March 2026
4. OSHA enforcement data, compiled by the National Employment Law Project and the BlueGreen Alliance
5. OSHA revised penalty and abatement guidelines, July 2025
Corroborating Sources
1. BlueGreen Alliance: "New Data Shows Trump's OSHA Performs 20% Fewer Inspections"
2. National Employment Law Project: "Workplace Safety Enforcement Continues to Decline in Trump Administration"
3. Economic Policy Institute: "Too many workers die on the job every year. Trump's attacks on OSHA will kill more."
4. NPR: "Trump's EPA will end the basis for federal climate actions," February 11, 2026
5. Inside Climate News: "OSHA Just Reduced the Value of a Worker's Life," July 16, 2025
6. BlueGreen Alliance: "Then and Now: Worker Safety Under Trump and Biden"
Counterarguments and Context
The Trump administration argued that environmental regulations imposed excessive compliance costs on businesses and workers, and that deregulation would spur economic growth, increase energy production, and create jobs, particularly in the fossil fuel and manufacturing sectors. On the Paris Agreement, Trump stated that the accord disadvantaged the United States economically and that he was fulfilling his promise to put "America First." On mercury standards, the EPA argued that the costs of compliance outweighed the measurable benefits, though critics noted that the agency's revised cost-benefit methodology excluded significant co-benefits from reduced particulate matter emissions. On OSHA enforcement, the administration contended that cooperative compliance programs were more effective than punitive inspections and that reduced fines for small businesses with clean records were a reasonable accommodation. Industry groups supported many of these changes. However, public health research consistently links reduced environmental enforcement to increased exposure to harmful pollutants, with disproportionate impacts on low-income communities and communities of color located near industrial facilities. The decline in workplace safety inspections correlates with continued high rates of occupational injuries and fatalities. The rescission of the Endangerment Finding removed the legal foundation for regulating emissions that the scientific consensus identifies as driving climate change, with cascading health effects that include heat-related illness, respiratory disease from worsened air quality, and increased exposure to extreme weather events.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 3 because the regulatory rollbacks, enforcement data, and policy changes are documented through official government records, Federal Register notices, and independent data analysis by nonpartisan organizations. The entry addresses the intersection of environmental deregulation and worker safety, as both areas involve government protections for workers and communities that were weakened during the Trump administration.