The Trump administration is preparing to repeal a sweeping Obama-era legal determination that declared climate change a threat to public health, a move that would mark one of the most consequential regulatory rollbacks in modern U.S. history.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the repeal of the 2009 “endangerment finding” is expected to occur this week. A White House official confirmed the report’s accuracy to The Hill, signaling that the administration is moving quickly to undo the foundational justification for federal climate regulations.
“This week at the White House, President Trump will be taking the most significant deregulatory actions in history to further unleash American energy dominance and drive down costs,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a written statement Tuesday.
The endangerment finding, issued during the Obama administration, serves as the legal backbone for most federal climate regulations. When the Environmental Protection Agency proposed repealing the finding last year, it simultaneously proposed eliminating all climate-related regulations for cars and trucks. The final repeal is expected to do the same, effectively dismantling a major portion of the federal climate regulatory framework.
Transportation is currently the largest source of U.S. emissions, making the rollback of vehicle standards a particularly significant shift in policy.
An EPA spokesperson said that without the endangerment finding, the agency would no longer have statutory authority under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act to regulate certain motor vehicle emissions. The spokesperson described the 2009 finding as “one of the most damaging decisions in modern history,” though the agency did not explicitly confirm the timing of the repeal.
The federal regulatory dashboard still lists the proposal as “pending review” at the White House, though administration officials have made clear that action is imminent.
Repealing the endangerment finding would go well beyond the actions taken during Trump’s first term. Previously, the administration loosened auto emissions standards but left the underlying legal finding intact. This time, the administration appears prepared to strike at the core of federal climate authority.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA administrator is required to regulate emissions from vehicles if, in his judgment, they contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gas emissions fall under the law’s definition of air pollutants and must be regulated if they are found to pose such a threat.
That determination was made in 2009, when the Obama administration concluded that climate change endangered public health. At the time, the EPA cited concerns about rising temperatures, increased ozone levels, and potential health impacts tied to heat waves and extreme weather.
“Increases in ambient ozone are expected to occur over broad areas of the country, and they are expected to increase serious adverse health effects in large population areas,” the agency said. It also pointed to potential increases in mortality and illness associated with higher average temperatures.
Since then, the endangerment finding has been used to justify a broad expansion of federal climate regulations affecting energy production, transportation, and manufacturing.
Supporters of the repeal argue that the finding opened the door to costly regulations that drive up prices for consumers, limit domestic energy production, and expand federal power far beyond what Congress intended. The Trump administration has framed the move as part of a broader effort to rein in bureaucracy, restore regulatory balance, and prioritize economic growth.
If finalized, the repeal would represent a dramatic shift in U.S. climate policy and a defining moment in President Trump’s push to roll back what his administration views as overreaching environmental regulation.
