EDF Files Lawsuit to Get Records About EPA Administrator’s Recommendation to Reverse Endangerment Finding

(Washington D.C. – March 3, 2025) Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in federal district court today to compel the Trump administration to release information related to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s recommendation to strike down the Endangerment Finding – in essence, an effort to cancel the Clean Air Act limits on the pollution that causes extreme heat, wildfires, and stronger storms. 

News reports say Administrator Zeldin is urging the Trump White House to strike down the Endangerment Finding – the determination that climate pollution endangers human health. The finding is built on a mountain of scientific evidence, has been affirmed multiple times by the Supreme Court, and underpins EPA’s standards to reduce pollution and protect people across the country from extreme weather and other severe harms caused by climate change.  

Information related to Administrator Zeldin’s recommendation to reverse the Endangerment Finding has not been made public or released in response to EDF’s request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

“EPA Administrator Zeldin’s recommendation to strike down the Endangerment Finding was undertaken in secrecy, is deeply cynical, and will hurt Americans already experiencing severe harms due to climate change” said Peter Zalzal, EDF’s Distinguished Counsel and Associate Vice President for Clean Air Strategies.  “The public has a right to know why Administrator Zeldin – the head of the agency charged with protecting the public from the harms of climate change – has instead chosen to trample the science and do the exact opposite.” 

On his first day in office, President Trump directed EPA to make recommendations on the “legality and continued applicability” of its Endangerment Finding. Administrator Zeldin has said he complied with the President’s request, and sources have told news outlets that Zeldin has recommended overturning the finding, but no information has been made public.

EDF filed a FOIA request seeking information related to the Trump administration’s plans for the Endangerment Finding but has not received the required determination or records in the statutory time. The lawsuit, filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to compel disclosure of the requested records in order to provide vital transparency about the administration’s harmful plans to overturn the Endangerment Finding. 

For more information read EDF’s blog post Danger ahead: the Trump administration’s attack on EPA’s finding that climate pollution harms public health and our letter to EPA with more information about the Endangerment Finding.