Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting To Unleash American Energy
The order requires ten federal agencies and subcomponents involved in energy-related regulation to insert automatic expiration dates — called Conditional Sunset Dates — into existing and future energy regulations, forcing agencies to periodically justify each rule or watch it expire.
It creates a framework in which thousands of existing energy regulations could lapse unless agencies affirmatively extend them after soliciting public comment, fundamentally shifting the burden from the public to prove rules are harmful to agencies having to prove rules are still warranted.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs ten covered agencies — including the EPA, Department of Energy, FERC, NRC, and several Interior Department subcomponents — to each issue a "sunset rule" by September 30, 2025, that inserts a Conditional Sunset Date into all of their covered energy-related regulations. Existing covered regulations will automatically cease to be effective one year after the sunset rule takes effect unless the agency extends the date. New regulations must carry a sunset date no more than five years out, and amendments to existing rules cannot reset those rules' expiration clocks. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers must first submit a list of their applicable statutory authorities to the OMB Director within 30 days.
Before any regulation expires, the agency must offer the public an opportunity to comment on its costs and benefits; only after that process may the agency extend the Conditional Sunset Date, and never beyond five more years at a time. Agencies may extend repeatedly. An expired regulation may not be enforced and must be removed from the Code of Federal Regulations to the extent permitted by law. Regulatory permitting regimes authorized by statute are exempt from the order.
Who it affects
Energy producers, mining companies, utilities, nuclear facility operators, offshore developers, and any business or individual regulated under the covered statutes by the EPA, DoE, FERC, NRC, or Interior and Army subcomponents. Federal agency staff must conduct periodic reviews; the public is invited to comment before each expiration decision.
Why it matters
Thousands of existing energy-sector regulations face automatic expiration unless agencies run a review-and-extension process on a rolling basis. Businesses and communities that rely on these rules for environmental and safety standards could face uncertainty if rules lapse, while regulated industries may see burdensome rules reduced.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
Each covered agency coordinates with its DOGE Team Lead and OMB to issue a sunset rule by September 30, 2025. Once effective, existing covered regulations get a one-year expiration clock. Before that deadline, the agency solicits public comment — for example, via a Request for Information — then decides whether to extend the Conditional Sunset Date, but never beyond five years at a time. Extensions may recur indefinitely. The OMB Director may exempt new regulations or amendments that have a net deregulatory effect. Regulatory permitting regimes authorized by statute are carved out entirely. A severability clause preserves the rest of the order if any provision is invalidated.
Actions and deadlines
- EPA Administrator and Secretary of the Army submit list of applicable statutory authorities to the OMB Director
- Each covered agency issue a sunset rule inserting Conditional Sunset Dates into all covered regulations
- Agencies offer public opportunity to comment on costs and benefits before each covered regulation's expiration
- Agencies decide whether to extend each covered regulation's Conditional Sunset Date following public comment