Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting To Unleash American Energy
This executive order establishes a zero-based regulatory budgeting approach for energy-related rules across a defined set of federal agencies. The goal is to prune regulatory drag on energy production and innovation by forcing an automatic, time-limited sunset for covered regulations and by requiring agencies to routinely reexamine whether existing rules remain necessary. Agencies must issue a sunset rule by Sept. 30, 2025, inserting a Conditional Sunset Date into each Covered Regulation. Unless extended, regulations will cease to be effective one year after the initial sunset date, with public comment and extension options allowed (up to five years into the future). New regulations must have a sunset date no more than five years out, and amendments do not reset that date. The order emphasizes coordination with agency DOGE Team Leads and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and clarifies that regulatory permitting regimes enacted by statute are not subject to these sunset requirements. In short, the order compels a periodic, automatic reexamination of major energy regulations, using sunset dates to drive deregulation unless agencies demonstrate ongoing public benefits and authorize extensions.
Key Points
- 1Scope of covered agencies and regulations: Applies to EPA, DoE, FERC, NRC, and certain subcomponents within the Department of the Interior (OSMRE, BLM, BOEM, BSEE, FWS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE). It covers regulations issued under specific statutes listed for each agency (e.g., Energy Act provisions for DoE, Federal Power Act and Natural Gas Act for FERC, Atomic Energy Act-related authority for NRC, etc.).
- 2Sunset rule deadline and concept: Each covered agency must issue a sunset rule by Sept. 30, 2025. That rule requires Covered Regulations to carry a Conditional Sunset Date.
- 3Conditional Sunset Date mechanics: Existing Covered Regulations in effect at the rule’s effective date get a sunset date 1 year after the sunset rule. If the agency does not extend, the regulation ceases to be effective and should be removed from the CFR. New Covered Regulations must have a sunset date no more than five years in the future. Amendments do not reset the sunset date unless extended, and the OMB Director can exempt some new rules or amendments if they have a net deregulatory effect.
- 4Extension process: Before expiration, agencies must offer the public a comment opportunity on costs and benefits (e.g., via a request for information). After comments, the agency may extend the Conditional Sunset Date if warranted, but extensions cannot push the date more than five years into the future. An agency can extend a regulation multiple times, within the five-year limit.
- 5Implementation and limits: Extensions and expirations do not count toward the “ten-for-one” deregulation target in a prior executive order (Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation). Agencies must work with their DOGE Team Leads and OMB to implement these provisions. The order explicitly states it does not apply to regulatory permitting regimes authorized by statute.
- 6Legal framework and protections: The order includes standard severability and general provisions, and states that nothing in the order creates enforceable rights. It also requires a listed set of statutes to be identified to the President within 30 days for EPA and ACE.