Trump eyes Lee Zeldin for US Attorney General, bringing attention to EPA chief's policies

President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday and is reportedly considering Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin as her replacement, according to several news reports citing sources familiar with the discussions.

The possibility is drawing new scrutiny to Zeldin’s tenure at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and what it could mean for the enforcement of environmental laws, particularly in North Carolina, where communities are confronting climate risks, air pollution and drinking water contamination.

Zeldin has called his approach one of the largest deregulatory efforts in U.S. history, saying the agency is working to overhaul what he views as outdated rules.

“If Congress wants us to do something other than what the law says, then change the law, and then we’ll do that. But we inherited a regulatory scheme that needs to be fixed,” Zeldin said in an exclusive interview with WRAL News this week in Rocky Mount.

Since taking over the agency, Zeldin has rolled back decades of major environmental rules, including weakening emissions standards and repealing the 2009 endangerment finding. The finding, a cornerstone of federal climate policy, concluded that greenhouse gases pose a threat to human health and has long provided the legal foundation for regulating emissions from vehicles under the Clean Air Act.

Zeldin said climate change was real during his confirmation hearing, and months later called it a hoax.

Environmental advocates said removing that authority undermines decades of science and is a threat to public health.

“To abdicate EPA authority to regulate climate change is simply unimaginable,” said Mary Maclean Asbill, director of the Southern Environmental Law Center’s North Carolina offices.

The stakes are particularly high in North Carolina. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state, exceeding electricity generation by about 11%, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. At the same time, the state has experienced increasingly severe storms, including Hurricane Helene, which caused widespread damage and underscored the risks of a warming climate.

Zeldin has also prioritized changes affecting diesel engines. During a visit to North Carolina Monday, he announced new guidance that loosens certain monitoring requirements for diesel exhaust systems, citing concerns from farmers and equipment operators about reliability and cost.

“This is just about being as responsive as possible to the very real world negative impacts of the aspects of the system that don’t make sense,” Zeldin said.

When asked about studies linking diesel exhaust to cancer and other health risks, Zeldin said the changes do not eliminate emissions controls. He described the policy as a targeted fix to address what he called real-world problems with the existing system.

The agency has eliminated its Office of Research and Development, the agency’s scientific research arm, which eliminated hundreds of jobs in Research Triangle Park. Critics said those cuts could weaken the EPA’s ability to study pollution and develop regulations grounded in science.

“By eliminating science, EPA is just saying we’re going to do whatever we want. It doesn’t have to be based on anything,” Asbill said.

Those concerns extend to drinking water, where communities across North Carolina continue to deal with contamination from PFAS, a class of synthetic chemicals linked to health risks.

Zeldin acknowledged that the cost of cleaning up that contamination is often passed on to residents.

“You’re essentially paying to clean up PFAS contamination from your own water supply. That’s not right, so Congress needs to amend the federal law to deal with the passive receiver, so that we do have polluter pays,” Zeldin said.

On Thursday, the EPA announced it would add microplastics, pharmaceuticals and PFAS to its Contaminant Candidate List, a step to study further the effects of exposure.

Critics said the action falls short of addressing existing risks.

“Zeldin’s EPA is not taking bold action to ensure drinking water safety. This is a PR stunt that doesn’t require a single test, set a single drinking water standard, or protect a single community,” said Suzanne Novak, director of drinking water advocacy at Earthjustice.

Zeldin said the agency is working to balance environmental protections with economic impacts, emphasizing efforts to reduce regulatory burdens while maintaining its core mission.

“The environmental actions are key,” Zeldin said. “We’re also focused on right sizing regulation and most important is that we’re following the law.”

Several of the agency’s actions are now being challenged in court. North Carolina is among multiple states suing the EPA over canceled solar grants and changes to vehicle emissions rules, arguing the agency has violated the Clean Air Act.

If Zeldin is nominated to lead the Justice Department, those disputes could take on new significance, shaping how environmental laws are interpreted and enforced nationwide.

The EPA did not confirm whether Zeldin is under consideration for attorney general.