Washington: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin defended the decision, calling the greenhouse gas reporting program “bureaucratic red tape that does nothing to improve air quality.” According to the agency, ending the program could save U.S. companies as much as $2.4 billion in regulatory costs.

Launched in 2010, the program required nearly 8,000 of the nation’s largest emitters, including coal plants, steel mills, and oil refineries, to disclose their emissions data. The reports provided a detailed picture of industrial contributions to climate change and informed policymakers, researchers, and advocacy groups.

The United States, the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, has scaled back its climate commitments under President Donald Trump, who withdrew the country from the Paris Climate Agreement and cut funding for research into global warming.

The EPA confirmed that the rollback will not apply to certain oil and gas facilities, such as natural gas pipelines. The proposal is expected to be finalized within the next year, according to The New York Times.