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WASHINGTON — William L. Wehrum, who played a central role in Trump administration efforts to weaken climate change protections and roll back regulations on the fossil fuel industry , will resign as head of the Environmental Protection Agency air quality office at the end of this month, the agency announced Wednesday.

Last week the E.P.A. moved to replace an Obama-era regulation that aimed to shutter coal-fired power plants with a new regulation that could help more coal plants open. Mr. Wehrum was the main architect of the new measure, the Affordable Clean Energy rule.

He was also a player in efforts to relax tailpipe pollution standards to change the way the agency measures the health consequences of air pollution.

“Mr. Wehrum oversaw the most relentless rollback of clean air, climate and health safeguards in E.P.A.’s history ,” said John Walke, clean air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council . “ E.P.A. strengthened not a single meaningful air quality or climate safeguard during his tenure.”