EPA opens quiet backdoor for polluters to bypass clean air rules

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rolled out a process allowing companies to sidestep limits on mercury and cancer-causing emissions — with nothing more than an email request.

Hannah Northey reports for E&E News.

In short:

New EPA guidance invites companies to email requests for exemptions from Clean Air Act rules, including protections against mercury and ethylene oxide, both known health hazards.
The guidance claims the Clean Air Act allows the president to “exempt stationary sources of air pollution from compliance with any standard or limitation under section 112 for up to two years if the technology to implement the standard is not available and it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so.”
The exemption pathway, based on a rarely used legal provision, could delay pollution controls for years, with little transparency or clear criteria for approval.
Experts warn the move could lead to increased cancer risk, especially for communities already breathing some of the country’s most toxic air.

Key quote:

“The new Trump EPA website invites hundreds of industrial sources of cancer-causing pollution and other toxics to evade science-based clean air standards that are designed to keep our families safe — all with a single email.”

— Vickie Patton, general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund

Why this matters:

Toxic air pollution, especially from industrial sources, has been directly linked to cancer, neurological damage in children, and chronic disease. Letting companies skip pollution controls — potentially for years — could mean disaster for frontline neighborhoods already living with the country's dirtiest air. Critics charge that the process lacks transparency, clear criteria, or even a public record of who's applying. It feels less like regulation and more like a quiet invitation to pollute — sent straight to your inbox.

EPA opens quiet backdoor for polluters to bypass clean air rules

China is the new science power: how will Europe respond?

Insiders warn how dismantling federal agencies could put science at risk

‘Trump is against humankind’: World leaders at climate summit take swipes at absent president

10 years after the Paris Climate Agreement, here's where we are

Planet in peril: 30 years of climate talks in six charts

China, world’s top carbon polluter, likely to overdeliver on climate goals. Will that be enough?

Elections set up national battleground over electricity

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Pennsylvania health advocates say Trump’s first 100 days in office have caused “100 harms” to local communities

“They're terrorizing these scientists because they want to keep them silent.”

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.