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

Paramedics share lessons from British Columbia’s heat dome emergency

A ‘never-ending cycle’: Data shows flood events have more than doubled in WV since 2016

Our uncertain world is fueling a new search for aliens

Climate activists take on a new foe: Data centers

Deal for Native American tribes’ rights to Colorado River water stalled by four states

How climate change gets under the skin

Climate change, pesticides, productivity, and a continent under heat stress

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.