March 27 (UPI) — The Environmental Protection Agency is allowing entities subject to the Clean Air Act to seek exemptions via email through Monday while the agency reconsiders relevant rules.
Representatives of prominent environmental groups say the exemptions might harm local communities.
Environmental Defense Fund general counsel Vickie Patton told The Hill the potential exemptions are a “reckless invitation to hundreds of industrial emitters of toxic pollution to discharge hazardous contaminants into our communities and neighborhoods.”
As a way “to advance President [Donald] Trump’s executive orders and power the great American comeback, EPA has set up and electronic mailbox to allow the regulated community to request a presidential exemption,” the EPA announced.
The Clean Air Act allows the president to exempt from compliance stationary sources of air pollution for up to two years if the technology to implement the standard is unavailable and national security interests support the need for exemption, according to the EPA.
The exemptions also might be eligible for an additional two years.
Entities seeking Clean Air Act exemptions can do so by emailing the EPA at
Exemption requests must include information about why the requesting entity meets the requirements for a Clean Air Act exemption.
The EPA on March 12 requested reconsideration of several Clean Air Act rules affecting coal- and oil-fired electric power generation, synthetic organic chemical manufacturing, ethylene oxide emissions for sterilization facilities and rubber tire manufacturing.
The EPA also is reconsidering Clean Air Act rules regarding copper smelting, iron and steel manufacturing, lime manufacturing, coke ovens and iron ore processing.
Entities whose activities are subject to those Clean Air Act rules can seek two-year exemptions while the EPA reconsiders those rules.
The EPA notice includes an email template to standardize exemption requests.
The Clean Air Act exemptions considerations first were made available by the Biden administration, which offered an ethylene oxide rule exemption for makers of medical devices to prevent a supply chain disruption, The Hill reported.
Trump expanded the potential exemptions to include industrial activities that support domestic manufacturing and energy production, among other economic areas.
The president a week ago announced his administration is supporting coal-fired power plants to help make the United States achieve energy independence.
Potential air pollution from arsenic and mercury are especially concerning, the Environmental Defense Fund’s Patton told Politico’s E&E News.
“Mercury can have devastating impacts to babies’ brains,” she said. “Arsenic is a known toxic [sic].”
She said the EPA website invites “hundreds of industrial sources of cancer-causing pollution and other toxics [sic] to evade science-based clean air standards that are designed to keep our families safe.”
Earthjustice director of clean air practice James Pew called the exemptions offer a “free pass to powerful interests while people in places like Houston, Chicago and West Virginia continue breathing toxic air,” E&E News reported.
“Delaying compliance deadlines to EPA’s own regulations means more people with be diagnosed with cancer and other diseases that [the] EPA knows it can prevent,” Pew said.
“It’s hard to see how these sweeping exemptions are even legal,” he added.
