EPA has given two steelmakers more time to meet air toxics rules strengthened last year, a break expected to lead to the release of significantly more hazardous pollution than previously forecast.
Under an interim final rule posted online Tuesday, U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs will each get until April 2027 to meet various facets of the regulations instead of deadlines that fell this year and in 2026. In the rule, EPA cites “serious concerns” that both companies would otherwise not be able to comply. An earlier 90-day freeze on implementation on some parts of the strengthened standards expired this week.
Representatives for Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs, headquartered in Ohio, did not reply to emailed requests for comment sent Wednesday morning. The slower compliance schedule will cumulatively save them roughly $3.5 million while resulting in 120 tons of added emissions in comparison with the original timetable, according to estimates included in the rule.
At Industrious Labs, an advocacy group that seeks decarbonization of heavy industry, Steel Director Hilary Lewis assailed the delay “just to save polluters an imperceptible sliver of their profits.”
