EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has secured another Clean Air Act compliance pass for two of the nation’s top steelmakers, rejecting concerns that residents of nearby communities could be harmed by more pollution.
The break gives Cleveland-Cliffs and U.S. Steel until 2027 to meet strengthened hazardous air pollution requirements that were originally supposed to start taking effect this past April.
After previously granting the pair an interim delay this summer, Zeldin made that decision final in a rule signed and posted unannounced online last Wednesday, one day before the Thanksgiving holiday.
The strengthened regulations, issued last year during President Joe Biden’s administration, had been predicted to cut cumulative emissions of toxic metals and the fine particles often dubbed soot by almost 540 tons annually. They also include a first-ever mandate for the two companies to monitor airborne levels of chromium around their mills.
