Environmental groups have launched a second legal challenge to the Trump administration’s extraordinary use of “presidential exemptions” to benefit polluting industries.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, a coalition of 10 organizations seeks to void the White House’s July decision to give 50 chemical plants and refineries another two years to comply with Biden-era regulations aimed at limiting toxic emissions tied to cancer and other serious health problems.
That decision “grossly exceeds” President Donald Trump’s authority under the Clean Air Act, the suit says, adding that it is a pretext to let industry off the hook while EPA works to repeal the regulations in question.
The suit follows an earlier challenge to a separate round of exemptions for almost 70 coal-fired power plants also subject to stronger standards put in place last year.
