EPA on Monday laid out a way for companies to avoid air pollution regulations for up to several years: Just send the agency a request via email.
The agency posted guidance online that lays out a path for companies to seek exemptions from Clean Air Act regulations, including toxic emissions limits imposed on a range of pollution sources such as iron ore processing and tire manufacturing facilities, as well as coal-fired power plants and coke ovens.
The post points to at least nine rules that are currently under review and subject to the exemption request, including limits on carcinogenic compounds, such as ethylene oxide, and the mercury and air toxics standards, or MATS, rule
“To advance President Trump’s Executive Orders and Power the Great American Comeback, EPA has set up an electronic mailbox to allow the regulated community to request a Presidential Exemption under section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act,” the guidance reads.
“You may submit a request for a Presidential Exemption to this email address: airaction@epa.gov by March 31, 2025,” it continues.
According to the guidance, the Clean Air Act authorizes President Donald Trump 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.”
EPA’s guidance clarifies that an exemption can be extended for up to two additional years and, if appropriate, renewed.
Under federal law, the president can exempt stationary sources from compliance with regulations if it can be shown that the technology to meet the regulation isn’t available or if an exemption is in national security interests, according to Cornell Law School. Such an exemption can be extended — each period not to exceed two years — and the president must report to Congress about each decision.
But EPA emphasized that simply submitting a request via email doesn’t entitle an entity to an exemption and that the president “will make a decision on the merits.”
The agency did not immediately respond when asked what factors would be considered in making such decisions, how many emails it had received, or how the public would be kept abreast of such requests and how they are processed.
EPA’s move is already fueling concerns that the exemptions could unleash pollutants shown to be carcinogenic.
“Mercury can have devastating impacts to babies’ brains. Arsenic is a known toxic,” said Vickie Patton, general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund. “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. This puts the health of all Americans on the line.”
“The EPA is giving a free pass to powerful interests while people in places like Houston, Chicago, and West Virginia continue breathing toxic air,” James Pew, the director of clean air practice at Earthjustice, said in a statement. “Delaying compliance deadlines to EPA’s own regulations means more people will be diagnosed with cancer and other diseases that EPA knows it can prevent. It’s hard to see how these sweeping exemptions are even legal.”
Walter Mugdan, former deputy administrator for EPA’s New York City-based regional office and Superfund director, said the move is “highly unusual” and he’s not aware of the authority being used, especially in such a sweeping manner that affects myriad technologies.
Mugdan pointed out that the exemptions would affect rules limiting the release of ethylene oxide, which is used in the pharmaceutical industry as a sterilizing agent but is also an incredibly dangerous and carcinogenic chemical that needs to be carefully controlled to protect nearby communities.
When asked about concerns, an EPA spokesperson said Section 112(i)(4) of the law “specifically states that the President may exempt any stationary source “if the President determines that the technology to implement such standard is not available and that it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so.”
When companies submit a request for exemptions, they are being asked to explain “why the technology to implement the standard is not available” and “why an extension is in the national security interests of the United States,” according to the guidance.
The Trump administration has made clear its intent to boost manufacturing and revive the coal sector amid concerns about health impacts tied to air and water pollution and toxic coal ash — regulations that the White House has cast as strangling industry.
Earlier this month, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced EPA would reconsider rules that set limits on hazardous air pollutants for iron and steel manufacturing, rubber tire manufacturing, the synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry, commercial sterilizers for medical devices and spices, lime manufacturing, coke ovens, copper smelting, and taconite ore processing.
“EPA is moving forward with the reconsideration of a number of air rules that cover nearly every sector of the American economy,” Zeldin said in a release at the time.
“During this review, we will ensure the appropriate protections for human health and the environment based on the best record possible. Breathing clean air, living on clean land, and drinking clean water are all shared goals while we also do our part to usher in a Golden Age of American success,” he added.
Timothy Cama contributed to this report.
