Matthew Daly
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is giving coal-fired power plants, chemical makers and other polluting industries two years of regulatory relief to try to reverse Biden-era regulations he considers to be overburdened.
Trump issued a series of declarations late Thursday, exempting various industries he calls national security essential.
The declaration covers coal-fired power plants, taconite iron ore treatment facilities used in the manufacture of steel, and chemical manufacturers that help produce sterilizers for semiconductors and medical devices.
The declaration allows facilities to comply with Environmental Protection Agency standards that were introduced before rules imposed in recent years by President Joe Biden’s administration, the White House said.
Trump called Biden-era rules expensive and sometimes unattainable. His actions are “critical industries can continue to operate uninterruptedly to support national security without any substantial costs,” the White House said in a fact sheet.
Trump’s EPA had previously exempted dozens of coal-fired power plants from mass coal fire regulations for the same reasons. The EPA also provided other industrial polluters with the opportunity to be exempt from requirements to reduce the emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene. The email boxes set by the EPA allowed regulated businesses to request presidential exemptions under the Clean Air Act from Biden-era regulations.
The Environmental Group will denounce offers to grant exemptions, calling its new email address a “Polluter Portal,” allowing hundreds of businesses to circumvent laws to protect the environment and public health. Mercury exposure can cause brain damage, especially in children. The fetus is vulnerable to congenital deficiency by exposure to the mother’s uterus.
Within weeks of the EPA offer, industry groups representing hundreds of chemicals and petrochemical manufacturers began seeking blanket exemptions from federal pollution requirements.
The Clean Air Act allows the president to temporarily exempt industrial sites from new regulations if the technology necessary to meet them is not widely available and continuous activity is for national security.
John Walke, clean air director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, said Trump’s claims about technological issues and national security concerns are “excuses” and could help large businesses become richer.
“President Trump just signed a literal free pass for the polluters,” Walke said.
In April, the EPA granted nearly 70 coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce toxic chemical emissions. The list posted on the agency’s website lists 47 electricity providers (at least 66 coal-fired power plants) who are exempt from Biden-era regulations.
EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans in March to roll back numerous important environmental rules for everything from clean air to clean water and climate change. Zeldin called the planned rollback “the most consequential deregulation day in American history.”
The Associated Press investigation of the proposed rollback concluded that the rules targeted by the EPA could prevent an estimated 30,000 deaths and save $275 billion in an effective year. The AP review included previous assessments of the institution itself as well as a wide range of other studies.
In related developments, the EPA said Thursday it would give utility companies an additional year to inspect and report contamination from toxic coal ash landfills around the country.
“Today’s actions provide much-needed regulatory relief and support to the electricity sector. It unleashes American energy,” Zeldin said.
Original issue: July 18th, 2025, 1:25pm EDT
