Washington – Industry groups representing hundreds of chemical and petrochemical manufacturers are looking for a blanket exemptions of federal requirements To reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.
The request from the American Chemistry Council and the American Fuel AND Petrochemical manufacturers occur when the Trump administration offers industrial pollutants an exemption opportunity for the rules imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has established an electronic mailbox to allow regulated companies to request a two -year presidential exemption under the law of clean air to a large number of Biden era rules.
The Council of Chemistry and the Petrochemical Group said in a letter on Monday to the EPA that it is supposed to regulate the chemical industry is based on solid science and “reflects a reasonable evaluation of the risks and benefits involved.”
“Unfortunately,” the groups wrote, an EPA rule on air pollution from stationary sources “undermines those important objectives and advances inappropriate and significantly expensive requirements in an involuntary timeline.”
Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter on Friday.
The costs for the requirements related to the risk of the rule by themselves could exceed $ 50 billion, the groups said: “significantly more than $ 1.8 billion for the complete rule that the EPA estimated in the final publication” last year.
Environmental groups have denounced the administration’s offer to grant industry exemptions, calling the new email address a “portal of pollutions” that could allow hundreds of companies to evade laws aimed at protecting the environment and public health. Exemptions would be allowed for nine EPA rules issued under former President Joe Biden, including mercury limits, ethylene oxide and other dangerous air pollutants. Mercury exposure can cause brain damage, especially in children. The fetuses are vulnerable to birth defects through the exposure in a mother’s womb.
The Environmental Defense Fund accused the chemical and petrochemical companies, which include giants such as Exxonmobil, Marathon Petroleum, Chevron, Dow and Dupont, of “hiding behind their associations to obtain a presidential exemption from the contamination safeguards that keep our children healthy and safe.”
The new EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, “has opened a back door for hundreds of companies to avoid fulfilling reasonable limits in the most toxic forms of air pollution, and rush through it without taking into account the communities that surround them,” said Vickie Patton, general advisor of the group.
Granting the exemption would be “a great blow to American families who must now worry that their loved ones breathe the dirtiest air, their children pray more school days due to asthma attacks and more cancer in their families,” Patton said. “There is no basis in the Clean air laws of the USA. UU., And in decency, for this absolute free pass to pollution.”
EDF has submitted a request under the Federal Law on Freedom of Information for all records related to the EPA portal, including the names of those seeking exemptions, and promised to go to court to obtain the records if necessary and make them public.
The EPA offer to grant exemptions at least the third time that Zeldin has moved to weaken the application of environmental laws since he assumed the position less than two months ago. Previously announced a series of actions to Revert emblematic environmental regulations again, including rules on the contamination of coal power plants, climate change and electric vehicles.
Zeldin also said he would press for a 65% expense cut in the agency, and has moved to drastically reduce EPA staff. The agency is considering a plan To eliminate your scientific research office and has tried to recover $ 20 billion in “Banco Verde” subsidies Approved by the Biden administration to promote clean energy.
The use of presidential exemptions to the EPA rule is rare, although Biden offered some last year after hardening the emission standards for ethylene oxide of commercial facilities that sterilize medical equipment.
The EPA directed questions about the possible exemptions to the White House, noting that the authority for any exemption falls to the president. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said no decisions have been made, but said: “We can confirm President Trump’s commitment to unleash American energy, protect our national security interests and guarantee environmental administration.”
The Chemistry Council said in a statement on Friday that its members “greatly appreciate the will of the current administration of offering a route of relief of unrealistic deadlines” established by the Biden administration.
“We hope to work quickly with the EPA throughout this process to develop appropriate science -based requirements that help protect public health and security without imposing unnecessary regulatory loads on national manufacturers who would undermine our national security and US competitiveness,” the statement said.
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