A hard-won US rule to cut chemical plant pollution is being dismantled

A 2024 rule requiring roughly 220 US petrochemical plants to cut toxic air pollution is being unwound by the Trump administration through exemptions and a planned rewrite, Grist reports. The rule, known as HON, targeted six pollutants including benzene and vinyl chloride at facilities concentrated in Texas and Louisiana, and was projected to cut 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution a year, reduce emissions of two carcinogens by 80%, and lower nearby cancer risk by 96%.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has granted more than 70 two-year exemptions to petrochemical facilities and plans a complete rewrite of the rule this fall, in part by invoking a rarely used national security provision of the Clean Air Act. St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana — where a disproportionate share of exposed residents are Black — has the nation's highest cancer risk from air pollution, at nearly 50 times the national average.

"Everything that the Biden administration did to help protect us was pretty much just thrown in the garbage," said Tish Taylor, a resident of an affected community. Stanford epidemiologist Tracey Woodruff said the regulated chemicals are "the classic bad guys" that "should have been more highly regulated a long time ago." The administration has also proposed weakening a related chemical plant safety rule and removed a Biden-era public data tool on plant operations.

Reporting by Beth Gardiner for Grist. Source: https://grist.org/regulation/a-hard-won-rule-to-cut-chemical-plant-pollution-is-being-unraveled/