EPA proposes to tighten pollution rule weakened by Trump

The Biden administration is proposing new restrictions on companies that emit hazardous air pollution, after a Trump-era move to weaken regulations.

However, its new draft rule also doesn’t return Clinton-era safeguards — which some environmental advocates say still leaves too much pollution on the table.

Under the Clinton administration, any facility that emits “hazardous air pollutants” at high levels would have to meet tight restrictions for major polluters, even if their emissions dropped below major pollution thresholds.

The Trump administration dropped this “once in, always in” rule, allowing facilities that lower their emissions to abide by less-stringent rules.

A new Biden proposal would still allow facilities to no-longer be considered “major” pollution sources if their emissions drop. But they will still have to meet some new requirements aimed at preventing high levels of pollution from being released.

Joseph Goffman, the EPA’s top air official, said in a written statement that the new conditions for formerly “major” polluters will help protect the public.

“Ensuring facilities do not increase emissions of air toxics after being reclassified will help protect communities from air toxics,” Goffman said.

“This proposal will continue to allow facilities to innovate and adopt new ways of reducing emissions of air toxics while maintaining emission reductions after reclassification,” he added.

However, James Pew, director of the clean air practice at Earthjustice, said the proposal is not strong enough and will still result in too much exposure to air pollution.

He said that the Clinton-era rules maintained protections from substances that are still dangerous in very small amounts and may still pose harm if a facility’s total emissions are below the major source threshold.

“It doesn’t fix the worst problem of the Trump-era rule. It leaves it in place,” Pew said.

The rule in question concerns “hazardous air pollutants” which have been linked to cancer or other serious health impacts. Examples include benzene, asbestos and mercury.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.