EPA Destroying Environmental Protections Across The Board While Citing "National Security" For Clean Air Act Exemptions

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In perhaps its boldest move, the EPA also announced plans to roll back the 2009 endangerment finding, the legal foundation for all federal climate regulations. The repeal has reportedly been delayed over concerns the proposal is too weak to withstand a court challenge. These actions and others would expose children to more toxic pollutants, the report says, including asthma-triggering particulate matter, heavy metals linked to brain damage, toxic and hormone-disrupting chemicals such as benzene linked to increased risk of early childhood autism, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which have been linked to attention deficit disorders. “The hypocrisy of this has been stunning,” said Kelly.

The EPA also invited polluting facilities to seek air emission exemptions – a move that will further increase exposure to pollution, the report says. “That basically give these companies a free pass to avoid compliance with toxic air pollution standards that were designed specifically to protect kids, families and communities from pollution that causes serious harm to human health,” said Kelly.

The agency offered these two-year regulation waivers to 170 power plants, chemical and petrochemical manufacturers, and other industrial facilities, the authors found in consultation with the green group Environmental Defense Fund. More than 565,000 children under the age of 18 live within 3 miles of a polluting facility that received an exemption, the report found, while over 2 million live within 3 miles of facilities still eligible for waivers.

The EPA spokesperson said the president had the authority to issue Clean Air Act exemptions “for national security reasons”.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/04/trump-environmental-rollbacks-maha-promise

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