Industry lobbying groups got the message. Lobbyists for the American Chemistry Council and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers — trade associations for some of the largest industrial polluters in the U.S. — have asked Administrator Zeldin for a blanket exemption for more than 200 facilities from a 2024 EPA safeguard that limits emissions of toxic ethylene oxide and chloroprene, which are both linked to an increased risk of cancer. The federal protection, long sought by communities living near these facilities, where cancer rates reached more than 50 times the national average, would have reduced the number of people facing elevated risk of air toxics-related cancer by 96%. 

• Meet KeShaun Pearson, fighting for clean air in Memphis
• The Clean Air Act — and your family's health and safety — are under attack

“Administrator Zeldin has opened a back door for companies to avoid complying with reasonable limits on the most toxic forms of air pollution, and they’re rushing through it with no regard for the communities around them,” said Vickie Patton, general counsel of Environmental Defense Fund. “This is a huge blow to American families who now must worry about their loved ones breathing dirtier air, their kids missing school days and suffering a lifetime of illness due to toxic pollution, and more cancer in their families. There is no basis in U.S. clean air laws — or in decency — for this absolute free pass to pollute.” 

The EPA has not made requests for exemptions public. EDF has filed a request under the federal Freedom of Information Act for all records related to the EPA portal — including the names of all those seeking exemptions — and pledged to go to court to obtain the records if necessary and make them public. 

In the meantime, EDF and a coalition of partners have published a state-by-state list of the more than 530 facilities in the country which are eligible to seek a waiver, as well as a national map of petrochemical pollution, where people can see polluting facilities in their neighborhoods and related health risks. 

Historically, these types of exemptions from EPA protections are rare and must meet the requirements that the necessary pollution control technology is not available, and that compliance poses a national security threat. 

“This exemption is really meant for one-off circumstances,” said Grace Smith, senior attorney at EDF. “With this invitation to apply for exemptions, they have opened it up in a way where you can tell that they will be rubber stamping whatever comes their way.”  

“The American public deserves to know what the Trump EPA and major polluters are doing to the air they breathe,” said Patton. “And we are going to hold them accountable.”