{"id":2216307,"date":"2024-04-09T09:24:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T13:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/epa-finalizes-crackdown-on-toxic-air-pollutants-from-chemical-plants\/"},"modified":"2024-04-09T09:30:55","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T13:30:55","slug":"epa-finalizes-crackdown-on-toxic-air-pollutants-from-chemical-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/epa-finalizes-crackdown-on-toxic-air-pollutants-from-chemical-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA Tightens Rules on Harmful Air Emissions from Chemical Plants"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fepa-finalizes-crackdown-on-toxic-air-pollutants-from-chemical-plants%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2216307&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Environmental Protection Agency issued \u200ca final rule targeting toxic \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/indian-farmers-agree-to-meet-government-over-contentious-farm-laws\/\" title=\"Indian farmers agree to meet government over contentious farm laws\">air pollution<\/a> from chemical and plastics plants to reduce \u200dexposure to \u2063cancer-linked\u200c compounds. The rule aims for an 80% reduction \u2064in emissions, cutting 6,200 tons annually. Facilities handling toxic\u2063 chemicals will intensify reporting and monitoring\u2064 practices.\u200c Compliance time extensions \u200bwere \u200cgranted based on stakeholder \u200bfeedback. This\u200d regulation aligns with the\u2062 Biden administration&#8217;s environmental justice commitments.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/biden-administration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Environmental Protection Agency <\/a>published a final rule Tuesday cracking down on toxic air pollution from chemical and plastics plants, seeking to reduce exposure to two cancer-linked chemical compounds, ethylene oxide and chloroprene, while also giving plant owners slightly more time to comply. <\/p>\n<p>Once implemented, EPA officials said, the final rule will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/hazardous-air-pollutants-ethylene-oxide\/proposal-strengthen-standards-synthetic-organic-chemical#:~:text=On%20April%206%2C%202023%2C%20the,oxide%20(EtO)%20and%20chloroprene.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>achieve<\/a> a nearly 80% reduction in emissions from ethylene oxide and chloroprene, two toxic compounds <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2432261\/epa-announces-2-billion-in-spending-for-towns-and-people-hurt-by-pollution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>linked<\/a> to certain types of cancers, including lymphoma, leukemia, breast cancer, and liver cancer. <\/p>\n<p>In total, officials said, the rule will slash 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution annually from U.S. chemical and plastics plants, reducing the number of people at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/popular-toxic-chemical-used-for-sterilizing-medical-equipment-slashed-by-epa\/\" title=\"EPA Cuts Back on Widely Used Toxic Sterilant for Medical Tools\">elevated cancer risk<\/a> from the air toxics by roughly 96%.<\/p>\n<p>The EPA\u2019s rule also extends certain reporting requirements for facilities that produce, store, or emit the toxins benzene, 1,3-butadiene, ethylene dichloride, and vinyl chloride, in addition to ethylene oxide and chloroprene.<\/p>\n<p>Facilities that handle these chemicals will now be required to measure and share data on emissions from these six contaminants, measured at their parameters, so-called fence-line emissions. The EPA said it will monitor and share the data publicly on its site in order to incentivize plants to proactively find and fix any leaks that could cause public harm.<\/p>\n<p>Senior administration officials estimate that roughly 200 plants will be affected by the final rule, primarily concentrated in Louisiana, Texas, the Ohio River Valley, and the Upper South. <\/p>\n<p>The rule does <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/hazardous-air-pollutants-ethylene-oxide\/proposal-strengthen-standards-synthetic-organic-chemical#:~:text=On%20April%206%2C%202023%2C%20the,oxide%20(EtO)%20and%20chloroprene.\">extend the compliance time <\/a>for plants to meet fence-line emissions monitoring requirements, a change that\u00a0officials said was the result of \u201ctens of thousands of comments\u201d it\u00a0had received from stakeholders in response to its proposed rule and the time needed for\u00a0plants to make the changes.<\/p>\n<p>Officials maintained that the new rule delivers on the Biden administration\u2019s long-standing public health and environmental justice commitments, including the $60 billion fund created by the 2022 Democratic Inflation Reduction Act aimed at helping poorer towns and minorities combat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/energy-environment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pollution<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Biden officials also noted it delivers on cancer-fighting commitments under the \u201cCancer Moonshot\u201d initiative, first announced by then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>In announcing the actions, EPA Administrator Michael Regan recounted the trips he made in recent years to \u201cCancer Alley,\u201d the 85-mile stretch of industrial land in Louisiana that earned the nickname due to high air pollution rates from nearby petrochemical plants and a cancer rate at least 50 times as high as the national average. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNearly every person I spoke to [there] knew someone who suffered from an illness connected to pollution from the air they breathed,\u201d Regan recounted of his trips to the Louisiana parishes. \u201cI promised to listen to folks that were suffering from this pollution and take action as an agency to protect them. I\u00a0promised to prioritize the health and safety of this community and others\u2019 lives that have been historically overburdened by air pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday,\u201d Regan said, \u201cEPA is delivering on that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The EPA came under intense criticism in June 2022 after it abruptly dropped a more than 12-month federal investigation into possible Title VI violations in Louisiana, in particular whether state officials had discriminated against black residents in their oversight of industrial pollution levels in the state.<\/p>\n<p>Asked Monday about EPA\u2019s decision to drop the investigation, Regan told reporters that the new rule is unrelated to its Louisiana inquiry, an investigation that had emanated from complaints that the state had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The new rule will allow EPA to \u201censure we protect all of these communities\u201d threatened by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sacramento-man-run-over-and-killed-while-trying-to-steal-catalytic-converter\/\" title=\"Sacramento Man Run over and Killed While Trying to Steal Catalytic Converter\">toxic pollutants<\/a>, Regan said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot just those in Cancer Alley but communities in Texas and Puerto Rico and other areas that are threatened by these hazardous toxic pollutants,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Environmental Protection Agency issued a new rule targeting toxic air pollution from chemical and plastics facilities. The aim is to cut exposure to cancer-causing compounds like ethylene oxide and chloroprene. Plant owners get a bit more time to comply. EPA expects significant emission reductions once the rule takes effect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2650,"featured_media":2216308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23249091701499-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2216307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23249091701499-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2216307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2216308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2216307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2216307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2216307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}