Petrochemical Lobbyists Email Trump EPA Administrator Zeldin, Ask to Exempt “All Sources” from Limits on Toxic Pollution

(Washington, D.C. – April 4, 2025) Lobbyists for the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) – trade associations for some of the largest industrial polluters in the U.S. – are asking Trump EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to provide a two-year compliance exemption for “all sources” required to meet national limits on hazardous pollution.

“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 industry request is in response to a recently launched Trump EPA website offering to help industrial sources emit hazardous air pollution instead of complying with existing clean air standards. The EPA website encourages the “regulated community” to apply for special Presidential exemptions to safeguards that keep toxic and hazardous pollution out of the air we breathe. The site has step-by-step instructions on how to apply for the exemptions and a deadline of March 31^st.

The ACC and AFPM lobbyists’ letter to EPA concludes: “ACC and AFPM appreciate this opportunity to request a two-year compliance extension for all sources subject to the HON Rule.” The story was first reported in Politico Pro last night. 

EPA adopted limits on toxic pollution in 2024 to protect people from “air toxics-related cancer risks in communities near chemical plants … including people of color and children.” EPA found that the final rule was expected to “benefit children,” explaining that “[c]hildren are growing, and some chemicals are more likely to harm them.” (see the EPA PowerPoint here).

The clean air standards in question address some of the most toxic contaminants, including chloroprene and ethylene oxide – pollutants linked to increased risk of cancer. The ACC and AFPM lobbyists’ letter claims that there is no meaningful action that any source can take to meet EPA’s 2024 standards, which include fenceline monitoring of poisons such as benzene to protect families that live near these facilities, undertaking real-time sampling of pollution when action levels are exceeded, or improving the basic efficiency of flares (all common solutions).

When EPA adopted these national pollution limits in 2024 it addressed the vital health benefits and provided public maps of the more than 200 industrial facilities regulated (available in the PowerPoint presentation). EDF has just released a new map that takes a closer look at the serious health risks from petrochemical pollution.

Historically, the use of special Presidential exemptions to EPA protections are rare, made transparent through a public decision-making process, and issued after careful source-by-source consideration that exigent statutory criteria are met – which are both that necessary technology is not available and that there is a national security threat as a result. 

EDF has filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for all records related to the website, including which entities are requesting the exemptions and any records related to Administrator Zeldin’s reckless invitation to industrial emitters of toxic pollution. EDF will go to court to obtain these records if necessary and will make them public.