Following sharp criticism from health experts, watchdog groups, and residents concerned about exposure to toxic air, the Trump administration’s decision to delay implementation of pollution safeguards for the steel industry has reportedly been reversed.
What’s happening?
This past summer, the Environmental Protection Agency paused a rule that would have forced steel plants to monitor and reduce harmful emissions.
The original standards, issued in 2024 under the previous administration, required companies to track levels of benzene and to develop cleanup plans if pollution exceeded federal thresholds. Benzene is a known carcinogen emitted when coke ovens superheat coal for steel operations.
Industry groups, including the Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel, argued the rules were too costly and threatened jobs. But experts noted that cleaner production methods could cut costs over time while protecting public health.
In August, environmental groups Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project filed a lawsuit against the EPA on behalf of clean air advocates, arguing that a two-year delay in implementing the rule would violate standing regulations.
As of early October, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported, the EPA has reinstated the 2024 rule.
Why is this important?
“It is good news that the Trump EPA is abandoning its unlawful attempt to delay the compliance deadlines for recently updated air pollution control rules for steel industry coke ovens,” EIP attorney Haley Lewis said in a press release announcing the administration’s seeming about-face. “Communities living near these facilities waited many years for these rules to be finalized by EPA in 2024 and putting them into action now is vital for reducing hazardous air pollution and protecting people living near these plants.”
Steelmaking, especially at older coking plants that purify coal to fuel production, produces benzene, sulfur dioxide, and other dangerous pollutants linked to asthma, heart disease, cancer, and developmental concerns in children.
In Pittsburgh’s Mon Valley, nearly one in four children living near U.S. Steel facilities have asthma, area physician Deborah Gentile told NPR in September. That’s double to triple the expected rate, Gentile said.
Residents describe daily exposure as dirty and a threat to public health.
“You take a deep breath in Glassport and you smell hydrogen sulfide, you smell sulfur dioxide,” local Dave Meckel told the news outlet. His wife, Cindy, added, “Every day, we would have to go out and wipe off the tablecloth, and every day, the paper towel or the cloth was black.”
Air monitors outside Clairton Coke Works — a U.S. Steel facility located in Clairton, Pennsylvania, and already fined more than $10 million in EPA violations — recorded “a six-month average concentration of benzene in 2022-2023 … eight times higher than a key public health threshold,” according to EIP.
Experts have warned that without strong oversight, companies can continue profiting while locals pay the price in hospital visits, chronic illness, and premature deaths.
What’s next?
While clean air and health advocates celebrate the reimplementation of 2024 standards for emissions monitoring and reduction, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has reported that U.S. Steel “sought a presidential exemption from this rule in March,” with the company saying that the request was still pending as of October 6.
The newspaper also noted that while U.S. Steel says it is working “toward compliance with the regulations,” it is also considering other options.
“U.S. Steel is committed to working with the EPA and supports regulations that are well-grounded in law; and are based on sound science, available and proven technology, and that consider costs and other non-air quality impacts,” the company said, per the Post-Gazette. “Unfortunately, the 2024 coke rules do not meet these criteria, and we are evaluating next steps.”
Meanwhile, organizations like the Clean Air Task Force and Environmental Protection Network are ramping up efforts to defend federal air quality standards and encouraging companies to adopt safer technologies and energy. Some states and cities are also strengthening their own clean energy and pollution rules, underscoring that local action can help close the gaps left by federal rollbacks.
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