Last year, the EPA issued a rule aimed at reducing cancer-causing emissions from 218 chemical plants around the U.S. On July 17, however, Donald Trump exempted 49 of those plants—including the biggest emitters of two potent carcinogens—from complying until 2028. In the meantime, the Trump EPA says it will reconsider the so-called HON rule and all other emissions standards issued under Biden.
PHW environmental data reporter Shelby Jouppi explains what this regulatory disruption could mean for public health.
Key Facts:
- Twenty-six percent of adults living near urban and suburban HON plants struggle to obtain adequate food, compared with 14 percent nationally.
- About 1.4 million people live within two miles of chemical plants subject to the HON rule. This population is disproportionately Black and Hispanic or Latino and has a poverty rate almost double the national rate.
- HON facilities contribute the majority of emissions nationwide for five carcinogens and 49 other hazardous air pollutants.
