Whitehouse, Schiff Introduce Bill to End Trump’s Corrupt Exemptions for Toxic Chemical Polluters

In unprecedented maneuver, President Trump exempted more than 180 facilities from toxic pollution control requirements meant to protect Americans from cancer and other severe health effects

Washington, D.C. – Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Adam Schiff (D-CA) today introduced the No Passes for Polluters Act, legislation to clarify congressional intent in exempting toxic polluters from regulation under the Clean Air Act. 

“The Trump administration’s corrupt polluter industry bosses will abuse every loophole available to pollute for free, damn the health consequences for Americans.  Our No Passes for Polluters Act will rein in Trump’s abuse of toxic chemical control exemptions to ensure this process is not used for corrupt giveaways to the fossil fuel industry,” said Whitehouse.

“President Trump’s EPA is allowing industrial polluters to apply for exemptions to the Clean Air Act’s limits on toxic emissions.  Trump is the first president to implement such a giveaway to the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our health.  Our legislation will stop the administration from giving out free passes to polluters so we can keep our air breathable,” said Schiff.

Under section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act, the President may unilaterally exempt any stationary source from toxic pollution standards “if the President determines that the technology to implement such standard is not available and that it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so.”  Toxic pollutants are known to cause cancer and other particularly severe health effects.  No president before President Trump had ever used this exemption.

Shortly after taking office, President Trump’s EPA established an “inbox from hell” to solicit and grant exemptions.  Drawing on these requests, and making no attempt to show that the requisite control technology was “not available” or that any national security interests were at stake, President Trump unilaterally and unlawfully exempted nearly one-third of all coal-fired power plants, nearly one-quarter of chemical manufacturers, almost half of all commercial medical sterilizers, one of two U.S. copper smelters, and the entire coke ovens industry from standards for toxic pollutants including mercury, ethylene oxide, benzene, and acid gas. 

The No Passes for Polluters Act would restrict a President’s ability to unilaterally exempt polluters from Clean Air Act regulations.  The legislation would strike section 112(i)(4) from the Clean Air Act and ensure other sections that could be abused by a corrupt executive branch – namely sections 118(b), 248(e), and 604(f) – are only used in cases of true emergency.  The bill sets up a process wherein the President must seek and obtain a two thirds approval vote from Congress before using these three exemptions.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund Action, Earthjustice Action, and Sierra Club endorsed the legislation.

“The Trump administration is illegally giving the nation's most hazardous industries a free pass to spew toxic pollution.  In a matter of months, the most dangerous facilities in states across the country have been freed to put communities at risk of premature death, respiratory illness, and lifelong harm to children.  These exemptions are part of a broader pattern of sidestepping Congress and federal agencies and shutting communities out of decisions that affect their health. Congress must act to adapt the law to a presidency acting so consistently and fundamentally lawlessly, and the ‘No Passes for Polluters Act’ presents a way to do just that,” said Sam Goodstein, Managing Director of Federal Affairs, NRDC

“President Trump’s unlawful free passes to pollute have allowed 180 large industrial polluters around the country to avoid Clean Air Act protections for some of the most dangerous pollutants known to science, including mercury, lead and arsenic – putting the health of millions of Americans at risk.  No other administration has so brazenly flouted the Clean Air Act.  The No Passes for Polluters Act is vital to protect the health of every American from the Trump administration’s unlawful waivers for industrial polluters,” said Joanna Slaney, Vice President for Political and Government Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund.

“President Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin handed corporations a free pass to pollute, and families living near toxic industrial facilities are the ones paying the price with their health. We're grateful to Senators Whitehouse and Schiff for fighting to ensure people are protected and able to breathe clean, safe air,” said Liz Ruben, Senior Legislative Representative, Earthjustice Action.

“The Trump-Zeldin EPA has bent over backward to cater to the needs of fossil fuel companies and corporate polluters, all at the expense of the health of our people and our communities.  Their polluter-first agenda to skirt the Clean Air Act has made the air we breathe and water we drink less safe, leaving the American people with little to show for it but higher costs and increased risk of asthma, heart and lung disease, and cancer.  We thank Senators Whitehouse and Schiff for working to rein in this abuse,” said Patrick Drupp, Director of Climate Policy, Sierra Club.

The text of the legislation can be found here.