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On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule that will require chemical plants to reduce their emissions of cancer-causing chemicals. As a result, the number of people with elevated cancer risk is expected to decrease by 96 percent. The rule will bring long-overdue environmental justice to low-income and minority communities that are disproportionately located near such plants.
The rule will apply to about 200 chemical plants, specifically targeting ethylene oxide, which is used to sterilize medical devices, and chloroprene, which is used to make rubber. To comply with the new regulations, chemical manufacturers will need to monitor emissions near the fence lines of their operations and plug any leaks of chemicals from vents and storage tanks.
The final rule advances President Joe Biden’s commitment to environmental justice, but there is more work to be done. To bolster President Biden’s conservation legacy, other proposed rules still need to be finalized, like the Bureau of Land Management's proposed Oil and Gas Rule, which would implement much-needed updates to the oil and gas leasing system, and the Public Lands Rule, which would put conservation on equal footing with other uses of public land, including drilling, mining, grazing, and recreation. These rules need to be finalized in the coming weeks in order to protect them from potential repeal under the Congressional Review Act.
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We cannot have a healthy society without a healthy environment.”
