EPA limits carcinogenic emissions at 218 US plants
The new rule aims to reduce cancer-causing air pollution in areas like Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley'


What happened
The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule Tuesday that will require 218 chemical plants to reduce toxic and carcinogenic airborne pollutants, aiming to reduce the number of people with elevated cancer risk by 96% nationwide. The rule targets ethylene oxide, used for sterilizing medical devices, and chloroprene, used to make rubber in footwear, plus four other chemicals. More than half the affected plants are in Texas and Louisiana, including a strip of factories and adjacent communities known as Cancer Alley.
Who said what
These "strong final standards" will "slash pollution, reduce cancer risk and ensure cleaner air for nearby communities," said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
The commentary
The new regulations, based on "deeply flawed" methodology, "threaten to affect the production of chemistries that are needed for countless everyday products" and "key industries," said Tom Flanagin, spokesperson for the American Chemistry Council. For the families living near these plants, "in a very real sense this is about life and death," said Earthjustice's Patrice Simms.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
The rule will take effect soon after it is published in the federal register.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Frauds: ‘fantastically stylish’ crime heist caper is a ‘triumph’
The Week Recommends Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker play a pair of ex-cons planning one last job
-
The struggles of Aston Martin
In the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rights
The Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Renewables top coal as Trump seeks reversal
Speed Read For the first time, renewable energy sources generated more power than coal, said a new report
-
China vows first emissions cut, sidelining US
Speed Read The US, the world’s No. 2 emitter, did not attend the New York summit
-
Endangered shark meat is being mislabeled and sold in the US
Under the radar It could cause both health and ecological problems
-
At least 800 dead in Afghanistan earthquake
speed read A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan
-
How 'freakosystems' are becoming the norm
The explainer Ecosystems are changing permanently
-
Blue whales have gone silent and it's posing troubling questions
Under the radar Warming oceans are the answer
-
Why is the world so divided over plastics?
Today's Big Question UN negotiations on first global plastic treaty are at stake, as fossil fuel companies, petrostates and plastic industry work to resist a legal cap on production
-
Tuvalu is being lost to climate change. Other countries will likely follow.
Under the Radar Sea level rise is putting islands underwater