Trump exempts 202 facilities from clean-air rules, NYT finds
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The gist
Trump has exempted 202 facilities in 39 states and Puerto Rico from clean-air rules, per a New York Times investigation.
About 3.3 million people live within three miles of at least one affected facility.
Background
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has used exemptions to excuse industrial facilities from Clean Air Act hazardous air pollution standards that the Environmental Protection Agency adopted during the Biden administration. The rules came about because the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to periodically study the latest pollution controls and impose them if they are affordable and effective. The New York Times reported the scale of the waivers on Oct 24, 2026, based on more than 10,000 pages of government documents and more than 70 interviews, describing the exemptions as the biggest presidential intervention in enforcement of the Clean Air Act in the half-century since President Richard M. Nixon signed the law.
How it unfolded
- 2024Chemical manufacturers, steel-making plants and facilities that sterilize medical devices were required to take steps to reduce toxic emissions under new EPA rules adopted during the Biden administration.
- 2025Trump granted two-year exemptions from Clean Air Act hazardous air pollution standards to coal plants, coke ovens and chemical manufacturers, invoking a national security-based provision in the law for the first time.
- recentlyThe Trump administration announced companies could get around new clean-air rules simply by emailing the Environmental Protection Agency.
- recentlySince taking office again, Trump exempted 202 facilities in 39 states and Puerto Rico from clean-air regulations that were going into effect.
- recentlyThe owners of an industrial warehouse on the outskirts of Richmond, Va., emailed the administration asking for a waiver; it was granted, and nine months later the facility accidentally released a large plume of carcinogenic gas into the community.
- Oct 24, 2026The New York Times published its investigation, based on more than 10,000 pages of government documents and more than 70 interviews.
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- The New York Times investigation says the exemptions represent the biggest presidential intervention in enforcement of the Clean Air Act in the half-century since Nixon signed the law, and that Trump has gone further than any president in dismantling environmental regulations, resulting in dirtier air and water.