EPA’s final rule further cements Trump administration’s clear violation of the Agency’s mission and obligation under the law by putting polluter profits over human lives
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2026
Contact: Ashley Sullivan, ashley.sulivan@weact.org, 1 (917) 837-1183
WASHINGTON – Environmental justice groups in the Clean Air for the Long Haul coalition condemn the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final rule, which set weak emission limits on nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired stationary combustion turbines at power plants and other industrial facilities. Despite our public comments, the final rule released last week is 90% less stringent than the 2024 proposal.
The final rule unjustifiably adopts weaker NOx limits for certain gas turbines, disregarding the emissions reductions that modern pollution-control technologies can readily achieve. Furthermore, the EPA failed to assess the health benefits from reduced NOx pollution. Instead, the agency estimates only cost savings to industry ($87 million over 8 years) whereas the proposed rule would have cut 2,659 tons of pollution and would have provided benefits, including for public health, of up to $340 million. This decision will continue to disproportionately harm Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities living near power plants from NOx pollution, leading to increasing amounts of asthma, bronchitis, respiratory illness, and premature death.
Clean Air for the Long Haul issued the following joint statement:
“Our communities have the right to clean air and healthy lives under the law. This is a clear violation of the mission of the EPA and a giveaway to polluting power plant owners who will receive almost $90 million from this action, forcing communities to front the bill with their health and lives. While the Agency has intentionally abdicated its responsibilities, announcing that it will also no longer consider lives saved when setting rules on air pollution, our communities continue to bear the burden of NOx pollution.
Facilities located within environmental justice communities emit nearly 30% more NOx emissions than the national average, causing respiratory and cardiovascular illness, reduced fertility, increased preterm births, developmental harms, and premature death. We refuse to accept the repeated actions of this administration’s EPA to put polluters first. We will continue to prove that human life has intrinsic value and is more important than corporate greed, organizing and raising our voices until clean air and justice are achieved for all communities.”
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Clean Air For The Long Haul is a nationwide coalition of environmental justice groups working together to win major federal emissions reductions in the power and transportation sectors. Coalition member organizations include: Alternatives for Community and Environment, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Duwamish River Community Coalition, GreenDoor Initiative, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, South Bronx Unite, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, West End Revitalization Association, and Wisconsin Green Muslims.