November, 20 2019, 11:00pm EDT
Trump EPA Tries Again to Kill Chemical Disaster Prevention Rules
After earlier court victory, communities in danger zones outraged by EPA’s latest attack on public safety.
WASHINGTON
Today, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency released a final rule overturning major parts of the Chemical Disaster Rule, a suite of disaster prevention measures developed by EPA in the wake of several explosions and major chemical releases during the Bush and Obama years. Advocates across the country have been fighting for years to obtain these protections, which are now being eliminated despite mounting evidence of the danger to communities from chemical disasters.
EPA put the Chemical Disaster Rule in place to strengthen chemical plants' prevention and preparedness requirements for explosions and other catastrophes, order better and more frequent coordination with first responders, and bolster community access to information about the chemical hazards they live next to. When developing the rule, EPA determined that prior protections failed to prevent over 2,200 chemical fires, explosions, leaks, and similar incidents during a 10-year period, including about 150 per year that caused injuries. EPA also said Chemical Disaster Rule's protections are needed to save the lives of workers, first-responders, and fence line community residents.
"This administration is gutting the few protections we have against chemical explosions and other toxic disasters, just to appease chemical companies who only worry about their own profit," said the team of 13 groups that successfully vacated the delay of that rule after Trump's EPA's first attack, when EPA tried to prevent the rule from taking effect. "Yet for the millions of families and children who live by chemical facilities, this is not about money, it's about surviving chemical disasters. Lives depend on this rule."
Nearly 180 million Americans live in the worst-case scenario zones for a chemical disaster. At least one in three children go to a school near a hazardous chemical facility. About 12,300 industrial facilities nationwide use, store, or manage highly hazardous chemicals that the Chemical Disaster Rule covers.
"There is no excuse for exposing families and children to preventable chemical disasters," said Earthjustice attorney Emma Cheuse. "We will continue working with people in the most affected communities to defend public safety and to oppose Trump's dangerous rollback of the Chemical Disaster Rule."
EPA's new attack on the Chemical Disaster Rule comes some two years after EPA illegally suspended the rule to try to prevent it from taking effect. Following a lawsuit in which Earthjustice represented communities from around the country affected by chemical disasters, a federal court reinstated the rule and said EPA's suspension made "a mockery of the statute." EPA did not appeal that ruling. During the unlawful suspension of protections, public reports showed at least 73 chemical releases, fires, and explosions occurred at facilities that would have been covered by the rule.
More than 2,291 chemical fires, explosions, or toxic releases occurred from 2004 to 2013, causing deaths and injuries and also forcing some half a million fence line communities, and first responders to suffer toxic exposure or shelter-in-place. By early 2016, facilities had reported an additional 458 releases to EPA, though the agency expected those numbers to increase as more reports came in.
To learn more about what happened when the rule was illegally suspended click here.
This week, members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to the EPA concerning the agency's plans to undermine the Chemical Disaster Rule. Read more here.
Quotes from our partners:
"Fence line communities continue to suffer the extraordinary risks brought on by big industrial facilities and all too frequent chemical accidents," said Dr. Andrew Rosenberg, Director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "This rule adds insult to injury by refusing to address the need to reduce disaster risks and consider community needs. That is completely unacceptable."
"The EPA just took a giant step backwards in providing protection from catastrophic chemical accidents and leaks," said Dr. Brian Moench, President of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. "The lives and health of literally millions of Americans will now be at greater risk because of this action. It is an indefensible give away to the petrochemical industry."
"Dozens of Texas communities will be placed in harm's way with this Chemical Disaster Rollback Rule," stated Neil Carman, the Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club's clean air program director.
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
800-584-6460LATEST NEWS
Fearing Mass Job Loss, Working-Class US Voters Believe Government Must Act to Prevent Economic Disaster
The findings of a new poll could bolster the case made by many progressive politicians about the need to vigorously regulate the AI industry.
Jun 23, 2026
A poll commissioned by Working Families Power reveals deep anxiety among US workers about the impacts of artificial intelligence, as well as support for the government intervening to prevent potential mass unemployment.
The survey of just over 2,500 working-class American voters, conducted by Justice Research Group, finds that 73% said they were worried that AI would lead to job losses in the US, while 62% said they were concerned that AI would personally affect them or people close to them.
Workers expect that AI will negatively impact a broad number of industries, with majorities saying it will hurt truckers and delivery drivers; retail and service workers; writers, designers, and other creative workers; and office and administrative workers, according to the poll. Pluralities, meanwhile, expect AI to hurt teachers, education workers, and healthcare support workers.
With so many workers fearing massive jobs losses due to AI, they also support major government interventions to alleviate the harms caused by the technology.
Overall, 84% of those surveyed support free training or education for all workers displaced by AI, while 79% support rules to force companies to share AI productivity gains with their workers in the former of higher pay, stronger benefits, and shorter hours.
Even the least popular policy idea presented in the poll—taxing large companies that replace workers with AI and using the money to create a worker unemployment fund—received 69% support among US workers.
The poll's findings could bolster the case made by many progressive politicians about the need to vigorously regulate the AI industry to prevent it from hurting working-class Americans.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) earlier this year introduced a bill that would impose a nationwide moratorium on AI data center construction “until strong national safeguards are in place to protect workers, consumers, and communities, defend privacy and civil rights, and ensure these technologies do not harm our environment."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) last month proposed a tax on the use of AI to pay for jobs programs for affected workers.
Keep ReadingShow Less
More Than 5 Million People Have Lost Health Coverage Under Trump-GOP Law
According to a new report, the crisis is "only going to get worse."
Jun 23, 2026
Not even a year after President Donald Trump signed the largest healthcare cuts in US history into law, around five million Americans have lost insurance coverage, according to a report out Monday from Protect Our Care, which predicted that the crisis was "only going to get worse."
The massive budget and tax legislation passed by Republicans last July, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, slashed nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) over the next decade while introducing tax breaks that are expected to hand an additional $1 trillion to the richest 1% of Americans.
“Five million and counting. That’s the human toll of the spiraling Republican healthcare affordability crisis,” said Protect Our Care president Brad Woodhouse. “Just one year after Trump and congressional Republicans made the largest cuts to healthcare in history to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations on Wall Street, millions have lost the care they depended on to stay alive and healthy."
Citing the most recent data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and state agencies, the report found that the number of Americans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP had fallen to just 76.9 million, down from 80.8 million a year before—a decline of more than 3.8 million people.
Another 1.2 million are also estimated to have lost coverage due to the massive spike in premiums after Republicans voted not to renew tax credits for consumers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that lowered costs for Americans who purchased coverage through ACA marketplaces.
During open enrollment in 2025, 24.3 million Americans selected insurance plans through the ACA. This year, as the average premium was projected to more than double on average, the number of Americans enrolled through the ACA fell to just 23.1 million—a drop of nearly 1.2 million.
The millions of other families still enrolled in insurance through the ACA exchanges saw an average increase of $780, and according to KFF, it's only been that low because many families have opted to switch to cheaper, less comprehensive plans.
The loss of insurance coverage "is only a small piece of the puzzle," Woodhouse said.
"Millions more are making impossible choices every day to keep their coverage, including skipping rent or cutting back on groceries so they can see a doctor," he said. "Their pain and suffering are incalculable."
The report said the coverage losses over the first year are "just the beginning" and that "millions more will lose coverage once deeper cuts go into effect."
The full slate of changes to Medicaid from the GOP bill has not yet been enacted. Next year, many adult recipients will be required to submit proof that they are doing at least 80 hours of work or other qualifying activity each month in order to maintain benefits, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated could increase the uninsured population by 5.3 million by 2034.
Another paperwork hurdle, the requirement that certain Medicaid expansion enrollees prove their eligibility every six months, is expected to result in another 700,000 people becoming uninsured by 2034.
In total, CBO analyses estimate that over the next decade, roughly 15 million Americans would lose their insurance coverage as a result of the legislation.
"These are our neighbors, our friends, our loved ones. These are small business owners and farmers. These are seniors. Veterans. Moms," Woodhouse said. "These are millions of working people now scrambling to find insulin pumps, taking thousands out of retirement just to see a doctor for that cough that’s not getting better, or, worse, not getting care at all."
With healthcare costs now a top concern among voters—66% of whom said they were worried about affording it, according to a KFF poll in January—cuts to healthcare spending appear to be a glaring liability for Republicans entering the midterm elections.
Another KFF poll from April found that 37% of voters said they trusted Democrats to address healthcare costs, while just 26% said they trusted Republicans. Meanwhile, 67% of voters said they disapproved of the Trump administration's handling of healthcare costs.
"Every single day, the affordability crisis mounts, and more Americans will find themselves joining the five million struggling to keep up with skyrocketing healthcare costs," Woodhouse said. "The American people won’t forget this betrayal in November.”
Democrats have seized on Monday's report as part of their election pitch, including Rep. Greg Landsman, who faces a competitive reelection fight in Ohio's 1st Congressional District.
He wrote on social media Tuesday that Republicans "cut healthcare by nearly a trillion to pay for tax cuts for the super wealthy... five million people no longer have healthcare."
"The healthcare crisis in America is dominating the lives of millions, and will soon dominate all of our lives," he said. "We need a new Congress to restore people’s healthcare and to end this crisis. There is no other way."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Trump DOJ's Use of Subpoenas Against Journalists Is 'Straight Out of the Dictator's Playbook': Press Freedom Group
"The potential of the government intruding into the newsgathering process is even greater when you are in the grand jury than it is for a subpoena for documents," said one press freedom advocate.
Jun 23, 2026
The US Department of Justice's attempt to compel journalists to testify before a grand jury is drawing blowback from a top press freedom group, which is accusing President Donald Trump's administration of behaving like an authoritarian regime.
According to a Tuesday report in The New York Times, the DOJ earlier this month issued subpoenas for national security reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal related to national security leaks.
Subpoenas against both news organizations were withdrawn after they issued legal challenges in sealed filings.
"The Justice Department had sought information from three reporters at The Journal about an article detailing how top officials warned... Trump of the risks of a major military campaign against Iran," reported the Times. "It also sought information from a reporter at The Post, Ellen Nakashima, about reporting related to US military action in Venezuela."
As the Times noted, it is highly uncommon for government investigators to subpoena journalists when they are probing national security leaks, as such actions are generally seen as having a chilling effect on reporters' ability to gather information.
After the details of the subpoenas and news of their withdrawal broke, Reporters Without Borders slammed the Trump DOJ for hitting a "new low" in its attempt to "suppress information from the American people."
"Subpoenaing journalists to appear before a grand jury under the guise of ‘national security’ is straight out of the dictator's playbook," the group said. "Fortunately, in the United States, newsrooms are fighting back and winning."
A Tuesday CNN report claimed that Trump had personally pushed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to subpoena the journalists, going so far as to hand Blanche "a sticky note—with the word 'Treason' written in Sharpie—placed atop a stack of printed articles."
CNN also reported that both the Post and the Journal "remain on guard against the possibility that the subpoenas will be reissued in the future."
A spokesperson for the Post ripped the Trump DOJ for issuing "an unwarranted subpoena of our reporter," which the newspaper described as "a clear violation of constitutionally guaranteed press freedom."
"We will continue to stand fully behind the journalism of The Washington Post," the spokesperson added, "and fight all efforts by any administration that violate our First Amendment rights."
Gabe Rottman, vice president of policy at Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said in an interview with the Post that issuing grand jury subpoenas to reporters puts core First Amendment rights at risk because "once you are up in front of the grand jury, the testimony can go in many different ways and can inquire into stories that are unrelated to the underlying investigation."
"The potential of the government intruding into the newsgathering process is even greater when you are in the grand jury than it is for a subpoena for documents," Rottman added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular