Trump administration moves to roll back limits on deadly soot pollution

Environmental groups have criticized the administration of US President Donald Trump’s decision to rescind stricter regulations on deadly soot pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a court motion to challenge the Trump administration’s latest attempt to weaken environmental standards after it submitted that former president Joe Biden’s administration had overstepped its bounds when they tightened air quality standards in 2024.

The tougher standard was introduced without the “rigorous, stepwise process” required by the 1963 Clean Air Act, according to lawyers for Trump’s EPA in a motion filed on Monday.

In response to numerous legal challenges from Republican-led states and business groups, the EPA initially defended the stricter standard before changing its course under Trump’s appointing director Lee Zeldin.

According to the EPA’s attorneys, the agency should “complete a thorough review of the underlying criteria and corresponding standards” before revising the cap, according to the filing’s filing.

Under the direction of Biden’s successor Michael S. Regan, the EPA significantly reduced acceptable soot levels from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9 micrograms per cubic meter.

By 2032, the agency predicted that the stricter standard would prevent 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, according to the organization’s earlier assertions.

Zeldin, a former Republican lawmaker, pledged to reverse dozens of environmental laws as part of what he termed the “largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States” when he took office earlier this year.

Lowering air quality standards, according to environmental lawyer Patrice Simms of the nonprofit organization Earthjustice, would be harmful to public health.

Trump has made it abundantly clear that his goal is to save money for corporations, and his administration’s EPA does not care about safeguarding people’s health, saving lives, or promoting children, families, or communities, according to Simms in a statement.

This life-saving standard will be upheld for good in the future.

The Sierra Club’s director of climate policy, Patrick Drupp, also criticized the EPA’s decision, calling it “reckless” and “a complete betrayal” of the organization’s purpose.