In the United States, low income Black and Brown communities are already more likely to suffer the impacts from permitted pollution from petroleum facilities and other polluting industries. In addition to these known and well documented disparities, regulators have allowed for even more pollution to be released onto these overburdened communities through regulatory loopholes in the Clean Air Act known as Startup, Shutdown, Malfunction, (SSM) leaving communities exposed to dangerous levels of toxic air pollution from multiple sources. Sierra Club and partners are working to ensure EPA implements strong rule-making that eliminates SSM loopholes and prioritizes the most impacted people by upholding equal protection laws. Dozens of community and environmental groups have called on President Biden to close SSM loopholes and end free passes to pollute.
EPA allows facilities like power plants and factories to emit as much pollution as they like during periods of Start-up, Shutdown, and Malfunctions. The amount of pollution emitted during so-called “SSM events” can be 100s to 1000s of times higher than normal operations.
Did you know that there are deadly loopholes in the EPA and state Clean Air Act rules? The Startup, Shutdown, and Malfunction loopholes allow polluters to ignore their permitted emission limitations -- and of course they take advantage of this! The consequences are even more deadly air pollution dumped on communities near plants and factories -- who already suffer the greatest burden from these poisons. It's time to close the loopholes! The Sierra Club has partnered with Earthjustice and community activists to create a video to shed light on this issue, and galvanize action to close the SSM loopholes.
La Agencia Federal de Protección Ambiental (EPA) anunció una propuesta para reducir las emisiones de camiones pesados, una fuente significativa de contaminación del aire que impacta desproporcionadamente a latinos y otras comunidades de color.
El Washington Post informa hoy que la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA) y el Consejo de Calidad Ambiental de la Casa Blanca enviaron hoy cartas al Servicio Postal urgiendo a la agencia a que reconsidere sus planes de comprar un 90% de vehículos de combustión interna en su próxima adquisición.
La Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA) anunció hoy una propuesta para revertir la decisión de la administración Trump de eliminar resultados “apropiados y necesarios” para regular el mercurio y otros compuestos peligrosos procedentes de las plantas térmicas de carbón.
La Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA) anunció hoy su regla final de estándares de limpieza de vehículos, la cual reducirá las emisiones del sector transporte y protegerá la salud pública y el clima reforzando el rigor de emisiones a partir de vehículos de 2023 a 2026.
EL PASO, TX -- Late last week, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its ozone designation of El Paso, Texas, to nonattainment, indicating that the region does not meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards for this dangerous air pollutant. The American Lung Association ranks El Paso 13th on its list of the most smog-polluted metropo
Un nuevo reporte emitido hoy reveló preocupantes niveles de los compuestos tóxicos PFAS (per- y polyfluoralkyl) en productos fertilizantes domésticos ampliamente usados en Estados Unidos.
More than Century-Old BP Whiting Refinery Released Deadly Microscopic Soot-Like Particles Above Permitted Limit Hammond, Ind. – A federal judge today ruled that the more than century-old BP Whiting Refinery on Lake Michigan, one of the nation’s largest refineries, repeatedly violated legal limits on deadly soot-like particulate air pollution.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Today, the California State Water Resources Control Board will host an annual workshop to update constituents on the Salton Sea Management Plan (SSMP), the state’s plan to address public health issues and build habitat at the sea. Groups working at the Salton Sea are calling on the state to improve the SSMP, especially in its efforts to engage communities and incorporate their input into projects at the Sea.
DETROIT -- Sierra Club and Environment Michigan, represented by the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and National Environmental Law Center, announced Wednesday that they have taken the first steps in a Clean Air Act lawsuit against AK Steel Dearborn Works, one of Michigan’s most notorious polluters.
El secretario del Interior en funciones, Scott de la Vega, rescindió una orden que eliminó efectivamente el programa de Asociación del Legado de Recreo en la Naturaleza (ORLP).