Map Can Be Filtered by User’s Address, County, and Congressional District
Contact: Qiyam Ansari, Western Pennsylvania Field Organizer, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, qiyam.ansari@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, DC — A coalition of health, community, and environmental groups yesterday, April 30, 2025, released a new map showing more than 500 facilities that emit toxic or hazardous air pollution and that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin invited to apply for Presidential exemptions from air pollution limits.
The map includes industrial sources – such as coal-fired power plants, chemical manufacturers, sterilizers, and other toxic-emitting facilities – covered by nine different air toxics standards that protect people from pollution that can cause brain damage in young children, cancer, and severe heart and lung disease. It includes publicly reported information about which facilities, or their representatives, have requested or been granted potential exemptions and will be updated as more information becomes available.
People using the map can input their home address to see which facilities are near them. They can also filter by facility type, Congressional District, or county, see which facilities are located near public schools, and click on links to contact the EPA. (Click here for the interactive map)
The map was produced by Environmental Defense Fund and Environmental Integrity Project and released along with allies at Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, California Communities Against Toxics, Clean Air Council, Clean Air Laredo Coalition, Concerned Citizens of St. John, Earthjustice, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Just Transition Northwest Indiana, Moms Clean Air Force, Rise St. James, Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center and Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services. The groups also recently released a list of the facilities that could potentially be exempted from pollution limits and health protections. You can read more about that and see the reaction from the groups here.
The groups have since updated that list with additional information on facilities or their representatives that have requested or received potential exemptions, and have created the map to make it easier for people to see the scope of the problem and get more information. (If you prefer to see the data in list form, it’s available here, including the data sources that were used in developing the map and underlying analysis.)
On March 24th, Administrator Zeldin launched a website inviting the 500-plus industrial sources to seek two-year extensions to their deadlines to comply with critical air toxics standards. The website encouraged the “regulated community” to apply for special Presidential exemptions from standards that protect people from toxic and hazardous air pollution and included step-by-step instructions on how to request one.
Then, on April 8th, President Trump issued a proclamation that stated he would exempt 68 coal-fired power plants from complying with one of the nine standards, the Mercury and Air Toxics update rule, with little public explanation.
News reports have revealed that the American Chemistry Council and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers submitted a request for a blanket two-year compliance exemption for more than 200 chemical manufacturing facilities from EPA’s HON Rule, which limits emissions of toxic pollutants, including ethylene oxide and chloroprene and requires fenceline monitoring for six priority chemicals of concern. However EPA has not made any other information public about what facilities have requested an exemption.
The Environmental Defense Fund filed a FOIA request for all records related to the website, and then filed a lawsuit on Friday after the EPA failed to produce those records or otherwise respond to the FOIA request by the legal deadline.
Qiyam Ansari of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter released the following statement:
Yesterday’s release of a nationwide map identifying over 500 industrial facilities that may be granted Presidential exemptions from toxic air pollution limits confirms our worst fears: the Trump administration is systematically dismantling public health protections for frontline communities. These exemptions are not about regulatory flexibility; they are a death sentence for communities like the Mon Valley. President Trump’s April 8th proclamation, paired with Administrator Zeldin’s March 24th invitation to polluters, lays bare the administration’s priorities: profits over people. The facilities in question, chemical manufacturers, coal plants, and sterilizers, are among the most dangerous emitters of carcinogens, neurotoxins, and respiratory hazards. That they now have a pathway to bypass air toxics standards is both morally indefensible and legally dubious.
Our region has lived with the consequences of industrial pollution for generations. Clairton, Liberty, Glassport, McKeesport, these are not dots on a map; they are communities where children develop asthma before they enter school, where families bury loved ones lost to cardiovascular disease and cancer at rates far exceeding national averages. Our health should not be negotiable. We call this what it is: environmental deregulation masquerading as emergency relief. These “exemptions” are being issued in secrecy, with no meaningful public participation and no clear ecological rationale.
We are particularly alarmed by reports that industry trade groups, such as the American Chemistry Council, are pushing for blanket exemptions. Communities of color, low-income residents, and legacy industrial towns will bear the brunt of the consequences. We stand with our partners in demanding complete transparency. We support EDF’s legal challenge and FOIA lawsuit. We urge residents to use the map, identify the facilities near their homes, and speak out. We urge Congress and the courts to act swiftly to halt this abuse of executive power.
This is not just regulatory rollback; it is a form of environmental authoritarianism. We will resist it with everything we have.
About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.