Trump exempted some of the nation’s biggest polluters from air quality rules. All it took was an email.

In March 2025, President Donald Trump’s administration offered exemptions from key Clean Air Act provisions to major polluters, including coal plants, chemical factories, and refineries, requiring only an email request. Over 3,000 pages of emails obtained by ProPublica revealed that 180+ facilities in 38 states and Puerto Rico received two-year reprieves, affecting 250,000 people living within a mile of these sites. The process bypassed EPA scientists and relied on an unused Clean Air Act provision. Richard Shaffer of Scrubgrass Reclamation requested an exemption for a Pennsylvania coal plant, citing national security, while Citgo Petroleum sought relief for refineries in Illinois, Louisiana, and Texas. Sterigenics asked for exemptions for nine ethylene oxide-emitting facilities near cities like Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where over 45,000 residents—mostly non-white—live nearby. Approvals were granted via presidential proclamations without public input. The EPA had previously deemed the rules critical for health protections, yet exemptions were issued without review. Companies like Citgo later agreed to install pollution controls to resolve past violations, but the exemptions still allowed delays in compliance. The White House cited authority under Clean Air Act Section 112, a provision never before used. Coal plants and medical sterilizers made up most exempted facilities, raising concerns about weakened environmental safeguards. The Environmental Defense Fund estimated that 70+ of these sites had faced prior enforcement actions, further highlighting the policy’s impact on public health.