Trump admin aims to roll back limits on deadly air pollution

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is vying to roll back Biden-era limits on one of the most widespread deadly air pollutants, asking a court to vacate the standard.

The Environmental Protection Agency in 2024 had strengthened limits on fine particulate matter, including soot, which can lead to health problems including strokes, heart attacks and asthma attacks.

But on Monday the EPA, now under Trump leadership, filed a motion moving to drop defense of the rule in a DC appeals court, saying that Joe Biden's White House had failed to follow necessary procedures to institute it.

The EPA under former president Biden had said the stronger standard would "undoubtedly save lives." Exposure to the particles disproportionately impacts US communities of color.

Industry petitioners and a coalition of states sued Biden's EPA over the matter, saying the new standards would burden manufacturers and that compliance was too expensive.

Now the Trump administration has taken their side, triggering anger from environmental groups and public health advocates.

"Walking away from these clean air standards doesn't power anything but disease," said Patrice Simms of the organization Earthjustice.

"Trump has made it clear that his agenda is all about saving corporations money, and this administration’s EPA has nothing to do with protecting people's health, saving lives, or serving children, families, or communities."

Hayden Hashimoto, an attorney at Clean Air Task Force, meanwhile said "the public health and economic benefits of the current standard are tangible."

The EPA in 2024 had predicted that strengthening standards could mean public health savings -- including from avoided lost workdays and less hospital visits -- as high as $46 billion in 2032.

The Trump-era EPA proposed in its filing that standards revert to the 2020 level set in the president's first term.

The EPA is required to analyze fine-particle pollution standards every five years.