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Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, or TEJAS, has advocated for decades for stronger chemical regulations like this one. “We remember family, friends, and neighbors who we lost as a result of health-related issues because of highly hazardous air pollutants, including carcinogens like ethylene oxide and 1,3-butadiene,” TEJAS representative Deyadira Arellano told EHN. “We owe it to our loved ones to act on environmental justice and call for enhanced inspections and enforcement at facilities that repeatedly violate emissions rules.”

Nalleli Hidalgo, a community outreach liaison with Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, attended the signing last week, after meeting with Regan on his listening tour. She told ProPublica she was overwhelmed by the people missing from the room who were not alive to witness this achievement. “We have lost too many loved ones as a result of bureaucratic inertia,” she said, noting that the EPA has long been required by law to update its risk standards for these chemicals. “Our communities should not have to wait one more day for fence line monitoring to take effect.” For years, Texans like Hidalgo, living near chemical plants, have asked the agency to measure what they’re breathing in.

Today, following years of advocacy from environmental justice organizations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule to significantly reduce emissions of toxic air pollution from an estimated 200 chemical plants, in an effort to reduce elevated cancer risks experienced by fenceline communities. "It has taken nearly a whole generation of hard work to arrive in DC to make this announcement,” said Nalleli Hidalgo, Education Liaison with Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (tejas), who introduced EPA Administer Michael Regan at today’s White House signing event. “As we take this moment in, we remember that we are not here as individuals but as a community standing in solidarity as we witness a key moment in rulemaking to reduce the daily harm our communities face, especially frontline communities that live directly across from HON facilities.”

The rule addresses a critical vulnerability in the protection of the country's waterways and communities. Thousands of facilities that manufacture, use and store some of the most dangerous chemicals brush up against waterways or are in flood-prone areas. The new policy comes after numerous disasters affecting drinking water supplies, wildlife habitats, and environmental justice communities that experience the brunt of extreme weather supercharged by climate change.  “We are thankful that this administration is finally taking long overdue action to protect workers and communities against chemical disasters. Communities of color and the poor, who are experiencing the worst of the climate crisis, are also on the front lines of the fight against policies that permit billions of pounds of pollution and concentrate the most dangerous industries in our communities” said Michele Roberts, National Co-Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA). “While we’re glad to see this rule taking steps in the right direction, we will continue to call on EPA to truly prevent disasters by transitioning away from inherently dangerous chemicals and processes as outlined in the Louisville Charter for Safer Chemicals.” 

On March 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published updates to its Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule with stricter regulations for chemical accident prevention. The new rule is a result of listening sessions by the EPA in which industry, advocates, scientists and fenceline residents voiced their concerns. According to the new rule, facilities handling hazardous materials must consider safer technologies and practices, and the possibility of events caused by climate change in their emergency management plans. When a chemical incident occurs, the facility will have to undergo third-party testing to find the root cause and what could have prevented it. Any disconnection or disabling of air monitors in an emergency would be in violation of this rule and must be reported to the EPA. As a result, backup power options must be explored to prevent lack of emissions readings in events that result in the loss of power. To read a version of this story in Spanish click here. Haz clic aquí para leer este reportaje en español.