Two leading chemical industry groups have asked the Trump administration for blanket exemptions to certain Biden-era regulations for all polluters.
The American Chemistry Council and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers requested that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exempt all polluters from Biden-era rules that limit their emissions of toxic chemicals
.
Just because the trade and lobbying groups are requesting these exemptions, it does not necessarily mean President Trump will grant them.
However, their letter comes after the EPA administrator already indicated
that he plans to overhaul a large slate of Biden-era regulations, including those in the chemical groups’ request.
It also comes after the EPA set up an email address that created a simple porta
l for polluters to request presidential exemptions under the Clean Air Act late last month.
In the Friday letter, which was first reported by Politico Pro, the groups say their industry needs an exemption because without one, they will have to act as if the Biden rules are in place — even as the Trump administration is poised to curtail them.
“Absent a Presidential exemption, sources will be required to make irrevocable investment decisions now and into the coming months to minimize the amount of time facilities may need to be taken offline,” they wrote. “If implemented as written and in accordance with the current compliance schedule, domestic manufacturing production will be negatively impacted, threatening critical supply chains of chemicals that are vital to our nation’s security.”
Environmental groups criticized the EPA’s creation of the email address and the groups’ request.
“Administrator Zeldin has opened a back door for companies to avoid complying with reasonable limits on the most toxic forms of air pollution, and they’re rushing through it with no regard for the communities around them,” said Vickie Patton, general counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund.
“This is a huge blow to American families who now must worry about their loved ones breathing dirtier air, their kids missing more school days because of asthma attacks and suffering a lifetime of illness, and more cancer in their families,” she said.
Trump was poised to sign an executive order approving a deal that would have seen TikTok’s U.S. operations spun off into a new company, a source familiar with the negotiations told The Hill.
This would have allowed the popular social media app to continue operating in the U.S. in the face of a law requiring its China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a ban.
However, ByteDance representatives told the White House after Trump’s tariff announcement Wednesday that China would no longer approve the deal without negotiations on tariffs, according to the source.
It had been expected that China would approve a proposed deal that had been in the works for months until the tariffs were announced by Trump.
The White House has not publicly commented on the apparent backing out.
While speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Thursday, Trump used China and TikTok as an example of using tariffs to negotiate.
“We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say we’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs. The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have. I’ve used them very well in the first administration. Now we’re taking it to a whole new level,” Trump said.
When asked if these were talks he was having with China he said, “No I’m just using that as an example.”
President Trump said Friday that he plans to give TikTok another 75-day extension as his administration nears a deal to avert a ban on the popular social media platform. “My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” he wrote Friday on Truth Social. “The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive …
The Trump administration has fired the director of the National Security Agency as well as his deputy, prompting outrage from congressional Democrats. Director Gen. Timothy Haugh was ousted late Thursday along with his civilian deputy Wendy Noble, a decision that followed the firing of several other top national security staffers earlier that day. Haugh, who also leads the U.S. Cyber Command, has more than 30 years experience …
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will officially end its fact-checking program Monday, a top company official said. “By Monday afternoon, our fact-checking program in the US will be officially over,” Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, said in a post on social platform X. “That means no new fact checks and no fact checkers.” “In place of fact checks, the first Community Notes will start …
Welcome to Crypto Corner, a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is weighing in on stablecoins, as Congress makes progress on new legislation to establish a framework for the crypto token.
In a Friday statement, the SEC said it did not consider stablecoins to be securities, nor do they consider the acts of minting and selling them as securities-related activity that would need to be disclosed to the agency.
To be sure, the SEC said it views stablecoins as tokens designed to maintain a stable value when compared to the U.S. dollar that are readily redeemable and backed by a reserve — the common definition, but one that could exclude other types of crypto tokens.
But the statement laid the groundwork for an expansion of a stablecoin market that was hindered by regulatory uncertainty.
The House Financial Services Committee advanced this week a bill that would create a regulatory framework for stablecoins. If passed by the full House and Senate, it would become the most significant crypto law passed since the industry’s formation.
In Other News
Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
Why Trump’s tariffs are so bad for Big Tech
President Trump’s sweeping new slate of tariffs is poised to strike a blow at the tech industry, as massive import taxes on China and Taiwan disrupt trade flows that are central to tech firms’ business models. Trump announced tariffs upwards of 30 percent on both China and Taiwan on Wednesday as part of an expansive lineup of tariffs targeting imports across the board. Tech companies who depend extensively on …
Nationwide protests are set to take place Saturday in opposition to the Trump administration and its allies, with leaders vowing to stand up to push … Read more
President Trump on Thursday confirmed a reported purge of national security agencies this week, with firings of at least a half dozen officials in … Read more
