Trump Administration Moves to Redo Chemical Disasters Safety Protections, Putting Millions at Risk 

Today, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it will launch a rulemaking process after corporate lobbyists pressed the agency to dismantle safeguards against chemical disasters. This move targets nearly 12,000 chemical facilities operating under the Risk Management Program (RMP), and puts in the crosshairs safeguards to protect workers, first responders, and fenceline communities from chemical releases, fires, and explosions. 

In January, the American Chemistry Council, the American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a dozen other corporate groups urged EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to roll back the RMP Rule, citing costs — despite ongoing chemical disasters that have led to deaths, injuries, and mass evacuations. Set to take effect next year, the 2024 RMP Rule strengthened accountability by requiring hazardous facilities to implement better disaster prevention plans, involve workers in safety planning, increase community transparency, and prepare for extreme weather risks.  

“We’ve been here before, and the losers are always the families, workers, and first responders,” said Adam Kron, Earthjustice attorney. “Chemical explosions force entire neighborhoods to evacuate. First responders have died rushing into disasters they weren’t warned about. Workers have suffered burns, lung damage, and worse, all because companies cut corners to save money. The EPA should be implementing its chemical disaster safety, not rolling it back.” 

The data is clear: 

• 177 million Americans—over half the U.S. population—live in worst-case scenario zones of chemical disasters. 

• Every 2.5 days on average, a fatal or life-threatening chemical incident occurs at a chemical facility. 

• Over 19,000 people have been injured or face medical treatment, including 90 lives lost—and workers and first responders are hurt first, according to the best available data from 2004-2020.  

• Over $5 billion in damages have resulted from these disasters, placing an enormous burden on communities and state and local governments. 

Corporate interests are also pushing to cut off public access to health and safety data, and to remove the Risk Management Public Data Tool — even though under federal law the public has a right to know the chemicals handled in their vicinity. The Risk Management Public Data Tool provides basic information about RMP facilities, such as names of hazardous chemicals at a facility, as well as the facility’s accident history. RMP facilities include chemical plants, refineries, industrial agricultural facilities, and pulp and paper mills.  

This is the second time the Trump administration targets safeguards against chemical disasters. Any rollback of health and safety protections from chemical disasters will face legal challenges. In fact, communities, workers, and states previously won a case in the D.C. Circuit, which struck down the first unlawful attempts to delay chemical disaster rules. 

This EPA’s rulemaking process is expected to conclude by the end of next year. 

Represented by Earthjustice, the following community and health groups intervened in industry’s lawsuit challenging the 2024 RMP Rule: Air Alliance Houston, California Communities Against Toxics, Center for Environmental Health, Coalition for a Safe Environment (Wilmington, CA), Del Amo Action Committee, Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform, New Jersey Work Environment Council, Sierra Club, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. States and the United Steelworkers also joined the case. 

For data and maps on recent chemical disasters, visit the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters website. 

Quotes from our clients and partners

“We are apprehensive about the EPA’s decision to reopen the Risk Management Plan Rule, especially when life-saving provisions have yet to be fully implemented,” said Ana Parras, co-executive director of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services. “After years of advocacy and compromise, this rule was crafted to protect workers and communities by prioritizing public health. Reopening it now risks returning us to a time of secrecy and lack of transparency, jeopardizing worker safety and the health of communities like the East End of Houston.” 

“Communities who are being actively harmed by chemical disasters do not have time to waste lamenting what we knew would come. We are busy doing the work on the ground to prepare and protect our families from the disasters we know will continue to come, including those that the 2024 RMP Rule would’ve prevented if allowed to be fully implemented,” said Eboni Cochran, co-director of Rubbertown Emergency ACTion. “While we are in this period of crisis, there are two things we need to do: 1) we need to work with those who can push this administration as far as it will move toward justice and 2) we need to do the work that will yield us better policies once this administration is done wreaking its havoc.” 

“The EPA’s decision to roll back the Risk Management Program puts the health of workers and fenceline communities in grave danger,” said Darya Minovi, senior analyst with the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “By stripping away common-sense protections, including access to important information about the risks these facilities pose and the ability for workers to stop working in dangerous conditions, the Trump administration is unnecessarily putting nearly 200 million people in harm’s way. Protecting public health and safety, not appeasing industry polluters at the expense of people’s lives, should be the government’s priority.”   

“This new rule was a true beacon of hope for communities like Houston who live with the knowledge that chemical disasters aren’t an ‘if’ but a ‘when,” said Jennifer Hadayia, executive director of Air Alliance Houston. “In just the last year, there were two incidents of such magnitude that shelters in place were ordered and roadways were closed. Pipeline fires and hydrogen sulfide leaks should not be a way of life for any one, and no one should be a sacrifice zone for what is easier or cheaper for hazardous operators. We wish the new administration had not restarted this rulemaking process, which was already long overdue, but we hope they prioritize the needs of people over polluters. Our air quality, health, and safety cannot wait.” 

“The primary purpose of the EPA is to protect public health and safety from dangerous contaminants released by industry,” said Dr. Brian Moench, president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. “There is no one else to do that critical job, and the EPA needs to take it as seriously as the public does.”