Louisiana environmental groups on have sued President Donald Trump and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after the administration gave industrial facilities a reprieve from following an emissions reduction rule, arguing that the exemptions endanger the health of people living near chemical facilities and give the industry “a free pass to continue to pollute.” 

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, responds to a July proclamation that gave 50 chemical manufacturers nationwide a two-year delay to comply with a 2024 rule aimed at curbing pollution and cutting cancer risks.

The exemptions include 12 companies in Louisiana operating in the industrial corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and the Lake Charles area. Local advocacy organizations RISE St. James, Concerned Citizens of St. John and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network and other groups are asking the court to declare Trump’s exemptions unlawful and stop the EPA from implementing them.

The groups are represented by the environmental law firm Earthjustice. Community groups in Texas and national environmental organizations, like the Sierra Club, were other plaintiffs in the case. 

“We think this is an unlawful, unprecedented use of power to give industry more time to delay while EPA tries to roll back these really important protections for people’s health,” said Adam Kron, senior attorney with Earthjustice. 

A spokesperson for the EPA said the agency does not comment on any current or pending litigation.

David Cresson, CEO of the Louisiana Chemical Association industry group, said the Trump administration’s exemptions enabled facilities to continue operation without shutting down or disrupting supply chains.

Without these delays, the current regulations “do not provide a realistic timeline” for meeting the new standards. 

Trump’s exemptions

Trump’s proclamation this summer cites concerns over cost, national security impacts and technological availability for chemical companies to follow the EPA’s Hazardous Organic National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, known as the HON Rule. The exemptions delay compliance beyond the original 2026 and 2027 deadlines, the lawsuit notes. 

“The HON Rule imposes substantial burdens on chemical manufacturers already operating under stringent regulations,” the proclamation states. 

Industry groups similarly opposed the rule as too expensive and unsupported by science. Trump’s proclamation granted the two-year exemptions to Shell, BASF, Dow, Union Carbide, Denka, Sasol, Westlake and other companies in the state. 

Cresson, whose organization represents some of the state’s largest petrochemical companies, said that there are not enough contractors or equipment available to meet the HON Rule’s requirements without the exemptions. 

“This, in turn, safeguards local jobs and supports our state’s economic future,” he said of the exemptions. 

What is the HON rule? 

Last year, environmental advocates hailed the new rule as a major step in improving air quality for minority and poor communities that often bear the brunt of industrial pollution.

The rule required over 200 chemical manufacturers around the country to update operational practices, implement fenceline monitoring and repair their facilities, among other mandates. It put a special focus on reducing emissions of ethylene oxide and chloroprene, two chemicals linked to cancer. 

The EPA said it will reduce by 96% the number of people with increased cancer risks related to air toxics in communities within six miles of large plants.

“We really can’t wait,” said Shamell Lavigne, chief operating officer of RISE St. James. “We have family members in all of the parishes throughout Cancer Alley.” 

The environmental groups see Trump’s exemptions for individual facilities as “a pretext” to relieve the chemical industry to comply with the HON Rule while the EPA tries to repeal it altogether.