Health, environmental groups challenge the Trump EPA’s harmful, unscientific, and illegal repeal of the endangerment finding and elimination of clean vehicle standards.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 18, 2026) — A broad coalition of health and environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency today over its illegal determination that it is not responsible for protecting us from climate pollution and its elimination of rules to cut the tailpipe pollution fueling the climate crisis and harming people’s health.
The case, filed in the D.C. Circuit, challenges the Trump EPA’s rescission of the 2009 endangerment finding, which found that climate pollution is a threat to public health and welfare, and the elimination of the vehicle emissions standards.
The case was brought by:
- The American Public Health Association, American Lung Association, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment, Clean Wisconsin, represented by Clean Air Task Force,
- Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), Clean Air Council, Friends of the Earth, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC), and the Union of Concerned Scientists, represented by Earthjustice, and
- Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Law & Policy Center, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), Public Citizen, and Sierra Club.
The named defendants are EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and EPA itself as an agency.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is legally required to limit vehicle emissions of any “air pollutant” that the agency determines “cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” In 2007, the Supreme Court held in Massachusetts v. EPA that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases unambiguously are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act and told EPA to determine, based on the science, if that pollution endangers human health and welfare. EPA made that determination in 2009, which led to new standards for vehicles. It built on that finding when issuing other standards.
In its repeal, the Trump EPA is rehashing legal arguments that the Supreme Court already considered and rejected in Massachusetts v. EPA.
Along with the repeal of the endangerment finding, the EPA eliminated all carbon emissions standards from vehicles. The EPA’s clean car standards set in 2024 would save drivers of new cars an average of $6,000 over the lifetime of their vehicles. The EPA’s own analysis found that eliminating the vehicle standards will increase gas prices, force Americans to spend more on fuel, and be a net negative for the economy.
Quotes from Plaintiffs:
“With this action, EPA flips its mission on its head,” said Hana Vizcarra, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “It abandons its core mandate to protect human health and the environment to boost polluting industries and attempts to rewrite the law in order to do so. Earthjustice and our partners will defend what we all know to be true: climate pollution is harming our health, welfare, and economy and EPA has an obligation to control these harmful emissions.”
“Here in the Inland Valley, climate change isn’t some abstract future threat—it’s something our families live with every day. It’s parents worrying about their kids’ asthma as diesel trucks rumble past schools and neighborhoods. It’s workers commuting through smog and extreme heat, and families cutting short time outdoors because the air simply isn’t safe to breathe, it’s wildfires and flooding,” said Ana Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. “By trying to repeal the endangerment finding and weaken vehicle greenhouse gas standards, the Trump administration’s EPA is abandoning its legal duty to protect communities like ours. That decision would lock in more pollution, more dangerous heat, and more health risks—threatening our well-being, our local economy, and our children’s future. We won’t stand by while climate denial becomes official policy and puts the Inland Valley at risk.”
“The Endangerment Finding has been the backbone of climate policy for 17 years, protecting us from air pollution that endangers public health and welfare — including greenhouse gases that are driving climate change,” said Lawrence Hafetz, Clean Air Council’s Legal Director. “By repealing the finding, we are sweeping the single deadliest type of pollution, climate pollution, under the rug. Deadly floods, droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes are harming our health, our communities, and our economy. This climate chaos plan is decimating the EPA’s ability to act when we need protections more than ever.”
“Today’s lawsuit makes clear that we will not idly stand by while EPA blatantly refutes its core mission to protect the environment and public health from dangerous pollution,” said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director for Friends of the Earth. “The science is overwhelmingly clear that greenhouse gases cause harm, yet the Trump administration has unlawfully chosen to benefit polluters at the planet’s expense. We will keep fighting and holding these bad actors accountable in court for their lawlessness.”
“The EPA’s rollback of the endangerment finding is a devastating decision that goes against the science and testimony of countless scientists, health care professionals, and public health practitioners,” said Ankush K. Bansal, MD, DCM, FACP, FACPM, SFHM, Physicians for Social Responsibility Board President. “It will result in direct harm to the health of Americans throughout the country, particularly children, older adults, those with chronic illnesses, and other vulnerable populations, rural to urban, red and blue, of all races and incomes. The increased exposure to harmful pollutants and other greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel production and consumption will make America sicker, not healthier, less prosperous, not more, for generations to come.”
“Revoking the Endangerment Finding sets our country down a dangerous path that will have unimaginable consequences for so many. It ignores the real harms that people and communities like ours along the Rio Grande in South Texas are already experiencing from declining rainfall, heat, and fragile ecosystems,” said Tricia Cortez, Executive Director of Rio Grande International Study Center. “We have a moral obligation to our current and future generations to protect their future and the well-being of our planet’s climate. We must act now to tackle and reduce all sources of harm. We need our national leaders to do everything in their power to protect our human race, and to leave behind a habitable and thriving world for those to come after us.”
“EPA’s repeal of the endangerment finding and safeguards to limit vehicle emissions marks a complete dereliction of the agency’s mission to protect people’s health and its legal obligation under the Clean Air Act. This shameful and dangerous action by the Trump administration and EPA Administrator Zeldin is rooted in falsehoods not facts and is at complete odds with the public interest and the best available science. Heat-trapping emissions and global average temperatures are rising—primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels—contributing to a mounting human and economic toll across the nation. This anti-science administration must be held to account for evading its responsibility to help address this acute crisis and we’re going to help make sure that happens,” said Dr. Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“Ignoring the scientific evidence of the threat climate pollution poses to the health of all of us sends a very wrong message to communities across the nation and around the world. EPA has a duty to consider the well-being and safety of all, and the science is clear; climate change and air pollution threaten everyone’s health,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, Chief Executive Officer of the American Public Health Association. “To reverse course now, and to also repeal limits on climate pollution from vehicles, puts everyone in the country at risk of experiencing serious and preventable harm. It also weakens our nation’s ability to address the severe health impacts caused by climate change.”
“EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment,” said Harold Wimmer, President and CEO, American Lung Association. “Repealing the Endangerment Finding and vehicle emission safeguards weakens important protections against air pollution that harm lung health. On behalf of the millions of people living with lung disease and everyone who breathes, the American Lung Association is committed to upholding the law and protecting public health.”
“We need to call the Trump Administration’s repeal of the Engagement Finding what it is – climate denialism and the EPA abandoning its responsibility to protect us from climate change,” said Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN, Executive Director, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment. “The EPA is legally required to protect against air pollution that endangers the public’s health. It’s time that the EPA be held accountable for these reckless actions and get back to its mission to protect human health and the environment.”
“Repealing the endangerment finding and vehicle emissions standards are among the most destructive and irresponsible actions taken by the Trump EPA to date,” said Katie Nekola, General Counsel, Clean Wisconsin. “The dangers of climate change are becoming ever more apparent as Wisconsin experiences record heat, toxic air from wildfire smoke, and extreme weather. The EPA is ignoring its legal duty to protect our communities from the heath harms of greenhouse gas emissions in its zealous pandering to big oil, gas and coal interests.”
“As the nonpartisan National Academies stated last fall, the endangerment finding ‘was accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence.’ No amount of legal sophistry from this administration or EPA can evade the well settled statutory requirements and those scientific conclusions,” said Frank Sturges, Attorney at Clean Air Task Force (CATF). “The Clean Air Act’s requirements are simple: protect public health and welfare from air pollutants that endanger them. On the law and on the science, greenhouse gases fit that bill. To protect public health and the environment, we will challenge this unlawful action in court, and when the dust settles, we will prevail.”
“We’re suing to stop Trump from torching our kids’ future in favor of a monster handout to oil companies,” said David Pettit, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Nobody but Big Oil profits from Trump trashing climate science and making cars and trucks guzzle and pollute more. Consumers will pay more to fill up, and our skies and oceans will fill up with more pollution. The EPA’s rollbacks are based on political poppycock, not science or law, and the courts should see it that way.”
“Taking away the endangerment finding doesn’t protect families — it abandons them,” said Conservation Law Foundation Senior Vice President for Law and Policy Kate Sinding Daly. “This scientific determination has for years served as the bedrock of our nation’s efforts to curb deadly pollution and safeguard public health and welfare. Taking it away only absolves the EPA of acting on behalf of every family in the country. We won’t let that stand and we’re prepared to take this fight to court to ensure our communities aren’t left to bear the consequences of unchecked climate-warming pollution.”
“Repealing the Endangerment Finding endangers all of us. People everywhere will face more pollution, higher costs, and thousands of avoidable deaths,” said Peter Zalzal, Distinguished Counsel and Associate Vice President of Clean Air Strategies at Environmental Defense Fund. “The Trump EPA’s action tramples mountains of scientific evidence, ignores the law, and is fundamentally at odds with EPA’s core responsibility to protect us from dangerous pollution. We are challenging this action in court, where evidence matters, and we will continue working together to build a better, safer and more prosperous future.”
“This is not a mere rollback. EPA is attempting to completely disavow its statutory authority to regulate greenhouse gases from motor vehicles. After two decades of scientific evidence supporting the 2009 finding, the agency cannot credibly claim that the body of work is now incorrect. This reckless and legally untenable decision creates immediate uncertainty for businesses, guarantees prolonged legal battles, and undermines the stability of federal climate regulations. EPA cannot be permitted to abandon its responsibility to protect public health and welfare,” said Brian Lynk, Senior Attorney, Environmental Law & Policy Center.
“The Trump EPA’s slapdash legal arguments should be laughed out of court. Undercutting the ability of the federal government to tackle the largest source of climate pollution is deadly serious, but the administration’s legal and scientific reasons for doing so are a joke,” said Meredith Hankins, legal director for federal climate at NRDC.
“The repeal of the EPA’s endangerment finding is illegal, and if allowed to stand, it will have devastating impacts on public health and a livable climate for decades,” said Adina Rosenbaum, attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group.
“The Trump administration’s reckless decision to rescind the Endangerment Finding and strip the EPA of its primary authority to regulate greenhouse gases will have disastrous consequences for the American people, our health, and our shared future,” said Joanne Spalding, Director of the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program. “In the early 2000s, the Sierra Club brought the first-ever lawsuit seeking federal greenhouse gas standards under the Clean Air Act, and as a result, these protections became a reality. Nearly 25 years later, we’re taking Lee Zeldin and Donald Trump’s EPA to court because people should not be forced to suffer for this administration’s blind allegiance to the fossil fuel industry and corporate polluters. This shortsighted rollback is blatantly unlawful and their efforts to force this upon the American people will fail.”
Broad coalition of groups condemns illegal inaction, puts EPA on legal notice.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — February 11, 2026
The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to meet a Feb. 7 deadline to designate areas in violation of the strengthened 2024 national air quality standard for soot, as required under the Clean Air Act. These designations are the first step toward bringing dangerous soot pollution levels down into compliance with that health-based standard, which the EPA projects will save thousands of lives annually.
Yesterday, nearly 20 health, community, and environmental groups around the country officially put the EPA on notice of their intent to pursue legal action unless the EPA issues the overdue designations.
“The EPA’s inaction isn’t just illegal; it’s a reckless forsaking of human health,” said Seth Johnson, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “The 2024 soot standard is the law, supported by EPA’s own scientific evidence, so this is an indefensible move. It is absolutely EPA’s legal responsibility to designate the areas that are not in compliance so that they can start taking the commonsense steps the Clean Air Act requires to ensure all Americans breathe clean air. Implementing the 2024 standard is not about assigning blame, it’s about saving lives.”
Last year, EPA reversed course and asked a federal court to strike down the updated National Ambient Air Quality Standard limit for PM2.5, also known as soot, which EPA strengthened in 2024. The rule requires reductions in the amount of deadly pollution in the air people breathe to protect people’s health. The EPA did not dispute the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the more protective standard and projects the 2024 standard will save 4,500 lives in 2032 alone.
“As physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists who treat patients with lung disease, we know air pollution kills,” said Dr. Alison Lee, MS, ATSF, chair of the American Thoracic Society Environmental Health Policy Committee. “Exposure to particulate matter pollution triggers asthma attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations, heart attacks, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and premature death. The EPA has a duty to protect the American public from the dangers of air pollution by ensuring all communities meet the existing pollution standards.”
Health, environmental, and community groups, along with a coalition of states led by California, have asked the federal court to uphold the 2024 standard. The case is pending, and the 2024 soot standard remains in effect.
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to designate areas that are in violation of the standard as “nonattainment” and put them on a path to clean air, but the agency has failed to do so by the legally required deadline. The most recent official data shows over 75 million people live in counties that have air quality that violates the 2024 soot standard. Read more about Earthjustice’s analysis of EPA’s failed implementation.
Soot pollution stems largely from burning fossil fuels for electricity, manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture. It causes premature death and is further linked to cancer, asthma attacks, and hospitalizations and emergency room visits for severe heart and lung diseases.
See national data on soot and smog pollution.
The groups sending the letter announcing possible legal action are Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, American Thoracic Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Northeast Ohio Community Resilience Centre (Cleveland, OH), Rio Grande International Study Center (Laredo, TX), RiSE4EJ (Kansas City, KS & MO), and Sierra Club, all represented by Earthjustice; NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council); Environmental Defense Fund; Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Clean Air Council, Conservation Law Foundation, and Michigan Environmental Council, all represented by Clean Air Task Force; and CleanAIRE NC, Savannah Riverkeeper, and Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, all represented by Southern Environmental Law Center.
“By failing to make timely designations, EPA has once again failed to take mandatory action to safeguard public health under the Clean Air Act and instead subverts its obligation to regulate air pollution and hold polluters accountable,” said Hayden Hashimoto, attorney at Clean Air Task Force. “EPA’s own findings show that reducing soot pollution would save thousands of lives, yet the Trump administration’s EPA has ignored the science in its efforts to dismantle Clean Air Act regulations. EPA’s inaction blatantly disregards the law it claims to be following – and our communities will suffer.”
“The 2024 PM2.5 standard represents a step towards stronger public health protections, especially for communities who are disproportionately harmed by continuous exposure to particulate matter. Delaying designations puts Midwest communities that need it the most at continued risk and represents a step backwards for ensuring that no community, and no child, is left to breathe unhealthy air regardless of their zip code,” said Beto Lugo Martinez, of RiSE4EJ, a Kansas City-based group.
“Nurses witness firsthand the toll that air pollution, especially particle pollution, has on people’s health,” said Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN, executive director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. “Nurses advocated for a strong and health protective PM2.5 standard because the science is clear – soot pollution harms health. It is critical that EPA fulfill its legal obligation to protect communities across the country from hazardous air pollution.”
“Particle pollution kills thousands of people in the United States each year,” said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association. “The Lung Association and other health organizations championed these limits on soot because the science is clear: they will save lives and prevent asthma attacks. But that promise is only fulfilled if EPA does its job and ensures that places with unhealthy levels of soot put in place measures to clean it up. EPA’s failure to take this step on time means people will suffer health harms that should have been prevented.”
“Particulate matter pollution can cause asthma attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations, heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and premature death. It can harm even the healthiest, but millions of individuals across the U.S. are at greater risk if they have respiratory disease or are one of the nearly 25 million Americans with asthma. PM exposure also disproportionately impacts the health of low-income and minority communities, who often live near polluting sources,” said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “EPA must act now to designate areas that are not meeting the 2024 standards and hold them accountable to protect the public’s health.”
“Every day of the Trump EPA’s illegal delay is another day that over 75 million people across the country are exposed to soot pollution that kills, causes cancer, and chokes lungs,” said Ryan Maher, a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Instead of shielding children, the elderly and pregnant people, who are all especially vulnerable to soot pollution, the EPA is protecting only the profits of the industries creating the filthy air.”
“Trump’s EPA is trying to weaken a life-saving health standard and keep the public in the dark about where the air is unsafe — so polluters can dodge the cleanup the law requires,” said John Walke, senior attorney and director of federal clean air at NRDC. “That’s like disabling the smoke detector and telling families to sleep through the danger.”
“EPA’s attempt to delay or dodge its obligation to give states the tools they need to reduce deadly soot pollution puts Southern communities at even greater risk, especially communities of color and those living below the poverty line often surrounded by industry,” said Caroline Cress, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Cities including Atlanta, Augusta, and Charlotte can’t afford for EPA to continue to push off designating these areas where people are already suffering from the serious health risks of breathing unhealthy air.”
“The Clean Air Act is not a suggestion; it is a mandate to protect the very air we breathe,” said Jeffrey Robbins, executive director of CleanAIRE NC. “By missing this deadline, the EPA is effectively choosing to leave millions of Americans in the dark about the safety of their air while delaying the urgent work of reducing deadly soot pollution.”
“Augusta communities have some of the highest asthma rates in the nation, and our health suffers because of poor air quality,” said Tonya Bonitatibus of Savannah Riverkeeper. “Instead of protecting human health, EPA is catering to industry and ignoring the very real risks communities are facing. Our children’s health and ability to breathe should take priority over industry saving money on air quality control controls.”
“EPA’s delay is unlawful and deadly,” said Rachel Briggs, staff attorney at Conservation Law Foundation. “Soot pollution kills, and every day the agency fails to act is another day communities are left unprotected. The law is clear, the science is clear, and EPA must do its job.”
“When people inhale soot, the particles are so small that they can pass through the lungs directly into a person’s bloodstream,” said Lawrence Hafetz, legal director of Clean Air Council. “The EPA ignoring its duty to identify areas with illegally high soot levels means more unnecessary funerals, heart attacks, and cardiovascular disease, as well as more children sickened with asthma.”
“Delaying action on deadly soot pollution is a moral and regulatory failure that puts communities of color and vulnerable families at greater risk,” said Codi Norred, executive director of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light. “Caring for our shared Sacred Earth means ensuring that no one is forced to sacrifice their health just to breathe. Everyone deserves the right to clean air.”
“Soot is one of the deadliest types of pollution, and it puts people across the country at increased risk of serious illnesses and early deaths,” said Richard Yates, clean power attorney at Environmental Defense Fund. “EPA’s designation of areas is essential to efforts to limit this pollution in the air we breathe. But EPA has now entirely failed to make any designations – leaving numerous counties with unhealthy levels of soot. EPA must take the actions required by law to protect communities nationwide from this dangerous pollution.”
HARRISBURG, PA (December 9, 2025) – At its Tuesday, December 9 meeting, Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board voted to accept the rulemaking petition submitted by Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project to increase minimum no-drill zones from fracking sites to homes, schools, water sources, and streams. DEP will now prepare a report evaluating the petition, as well as the dozens of health studies included in it, and will make a recommendation to the EQB on whether the EQB should approve the action requested in the petition. The Protective Buffers PA coalition, composed of environmental and public health organizations, is championing the rulemaking petition to enhance the health and safety of people across the Commonwealth by reducing exposure to fracking pollution.
Minimum setbacks, also referred to as protective buffers and no-drill zones in the context of fracking, are mandatory distances between new fracking wells and homes, schools, hospitals, drinking water wells, and surface waters. Pennsylvania’s current fracking well location requirements—which include a waivable 500-foot setback from buildings and a 1,000-foot setback from water supply extraction points—are woefully insufficient to protect public health and the environment from the dangers of fracking.
The rulemaking petition asks the DEP to consider instituting the following research-informed setbacks:
- 3,281 feet from any building and from any drinking water well;
- 5,280 feet from any building serving vulnerable populations (e.g., schools, hospitals); and
- 750 feet from any surface water of the Commonwealth.
On April 8, 2025, Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council presented on why EQB should accept the petition, and DEP recommended that EQB accept it for further study, but the EQB vote was stalled for eight months. In September 2025, Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council filed an amended version of the petition that was substantively identical to the earlier petition but also incorporated citizen petitions, legal documents, and a research report that was handed to EQB at the April meeting. Now that the EQB has voted to accept the amended petition, DEP has 60 days to prepare a report evaluating the petition, to which the groups will be able to respond. Then DEP will make its final recommendation. If DEP recommends a regulatory change, it has six months to develop a proposed rulemaking for EQB consideration, which will then go through public notice and comment.
“Clean Air Council is thrilled to see the EQB do the right thing and allow DEP to study our petition,” said Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council. “We are confident that the research supports these stronger protections and will convince DEP of the need to protect Pennsylvanians across the state from the serious dangers of fracking.”
“EQB took an important step today to protect the people of this Commonwealth from fracking pollution,” said Lisa Hallowell, Senior Attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project. “We hope DEP and EQB move quickly to require the minimum setbacks the petition seeks so that no more families have to suffer the health effects that have been documented in dozens of studies as a result of the woefully inadequate current setback distances.”
“Today was an important milestone for residents who have waited far too long for basic public health protections from fracking’s harms, ” said Melissa Ostroff, Pennsylvania Policy and Field Advocate with Earthworks. “EQB did the right thing in following DEP’s recommendation to move this petition to the next step in the regulatory process. Impacted residents deserve to see a report from DEP about increasing setback distances without delay.”
“Today’s vote represents an important step toward closing the large gap between science and policy in Pennsylvania,” said Alison L. Steele, Executive Director, Environmental Health Project. “What we know from dozens of peer-reviewed health studies is clear: while there is no established ‘safe’ distance from fracking operations, increasing the distance from those who live, work, and play nearby lowers the risk of negative health impacts. We look forward to the DEP’s review of relevant, unbiased research and a timely recommendation for setback requirements informed by scientific evidence.”
“Advancing this commonsense rulemaking petition to study the implications of stronger protective buffers is the first step towards protecting the health of 3.6 million Pennsylvanians who share their communities with fracked wells,” said Katie Jones, Ohio River Valley Coordinator at FracTracker Alliance. “Research shows that larger buffers are necessary to safeguard public health, and reviewing these protections enhances state oversight without prohibiting unconventional drilling.”
“Protect PT applauds the EQB’s sound decision to vote this petition forward for review by the DEP,” said Gillian Graber, Executive Director, Protect PT. “For the first time, the DEP will take health impacts into account when considering the statewide minimum drilling setback for unconventional wells, using the research that our coalition has compiled. We know the findings are impossible to ignore. It’s been a long time coming, but today marks a significant step closer to essential health protections for frontline communities like ours in Southwestern PA.”
“My family is not alone in knowing that fracking happens too close to our homes,” said Jodi Borello, Community Organizer, Center for Coalfield Justice. “Those of us who testified to the grand jury gave all we had to have the truth heard and still had to wait half a decade for action. As communities have suffered impacts to our health and homes and more children have gotten sick, we have been calling on anyone in power to finally stand up to this industry and bring meaningful, sensible solutions. The EQB’s ruling is a long overdue step towards relief for impacted communities and working families like mine. I am proud to be part of a coalition that never stopped fighting for the people most impacted by this industry.”
Fracking contaminates groundwater (used for public and private drinking water supplies) and also pollutes surface water, damaging headwater streams and other ecosystems. Furthermore, spills often occur in watersheds linked to drinking water sources and the air pollution from fracking causes illness.
Dozens of peer-reviewed scientific studies show that a person’s proximity to fracking wells is associated with severe human health risks and a wide range of ailments, including increased cancer rates, increased hospitalization rates, and higher rates of respiratory, neurological, dermatological, and muscular symptoms. Vulnerable populations are particularly susceptible—numerous studies have shown that proximity to fracking wells harms health for infants and children. In addition to these studies, first-hand accounts of residents living near Pennsylvania fracking wells demonstrate the profound harms of living close to fracking.
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Clean Air Council is a member-supported environmental organization serving Pennsylvania and the surrounding regions. The Council is dedicated to protecting everyone’s right to a healthy environment. The Council works through a broad array of sustainability and public health initiatives, including public education, community action, government oversight, and enforcement of environmental laws. For more information, please visit www.cleanair.org.
The Environmental Integrity Project is America’s environmental watchdog. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting public health and our natural world by holding polluters and government agencies accountable under the law. We advocate for tough but fair environmental standards and empower communities fighting for clean air and clean water.
Earthworks protects communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development while promoting sustainable solutions. Since 1988, Earthworks has helped communities secure protections of their health, land, water, and air from extractive industries. We are the only national organization in the U.S. to focus exclusively on preventing the destructive impacts of the extraction of oil, gas, and minerals.
The Environmental Health Project (EHP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public health organization that defends public health in the face of shale gas development. EHP provides frontline communities with timely monitoring, interpretation, and guidance while engaging diverse stakeholders: health professionals, researchers, community organizers, policy makers, and others.
FracTracker Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides technical expertise and services—including useful, real-world data, scientific analyses, interactive maps, and other visual tools—to help activists, researchers, and the public better understand the environmental, economic, and social problems driven by extractive industries. To learn more about FracTracker Alliance, visit fractracker.org.
Protect PT (Penn-Trafford) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring residents’ safety, security, and quality of life by engaging in education and advocacy to protect the economic, environmental, and legal rights of the people in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties. Protect PT was established in 2014 as a grassroots community-based organization designed to protect our community from the harmful environmental impacts of fossil fuel activity.
CCJ’s mission is to improve policy and regulations for the oversight of fossil fuel extraction and use; to educate, empower and organize coalfield residents; and to protect public and environmental health. We provide community members with detailed information about proposed projects and potential impacts so they can make informed decisions about individual or collective actions. We connect people in similar struggles together to build power and to invest in the leadership of people living in Washington and Greene Counties. We blend organizing, communications, legal, and policy strategies to build power with and for residents across Washington and Greene Counties, and to create an expanded set of options for achieving justice. Through this approach, and by investing in people’s skills and leadership, our communities will be able to advocate effectively for a healthy environment and thriving economy. www.centerforcoalfieldjustice.org
As part of its commitment to protect everyone’s right to a healthy environment, Clean Air Council helps residents track the pollution permits that industrial facilities apply for across Pennsylvania. To make it even easier for the public to understand what kinds of pollution are affecting their neighborhoods, the Council created a brand new tool. The Pollution Tracker is based on years of Clean Air Council’s work monitoring and analyzing the applications submitted by businesses to permit them to release pollutants into the air and water. By exploring this tool, residents can look up major facilities in Southeast Pennsylvania, discover permits companies have applied for, where sites have violated those permits, and what action the Council has taken to inform surrounding communities.
The site, built by Philly-based designer Dain Saint, currently hosts data for many facilities throughout Southwest Philadelphia and Delaware County. It’s simple to use: explore the map and click on the blue or red dots to open detailed entries. If you know the name or address of a facility, you can also search for it directly. For each site, you’ll first find a listing of its name, address, and a brief description or label.
Within each entry, depending on the site, you may also discover information about the facility from the offices of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. You’ll also learn whether the site has paid any federal penalties in the last five years or if it has a history of previous “Action Alerts” that Clean Air Council has released in response to permit applications at these facilities. Each entry also lists known information about any environmental permits filed in compliance with the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. If information about those is available, you’ll find a color-coded card listing its status, including any known violations.
If the dot representing the facility on the map is red, that means the site has recently violated its environmental permits – you can learn more by opening its entry. If a site is represented by a blue dot, the site may have no recent violations. Crucially, however, that does not mean that the facility isn’t harming the region or the planet – it simply means that local authorities are not aware that it has released more pollutants or waste than it has previously agreed to release. Many of these sites are legally permitted to release harmful substances like greenhouse gases (which bake our planet), particulate matter (which can contribute to respiratory illness), or carcinogens. Still others are not required to have monitoring or tracking equipment for these purposes, which only means we do not know whether they are releasing pollutants at all. Given that Southeastern Pennsylvania regularly fails national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and the region has an unusually high rate of respiratory problems like childhood asthma, it’s critical that efforts be made to comprehend the impacts of the region’s dense industrial development.
The goal of the Pollution Tracker is to help residents remain informed about the many industrial facilities in our region and partake in the public engagement processes surrounding their siting, development, and permitting. Clean Air Council regularly helps residents participate in these processes so that we can all protect public health in Southeastern Pennsylvania and reduce the emissions causing the climate crisis.
The Pollution Tracker will be updated regularly as the Council continues this work. If you’re interested in learning more about the Tracker, have questions about its contents, or want to get involved, contact Clean Air Council Advocate Russell Zerbo at rzerbo@cleanair.org.
WASHINGTON D.C. (November 26, 2025) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final rule to delay critical methane protections—which EPA released in 2024. This rule comes after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin unlawfully used the Interim Final Rule process to immediately delay the 2024 Methane Rule without allowing Americans, including impacted residents, to voice their concerns about how the delay will harm their health.
The methane-mitigating technologies and strategies required by the rule are readily available and cost-effective. However, instead of requiring industry polluters to comply with these commonsense protections, Administrator Zeldin has illegally pushed the Delay Rule ahead to give oil and gas companies a free pass for their pollution.
As a result of this delay, people living closest to oil and gas infrastructure are continuing to be unnecessarily exposed to pollution from the industry, which would otherwise have been addressed through the 2024 Methane Rule. Once fully implemented, the 2024 Methane Rule is expected to reduce 58 million tons of climate-warming methane emissions, 16 million tons of health-harming volatile organic compounds, and 590 thousand tons of hazardous air pollutants by 2038. The Rule is estimated to prevent nearly 100 thousand cases of asthma symptoms each year.
Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council, issued the following statement:
“The delay of the 2024 Methane Rule is EPA’s latest move to favor polluters while sacrificing the health of Americans who live closest to oil and gas infrastructure. Strong methane standards have widespread and bipartisan support as a commonsense policy to reduce both pollution and waste.”
Philadelphia and Delaware County are uniquely vulnerable to impacts of climate change, even compared to the rest of Pennsylvania. Residents in communities along the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers face extreme heat and flooding risks compounded by the large amounts of polluting industrial facilities in densely populated riverfront areas.
Clean Air Council’s three-year Climate Resilient Communities project brought together residents in South and Southwest Philadelphia as well as Chester, Trainer, and Marcus Hook in Delaware County to address the combined risk of climate change and pollution. The Council’s forthcoming Climate Resilient Communities report, developed by landscape architects at Olin Design Studio, provides key findings and recommendations to address the risks and build climate resiliency.
One of the key findings of the study is that riverfront industrial infrastructure can cause dangerous public health conditions, like increased air and water pollution, during extreme heat and precipitation events. Recommended resiliency strategies include strengthening connections between local leaders, neighbors, and community groups and the expansion of storm shelters, cooling centers and air conditioned recreational space.
Over the course of three years, Clean Air Council and community partners surveyed residents and hosted regular meetings in each focus neighborhood. Residents reviewed local climate models, identified locations most impacted by heat and flooding, and provided extensive feedback on resilience strategies that would have the greatest impact in their communities.
Council staff then worked with residents and partners in each neighborhood to develop green infrastructure projects to mitigate heat and flooding impacts and support climate resiliency. Ideas for projects included transforming vacant lots into community gardens, adding native trees and pollinator plants to local parks, and transforming existing parks into naturescapes for families and children to enjoy. Based on residents’ feedback, four climate resilient communities projects were implemented.
In Delaware County, the Council worked with the City of Chester, Legacy Arts Chester and Bonnie’s Community & Development Corp to make significant improvements to Sun Village Park, including a storybook walk and native pollinator garden, new picnic tables and benches, and vibrant mural and art installations around the park’s pavilion and tennis courts. The Council also worked with Trainer Borough, Marcus Hook Area Neighbors for Public Health, and the NMS Watersheds Alliance to install a storybook walk, native pollinator garden, native flowering trees, mural arts, and a free little library at Wilcox Park next to Monroe Refinery in Trainer. These revitalized park spaces in Delaware County provide residents with shaded spaces to connect with nature, art, literacy, and other neighbors. Respite and community gathering spaces help to build social connection and cohesion, which are vital to a community’s climate resiliency plan.
In South Philadelphia, the Council worked with the Church of the Redeemer Baptist’s Growing Together Community Garden to expand the existing native pollinator garden and create a gathering space for gardeners of the site’s over 200 plots. This included the installation of new picnic tables with shade umbrellas as well as several park benches. The creation of a community gathering space in the garden will support residents to further develop this local greenspace, which helps to cool the neighborhood and build community cohesion.
In addition to the pollinator garden and seating areas, Council staff worked with Philly Thrive’s Mutual Aid circle and the Tasker-Morris Neighborhood Association to create a climate guide of the Grays Ferry neighborhood that shows pollution sources as well neighborhood resources. The guide is featured in a custom made climate information station in the garden, which features a planter box as well as a space to distribute community flyers and pamphlets.
In Southwest Philadelphia’s Eastwick neighborhood, Council staff worked with Eastwick United, Eastwick Friends and Neighbors, and the Eastwick Recreation Center to place three additional climate information stations around Eastwick. These climate hubs (which are also public planters) inform residents about neighborhood meetings on local flood risks, illegal dumping, and other environmental health and climate issues. Council staff also worked with these organizations on a detailed climate guide of Eastwick that includes nearby environmental hazards as well as many local assets.
Clean Air Council will continue sharing the key findings and recommendations of the Climate Resilient Communities report with local decision makers, and will continue to work with local leaders to expand access to safe public amenities like parks and greenspaces while encouraging responsible development along local riverfronts. For more information please contact Advocate Russell Zerbo at rzerbo@cleanair.org, Philadelphia Organizer Jendaiya Hill at jhill@cleanair.org, or Delco Outreach Coordinator Alyssa Felix-Arreola at afa@cleanair.org
This Climate Resilient Communities project was made possible through a grant from the William Penn Foundation.
PHILADELPHIA, PA (November 18, 2025) – On November 18, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued an air pollution permit for the Homer City Redevelopment project, paving the way for what would be the nation’s largest fracked gas power plant to open in Pennsylvania. Although the plant would produce enough electricity to power over three million homes, that power would mostly feed its massive AI data center. Local residents would suffer the consequences of increased air pollution, noise, odors, and compromised drinking water with minimal return benefits, and the toxic air pollution from the plant could lead to the deaths of dozens of people across the country for every year of its operation. This permit was issued in spite of the many speakers at September’s DEP hearing on the project, as well as the 571 comments submitted by the public, strongly opposing (and identifying significant errors in) the proposed plant’s draft air quality permit.
Harrisburg has fallen in line across the aisle to support rapid buildout of AI infrastructure, even though the new power plants being proposed to run data centers in Pennsylvania are almost universally plants that would burn methane from local fracking wells. Science and experience tells us that this new fracking, and these new power plants, would pollute, sicken, and kill people in our region, exacerbate the climate crisis, and drive up the cost of electricity.
Alex Bomstein, Clean Air Council Executive Director, issued the following statement:
“This illegal permit is a death sentence for many of those who will breathe its toxic fumes in Indiana County and across the nation. Rushed-through, riddled with errors, and for what? It’s not to keep our lights on. It’s for New York hedge fund investors and for tech billionaires to get rich off of technology designed to lay people off. Indiana County and Pennsylvania will rise up and defend our health and our lives from this dangerous, pointless plant.”
By Teresa Hong and Alexander Chong – Clean Air Council Bridging the Gap Drexel University Interns
As we wrapped up our assessment of Cobbs Creek Trail this summer, one thing became clear: this trail is more than a pathway through green space—it’s a lifeline that has long connected communities, memories, and meaning. In conversations with residents, we unearthed stories that revealed just how deeply rooted Cobbs Creek is in the neighborhood’s history.
The Cobbs Creek Trail bridge wasn’t just a way to cross the creek; it was a meeting point, a playground, a boundary-breaker. Learning about the racial covenants that once segregated Philadelphia neighborhoods was both eye-opening and sobering. Yet hearing how kids from different backgrounds used to gather, play, and build friendships along the trail painted a more hopeful picture. The open space by the creek served as a backdrop for celebrations, community events, and everyday joy. The smiles on residents’ faces as they recounted those memories spoke volumes. Those stories reminded us that trail maintenance isn’t just about physical upkeep—it’s about preserving legacy.
Throughout this summer, we documented many of the issues affecting Cobbs Creek Trail, but it’s clear that our work is only the beginning. Our data reflects what residents already know: the current state of maintenance falls far short of what this community deserves. While the trail offers natural beauty and expansive greenery, its deteriorating infrastructure and lack of safety features deter the very people it’s meant to serve.
Safety and accessibility, in line with Clean Air Council’s mission, are the most urgent needs. Trails, no matter how scenic, are underutilized when they feel unsafe. Damaged and unrepaired guardrails—likely from past car crashes—send a silent but powerful message: that community safety is not a priority. Residents echoed this concern, noting how such neglect discourages trail use and adds to a sense of abandonment.
Beyond safety, we observed serious wear and tear on user-facing infrastructure like benches, picnic tables, and playground equipment. Many of these were overgrown, rusted, or broken—no longer inviting or even functional. In some spots, erosion, and water damage affected roads, sidewalks, and curbs, creating significant accessibility barriers, particularly for individuals with disabilities. A truly inclusive trail must be navigable and welcoming to all.
Being part of the Trail Maintenance Team taught us that trail care isn’t just about fixing what’s broken—it’s about preventing things from breaking in the first place. Deferred maintenance doesn’t just delay enjoyment; it increases future costs and compounds community frustration. One lesson that stuck with us came from a mother who pointed out a broken swing seat that had remained unusable for months. “A new park is nice,” she said, “but it means nothing if it’s not usable.” We agreed—and made it a priority to document and report the issue through 311, fulfilling a promise we made to her and ourselves.
Of all the work we did this summer, our conversations with residents were the most impactful. They helped us understand the deeper significance of our task. For many, seeing Cobbs Creek in its current condition is heartbreaking—not just because of what’s broken, but because their children no longer experience the same joy and freedom they once did. Trail maintenance, we realized, is not just a technical issue. It’s a community issue. It’s about restoring trust, honoring history, and fostering a healthier future.
Ultimately, a well-maintained trail is a public health investment. It invites families out of their homes, promotes physical activity, and creates shared space for joy, rest, and connection. We hope our efforts help bring renewed attention to Cobbs Creek Trail and serve as a spark for long-overdue investment in this vital space. The trail has carried stories for generations—now, it’s time to care for it in return.
PITTSBURGH, PA (September 26, 2025) – Clean Air Council, Environmental Integrity Project, and Food & Water Watch are celebrating two significant victories after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) largely granted the Council’s petitions to object to flaws in the air pollution permits (called Title V operating permits) that the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) issued to U.S. Steel’s Irvin facility and the Neville Chemical facility in 2024.
Thanks to these decisions, ACHD will need to amend both of these permits, likely resulting in stronger permit conditions that will improve air quality by ensuring the facilities comply with limits to the amount of pollution they are allowed to emit into our air. This is a critical victory for the residents and workers of Allegheny County, who will experience better air quality protections because of these changes.
“Clean Air Council is pleased to see the EPA recognizing that the initial permits would not effectively keep polluters in line and acting decisively to ensure that permitting agencies issue effective permits,” said Lawrence Hafetz, Legal Director for Clean Air Council. “We’re also thrilled to see that acting as a watchdog for the Commonwealth continues to be an effective strategy for ensuring the Clean Air Act is enforced at the federal and state levels. Without this work, our communities would further suffer for the profits of major polluters.”
“EIP is encouraged that EPA continues to recognize that inadequate monitoring to assure compliance with emission limits must be revised by permitting agencies,” said Haley Lewis, an Attorney with EIP. “EIP will continue to advocate that the Allegheny County Health Department follow EPA’s direction in improving the Title V permits for U.S. Steel Irvin Works and Neville Chemical.”
“We are heartened to see that diligent efforts to protect the public from health-threatening air pollution have paid off with common-sense decisions from EPA that should result in stronger permits for these facilities,” said Erin Doran, senior staff attorney at Food & Water Watch. “We will continue to monitor these permits and pursue legal avenues to ensure clean air and a livable future for neighboring communities and many others throughout Pennsylvania and the country.”
Under the Clean Air Act, Title V operating permits must contain conditions (like emissions testing and monitoring) that can ensure a facility will comply with its permitted emissions limits. Clean Air Council, Food and Water Watch, and the Environmental Integrity Project provided comments on the proposed permits for these facilities in 2024, but found that the final permits were insufficient to ensure the facilities complied with the stated emissions limits. Clean Air Council then filed petitions on September 20, 2024 for Neville Chemical and on November 15, 2024 for U.S. Steel’s Irvin facility, asking EPA to object to each Operating Permit.
In both responsive orders, the EPA found that the permits’ compliance assurance requirements were insufficient for several pollutants from multiple sources. EPA therefore ordered ACHD to issue amended permits that either include more stringent emission testing and monitoring requirements or amend the permit record to explain how the existing requirements could suffice. For some pollutants, the EPA also indicated a preference for requiring the continuous emission monitoring systems that the groups have proposed.
Significantly, the groups were successful in having the EPA direct the ACHD to recalculate some emission limits using site-specific emission data as opposed to generic emission data. They advocated for this change because generic emission data is sometimes of poor quality and never as accurate as site-specific data. While at times ACHD has chosen to use site-specific data, too often it has defaulted to using generic data even when more accurate data was available. This represents another victory for the people of Pennsylvania and the surrounding region because it ensures their rights to clean air are being protected.
(August 20, 2025) The fight to preserve Pennsylvanians’ right to clean air, safe water, and a healthy environment won another huge victory this week as Alterra Energy announced it had ended plans to open a facility in Sugarloaf Township.
Alterra was hoping to open a “chemical recycling” facility in this rural area of Luzerne County. Despite dubbing its work “recycling,” however, Alterra’s rebranding of outdated trash incineration is no solution for the climate crisis. The plant would have been conducting plastic pyrolysis, a way of cutting chemical bonds with heat powered by burning fossil fuels. The “recycled” plastic this method produces is actually mostly made of new fossil fuel-derived materials and is, at most, 10% recycled material.
Its byproducts are even worse: toxic chemicals that are linked to health problems like cancers, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, nervous system issues, reproductive problems, and respiratory issues. This facility, which would have operated around the clock, would have produced chemical pollution in the air and water, and would have generated plastic waste that includes the worst of the worst pollutants: known carcinogen benzene, dioxins, PFAS “forever chemicals,” and volatile organic compounds or VOCs.
Not only would facility employees have been exposed to plastic dust and chemical vapors on the job, but they would also be at risk of dangerous fires. Toxic and very flammable synthetic oil would have been stored in two 185,000-gallon tanks on the property before being transported in trucks and rail cars. On top of these hazards, such a plant would have been a nuisance to the residents of Sugarloaf, bringing traffic, noise, light, and air pollution, and damaging rural roads.
Members of the Luzerne County Community Coalition were vocal in their opposition to this proposed site and are celebrating this news. Local residents collaborated in their organizing with neighbors from nearby Northumberland County who just last year stood strong against a similar proposal for their area from Texas-based company Encina. Sugarloaf even had support from a resident of Akron, Ohio, where Alterra has been operating an incineration plant whose permit renewal was loudly opposed by the community this summer.
Clean Air Council and its partners – including Beyond Plastics, Save Our Susquehanna, Moms Clean Air Force, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, and Environmental Health Project – were proud to support the Luzerne community as they sought to understand the potential harms of Alterra’s proposed facility and the influence they might wield. The Council commends this level of passion and commitment to a healthy environment and hopes to see this type of collaboration continue throughout the Commonwealth.
