Friday, September 21: Only a little more than a year after Gulf communities faced toxic chemical releases as a preventable, double disaster in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the D.C. Circuit issued the mandate for its August 17 decision, and has forced the Trump EPA to put the Chemical Disaster Rule back in full force and effect. The Chemical Disaster Rule aims to improve safety at chemical plants across the country by strengthening emergency preparedness planning and coordination with local first responders, by requiring more thorough, prevention-focused investigations of accidents and near misses, and forcing plants with the worst accident records to assess whether they can implement available safety upgrades.
Despite the rule's important safeguards, in June 2017, the Trump EPA issued a final rule delaying these protections until February 2019 without reason. The Sierra Club, through its Air Grassroots Network Team, along with numerous allies, represented by Earthjustice, challenged the delay; the mandate from the D.C. Circuit orders EPA to immediately reinstate the Obama-era Chemical Disaster Rule.
Thanks to the strong work of our Earthjustice attorneys and the Sierra Club Air Team, today represents an important victory on the long road toward providing communities, workers, and first-responders meaningful relief from chemical disasters. It is also a reminder to the Trump EPA that it is not above the law, and that it should focus on strengthening public health measures and drop its dangerous new plan to gut safety protections once and for all.
Read more about the Chemical Disaster Rule here.