November 27, 2023
Pollution from coal-fired power plants across the United States was responsible for at least 460,000 deaths over the past two decades, causing twice as many premature deaths as previously estimated, new research reveals.
In the United States, low income Black and Brown communities are already more likely to suffer the impacts from permitted pollution from petroleum facilities and other polluting industries. In addition to these known and well documented disparities, regulators have allowed for even more pollution to be released onto these overburdened communities through regulatory loopholes in the Clean Air Act known as Startup, Shutdown, Malfunction, (SSM) leaving communities exposed to dangerous levels of toxic air pollution from multiple sources. Sierra Club and partners are working to ensure EPA implements strong rule-making that eliminates SSM loopholes and prioritizes the most impacted people by upholding equal protection laws. Dozens of community and environmental groups have called on President Biden to close SSM loopholes and end free passes to pollute.
EPA allows facilities like power plants and factories to emit as much pollution as they like during periods of Start-up, Shutdown, and Malfunctions. The amount of pollution emitted during so-called “SSM events” can be 100s to 1000s of times higher than normal operations.
- Read how SSM loopholes can effect communities.
- Learn more about the SSM loopholes in this fact sheet.
- Read the letter to President Biden: Protect Fenceline Communities
Watch and Take Action
Did you know that there are deadly loopholes in the EPA and state Clean Air Act rules? The Startup, Shutdown, and Malfunction loopholes allow polluters to ignore their permitted emission limitations -- and of course they take advantage of this! The consequences are even more deadly air pollution dumped on communities near plants and factories -- who already suffer the greatest burden from these poisons. It's time to close the loopholes! The Sierra Club has partnered with Earthjustice and community activists to create a video to shed light on this issue, and galvanize action to close the SSM loopholes.
Press Releases
November 14, 2023
At a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing today, Republican politicians repeated disproven claims about the impact of the Biden administration’s proposed carbon pollution standards for fossil fuel power plants, wrongly alleging the standards would raise costs for consumers and threaten energy reliability.
October 19, 2023
Environmental and community groups are seeking to join EPA in a lawsuit defending the agency’s action to eliminate unlawful air pollution loopholes from state air operating permitting programs against a challenge from industrial polluters.
October 2, 2023
On Friday, Sierra Club took a significant step in its ongoing effort to compel the EPA to enforce federal air quality standards set nearly a decade ago under the Obama administration by filing a lawsuit that requires EPA to recognize the failure of many states to submit compliance plans for reducing smog levels in their communities.
September 22, 2023
Today, the Biden Administration moved to protect fenceline communities from hazardous air pollution by proposing a policy–following a Trump Administration rollback–that ensures industrial polluters continue to limit their toxic air emissions as long as they operate.
September 1, 2023
PHOENIX, AZ -- Today, Sierra Club filed a suit in Maricopa County Superior Court challenging the Arizona Corporation Commission’s (ACC) decision to approve Salt River Project’s revised proposal to expand the gas-fired Coolidge Generating Station in Pinal County, Arizona.
August 21, 2023
Today, EPA announced it will abandon its ongoing reconsideration of the current underprotective air quality standards for ozone and restart the rulemaking process.
August 16, 2023
Today, the Edison Electric Institute announced Trump Administration Energy Secretary and fossil fuel executive Dan Brouillette will lead the utility lobbying association.
August 16, 2023
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – This week the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with polluters in a case that would have reduced air pollution in Wyoming’s national parks and public lands across the region.
August 8, 2023
Today, the Sierra Club and partners delivered more than one million public comments calling on the Biden Administration to tackle climate change by adopting the strongest possible carbon pollution standards for fossil fuel power plants.