By Joseph Green-Bishop
Texas Metro News Correspondent
A draft rule recently proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington would significantly reduce the amount of highly toxic pollutants that come from smokestacks, trucks, factories and construction sites, social justice advocates said. EPA officials predict that a decrease in allowable pollutants would result in a reduction of approximately 4200 premature deaths each year.
The proposed rule, which could become effective before the end of the year, is part of the federal government’s plan to prioritize environmental justice, a concept that President Biden promised to address while running for president.
Large numbers of racial minorities and poor people live near polluting plants and highways. They are the chief victims of pollutants, according to environmental justice advocates, and health professionals.
Three years ago, EPA scientists studied the effects of pollution. The results of the study, published in The American Journal of Public Health, concluded that residents of predominantly African American neighborhoods were at greater risk of dying from the effects of harmful pollutants than people who lived elsewhere.
No one should be victimized by poor health because of the neighborhoods in which they live, said Dr. Doris Browne, who once served as president of the National Medical Association, the largest group of African American doctors in the United States.
The proposed rule “marks the start of changes that will have a lasting impact in communities all over, especially Black and Brown communities,” Dr. Browne said.
The EPA administrator, Michael Regan, said that the expected outcome of the rule was crucially important to domestic goals of the Biden administration.
“Our work to deliver clean, breathable air for everyone is a top priority at EPA,” Mr. Regan said. “This proposal will help ensure that all communities, especially the most vulnerable among us, are protected from exposure to harmful pollution.”
It has been a decade since there was a federal government effort to reduce industrial pollution. The last time was during the administration of former President Obama.
The proposed rule is opposed by some business interests. A spokesman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Chad Whiteman, said that the rule would result in disruptions to the economy. The EPA, which hear public comments on the proposed rule for the next two months, disputes the Chamber’s assertion on the economic consequences of the rule.
