EPA proposes limiting chemical plant pollution

By MICHAEL PHILLIS
Associated Press

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed new rules for monitoring and limiting harmful emissions from chemical plants. The agency said it would significantly reduce cancer risk for residents who live near these facilities. The proposal would affect about 200 chemical plants that would have to monitor emissions at their fence line and make fixes if their emissions are too high. EPA Administrator Michael Regan made the announcement in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, in a majority-Black community that is home to a synethic rubber plant that emits chloroprene, one of the compounds targeted in the proposal. Medical sterilization facilities are also targeted.