PROVIDING REGULATORY RELIEF: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation granting two years of regulatory relief from a stringent Biden-Era EPA rule on coke oven facilities—a sector vital to America’s steelmaking capacity, national security, and industrial strength.
- The Proclamation allows the facilities listed in the Proclamation to comply with the EPA standards that were in place before the Biden Administration rulemakings for two years.
- This exemption ensures that critical coke production assets can continue to operate uninterrupted to support national security without incurring substantial costs to comply with unattainable compliance requirements.
REDUCING BURDENSOME RESTRICTIONS: President Trump recognizes that America’s domestic steel supply chain—powered by metallurgical coke—is indispensable to national security and economic prosperity.
- Approximately 70% of all steel production relies on metallurgical coke used in blast furnaces to smelt iron ore for critical industries and defense applications.
- The Biden-era emissions standard imposes costly and unattainable compliance requirements on coke ovens, as the technologies necessary to comply do not yet exist in commercially viable or cost-effective forms.
- Facilities would be forced to engineer and deploy novel systems on unrealistic timelines, risking closures, production shutdowns, job losses, and long-term damage to America’s steel industrial base.
- Without this relief, the United States would face weakened steel capacity, increased reliance on foreign adversaries for critical metals, reduced military readiness, and threats to construction, infrastructure, transportation, and manufacturing sectors.
BALANCING ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS WITH AMERICAN PROSPERITY: President Trump has consistently prioritized a pragmatic approach, ensuring environmental policies support, rather than undermine, America’s economic strength and national security.
- President Trump has sought to protect American industries while maintaining standards that allow Americans to have among the cleanest air and water in the world.
- He directed the EPA to repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan during his first term, replacing it with the Affordable Clean Energy rule in 2019 that set achievable standards to preserve jobs while addressing emissions.
- He paused the expansion of windmills, recognizing their detrimental environmental impact, particularly on wildlife, often outweighs their benefits.
- He has championed an energy dominance strategy, boosting domestic oil and gas production to reduce reliance on foreign energy while maintaining practical environmental oversight.
- He granted two years of similar regulatory relief from stringent Biden-era regulations that impacted other sectors vital to national security, including copper smelting, coal plants, taconite iron ore processing facilities, and certain chemical manufacturers that produce chemicals related to semiconductors, medical device sterilization, advanced manufacturing, and national defense systems.
- Using Section 232 authorities, he imposed a 50% tariff on steel imports to counter national security threats from foreign overproduction and bolster domestic steel production.
- His approach encourages industry to develop cost-effective solutions like improved emissions technologies rather than imposing unfeasible mandates that risk economic disruption.