Environmental & Community Orgs File Lawsuit to Stop Trump Exemptions from Air Pollution Rules for Steel Industry Coke Ovens - CleanTechnica

Community, health, and environmental organizations, including NRDC, Earthjustice, and the Southern Environmental Law Center, have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to challenge the Trump administration’s exemption allowing steel industry coke ovens to bypass critical air pollution controls. The administration granted a two-year nationwide exemption for all 11 coke oven facilities in November 2025, claiming that required emissions-control technologies were not yet commercially viable. However, the EPA had recently found these updated pollution standards posed no significant immediate compliance challenges. Critics argue this exemption endangers public health by permitting continued toxic emissions of carcinogens and neurotoxic pollutants, particularly harming communities near facilities like ABC Coke in Alabama. The 2024 EPA coke oven rule introduced stricter emissions limits, mandatory fenceline air monitoring, and tighter controls on leaks from coke oven components, with compliance deadlines set between mid-2025 and early 2026. Advocates emphasize that these regulations were the result of long-standing community