Trump EPA Finalizes Weak Rule to Reduce Dangerous Air Pollution from New Gas-Burning Power Plants, Ignores Health Benefits and Lives Saved from Pollution Reduction

(Washington, D.C. - January 12, 2026) The Trump EPA has unveiled a final rule under the Clean Air Act that revises emission limits for dangerous nitrogen oxide (NO_x) pollution from new gas-burning turbines used in power plants and industrial facilities.

Emissions of NO_x form smog and soot, which is harmful to human health and linked to serious heart and lung diseases. EPA's final NO_x rule is substantially less protective than the proposal for the rule issued under the Biden Administration, and for some gas plants is even weaker than the protections that have been in place since 2006. The rule also includes a carve-out that allows certain temporary gas turbines, which can be used at data centers, to pollute more NO_x than other sources.

To make matters worse, EPA states in the final rule that it will no longer estimate the economic value of health benefits from reducing NO_x and other types of health-harming pollution for Clean Air Act rules going forward. This means that in issuing these standards, EPA will now ignore the value of lives saved, hospital visits avoided, and prevented lost work and school days due to air pollution-related illnesses. This harmful and irrational decision abandons EPA's time-tested practice under administrations of both parties of undertaking rigorous economic analysis to evaluate both the benefits and costs of clean air protections. It will allow EPA to effectively ignore the health impacts of future decisions related to air pollution and air quality protections.

"EPA's action today recklessly refuses to place any value on protecting the health of millions of Americans from nitrogen oxides pollution in the face of mountains of medical science finding that this pollution contributes to asthma attacks, heart disease and other serious health problems." said Noha Haggag, Senior Attorney for Environmental Defense Fund. "EPA is leaving millions of people in harm's way when common sense solutions are at hand for modern national limits on nitrogen oxides pollution and those solutions are urgently needed to address the pollution from combustion turbines being deployed in communities across the country."

"This rule is a major step back from the proposal in 2024, and does not do nearly enough to protect Americans from dangerous gas plant pollution," said Andres Restrepo, Senior Attorney for Sierra Club. "It is particularly unconscionable that for some gas plants, Donald Trump's EPA has actually weakened the NO_x limits that had already been in place for close to two decades. Our families and communities deserve far better, and we will consider all legal options available going forward."

Under the Clean Air Act, EPA must review and revise NO_x standards every eight years to ensure they keep up with developments in pollution control technologies and practices. However, EPA failed to update the NO_x standards for new gas plants for 18 years - until, in response to a 2022 lawsuit brought by Environmental Defense Fund and Sierra Club, the last administration proposed revisions in November 2024.

The 2024 proposal strengthened protections from NO_x pollution from new gas plants, reflecting that limits are achievable through the use of readily available, affordable technology. Today's final rule backtracks from the proposal, and in some aspects even from the most recent 2006 standards, permitting more pollution and leaving more people at risk for serious health problems.