More than 200 chemical plants nationwide must reduce toxic emissions likely to cause cancer under a new Environmental Protection Agency rule. Officials say Tuesday's rule advances President Joe Biden's commitment to environmental justice with health protections for communities burdened by industrial pollution from chemicals. The rule applies to facilities in Texas, Louisiana, the Ohio River Valley, West Virginia, the upper South and elsewhere. The rule benefits a majority-Black Louisiana town EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited in 2021. Denka Performance Elastomer in LaPlace, Louisiana, is the largest source of chloroprene emissions in the U.S. and will have to reduce emissions. Denka says it has complied with air permitting requirements and opposes the EPA's action.

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a deadly carcinogen still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products. The final rule marks a major expansion of EPA regulation under a landmark 2016 law that overhauled regulations governing tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in everyday products, from household cleaners to clothing and furniture. The new rule would ban chrysotile asbestos, the only ongoing use of asbestos in the United States. The substance is found in products such as brake linings and gaskets and is used to manufacture chlorine bleach and sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda. Asbestos exposure is linked to 40,000 U.S. deaths each year.