MATSUI INTRODUCES NO PASSES FOR POLLUTERS ACT ALONGSIDE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH COALITION

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07), introduced the No Passes for Polluters Act, legislation to end the president’s unilateral authority to exempt private industrial facilities from key Clean Air Act protections. 

Congresswoman Matsui announced the legislation during a press conference joined by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ed Markey (D-MA), Earthjustice Action, and the Health Equity and Environment Action League (HEAL). The event highlighted policy solutions to curb the impacts of climate change and toxic pollution on Americans’ health.

“President Trump has abused the Clean Air Act to let more than 180 industrial facilities off the hook from key toxic pollution requirements,” said Congresswoman Matsui at the press conference. “Clean-air laws should not change based on who occupies the Oval Office, and they should not become something a company can sidestep with a simple call to the White House. The No Passes for Polluters Act will restore accountability and protect the basic federal safeguards every family depends on to breathe clean air.”

The legislation is co-led by Representatives Don Beyer (VA-08), Mike Levin (CA-49), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), and Maxine Dexter (OR-03). The companion bill is led in the Senate by Senators Whitehouse and Schiff (D-CA).

“The Trump administration’s corrupt polluter industry bosses will abuse every loophole available to pollute for free, damn the health consequences for Americans,” said Senator Whitehouse. “Our No Passes for Polluters Act will rein in Trump’s abuse of toxic chemical control exemptions to ensure this process is not used for corrupt giveaways to the fossil fuel industry.”

“President Trump’s EPA is allowing industrial polluters to apply for exemptions to the Clean Air Act’s limits on toxic emissions,” said Senator Schiff. “Trump is the first president to implement such a giveaway to the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our health. Our legislation will stop the administration from giving out free passes to polluters so we can keep our air breathable.”

“The Trump Administration has exploited loopholes to help the dirtiest and most expensive polluters avoid all accountability,” said Congressman Beyer. “Our No Passes for Polluters Act will reinforce Congress' original intent: to guarantee all Americans access to clean and healthy air, not to give free passes to facilities releasing coal waste, toxic metals, and dangerous chemicals and polluting our nation's air."

“During the 2024 election, President Trump promised fossil fuel companies that if they contributed $1 billion to his campaign, he would do whatever they wanted and bend regulations to their will. Big Oil delivered and we’ve seen President Trump keep his promise by rolling back critical environmental protections and scrapping rules that keep our air and water clean,” said Congressman Levin. “The No Passes for Polluters Act would prevent this pay-to-play scheme and block any President from exempting polluters from following the law. I am proud to partner with Reps. Matsui, Beyer, Dexter, and McClellan on this bill that would help ensure no company can further damage our environment and our planet.”

“As a mom to two young kids, I think often of the world we will leave the next generation and the steps we must take to ensure a clean, safe and habitable future for all. Yet the Trump Administration has taken unprecedented steps towards giving facilities a pass to get around the toxic pollution standards set under the Clean Air Act — making it that much easier to pollute with impunity,” said Congresswoman McClellan. “We must act now to prevent the President from unilaterally deciding who gets to play by the rules. The No Passes for Polluters Act would hold the fossil fuel industry accountable and uphold the health and safety of our communities, and I thank Congresswoman Matsui for her leadership on this issue.”

“Our children’s futures are too valuable for us to sit back and hope that polluters choose people over profits. Congress must guarantee they do,” said Congresswoman Dexter. “That’s why I am proud to support legislation to ensure that no president—Donald Trump or anyone who follows—can abuse the Clean Air Act to hand out special favors to polluters. As the first and only lung doctor in Congress, I am committed to enacting environmental laws guided by science, not political favors for corporate polluters.”

Background

In 2025, President Trump began granting unprecedented two-year exemptions from Clean Air Act hazardous air pollution standards to private industrial facilities. To date, more than 180 facilities have received exemptions from safeguards designed to protect nearby communities from toxic emissions.

The Administration’s unprecedented use of this authority left companies unsure how to even request an exemption. According to ProPublica, one company representative emailed the EPA asking, “Hello, I am a gas company looking for an exemption. How do I start?” The Administration ultimately accepted emailed requests before granting sweeping exemptions across multiple industries, a clear effort to shield polluters from following the law and part of a broader pattern that now includes pardons for individuals convicted of environmental crimes.

The No Passes for Polluters Act would end the President’s unilateral authority to exempt private industrial facilities from these Clean Air Act protections and strengthen congressional oversight of the remaining exemption authorities under sections 118(b), 248(e), and 604(f).

The Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund Action, Earthjustice Action, Sierra Club, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice endorsed the legislation.

“The Trump administration is illegally giving the nation's most hazardous industries a free pass to spew toxic pollution.  In a matter of months, the most dangerous facilities in states across the country have been freed to put communities at risk of premature death, respiratory illness, and lifelong harm to children,” said Sam Goodstein, Managing Director of Federal Affairs, NRDC. “These exemptions are part of a broader pattern of sidestepping Congress and federal agencies and shutting communities out of decisions that affect their health. Congress must act to adapt the law to a presidency acting so consistently and fundamentally lawlessly, and the ‘No Passes for Polluters Act’ presents a way to do just that.” 

“President Trump’s unlawful free passes to pollute have allowed 180 large industrial polluters around the country to avoid Clean Air Act protections for some of the most dangerous pollutants known to science, including mercury, lead and arsenic – putting the health of millions of Americans at risk,” said Joanna Slaney, Vice President for Political and Government Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund. “No other administration has so brazenly flouted the Clean Air Act.  The No Passes for Polluters Act is vital to protect the health of every American from the Trump administration’s unlawful waivers for industrial polluters.”

“Americans deserve a government that works to protect public health and ensure the air we breathe is free from toxic chemicals, not one that gives corporations a free pass to pollute,” said Liz Ruben, Senior Legislative Representative, Earthjustice Action. “We're grateful to Representatives Matsui, Dexter, Levin, McClellan, and Beyer for fighting against this administration’s polluter-friendly policies and standing up for people's right to breathe clean, safe air.”

“The Trump-Zeldin EPA has bent over backward to cater to the needs of fossil fuel companies and corporate polluters, all at the expense of the health of our people and our communities,” said Patrick Drupp, Director of Climate Policy, Sierra Club. “Their polluter-first agenda to skirt the Clean Air Act has made the air we breathe and water we drink less safe, leaving the American people with little to show for it but higher costs and increased risk of asthma, heart and lung disease, and cancer.  We thank Representatives Matsui, Beyer, Dexter, Levin, and McClellan for working to rein in this abuse.”

The full text of the legislation is available HERE.