FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2025
CONTACT:
Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
EPA Rollbacks of Clean Air and Water Protections
Will Cost 200,000 Lives and Harm America’s Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) condemns the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) reckless decision to roll back 31 critical clean air and water regulations, a move that represents an egregious assault on public health, environmental integrity and economic stability. These regulations were not arbitrary restrictions; they were essential safeguards designed to limit harmful pollutants, prevent water contamination and protect millions from life-threatening diseases. Their removal is a blatant prioritization of corporate interests over human lives.
EPN’s analysis, which builds on a report issued by EPN experts last year, uses data from EPA’s own analyses and finds that the rules Zeldin plans to roll back were projected to deliver at least $254 billion in annual economic benefits, primarily by reducing healthcare costs, preventing illnesses and avoiding premature deaths. Now, for every million dollars in favors handed to corporate polluters, the American public will suffer an estimated $6 million in health-related costs, including increased rates of asthma, cancer, heart disease and respiratory illnesses. The consequences of these rollbacks will disproportionately harm vulnerable communities, exacerbating existing health inequities and accelerating environmental degradation at a time when climate disasters are becoming more frequent and severe.
“The EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment, yet these rollbacks do the exact opposite,” said Michelle Roos, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Network. “By dismantling critical safeguards, the agency is endangering lives, worsening pollution and undermining decades of progress protecting the air we breathe and the water we drink. Congress, the courts, and the public must stand up to these reckless rollbacks.”
The rollback of these vital regulations also undermines the progress made in addressing environmental justice and climate resilience. The increased pollution levels resulting from weakened safeguards will exacerbate the disproportionate environmental burdens faced by low-income and minority communities, who often live in areas with higher exposure to toxic air and water contaminants. The erosion of these protections risks reversing the hard-fought advancements in environmental health, which have been central to reducing inequalities and fostering a more equitable society.
“The scientific consensus is unequivocal: Strong environmental regulations save lives, mitigate climate risks, and ensure long-term ecological and economic stability,” continued Roos. “The EPA’s decision to weaken these protections threatens over 200,000 lives and will lead to more than 100 million preventable asthma attacks through 2050. These are not abstract numbers; they represent real people, real families and real suffering that could have been prevented.”
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Founded in 2017, the Environmental Protection Network harnesses the expertise of more than 600 former EPA career staff and confirmation-level appointees from Democratic and Republican administrations to provide the unique perspective of former scientists and regulators with decades of historical and subject matter knowledge.