“US President Donald Trump on Friday rolled back air pollution regulations introduced under Joe Bidenwhich imposed more stringent limits on emissions from copper smelters,” Reuters reports.
Copper regulations, which came into force in May 2024, obliged steelworks to reduce emissions of pollutants such as lead, arsenic, mercury, benzene and dioxinsin compliance with updated federal air quality standards.
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As Reuters points out, President Trump's decision grants a two-year exemption from regulatory compliance for stationary sources, which the White House says will help increase America's mineral security by reducing regulatory burdens on domestic copper producers.
White House Statement
“Imposing these requirements on such a limited and already stressed domestic industry risks accelerating further closures, weakening the country's industrial base, undermining mining independence and increasing dependence on foreign-controlled processing capacity.“, the White House said in the quoted announcement about the changes.
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The agency notes that the Phoenix-based Freeport smelter thanked Donald Trump and said the two-year registration waiver shows the importance of copper to national security.
Reuters recalls that at the beginning of this year Donald Trump signed an executive order recognizing copper as a material of key importance for defense, infrastructure and new technologiesincluding clean energy and electric vehicles.
