According to an article in The Hill, on March 6, the Trump administration asked a court to pause legal challenges that were put in place under the Biden administration in 2024 to increase safeguards for workers at chemical plants.
The Biden administration was reversing what the Trump administration did in 2019 when it had the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency dial back Obama-era regulations requiring companies to assess potentially safer technologies and processes that can limit hazards. The Trump administration said then that there was “little data supporting the claimed benefits” of the safety regulation.
The Obama-era safety rule was enacted after a fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, killed a dozen first responders in 2013.
About the Author
Traci Purdum
Editor-in-Chief
Traci Purdum, an award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering manufacturing and management issues, is a graduate of the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Kent, Ohio, and an alumnus of the Wharton Seminar for Business Journalists, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Recent Awards:
2025 Eddie Award for her column "Lax Regulations Burn Rivers"
2024 Jesse H. Neal Award for best podcast Process Safety with Trish & Traci