Overview
- The EPA said last week it is no longer monetizing benefits from reductions in fine particulate matter and ozone in recent rule analyses.
- Agency documents indicate only industry compliance costs will be calculated while health impacts are discussed without price tags.
- Administrator Lee Zeldin called critical coverage fake news and said lives saved will still factor into setting pollution limits.
- Public-health experts and advocates warned the shift could erode protections and disproportionately harm people with asthma, COPD, and other vulnerabilities.
- Lawmakers and economists criticized the move as devaluing lives after decades of bipartisan practice, noting it aligns with broader rollbacks of health and climate safeguards.