Sponsors (4)
The bill reduces EPA's use of IRIS chemical risk assessments—lowering regulatory costs and simplifying permitting for industry and some regulators—but at the cost of weakening the scientific basis for protecting public health, particularly in disadvantaged communities, and increasing regulatory/legal uncertainty.
Utilities, manufacturers, and other affected industries will face lower compliance costs and less regulatory uncertainty because EPA cannot be required to base new air-pollution rules on IRIS chemical risk assessments.
EPA and permitting authorities (including state and local regulators) will have a narrower evidentiary basis for enforcement and permitting, which can simplify permitting decisions and reduce administrative burden for regulators.
Urban, rural, and other communities could get weaker protections from toxic air pollution because EPA would be limited in using IRIS risk assessments to set or justify rules.
Environmental‑justice communities (low‑income neighborhoods and many communities of color) may lose data-driven protections and prioritization because a key federal tool for identifying pollution risks would be blocked.
Public‑health agencies and hospitals may lack high-quality, EPA-produced hazard assessments for chemicals, hindering health planning, exposure tracking, and clinical response to toxic exposures.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from using any assessments produced by the agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program as the basis for rulemaking, enforcement, permitting, air toxics assessments, or any mapping or screening tools. The ban is absolute and applies regardless of other laws. The law does not change funding, repeal the IRIS program, or describe alternative science or processes; it only forbids EPA use of IRIS assessments for the listed regulatory and analytical purposes.
Introduced February 18, 2025 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress February 18, 2025