Steel industry gains bipartisan support for emissions viewpoint

Eight U.S. senators, four each from the Republican and Democratic parties, have sent a letter to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asking it to reconsider aspects of three proposed emissions-related rules.

The bipartisan group includes two senators from Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia and one each from Minnesota and Pennsylvania. A statement from Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio says the three proposed EPA rules “would dramatically undermine America’s steel industry, hurt Ohio steel manufacturers and steelworkers, and ship Ohio steel jobs overseas.”

Brown was one of the eight who co-signed the letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan urging him to reject the proposed regulations as currently written, saying they are not in the interest of American national and economic security. Instead, Brown says, Regan and the EPA should “work with labor and industry to overhaul them in a way that protects American steelworkers.”

The three proposed rules all are directed largely toward the blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace sector. They are: the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Integrated Iron and Steel Manufacturing Facilities; National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Coke Ovens: Pushing, Quenching, and Battery Stacks, and Coke Oven Batteries; and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Taconite Iron Ore Processing Amendments.

A representative from the United Steelworkers (USW) and the CEO of mining and steelmaking firm Cleveland-Cliffs also have made statements siding with the eight senators.

“Cleveland-Cliffs has a positive track record of investing over $1 billion to advance steel decarbonization and meaningfully reduce our environmental impact," Cleveland-Cliffs President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves says. "However, these EPA proposed rules are not technically feasible or scientifically justified.”

“The USW has a long history in fighting to reduce hazardous air pollution in our atmosphere; it is a responsibility we do not take lightly,” adds Donnie Blatt, director of USW District 1, based in Columbus, Ohio.

“The USW and our represented employers have worked together to make the U.S. steel industry the cleanest in the world. The proposed amendments would result in significant costs and jeopardize good paying jobs in local economies throughout the U.S. The EPA should further consider revising these amendments responsibly to allow U.S. steel companies to compete globally and still achieve their desired goals.”

In the letter, the eight senators say the proposed regulations risk undermining the domestic steel industry and national security while driving production overseas, likely resulting in no net reduction in emissions from the steel industry globally.

“We support reducing harmful air pollution," the letter reads. "We also support rules that are durable, realistic and based upon proven technology and reflect a consensus view among stakeholders on how to best improve public health while protecting good paying jobs and supporting industries essential to our national and economic security. These rules fail to meet those standards.”

According to the senators, working with stakeholders could result in “technically-sound final rules that achieve further emissions reductions while not harming the competitiveness of our American steel companies.”