The EPA late last month opted to leave more protective air regulations in place but dropped a proposed contamination review for the chemical recycling industry.

The EPA on June 24 posted a final rule categorizing plants that chemically break down plastics to turn them into fuels or new plastics as “municipal waste combustion,” according to E&E News. The move leaves such facilities under stricter air quality rules than the industry has sought.

The oil and gas industry and plastics producers are proposing dozens of these plastics pyrolysis plants across the U.S.  These facilities, which the industry labels “advanced recycling,” use heat to break down plastics in an oxygen-free environment and can release significant amounts of air pollution and other waste.

On Wednesday, the EPA proposed a rule that withdrew a Biden-era proposal in June 2023 that would have required fuels derived from these plastics to be free of 18 contaminants before being put on the market.

The contaminants include cancer-causing dioxins, chemicals in the PFAS family known as “forever chemicals” that persist in the environment, and multiple heavy metals.

The chemical recycling industry applauded the move, with Ross Eisenberg, president of America’s Plastic Makers, a subsidiary of the American Chemistry Council, issuing a statement saying the rule would have "imposed unnecessary burdens and hindered investments,” according to E&E News.