What does Lee Zeldin’s EPA repeal mean for Americans?
Lee Zeldin announced that the Environmental Protection Agency will roll back regulations aimed at combating climate change and pollution.
Community and environmental advocacy groups are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to take action over an air permit for a northwest Indiana steel mill.
The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the EPA to approve or deny a permit granted to U.S. Steel under the Clean Air Act by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in April 2025. The groups argue that the EPA should have reviewed the permit within 60 days, but the agency has not yet taken action. These groups filed the petition on July 3, 2025, and are currently filing a lawsuit to force the EPA to act.
The groups argue that the current permit “does not include adequate monitoring and compliance provisions” and should be rejected.
Groups suing the EPA include the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Environmental Conservation Project, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, and Just Transition Northwest Indiana.
“Congress set clear deadlines to ensure communities, regulators and the industry are not left at a loss,” Max Lopez, an attorney for ELPC, said in a news release.
Lopez said the agency’s inaction means the group’s concerns about pollution coming from the steel mill remain unaddressed.
Groups across Indiana are calling for stricter air pollution regulations at steel mills in northwest Indiana. At the same time, the EPA is slowing implementation of emissions standards designed to protect public health and the natural environment.
Lisa Vallee of Just Transition Northwest Indiana said the EPA’s decision to ignore the group’s petition for nine months is unacceptable.
“Despite decades of evidence documenting the devastating health effects of steel pollution, it is unconscionable for U.S. Steel to seek a permit that does not include even the most basic protections for communities living on the fence line,” Vallee wrote in an email to IndyStar.
EPA officials declined to comment.
“Consistent with long-standing practice, EPA does not comment on pending litigation,” an unsigned email from the EPA’s news office to IndyStar said.
Doreen Carey, president of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, said the air permit in question does not meet federal requirements aimed at protecting local health and the environment.
“It is time for EPA to require a modern approach to Air Pollution Control at the Gary Plant, including continuous real-time monitoring, timely intervention, corrective action, and enforcement to ensure the Gary Plant is in compliance with the Clean Air Act,” Carey said in a news release.
Earlier this year, local and national groups released a report outlining how Indiana’s steel industry can transition to cleaner manufacturing while preserving jobs in the state. Advocacy group SteelWatch and the Indiana University Institute for Environmental Resilience released another report outlining a path to greener steel.
The report says that if northwest Indiana’s steel makers continue to rely on burning fossil fuels to operate their businesses, the state’s job market will shrink. The report says moving to a cleaner manufacturing process will preserve local union jobs while alleviating public health concerns the organization says stem from burning coal.
These groups continue to push for cleaner air for their neighbors in northwest Indiana, and this lawsuit seeks to force the EPA to issue an opinion on the 2025 permit within 60 days of the court’s decision. The plaintiffs also want a court declaration that the agency violated the federal Clean Air Act.
Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environmental reporter. Contact karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on BlueSky or Twitter @karlstartswithk
The IndyStar Environmental Reporting Project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
