ICYMI: New Rules from Trump’s EPA Endanger Arizonans by Weakening Lead Cleanup Rules

Prescott Valley, AZ— The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently changed the rules for how much lead must be present before homes are prioritized for cleanup under the Superfund program. The new threshold is three times higher than before—600 parts per million instead of 200—leaving Arizona families exposed to dangerous levels of lead.

The Iron King Mine–Humboldt Smelter Superfund Site, located near Prescott Valley, has long been a focus of cleanup efforts after decades of mining and smelting left widespread contamination. The EPA has already sampled hundreds of residential yards for lead and arsenic in Dewey-Humboldt, and additional cleanups are planned for 2026. Under Trump’s new guidance, many of those homes may no longer qualify for cleanup, despite the proven health risks for children and families in the area.

The updated policy also raises the blood lead level used to prioritize cleanups from 3.5 micrograms per deciliter to 5, contradicting the CDC’s own standards. This means less prioritization for cleanups, slower timelines, and more families living with toxic soil that threatens children’s brain development and long-term health.

“Donald Trump and his administration are siding with polluters over Arizonans—again,” said Diali Avila, Arizona Director at Climate Power. “This administration keeps rolling back protections for clean air, clean water, and community health. From canceling climate and environmental justice investments to weakening toxic chemical rules, Trump’s EPA is putting Arizona families in danger while protecting corporate polluters.”

Trump’s EPA has also:

• Canceled over $22 billion in environmental justice grants, including funding for resilience projects and energy efficiency upgrades in Western states.
• Rolled back PFAS protections, allowing toxic “forever chemicals” to persist in groundwater.
• Granted exemptions to power plants from rules reducing mercury and arsenic emissions—pollutants known to harm children’s health.
• Pushed to weaken protections for methane pollution, which it argued were “throttling the oil and gas industry.” Methane pollution leads to ozone creation which is responsible for over 1 million premature deaths annually, and the protections were expected to yield up to $98 billion in climate and health benefits from 2024 to 2038.

These rollbacks not only threaten Arizona’s air and water but also show exactly who Trump’s EPA is protecting: corporate polluters. The agency was created to safeguard public health. Under Trump, it’s doing the opposite.

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