In a White House proclamation dated July 17, 2025, President Donald J. Trump announced a two-year exemption from the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 Hazardous Organic NESHAP (HON Rule) for Dow and 24 other chemical manufacturing facilities. The exemption postpones compliance with select requirements of the HON Rule — originally designed to limit emissions from facilities producing synthetic organic chemicals, polymers and resins — on grounds that the required technology is not yet commercially viable.

Trump’s proclamation emphasizes that enforcing the HON Rule could lead to plant shutdowns or massive capital investments that would disrupt critical supply chains supporting national defense, healthcare, agriculture, and energy. The delay affects compliance deadlines for specified stationary sources listed in Annex I of the proclamation, extending each deadline by two years while facilities continue operating under pre‑HON standards.

Among the exempted facilities are major plants in Louisiana — including Dow’s Plaquemine Glycol II facility, Shell Geismar, and others — in addition to companies such as BASF, Formosa Plastics, DuPont, and Union Carbide.

Read more about regulations impacting chemical manufacturing and the coatings industry.