The Trump administration is proceeding with plans to dismantle the federal disaster management system, including the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) response management program (RMP) and the Chemical Safety Board's budget. The Biden administration strengthened RMP protections in 2024.

The number of US chemical accidents, including explosions, fires, and other emergencies involving chemical releases, increased by at least 51% since 2021, according to an analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Industrial accidents resulting in chemical releases grew from 83 in 2021 to 131 in 2025, based on reports filed with the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. Deaths and injuries from chemical accidents rose by at least 20% since 2021, increasing from 60 in 2021 to 89 in 2025.

The Trump EPA is aiming to undo most of the 2024 updates to the law. These rules required hazardous facilities to adopt newer technology to prevent disasters, implement backup measures for when initial defenses fail, and replace hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. The rules also mandated plans for "double disasters" that occur when natural events like hurricanes or earthquakes impact chemical facilities.

In addition to targeting the RMP, the White House is seeking to eliminate the Chemical Safety Board's $14 million budget. Industry adopts approximately 90% of the safety recommendations made by the board. The Trump EPA previously eliminated a public website designed to inform communities and first responders about chemicals used at facilities.

Tim Whitehouse, Executive Director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, stated, "The Trump administration's action amid the increase in accidents was 'simply appalling'." He added, "Like our public infrastructure, America's industrial infrastructure is ageing, making disastrous failures increasingly likely." PEER obtained its data after initiating a lawsuit in 2017 to require the government to track such incidents.

Marc Boom, Senior Director of the Environmental Protection Network, commented, "This report makes plain what communities, workers and first responders already know: chemical disasters are happening far too often, and are too often undercounted." Boom added, "Many are preventable, but instead of strengthening safeguards, this EPA is trying to weaken the rules designed to stop them." Jeff Ruch, Senior Counsel for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, stated, "You better hope you're lucky in that there's no proactive effort to make sure that these ultra-dangerous facilities are operating safely."

An estimate indicated that the U.S. experienced a chemical accident harming humans or the environment, on average, every other day between 2004 and 2025. The EPA's RMP mandates that more than 12,500 high-risk facilities establish protocols to prevent catastrophes or limit their impact. About 40% of Americans reside within three miles of at least one of these high-risk chemical facilities. Recent incidents include the collapse of a chemical tank at a plant in Longview, Washington, which killed 11 workers, and a malfunctioning chemical tank in Garden Grove, California, that led to the evacuation of over 40,000 residents, both occurring on May 1, 2025.