Arizona — President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on October 24, 2025, titled “Regulatory Relief for Certain Stationary Sources to Promote American Mineral Security,” granting a two-year exemption from the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 copper smelting rule to Freeport-McMoRan’s Miami smelter in Arizona. The order invokes section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act, which permits exemptions when required technology is not available and when doing so is in the national security interest.
The proclamation’s attached Annex I identifies the Miami Smelter operated by Freeport-McMoRan Miami Inc. as the affected facility, extending all compliance deadlines under the EPA’s “Primary Copper Smelting” rule by two years. During that period, the facility remains subject to pre-2024 standards.
The EPA rule at issue, finalized on May 13, 2024, tightened national emission standards for copper smelters after a residual risk and technology review. According to the agency’s summary, the rule was expected to reduce emissions of lead, arsenic, mercury, and other air toxics by roughly half once fully implemented.
In the proclamation, Trump stated that the required technology “does not exist in a commercially viable form” and that the exemption serves “the national security interests of the United States.” The action follows Executive Order 14220, issued earlier this year, which recognized copper as a critical material and directed the government to strengthen domestic capacity across the copper supply chain.
The United States currently operates only two primary copper smelters, Rio Tinto Kennecott in Utah and Freeport-McMoRan Miami in Arizona. Grupo México’s Asarco has also considered restarting its Hayden, Arizona, smelter amid rising copper prices.
Analysts view the exemption as narrowly targeted, designed to preserve domestic smelting capacity while companies evaluate feasible pollution-control technologies. Reuters coverage described the move as part of a broader effort to strengthen U.S. mineral independence.
Environmental advocates caution that exemptions under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act should be rare and closely justified. The Columbia Climate Law Center notes that the administration previously invited companies to apply for such exemptions through a newly created review process.
The proclamation takes effect immediately and extends compliance deadlines for the Miami facility by two years. Future expansions of the exemption would require new annexes or additional proclamations. The public-inspection copy of the order is available through the Federal Register.
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