EPA chief Lee Zeldin blasts NY Times over claim agency will stop considering 'lives saved' in pollution rules

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EPA chief Lee Zeldin blasts NY Times over claim agency will stop considering 'lives saved' in pollution rules

The New York Times reported that the EPA would no longer consider health benefits when setting air pollution regulations

Lindsay Kornick Fox News

Published

January 13, 2026 9:02am EST

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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin denounced the New York Times on Monday for claiming in a headline that the agency will no longer be considering "lives saved" when setting up rules regarding air pollution.

The New York Times reported Monday, "E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution," citing internal emails and documents.

The report claimed that the EPA under the Trump administration plans to stop tallying "gains from the health benefits" caused by limiting air pollutants such as fine particulate matter and ozone while regulating major industries.

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The New York Times claimed that the EPA would no longer consider "lives saved" when calculating regulations for air pollution. (iStock)

"For decades, the Environmental Protection Agency has calculated the health benefits of reducing air pollution, using the cost estimates of avoided asthma attacks and premature deaths to justify clean-air rules. Not anymore," the article read.

Zeldin called out the story's headline on X as "fake news" and insisted the agency still intends to consider "lives saved" while setting regulations.

"Yet another dishonest, fake news claim courtesy of the New York Times. Not only is the EXACT OPPOSITE of this headline the actual truth, but the Times is already VERY WELL AWARE that EPA will still be considering lives saved when setting pollution limits. The Times’ unyielding commitment to destroying journalism is second to none," Zeldin wrote.

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According to the New York Times report, the EPA had previously informed the publication that the agency was still weighing health effects, though it would no longer be assigning them a dollar value while doing so.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called out the New York Times headline on X. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

"EPA like the agency always has, is still considering the impacts that PM2.5 and ozone emissions have on human health. Not monetizing does not equal not considering or not valuing the human health impact," EPA spokesperson Carolyn Holran told the New York Times.

The New York Times defended the report in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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"Our reporting on internal EPA documents found that the agency is no longer calculating the health benefits of reducing fine particulate matter and ozone pollution when writing clean-air regulations. An EPA spokeswoman did not deny this when we asked for comment and our reporting remains accurate," New York Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander wrote.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

Zeldin has worked to repeal several environmental regulations from the Biden and Obama administrations as head of the EPA.

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Most notably, Zeldin announced plans to repeal the 2009 Endangerment Finding regulation, which found that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane and others threaten human life because they accelerate climate change. The EPA previously relied on the "endangerment finding" to install stringent regulations on a variety of industries, including auto, air travel and energy, that business leaders said threatened the viability of their companies.

Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

EPA chief Lee Zeldin blasts NY Times over claim agency will stop considering 'lives saved' in pollution rules