The American Iron and Steel Institute issued a response Friday after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rule imposing emission limits on the processing of taconite (iron ore).

In a press release, the AISI said the rule that mandates the installation of “unproven control technologies” to achieve these limits “flawed.”

Kevin Dempsey, president and CEO of AISI, stated, “The American steel industry is the cleanest in the world. Environmentally friendly, domestically produced iron ore pellets lead to much lower emissions than sinter feed iron ore commonly used in China, Japan, India and many other countries.

This rule completely fails to balance costs and benefit, and ignores feedback provided by the steel industry, steelworkers and members of Congress.”

Dempsey said the rule will be a “direct detriment” to the steel sector and to steelworkers employed both at iron ore (iron-ore) mines and steel mills that consume pellets.

AISI said it submitted comments on the proposed rule last summer and engaged with EPA to provide substantive feedback during the comment period.