Among dozens of regulations being issued during its final weeks by the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency issued two new regulations on Friday – one, it exempted an estimated 118,500 tons of hazardous waste annually from strict federal incineration controls; and two, it separately exempted factory farms from a requirement to report hazardous air pollution to the federal government.

Proposed in June 2007, the hazardous waste exemption was approved by the White House three weeks after the presidential election. It allows companies that create hazardous chemical wastes in industrial processes to burn them as fuel in their own incinerators, instead of paying highly regulated incineration firms to destroy them.

This move by the agency has not just angered environmentalists, but has also stirred opposition from members of Congress who worry that the EPA lacks information and a clear strategy for regulating mega-farms, which have been controversial owing to concerns about foul odors and water pollution.

Ben Dunham, associate legislative counsel for the nonprofit advocacy group Earthjustice, said: “Everything about this rule-making was flawed, including the logic that says, ‘if you can burn it, it’s not a hazardous waste’.” He said it would allow firms with poor environmental records to simply throw their hazardous waste in the company boiler, and burn it without strict monitoring, sometimes in populated areas.

The other regulation, which exempts factory farms from a federal reporting requirement, was proposed last December and approved by the White House on Thursday. Barry Breen, the EPA’s deputy assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response, noted that the agency’s original proposal, 28 years back - which aimed at exempting factory farms from reporting to state and local authorities - was modified to cover only reports to the EPA.