I'm a little curious about your age. You learned that bit about the steel industry in school, right?
I grew up surrounded by the steel and iron industries. My little region of the world was a major coal producer, and the steel mills located close to the coal supply when THEY were established. I witnessed the stupidity, sometimes, up close and personal.
The EPA nonsense was tangential and contributory at best. The real issue was labor.
Youngstown Sheet and Tube is a very good example. The union had a TERRIFIC contract. Virtually everyone in the area wanted a job there, unless they were willing to relocate to Pittsburgh for an even better job. Or Detroit. The contracts effectively made modestly wealthy people of broom pushers.
YS&T bargained for a contract, and the union INSISTED on a raise. Like the rest of the steel mills, YS&T informed the union that the company was already losing money, and that there could be no raise. If they couldn't avoid raises, they would shut the doors, and relocate.
Union workers told the company that no one in the world could make iron and steel like American workers - they couldn't relocate outside the country.
A year and a half later, steel was being produced in Belgium, and soon after, iron and steel were being produced in India. China is something of a late comer to the game, but today they produce a lot of iron and steel. Most of it is junk, but I suppose that given time, the Chinese can learn to make the same quality that Belgium and India are already making.
Unions vs the redistribution of wealth is the whole story behind the steel industry off-shoring. The EPA is merely an addendum at the back of the book.