Activists Slam EPA Waste Rule Defining Combustion Air Toxics Limits

摘要

Environmentalists are slamming EPA's recent waste rule defining when industrial energy units are subject to strict air toxics rules for incinerators or less-stringent boiler requirements, arguing the rule has a "narrow, ridiculous" defini-tion of waste that leaves many small units with no emission controls to protect the public from hazardous pollution. "EPA adopted a purely deregulatory approach that will ensure that a vast amount of waste, including toxic waste, is combusted without being covered by the more protective standards that the Clean Air Act applies to incineration," according to one environmentalist, who says the proposed version of the rule was bad and the final rule is worse. Activists say the rule includes new exemptions that appear to be good for industry, but some industry sources say the exemptions are so vague that industry may not be able to take advantage of them.