INDUSTRY MOVES TO BLOCK EPA FLARE LIMIT MANDATE IN AIR QUALITY PLAN

摘要

Oil and other industry officials are moving to block EPA efforts to limit refinery flaring in an air quality plan designed to help bring areas into attainment with sulfur dioxide (SO2) air quality standards, the first time the agency has sought to limit the controversial practice in such a way.rnIn Montana Sulfur & Chemical Company v. EPA, a suit pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, industry officials are challenging flaring limits in a federal implementation plan (FIP) EPA developed for bringing a Montana nonattainment area into compliance with SO2 standards.rnThe named plaintiff has drawn the legal support of the major national trade organizations the American Petroleum Institute and the National Environmental Development Association. Business listings show over 150 oil and gas production facilities in the area affected by the FIP, including an Exxon Mobil refinery.rnIndustry says flaring is necessary as a safety device, in order to allow the escape of a buildup of gases during facility startup, shutdown or malfunction. But the practice is controversial, with environmentalists arguing that companies abuse the practice and operate in malfunction mode in order to avoid emission limits.rnIn a Nov. 3 brief, industry claims that the flaring limits EPA imposed through the FIP "contradict its recent regulations and go far beyond the flaring limitations in other [state implementation plans (SIPs)]." Industry filed the case last summer, but it is still in its early stages and is currently in mediation, according to the court's docket. The parties are scheduled to meet for ongoing settlement talks April 14.