EPA RETAINS DISPUTED RISK-BASED WAIVER IN WASTE COMBUSTOR AIR RULE

摘要

EPA's just-released air toxics rule for hazardous waste combustors includes a controversial risk-based offramp despite earlier efforts by the Department of Justice (DOJ) opposing the approach because the department believed it would not withstand federal court scrutiny. The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Oct. 14 finished reviewing a revised version of EPA's rule, and EPA released the final rule Oct. 16. Industry sources had predicted ahead of the rule's release that they expected the regulation to retain the risk-based offramp. The rule is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details. Described by EPA as a health-based compliance alternative (HBCA), the approach allows facilities that prove they emit low amounts of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) to be free of stringent maximum achievable control technology (MACT) requirements.