EPA Boiler Emissions Limits Called Unlawful by Environmental Advocacy Groups

摘要

The Environmental Protection Agency "knowingly flouted" the Clean Air Act when it weakened carbon monoxide emissions limits for industrial boilers, according to a coalition of environmental organizations (Sierra Club v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 16-1021, brief filed 7/20/16). The Sierra Club and other organizations are challenging a November 2015 reconsideration rule (RIN:2060-AS09) that made changes to the maximum achievable control technology standards that apply to major source boilers, which are commonly found at petroleum refineries, chemical manufacturing plants and other large industrial facilities. That rule established a minimum level, or MACT floor, of 130 parts per million for carbon monoxide, which is regulated as a surrogate for controlling all organic hazardous air pollutants that are emitted by boilers other than dioxins.