EPA Agrees To Deadline For Issuing Chemical Spill Prevention Regulations

摘要

EPA has reached a legal settlement with environmentalists that commits the agency to proposing within 18 months long-sought regulations to prevent and contain chemical spills from above-ground tanks at industrial facilities, such as the massive 2014 spill of a hazardous substance that contaminated drinking water in West Virginia. The Feb. 16 consent decree filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York calls for EPA to finalize spill prevention rules within three and half years, and to meet interim deadlines for proposing the rule and collecting information to support the effort. The agency could postpone the initial 18 month deadline for a proposal by up to 10 months to collect more information on how to craft the rule, the settlement says.