EPA's Revised Industrial Boiler MACT Rules Could Cut Compliance Costs by 50%

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Responding to nearly 5,000 public comments and a changed political atmosphere in Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Washington, D.C.) on February 21 issued a revised set of emissions regulations for industrial boilers that would trim compliance costs by about $1.8 billion, or about 50%, from an earlier draft proposal.

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to regulate hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from industrial boilers at power plants, oil refineries, chemical processing plants, and other industrial, institutional and commercial facilities. The rule, issued under the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), requires industrial boilers to use maximum achievable control technology (MACT) to reduce up to 187 specific HAPs. The rule, several years in the making, has been dubbed the "Industrial Boiler MACT" rule. Major air toxics covered in the rule include mercury, soot, lead and dioxins.

The new rule applies to about 200,000 industrial boilers across the U.S. As in its prior draft, the agency divided affected boilers into two categories: larger emitters are termed "major," while smaller emitters are termed "source" boilers. The new draft rule covers about 13,000 "major" boilers and about 187,000 "source" boilers.

EPA estimated that the new proposal would cut compliance costs at "major" boilers by about $1.5 billion from its earlier proposed rule. Compliance costs for the 187,000 "source" boilers, located at universities, hospitals, hotels and commercial buildings, would fall by about $209 million from the agency's prior proposed rule.

The previous draft "Industrial Boiler MACT" rule, issued April 2010, drew a large number of public comments, including specific complaints from engineering firms and the Council of Industrial Boilers Organizations (CIBO) that the rules as drafted were not achievable. CIBO had estimated the cost of complying with the earlier proposed rule was between $20 billion and $50 billion. For more information on the earlier EPA draft rule, see the August 23, 2010 article - CIBO: EPA Draft Industrial Boiler MACT Rule "Not Achievable As Drafted.

The redrafted rule was issued Feb. 21, pursuant to a timeline imposed by a federal court. EPA had been required to issue the final rule in December 2010, but after numerous comments were received, the agency went back to the court and asked for another 13 months to redraft the rule. Noting that the EPA had already been working on the draft NESHAP rule for three years, the court gave EPA another month to finalize a draft rule. The last day of the court's timeline was Feb. 21.

"Based on input from key stakeholders, including the public, industry and the public health communities, today's announcement represents a dramatic cut in the cost of implementation, while maintaining maximum public health benefits," the EPA said in a press release. The agency "estimates that for every dollar spent to cut these pollutants, the public will see $10 to $24 in health benefits, including fewer premature deaths." The EPA projected that the new rules would prevent 2,600 to 6,600 premature deaths, prevent 4,100 heart attacks and avert 42,000 asthma attacks per year when fully implemented in 2014.

Bob Bessette, CIBO's president, had mixed views on the new proposal. He was quoted in the New York Times as saying the new rules were a "terrible disappointment," because it was not clear that its standards could be met at a reasonable cost. But he recognized that the EPA had provided some relief for operators of smaller "source" boilers.

Bessette noted that because the new rule was so different from the previous version, the EPA wanted to reopen a public comment period. "This is a good plan, given our nation's current economic challenges. It makes much more sense for EPA and all stakeholders to revisit key challenges, take additional time and get the rule right," he said.

The new rule was generally praised by stakeholders. In comments published by Environment & Energy (E&E) Publishing, Howard Feldman, director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Petroleum Institute (API), said the measure was "appropriate." Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, said he was pleased that the agency didn't allow certain exemptions based on the risk of toxic pollution to public health. Frank O'Donnell, president of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch, told the news service: "It appears that EPA has addressed many of the industry complaints while still putting out standards that would bring significant public health benefits. Let's hope that EPA stands its ground when industries argue for further changes."

The EPA said it revised the current draft rule to provide industry with additional flexibility and cost-effective techniques, which it said would achieve significant pollution reduction and important health benefits, while sharply lowering the cost of pollution control installation and maintenance.

The agency noted the rule was revised to comply with President Obama's executive order, issued last month, for federal agencies to streamline regulations. A variety of EPA draft rules have been criticized by industry as imposing significant costs that would close existing facilities and hinder, if not prohibit, the construction of new facilities in certain industries.

EPA's new NESHAP rule likely was crafted with an eye to changing political realities on Capitol Hill, where Republicans hold a strong majority in the House of Representatives. Last November's elections brought 87 new GOP members to the House, many of whom had strong backing from Tea Party organizations. Tea Party groups and Republican lawmakers have sharply criticized the EPA over the cost of proposed regulations. Earlier this month, the House proposed a federal budget that cut $61 billion in federal spending. That budget singled out the EPA for particularly deep cuts, trimming the agency's budget by about $3 billion, or 29%. For more information on that budget proposal, which is not expected to pass the Senate, see the February 22, 2011 article - House Budget Slashes EPA Funding, Halts Regulations on Cement NESHAP, Greenhouse Gases and Ethanol Content.

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