According to the provisions of a proposed consent decree filed July 6 (Sierra Club v. Jackson, N.D. Cal., No. 09-152), USEPA will issue residual risk emissions standards to address the risk posed by hazardous air pollutants emitted by 28 industrial source categories that have already had MACT standards issued.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, the agency will issue the residual risk limitations for 27 source categories by Oct. 31, 2013, and for portland cement by June of 2018. The agency can also make a determination that no residual risk standards are needed for a specific category. The first set of six categories have a September 14, 2010 date set for proposal.
The suit was filed in January 2009, alleging that USEPA failed to meet the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) statutory duty to review national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAPs) for 28 categories of industrial facilities to determine if their emissions still posed a residual public health risk after MACT standards were imposed.
Sections 112(d)(6) and 112(f)(2) of the CAA require EPA to review emissions limits for various industrial source categories every eight years, taking into account newly available technology. Because MACT standards are technology-based and not risk-based, the drafters of the CAA were concerned that there might be a remaining risk even after the latest in technology was installed on HAP sources. In addition, they wanted to account for improvements in technology over time.
The following source categories are covered by the proposed agreement:
• aerospace manufacturing and rework facilities,
• chromium electroplating and anodizing,
• ferroalloy production,
• flexible polyurethane foam production,
• polycarbonate production,
• acrylic and modacrylic fibers production,
• marine vessel loading operations,
• mineral wool production,
• off-site waste recovery operations,
• pesticide active ingredient production,
• pharmaceuticals production,
• phosphoric acid,
• phosphate fertilizers,
• polyether polyols production,
• polymers and resins I,
• polymers and resins III,
• polymers and resins IV,
• portland cement manufacturing,
• primary aluminum,
• primary lead smelting,
• printing and publishing,
• pulp and paper production,
• secondary aluminum,
• secondary lead smelting,
• shipbuilding and ship repair,
• steel pickling process,
• wood furniture manufacturing, and
• wool fiberglass manufacturing.