Posted on May 20, 2011 by Karen Aldridge Crawford
By: Karen Aldridge Crawford and Stacy Kirk Taylor
Facing opposition from a number of business groups and trade organizations and resistance from Capitol Hill, EPA announced on Monday, May 16, 2011 that it was staying indefinitely the effective dates for the new emission standards for boilers (i.e. the boiler MACT standards) that the EPA issued in February of this year.
Acting under a court mandated deadline, EPA finalized the new regulations in February even though the regulations as enacted varied significantly from the initial draft rules issued for comment. Given the significant difference, EPA tried to provide an opportunity for further comment and input, but the Court denied EPA’s request for a 15 month extension for issuing a final rule. As a result, EPA went ahead and issued the final rule but immediately issued a reconsideration notice and agreed to continue to receive public comments. This left the regulated community in the untenable position of investing a significant amount of money into technology to comply with the final regulation, when EPA was still reviewing the final regulations and therefore the requirements could change (in which case one may have invested significant money into an unnecessary or misdirected technology).
With an effective date for the new regulations of May 20, 2011, several industry groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute, the American Chemistry Council, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, petitioned the EPA for a stay of the effective date. A stay would extend the effective date of any new regulations beyond the deadline provided under the Clean Air Act. EPA, however, acting under authority provided agencies in the Administrative Procedures Act to delay new rules “when justice so requires,” agreed to a stay the new regulations to provide EPA an opportunity to seek and adequately consider additional comments on the new regulations before requiring facilities to make significant investment in technology. EPA also announced that it will continue to collect data and comments from stakeholders until July 15 of this year, at which point it will start reworking the new rules.
Tags: Air