The US Environmental Protection Agency completed a residual risk review for refinery emissions covered under a final rule it issued at the end of September (OGJ Online, Sept. 29, 2015).
It also finalized technical corrections and clarifications for New Source Performance Standards for refineries to improve consistency and clarity and address issues related to a 2008 industry petition for reconsideration, the agency said in a Dec. 1 Federal Register notice.
“Implementation of this final rule will result in projected reductions of 5,200 tons/year of hazardous air pollutants, which will reduce cancer risk and chronic health effects,” it indicated.
American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers Pres. Chet Thompson said AFPM was pleased with EPA’s multiyear assessment of its members’ facilities that found them to be well under the threshold level for causing risk and do not cause harm to surrounding communities.
“But, in spite of its findings, EPA did not take its own analysis into account when finalizing this rule,” he told OGJ. “We are disappointed, however, that the agency felt compelled to require additional expensive and unnecessary controls, which won’t result in any real benefits.”
Asked for a comment on EPA’s latest announcement, the American Petroleum Institute referred OGJ to its Sept. 29 statement when EPA announced the final rule.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
