Stay Tuned…Again

In two separate announcements made during the last week of October, U.S. EPA has delayed the release of two highly anticipated maximum achievable control technology (MACT) regulations. U.S. EPA announced that it would be delaying the release of the proposed new changes to the major source Boiler MACT until the end of November, and that it would be delaying the release of the final Utility MACT until mid-December. 

U.S. EPA is currently “reconsidering” the major source Boiler MACT rules to address criticisms and comments received from industry, states, and environmental organizations. The major source Boiler MACT will regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) from boilers and process heaters located at sources classified as “major” sources of HAP emissions. The one-month delay in the release of the proposed changes to the major source Boiler MACT is said to be a direct result of the number of comments received, and an abundance of new data and new emissions test results that U.S. EPA is reviewing. The proposed new major source Boiler MACT rules are expected to be released no later than November 30, 2011. 

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has granted a request by U.S. EPA for a 30-day extension to its consent decree deadline for issuing the final Utility MACT. The Utility MACT will regulate emissions of HAP from coal-fired and oil-fired electric utility steam-generating units (EGUs). The request for an extension was made because of the incredible volume of comments that U.S. EPA received after publishing the draft rule. After reviewing hundreds of thousands of comments, U.S. EPA estimates that it must address nearly 22,000 unique comments. The new court-ordered deadline for issuing the final Utility MACT is December 16, 2011.