U.S. chemical makers could face tougher emission controls

Abstract

U.S. chemical manufacturing plants with large industrial boilers may face tighter, more expensive emission control requirements for toxic air pollutants because of a recent federal appeals court decision. The court ordered EPA to revise a 2015 Clean Air Act regulation for some 14,000 boilers that produce heat or electricity at U.S. industrial plants. These industrial boilers are some of the nation’s largest sources of air pollution. EPA’s regulation requires facilities to install pollution control equipment that limits boilers’ emissions of carbon monoxide to 130 ppm. The agency said this technology would lower releases of other air pollutants, including hydrochloric acid, fine particulate matter, and mercury. But EPA failed to explain why the CO standard was an acceptable substitute for establishing individual emission limits for other toxic air pollutants, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says in a March 16 ruling. It directed EPA to revise