"EPA About to Reverse Clinton-Era Toxic Air Pollution Policy"

"Power plants, refineries, and other industrial sources may now be able to avoid stringent pollution controls if the toxic air particles they emit fall below a mandated legal threshold.

The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing on Thursday its rule (RIN: 2060-AM75) that it will no longer enforce the “once-in, always in” toxic air policy that bound chemical plants, refineries, and other industrial sources to a lifetime of pollution controls based on estimated emissions, a senior agency official confirmed Tuesday. .

The decades-old policy required refineries, pulp mills and and other sources of toxic air pollution to implement strict “major” pollution controls, even if their emissions of toxic air pollutants fell below mandated Clean Air Act thresholds. The thresholds are 10 tons for a single hazardous pollutant, and 25 tons for two or more pollutants."

Amena H. Saiyid reports for Bloomberg Environment September 22, 2020.

Source: Bloomberg Environment, 09/23/2020