Final Rule: Stronger Clean Air Standards for Chemical Plants

US EPA recently issued a Final Rule that specifically targets facilities that “make synthetic organic chemicals and a variety of polymers and resins.”

The final rule includes fenceline monitoring requirements for covered processes and equipment that make, use, store or emit:

• Ethylene oxide.
• Chloroprene.
• Benzene.
• 1,3-Butadiene.
• Ethylene dichloride.
• Vinyl chloride.

Read the pre-publication of the Final Rule.

Monitoring Requirements for Toxic Air Pollutants

For fenceline monitoring at synthetic organic chemical manufacturing plants, the Agency is setting a deadline of two years in response to comments that facilities and laboratories need additional preparation time to begin the monitoring programs.

For neoprene production sources, EPA is setting a 90-day deadline for beginning fenceline monitoring of chloroprene emissions.

For all six pollutants, owners and operators must find the source of the pollution and make repairs if annual average air concentrations of the chemicals are higher than a specified action level at the fenceline.

Per the Agency, these new requirements will reduce toxic air emissions from about 200 chemical plants by nearly 80%. An EPA community risk assessment showed that this rule would reduce the number of people who have elevated air toxics-related cancer risk by 96%. EPA will make data available to the public on its WebFIRE webpage.

EH&S professionals who finish the Complete Environmental Regulations Online Course can identify the regulations that apply to their facility and locate key requirements to achieve compliance with the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts to EPCRA, TSCA, Superfund, and more.