Activists Oppose Boiler Rule Delay

The Sierra Club is asking a federal district court to deny an EPA request for more time to issue rules curtailing emissions of hazardous air pollutants from industrial boilers and incinerators. On Dec. 7, EPA petitioned the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to extend the deadline for issuing the final emissions standards from Jan. 16, 2011, to April 2012 (C&EN, Dec. 13, 2010, page 24). EPA says it needs the additional time to review new emissions data it received in comments on the proposed rules. In a memorandum filed with the court, the Sierra Club argues that the agency has had more than three years to write the rules and that the delay could cause an estimated 2,000 to 5,000 premature deaths. The rules will require the facilities to control emissions of mercury, hydrogen chloride, and other dangerous chemicals. An industry coalition has filed a separate motion supporting EPA’s request for a delay. Chemical manufacturers have provided additional data, which EPA could use to develop “a realistic methodology based on real-world facilities, emissions, and impacts,” says Calvin M. Dooley, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, an industry trade association.