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Policy
Plans Pulled
EPA proposal would shield firms' upset plans from public scrutiny
by Cheryl Hogue
July 11, 2005
| A version of this story appeared in
Volume 83, Issue 28
AIR POLLUTION
Facilities would no longer have to follow their written plans when they try to minimize emissions of hazardous air pollutants during operational upsets, under an EPA proposal announced on June 30.
The proposed change, hailed by the chemical industry, would also make it harder for the public to obtain copies of these plans. The Clean Air Act requires companies to have written plans for curtailing toxic emissions during a start-up, shutdown, or malfunction (SSM).
Environmental groups for years have argued for access to SSM plans so they can check on facilities' compliance with the Clean Air Act. Chemical makers and refiners, meanwhile, want to keep the documents out of the public's hands, citing concerns about terrorism and industrial espionage (C&EN, Sept. 22, 2003, page 26).
EPA is proposing to retract a current regulatory provision requiring companies to abide by their SSM plans during an upset. The agency points out that the air act says facilities must minimize upset emissions "to the greatest extent which is consistent with safety and good air pollution control practices."
Under the proposed change, a company deviating from an SSM plan wouldn't violate the Clean Air Act. This would mean an SSM document is not a "compliance plan," EPA says.
This technical change has big implications, because Clean Air Act compliance plans are publicly available. Thus, the proposal would block public access to SSM documents.
T. Ted Cromwell, managing director of environmental programs at the American Chemistry Council, says following a prescriptive SSM plan may not be the best way for a facility to minimize its releases during an unanticipated upset.
Environmental groups oppose EPA's proposal and vow to continue a federal court case seeking public access to SSM plans.
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