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EPA RULES TO CUT 40,000 TONS OF AIR TOXICS YEARLY FROM 14 DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES
Release Date: 05/20/99
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THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1999
EPA RULES TO CUT 40,000 TONS OF AIR TOXICS YEARLY
FROM 14 DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES
FROM 14 DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES
EPA today announced final regulations for 14 industries that will reduce air toxic emissions into the nation’s air by nearly 40,000 tons annually. Air toxics are compounds known or suspected of causing cancer and other serious human health effects such as respiratory illness, nervous system impairment, reproductive and growth problems. All these rules slash toxic air emissions by requiring the maximum achievable air pollution controls already employed in the affected industries. Besides toxics, the rules will also reduce levels of respiratory pollutants: ground-level ozone (or smog) emissions will decrease by almost 70,000 tons yearly, and particulates (dust, dirt, soot, smoke) by 6,000 tons annually; both these pollutants can cause lung damage, especially to sensitive populations like children and the elderly. Additionally, oil production facilities, as well as natural gas production, transmission and storage facilities, must cut levels of the potent global warming gas methane by 8,000 tons a year. Today’s rules will lower toxic emissions from large existing and new facilities in the following industries: steel pickling; polyether polyol production; oil and natural gas production; natural gas transmission and storage; pesticide active ingredient production; mineral wool production; portland cement manufacture; wool fiberglass manufacture; ferroalloy production; primary lead smelters; and the production of acetal resins, acrylic and modacrylic fiber, hydrogen fluoride, and polycarbonate. Among the many compounds to be controlled by one or more these rules are: dioxin, arsenic, benzene, formaldehyde, lead, toluene, hydrochloric acid, and chlorine. These rules are a part of a series of air toxics regulations EPA has developed and issued under the authority of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Rules for 29 different industries have already been issued prior to today’s regulations, resulting in total air toxic reductions of at least one million tons a year. Today’s rules will appear soon in the Federal Register, but can be accessed immediately on the Internet at EPA’s web site: https://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg under the heading “Recent Actions”. For further information, please contact James Hemby at 919-541-5557 (e-mail: hemby.james@epa.gov) of EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
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