EPA Proposes New Air Pollution Standards for Oil Refineries

oil refinery

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new proposals on May 15 to limit air pollution from petroleum refineries, a major source of air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and benzene that cause respiratory problems and other serious health issues, including cancer. The proposed standards are intended to reduce the levels of toxic air pollution for fenceline communities (those living in close proximity to refineries) who suffer the highest air pollution exposures and related health risks. Minority and low-income populations are disproportionately represented in these fenceline communities.

The EPA proposal requires refineries to monitor air concentrations of benzene around the fenceline perimeter of the facilities to ensure that emissions are controlled, and it requires that these monitoring results be available to the public. The proposal would also require upgraded emission controls for storage tanks, including controls for smaller tanks, would require that waste gases are properly destroyed, and sets emissions standards for currently unregulated sources of toxic air emissions.

When these proposed updates are fully implemented, EPA estimates toxic air emissions, including benzene, toluene, and xylene, would be reduced by 5,600 tons per year. This reduction represents about one-quarter of the almost 22,000 tons of toxic air pollution emitted by refineries each year. EPA notes that these proposed requirements will have no noticeable impact on the cost of petroleum products produced by the approximately 150 petroleum refineries around the country (see map below).


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Under Clean Air Act requirements, EPA is required to review emission limits to see if they require updates to reflect improved technology. The EPA last set standards for various sources of refinery toxic air pollution in 1995 and 2002. The EPA proposal is in response to a consent decree that resolved a 2012 lawsuit filed by Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project on behalf of people directly impacted by emissions from refineries in Louisiana, Texas, and California.

Once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, EPA will accept public comments for 60 days. The agency plans to hold two public hearings near Houston and Los Angeles and will finalize the standards in April 2015. Details on the public hearings will be available on EPA’s website shortly.

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