Podcast: How the EPA’s new regulations will impact industry

Jonathan Katz is executive editor for Chemical Processing and has reported on a range of industrial topics, including safety, lean manufacturing, and automation. Lynn Bergeson is managing partner of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C., and she focuses on how regulatory programs like the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) affect various industries. Andy Hanacek is senior editor at Food Processing and has covered meat, poultry, bakery, and snack foods during his decades-long tenure in the industry. Bob Crossen is the editorial director for the Endeavor Business Media Water Group and has been in the drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and point-of-use/point-of-entry markets since 2016. These industry professionals recently spoke with IndustryWeek editor in chief Robert Schoenberger about the implications of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s three recent major rulings.

Below is an excerpt from the podcast:

IW: I want to start with you, John, and what's going on with the big chemical plant ruling. On April 9th, the EPA had a fairly significant ruling on toxic emissions from several different products. I was hoping you could walk us through what the ruling was and what the impact is on various chemical producers.

JK: Sure. So, the ruling, it's an emissions monitoring ruling that will impact, I think, about 200 chemical plants. Many of them are along the Gulf Coast, Louisiana, and Texas. These plants produce synthetic organic chemicals and various polymers and resins. The ruling pertains to six specific chemicals: ethylene oxide, chloroprene, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, ethylene dichloride, and vinyl chloride. And it specifically targets fence-line monitoring. That's monitoring around the perimeter of a facility. I believe that the monitoring must begin within two years of the effective date for all the chemicals except for chloroprene, which is 90 days.

And to meet these requirements, plants are going to need to take various corrective actions, including improvements to equipment like heat exchangers and improve the efficiency of various processes such as flaring and venting. I believe the EPA estimated the total cost at about $1.8 billion for chemical plants to implement some of these measures, so it's definitely going to have a big impact on the industry. I don't know, Lynn, if you had any further insight into the potential impact or chemical producers that you wanted to add.

LB: Sure, John. Thank you. You did a great job summarizing this important rule that we in the industry call "The HON" or Hazardous Organic NESHAP. In addition to enhanced compliance costs, derivative of diminished standards under fugitive and point source emissions, you're looking at just the type of cost you will need to retrofit your facility to meet those standards. The other thing that I'm looking for is, given the location of many of the directly impacted manufacturing facilities, any type of air emission and fence-line monitoring has to be looked at in a broader context of environmental justice concerns to the extent that any of these manufacturing facilities are located in marginalized communities.

The EPA's current administration’s very focused review of environmental justice impacts could have not just Clean Air Act compliance issues, in meeting these new standards and the cost of enhanced monitoring, fence-line monitoring and other costs, but you're also going to be looking at third-party litigation concerns to the extent that any of these facilities are emitting these HONs, these hazardous organic pollutants, at concentrations that are believed to pose unique impacts on susceptible subpopulations. So, I'd be looking at that too. I'd be looking at enhanced enforcement opportunities for EPA and for third-party NPOs and other private parties that are looking to ratchet down emissions even more.

The other impact I'd be looking at is ethylene oxide. As you noted, John, ethylene oxide was one of the parameters that is specifically listed in the HON. Ethylene oxide has been the subject of intense global review because of its perceived carcinogenicity issues. So, to the extent that ethylene oxide producers and users in the sterilization community and the healthcare community can also be expected to endure more scrutiny, more review, and more derivative third-party litigation.

About the Podcast
Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast offers news and information for the people who make, store and move things and those who manage and maintain the facilities where that work gets done. Manufacturers from chemical producers to automakers to machine shops can listen for critical insights into the technologies, economic conditions and best practices that can influence how to best run facilities to reach operational excellence.