The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a long-delayed rule earlier this month to cut boiler and incinerator emissions of mercury, soot and lead.
Responding to public input, the EPA said the new rule would set emission limits for less than one percent of boilers, which the agency says will still improve public health. In its revisions to the rule, the EPA incorporated "several changes which are expected to reduce the cost and impact of these rules," according to Hardwood Federation Executive Director Deb Hawkinson. Still, "The courts did not permit EPA to extend compliance time, which could prove costly and problematic to the hardwood industry."
The revised rule reduces compliance costs for maximum achievable control technology (MACT) on boilers. Through public input and revision periods, the scope of the rule was narrowed so that it would affect fewer boilers in operation.
NWFA CEO Michael Martin said the newly proposed rule is good for wood flooring manufacturers of all sizes that operate boilers.
The EPA pointed out that it "cut the cost of implementation by nearly 50 percent from the original 2010 proposed rule while maintaining health benefits." The rule should help avoid up to 8,100 premature deaths, prevent 5,100 heart attacks and avert 52,000 asthma attacks per year after it is implemented, the EPA says.
