Source: U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 10/14/11

The House passed H.R. 2250-the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011. The bill provides a legislative stay for four EPA rules governing emissions from boilers and incinerators, known as the Boiler MACT rules.  

H.R. 2250 would provide a legislative stay of four interrelated Environmental Protection Agency rules, commonly referred to as the “Boiler MACT rules,” that govern emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from approximately 200,000 boilers and incinerators nationwide.  These rules are:

1. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters;
2. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Area Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers;
3. Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units; and
4. Identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials That Are Solid Waste.

The bill would also provide for the replacement of the Boiler MACT rules.  Specifically, H.R. 2250 would require the Administrator of the EPA to promulgate, 15 months from the date of enactment, new regulations for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and process heaters and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerator units.  These new rules must:

1. Establish maximum achievable control technology standards, performance standards, and other requirements for hazardous air pollutants or solid waste combustion under the Clean Air Act; and
2. Identify non-hazardous secondary materials that, when used as fuels or ingredients in combustion units of such boilers, heaters, or incinerator units, are solid waste under the Solid Waste Disposal Act for purposes of determining the extent to which such combustion units are required to meet emission standards for such pollutants under such Act.

The bill would extend the compliance period for employers for at least five years, based on real world considerations.  Specifically, H.R. 2250 would require the EPA Administrator to establish compliance dates for these standards after considering compliance costs, non-air quality health and environmental impacts and energy requirements, the feasibility of implementation, the availability of equipment, suppliers, and labor, and potential net employment impacts.

The bill would also set forth guidelines for such rules and regulations, including requiring the Administrator to:
1. Ensure that emissions standards for existing and new sources can be met under actual operating conditions consistently and concurrently with emission standards for all other air pollutants regulated by the rule for the source category; and
2. Impose the least burdensome regulatory alternative for each regulation promulgated.

The House passed H.R. 2273-the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act.
H.R. 2273 would utilize the framework and requirements of an existing federal regulatory program developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Solid Waste Disposal Act (RCRA) as the basis for enforceable minimum federal standards for the regulation of a waste stream known as coal ash.  The bill would include enforceable federal standards, but would leave regulation and enforcement to the states.

H.R. 2273 would facilitate the recovery of coal combustion residuals (coal ash) by creating a state-based permit program.  The bill would allow all states to be more stringent than the federal minimum in the bill.
The bill gives states with existing RCRA solid or hazardous waste permit programs the option to also adopt and implement a coal combustion residuals permit program because they have already demonstrated an ability to regulate such wastes.  The bill would require that a state intending to implement a permit program must notify the EPA of its intent and must legally certify that its permit program meets the minimum specifications set out in the legislation.