EPA Compromises (Again) on the Boiler Rule: Will It Get Any Credit?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Seth Jaffe

On Friday, EPA proposed certain revisions to its rule on air emissions from boilers and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators (CISWI). As with other major rules under development in the past few years, EPA has taken fairly substantial steps to limit the reach of the rule to those boilers and CISWI that are of greatest concern. Without engaging in formal cost-effectiveness analysis, EPA has sought to make the rule as cost-effective as possible.

As with most of EPA’s big rules, it is too complex to be summarized in a blog post. EPA’s summary fact sheet is here. Very briefly, the rule exempts 86% of industrial boilers and subjects most other boilers to work practice standards rather than emission limits. For those boilers subject to the emission limits, the new rules relaxed limits for CO, PM, and most metals, but increased the stringency for mercury and acid gases.

EPA also made one important change sought by the biomass industry. The rule will allow biomass to be combusted in boilers and CISWI, by defining it as “non-hazardous secondary material,” which can now “be considered a legitimate, non-waste fuel.”

As I have noted with other EPA rules, I expect that this rule will survive judicial challenge. Although no cost-effectiveness analysis was provided, EPA estimates that the benefits of the rules exceed the costs by a factor of more than 10. More to the point, as with other rules, much of what EPA has done is dictated by the CAA.

The real question is whether anyone will appreciate EPA’s efforts to – if I may use the term – tailor the rule as finely as possible. As Greenwire noted, there remain efforts in Congress to pass legislation both delaying and softening the rules. My sense is that we should at least give EPA credit for drafting better rules, because the agency is certainly not getting any political credit. The environmentalists criticize EPA for not having enough gumption, while EPA’s critics still call EPA “the scariest agency in federal government.” 

On this score, I’ll just note one final perspective. In today’s New York Times, David Brooks described Obama – or least Cass Sunstein, director the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs – as a “wonky liberal.” What was the context for this comment? A discussion of the administration’s handling of costly environmental regulations. Brooks conceded that “most people in government are trying to find a balance between difficult trade-offs.” The problem for the administration is that neither the right nor the left today wants balance.

I enjoy criticizing EPA, but I would want to be trying to juggle the issues that EPA is currently statutorily mandated to address.

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The Proof Will Be in the Pudding: EPA Releases Its Preliminary Plan For Review of Existing Regulations

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Seth Jaffe

When President Obama issued Executive Order 13,563, on Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, it was not obvious whether the Order was simply an attempt to protect the President’s right flank or whether the agencies would respond substantively. Yesterday, EPA released its Preliminary Plan for Periodic Retrospective Reviews of Existing Regulations. Initial review of the Plan suggests that EPA has taken the task seriously and has made some constructive suggestions. To me, however, they missed the elephant in the room and therefore cannot be given better than a B grade at this point.

There is a lot of good stuff in the plan, which is certainly too long to summarize here. The highlights from where I sit include the following:

  • Increased use of electronic reporting. This falls in the category of “now why didn’t I think of that?” Telling point? EPA has put use of e-manifests under RCRA in the long-term action, rather than early action, category, while acknowledging that this was proposed in 2004. How hard is some of this stuff?
  • Improved transparency, i.e., increased public disclosure of compliance and other regulatory information. Cynical translation? If we can provide more information to the public, citizen suits will be easier and we can do less government enforcement. Still, hard to argue with.
  • Coordination of emission reduction regulations across multiple pollutants. Interestingly, EPA has put this in the early action category. Although EPA identified the pulp and paper industry specifically, this has to be thought of mainly as a longer-term project. Well worth it, however long it takes.
  • Encouraging innovative technology. Who could be against it? This is probably the most important issue, precisely because it is here that the Plan is the weakest. I think that EPA has largely missed the point, because it has not correctly defined the problem. The single action EPA could take that would have the most impact on encouraging innovative technology would be to get out of the command and control business once and for all. The highest priority of this regulatory review should be for EPA to identify areas where it can move from command and control regulation to performance-based standards. A fruitful initial target? CERCLA and the NCP. EPA does not have to privatize Superfund cleanups as several states have done; that would require legislation. Even without privatization, it could simply set standards for what constitutes a significant risk and require PRPs to eliminate such risks. I promise, innovation will follow. Not only that, but EPA could eliminate a significant percentage of its existing CERCLA staff, or redirect that staff to more productive uses. 

EPA is taking comment on the proposed plan, at least through June 27, 2011. Get your comments in here. I am the eternal optimist, though the 7-year delay in implementing an e-manifest program should probably give me some pause as to how quickly EPA can really reform.

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Nanotechnology: EPA Regulations on the Horizon?

Posted on December 16, 2009 by Seth Jaffe

Earlier this month, EPA released its semi-annual regulatory agenda. True policy wonks can review the agenda here. There are always some nuggets buried in the agenda. This agenda includes two proposed rules governing nanotechnology. They are:

A reporting rule under § 8(a) of TSCA. The rule would require persons who manufacture nanoscale materials to notify EPA of information concerning production volume; methods of manufacture and processing; exposure and release information; and available health and safety studies.

A test rule under § 4(a) of TSCA. The proposed rule would apply to “certain multi-wall carbon nanotubes and nanosized clays and alumina.”

Since the entire point of nanomaterials is that they act differently than the same materials as sizes beyond the nanoscale, it is certainly conceivable that such differences could include impacts on human health and the environment. EPA can therefore reasonably propose rules such as described in the regulatory agenda, requiring testing and reporting. My concern is that EPA not leap to conclusions. EPA often has to regulate under uncertainty; I just don’t want the agency to regulate simply because of uncertainty. Nanomaterials hold the promise of contributing to the solution of numerous environmental problems, even aside from their overall economic promise. 

If EPA were to obstruct the development and use of nanomaterials on the basis of the precautionary principle, the environment, as well as the economy, would likely suffer. Since Cass Sunstein, head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB, has called the precautionary principle “deeply incoherent,” let’s hope that EPA will proceed cautiously, gathering information necessary to determine if regulations are necessary, but not rushing willy-nilly to throw roadblocks in the way of such promising technology.

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