E.A. Crunden reports for WasteDive
The U.S. EPA is facing pressure over a federal emissions plan for several categories of solid waste incinerators. E&E News reported oral arguments in an ongoing legal challenge by the Sierra Club on Dec. 3 could see the agency pushed on adhering to a five-year timeline laid out by Congress. The agency has sought to delay finalizing its plan, arguing “the statute does not impose any deadline.”
While Judge Robert Wilkins of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit appeared to disagree with Sierra Club’s argument that EPA is required to “develop, implement and enforce” a federal plan within a two-year time frame, he expressed skepticism over the agency’s slow pace. The Clean Air Act requires an EPA plan for incinerators to be adopted by states whose individual plans do not meet federal emissions standards. States must submit plans within a year of the EPA finalizing guidelines, with the agency allotted 180 days to respond to those submissions.
Wilkins indicated that Congress had been clear in its expected deadline and signaled environmental groups could likely sue over EPA’s delay of the plan. It is unclear if they will seek to do so, but Sierra Club has taken a hard line with the agency. “At stake are the lives and health of people who live near the scores of incinerators across the country that…are still operating with outdated control requirements or with no control requirements at all,” the organization argued in a filing.
Dive Insight:
The fight over EPA’s incinerator standards is somewhat similar to a more widely covered dispute over landfill emissions. Eight state attorneys general have been so far successful in challenging EPA in an effort to force that federal plan, although the legal battle remains ongoing. In November, a federal judge dismissed the agency’s latest effort to shift its timeline for implementing that rule.
Like the landfill issue, the incinerator case stems from the Clean Air Act’s mandate to address pollution. In 2011, the Obama administration promulgated the standards with revisions two years later and again in 2016. The standards are aimed specifically at commercial and solid waste incineration units (CSWI) and other solid waste incinerators (OSWI), which have their own category under Section 129 of the Clean Air Act. That section directs EPA to limit air pollutants including lead, mercury, and dioxins, all of which can be detrimental to human health.
Don’t miss stories like this Click for free updates
