EPA Eases Up on New Boiler Standards

On Friday, the Obama administration proposed a plan for the Environmental Protection Agency to ease up on some of the rules which intend to reduce air pollution from industrial boilers and incinerators. Without compromising the health benefits of the proposed regulations, the EPA revised the emissions limits for industrial boilers so that they are more flexible.

The EPA’s top air pollution official, Gina McCarthy, told the press “We have found a way to get better protections, lower emissions and lower costs as well.” With the newest revisions, the EPA’s standards will affect less than 1 percent of U.S. boilers and will cost approximately $1.5 billion less than the original proposal put forth in 2010. Approximately 5,500 of the largest and most polluting boilers in the U.S. will require pollution controls, most of these boilers are located in major refineries and chemical plants. About 195,000 smaller boilers will need routine checkups in order to meet the new standards. The majority of boilers in the U.S., which amounts to almost 1.3 million, are too small and do not release enough pollution to be effected by the rule.

The new rule will most likely require improvements of current pollution controls in chemical plants, refineries and paper mills that may ultimately cost nearly $3 billion. These new standards could potentially put 230,00 jobs at risk however, they may also create a market valued at around $24 billion for companies that offer pollution control services, such as Babcock & Wilcox Co. and the Shaw Group of Baton Rouge, LA.

The standards are intended to benefit the health of Americans and reduce the risk of cancer and asthma, potentially saving as many as 8,100 lives in 2015.

ITC learning offers boiler training in a multimedia format. Our boiler training program focuses on the operation and maintenance of boilers and the safety systems associated with them. Once the Environmental Protection Agency’s new standards are put into effect, proper boiler training will be all the more important in every industrial organization that utilizes boiler equipment. Click here to find out how we can aid your organization in superior boiler training so that you’re well-appointed with properly trained industrial employees before and after the EPA’s new boiler standards are implemented.

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