View Rule

Statement of Need: Under the Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments of 1990, EPA is required to establish National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) for most hazardous waste combustors (HWCs) (i.e., incinerators, cement kilns, boilers, and some types of smelting furnaces). In addition, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), EPA is required to establish standards for all HWCs as necessary to ensure protection of human health and the environment. EPA is concerned that its current RCRA standards for HWCs may not be adequately protective given that there are no emission standards for chlorinated dioxins and furans and that there have been advances both in risk assessment and control technologies since promulgation of the current standards. ^PConsequently, the Agency plans to establish new emissions standards for HWCs under joint CAA and RCRA. This will avoid duplicative Agency effort and piecemeal regulation of the hazardous waste management industry.

Alternatives: Under provisions of the CAA, the Agency plans to consider the cost-effectiveness of emission limits more stringent than the minimum limits mandated by the statute. Further, the Agency plans to evaluate approaches to reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants by improving good operating practices (e.g., controlling the way in which problematic materials such as toxic metals are introduced into the combustor).

Anticipated Costs and Benefits: The cost and benefit analyses are currently undergoing internal Agency review.

Risks: The risk analyses for this rulemaking are undergoing internal Agency review.