Butterfield Applauds Passage of Bipartisan Legislation for Standards Affecting Industrial Boilers and Process Heaters


WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC), lead Democratic cosponsor of H.R. 2250, the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011, applauded its passage today.

The bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop achievable standards affecting non-utility boilers and incinerators, and grants additional time for development of and compliance with the rules.  Economic analyses have projected that compliance with the rules as currently proposed could cost between $4 and $14 billion, which could put several thousand manufacturing jobs at risk.

“This bill preserves important manufacturing jobs in places like Plymouth, Roanoke Rapids, and New Bern, North Carolina, while giving EPA the opportunity to get the regulations right,” said Butterfield.  “This bipartisan legislation gives EPA the time it needs to produce a fair and effective rule on air emissions from industrial boilers.”

In January 2011, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals denied EPAs request for 15 additional months to promulgate the complicated and data-intensive rules commonly known as “Boiler MACT”.  The legislation passed today statutorily grants EPA time to complete their goal of crafting a rule that not only meets the requirements of the Clean Air Act, but is also achievable for affected stakeholders.

A companion bill in the Senate, S. 1392, which is cosponsored by Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Kay Hagan (D-NC), awaits consideration.

As passed, H.R. 2250 would:

  • Provide EPA with at least 15 months to re-propose and finalize new rules for boilers, process heaters, and incinerators;
  • Extend compliance deadlines from three to at least five years to allow facilities adequate time to comply with the standards and install necessary equipment;
  • Direct EPA, when developing the new rules, to adopt definitions that allow sources to use a wide range of alternative fuels; and
  • Direct EPA to ensure that the new rules are achievable by real-world boilers, process heaters, and incinerators and impose the least burdensome regulatory alternatives consistent with the President’s Executive Order 13563.

Background Information

EPA published the proposed rules affecting industrial boilers and process heaters in June of 2010. In December 2010, after receiving more than 4,800 comments, EPA asked a federal court for an additional 15 months to re-propose the rules and solicit additional public comment. The court denied the request and instructed EPA to issue the rules within 30 days. On March 21, 2011, EPA complied with the court order and published final rules, but noted that it would reconsider certain aspects of the rules because the public had not had sufficient time to comment.  The four interrelated rules set new standards for more than 200,000 boilers, process heaters, and incinerators. The rules apply across the entire U.S. economy and affect manufacturing and industrial facilities, commercial buildings, colleges and universities, hospitals, medical centers, hotels, apartment buildings, and municipal facilities.

Since publication EPA has issued a temporary administrative stay for two of the final rules.