US EPA is initiating consultation with federally recognized Indian Tribes to obtain input on the Agency’s proposed National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from Hazardous Waste Combustors (also known as HWC NESHAP): Residual Risk and Technology Review (RTR).
There are several types of HWCs, including hazardous waste incinerators, hazardous waste cement kilns, hazardous waste lightweight aggregate kilns, hazardous waste solid fuel boilers, hazardous waste liquid fuel boilers, and hazardous waste hydrochloric acid production furnaces. As required by section 112 of the Clean Air Act, the EPA conducted the required residual risk and technology reviews, finding an acceptable risk with an ample margin of safety for the HWC standards, and that there are no new cost-effective practices, processes, or control technologies available. As a result of the required review, the EPA is proposing revisions to standards for two unregulated hazardous air pollutants. For both hydrogen fluoride (HF) and hydrogen cyanide (HCN), the EPA is proposing emission limits for different subcategories in the HWC NESHAP. The EPA is also proposing changes to the startup, shutdown, and malfunction provisions of the 2005 final rule. The Agency estimates that the proposed rule would have a very small economic impact on affected entities, with no affected entity expected to incur an annual cost of more than 0.16 percent of their revenues.
The proposed rule will publish in the Federal Register in the coming weeks, and the EPA will be accepting public comments for 45 days after the publication date. There is a fact sheet regarding the proposed HWC NESHAP on the TCOTS listing. For more information about this proposed action and information on how to submit comments, please see the EPA rulemaking website: https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/hazardous-waste-combustors-national-emission-standards-hazardous. The EPA’s anticipated timeline for the consultation period is expected to extend through December 12, 2025.
If your Tribe has questions about the proposed action or would like to request government-to-government consultation with the EPA on this rulemaking, please have your staff contact Grace Onuoma, Tribal Consultation Advisor, at Onuoma.Grace@epa.gov or (919) 541-1931, by December 5, 2025. We also encourage you to submit written comments to the docket to identify any information that you believe may be relevant to the development of the final rule. Tribes may submit written comments at https://www.regulations.gov/, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0022, any time during the open comment period following publication in the Federal Register.
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