ENV-08-006 Evaluation of the Impact of the Revised Lead NAAQS on Refineries

Description:

The U.S. EPA is in the process of revising the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for lead. The deadlines, set by court, for EPA to propose and finalize the rulemaking are May 1, 2008 and September 1, 2008, respectively. Based on the EPA Staff Paper on lead, EPA is considering substantially lowering the standard from the current value of 1.5 μg/m3 to a value between 0.1 to 0.3 μg/m3. Currently, 125 counties have lead monitors and only two are designated as nonattainment with the current standard. Depending on final value of the standard, between 11% and 66% of these 125 counties are expected to become designated as nonattainment for lead.