ENV-09-47 Trends in EPA and State Refinery Flare Enforcement

Description:

It’s late 2009. Do you know where your refinery flares are? Fact is, this is a question that the refining industry has faced for over ten years in the wake of stepped up enforcement attention by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) on an array of flare‐related construction, modification, and operational fronts.1 The basic purpose of this paper is to present information on the latest trends in flare‐related enforcement by EPA and the states. We start with a general overview of current EPA enforcement initiatives based on informal discussions with agency and industry representatives. The discussion touches on specific areas of focus (e.g. flare testing/monitoring) as well as enforcement goals. We next look at recent state flare enforcement and regulations development. We look at California regulations and then look at the recently formed Texas Flare Stakeholder Group. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”), in cooperation with the regulated community and other stakeholders, initiated a process for evaluating possible improvements in regulation of emissions from flaring events. Because of the impact this process will have in Texas and its expected influence on other states, we also present some information on the TCEQ developments as well. Another section of the paper provides information on recent flare‐related enforcement actions. This includes two EPA Region V notices of violation relating to alleged excess emissions resulting from over‐steaming at steam‐assisted flares: Lima Refining and CITGO Petroleum. The paper also includes a discussion of several recent judicial consent decrees and settlements. Finally, the paper turns to the current status of the NSPS Subpart Ja rulemaking relative to flares, including the status of the related administrative petitions for reconsideration and the petitions for judicial review that were filed last year in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In addition, as background, the authors have included as an attachment to this paper their 2008 NPRA paper summarizing key points in that rulemaking, (Attachment #2).