ENV-17-17 Navigating New Rules for Startup, Shutdown and Malfunction Under the Refinery Sector Rule

Description:

On December 1, 2015, EPA published the Petroleum Refinery Sector Risk and Technology Review and New Source Performance Standards final rule (“Sector Rule”). 80 Fed. Reg. 75178 (December 1, 2015). The Sector Rule, among many other things, established new rules related to emissions that occur during startup, shutdown, hot standby, and malfunction (SSM) under MACT 1 and 2.1 The changes to the SSM provisions responded to court decisions requiring compliance with NESHAP emission standards at all times and disallowing absolute affirmative defenses to liability in state implementation plans. Sierra Club v. EPA, 551 F.3d 1019 (D.C. Cir. 2008) and NRDC v. EPA, 529 F.3d 1077 (D.C. Cir. 2014).