EPA proposes new refinery emission rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday said it wants to expand pollution controls on the nation's aging oil refineries, forcing companies to install emission-reduction equipment if they build or expand a facility.

The EPA's proposed changes to the federal Clean Air Act's "new source performance standards" would cost industry about $54 million a year, the agency said.

The standards would reduce emissions of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide emissions by nearly 56,000 tons per year over five years and yield nearly $1 billion in benefits, the EPA said.

Nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide are precursors of acid rain and smog linked to respiratory diseases like asthma.

The proposed standards would put emission limits on fluid catalytic cracking units, fluid coking units, delayed coking units, process heaters and other fuel gas combustion devices, the EPA said.

The rules would also apply to sulfur recovery plants that are constructed, modified, or reconstructed after the date of the EPA's proposal.

That widens the applicability of current rules, which apply to fluid catalytic cracking unit catalyst regenerators, fuel gas combustion devices, and Claus sulfur recovery plants.

The proposal would also include workplace practices, where refineries could be required to prepare and follow written plans to reduce emissions during startups and shutdowns, as well as process malfunctions, the EPA said.

Refineries would also be required to conduct a root-cause analysis if they release more than 500 pounds per day of sulfur dioxide, the EPA said.