March 24, 2004—Rules requiring four industries to upgrade their facilities by installation of Maximum Achievable Control Technologies (MACTs) were announced recently by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The MACT rules cover: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters; Plywood and Composite Wood Products; Stationary Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE), and Automobile and Light Duty Trucks Manufacturing (Surface Coating).
The four rules complete the application of technology-based national emissions standards called for under the 1990 Clean Air Act to protect Americans from eye, lung, and skin irritation, liver and kidney damage, cancer, central nervous system dysfunction and other health problems. The new MACT standards will reduce national emissions of toxic air pollutants by some 88,000 tons per year within five years. EPA has issued a total of 96 MACT standards to reduce toxic emissions from over 160 categories of industrial sources. When fully implemented, these rules collectively will reduce 1.7 million tons per year of toxic air emissions compared to the 1990 baseline emissions.
