The U.S. Supreme Court chose not to review a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in American Chemistry Council v. Sierra Club...the circuit court decision closed the "startup, shutdown and malfunction" exemption that effectively allowed major industrial polluters to exceed emissions standards whenever they claimed that their equipment malfunctioned.
"Startups, shutdowns and malfunctions create some of the highest volumes and worst toxic air pollution released by large industrial factories, and nearby communities suffer the horrible impacts of the chemicals dumped into their air supply,"...
Citizens of Texas are among those who will benefit from the decision... according to state records, 30 facilities emitted more than 45 million pounds of toxins in just one year during these off-the-books periods.
EPA has already committed to rethink this loophole, and we (Sierra Club) look forward to working with the agency to bring relief to overburdened communities as soon as possible."
Read more at Environmental Protection
HISTORY
In July 2009 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") issued guidance clarifying which startups, shutdowns, and malfunctions ("SSM") are exempt from applicable Maximum Achievable Control Technology ("MACT") standards in the wake of Sierra Club v. EPA, 551 F.3d 1019 (D.C. Cir. 2008). The MACT standards have long contained language in the general provisions of Part 63, Subpart A, exempting SSM events from compliance with MACT emission limits. See 40 C.F.R. § 63.6(f) and (h) (the "SSM Exemption"). In its December 2008 decision in Sierra Club, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals vacated the SSM Exemption. The vacatur has not yet taken effect, pending the procedural issuance of a mandate by the Court. Read on at Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.,