Final National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and New Source Performance Standards for the Petroleum Sector Amendments Technical Amendments and Compliance Extension Fact Sheet


Final National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and New Source
Performance Standards for the Petroleum Sector Amendments: Technical
Amendments and Compliance Extension: Fact Sheet

•	On November 8, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final
amendments to the petroleum refinery National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants (NESHAP) (referred to Refinery MACT 1 and Refinery MACT 2) and to the New
Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Petroleum Refineries. This action:

o finalizes technical corrections and minor revisions for work practice standards,
recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the Petroleum Refinery Sector rules;

o changes the compliance date for existing maintenance vents standards for Refinery
MACT 1 from August 1, 2017, to 30 days from the effective date of this final rule.
These standards apply during periods of startup, shutdown, maintenance or
inspection;

o changes the compliance date for delayed coking units (DCU) that use the water
overflow alternative compliance option and need to install additional equipment to
comply with the DCU vent standards from January 30, 2019, to 2 years from the
effective date of this final rule.

•	This action will have an insignificant effect on emissions reductions and costs, however, It
will reduce the annual compliance burden.

Background

•	EPA initially promulgated NESHAP for major sources in the Petroleum Refineries - Other
Sources Not Distinctly Listed source category on August 18, 1995. These standards are also
referred to as maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards and this NESHAP
for petroleum refineries is commonly referred to as Refinery MACT 1. The 1995 Refinery
MACT 1 rule regulates miscellaneous process vents, storage vessels, wastewater,
equipment leaks, gasoline loading racks and marine tank vessel loading.

•	On October 28, 2009, EPA promulgated amendments to Refinery MACT 1 to include MACT
standards for heat exchange systems, which were not originally addressed in Refinery MACT
1. This same rulemaking included updating cross-references to the General Provisions in 40
CFR part 63.

•	EPA completed a residual risk and technology review of Refinery MACT 1, publishing final
amendments on December 1, 2015. The December 1, 2015, final amendments included
revisions to the Refinery MACT 1 requirements for process vents designated as
"maintenance vents." Maintenance vents are those whose use is needed only during
startup, shutdown, maintenance or inspection of equipment where the equipment is
emptied, depressurized, degassed or placed into service. The December 1, 2015, final
amendments require that the hydrocarbon content of the vapor in the equipment served by
the maintenance vent to be less than or equal to 10-percent of the lower explosive limit
(LEL) prior to venting to the atmosphere. The December 1, 2015, final rule also provides
specific allowances for situations when the 10-percent LEL cannot be demonstrated or is

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technically infeasible. The compliance date included in the December 1, 2015, final rule for
maintenance vents located at sources constructed on or before June 30, 2014, was
February 1, 2016 (the effective date of the December 1, 2015, final amendments).

• EPA received three separate petitions for reconsideration. Two petitions were filed jointly
by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the American Fuel and Petrochemical
Manufacturers (AFPM). The first petition filed on January 19, 2016, from API and AFPM
requested that EPA reconsider the compliance date for maintenance vents located at
sources constructed on or before June 30, 2014, among other issues. The second petition
from API and AFPM filed February 1, 2016, outlined a number of issues related to the work
practice standards for PRDs and Flares, and the alternative water overflow provisions for
delayed coking unit (DCUs), along with other specific issues on other aspects of the rule.
The third petition was filed on February 1, 2016, by Earthjustice on behalf of Air Alliance
Houston, California Communities Against Toxics, the Clean Air Council, the Coalition for a
Safe Environment, the Community In-Power and Development Association, the Del Amo
Action Committee, the Environmental Integrity Project, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the
Sierra Club, the Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, and Utah Physicians for a
Healthy Environment. The Earthjustice petition claimed that several aspects of the revisions
to Refinery MACT 1 were not addressed in the proposed rule, and, thus, the public was
precluded from commenting on them during the public comment period, including: (1) work
practice standards for pilot-operated pressure relief devices and flares; (2) alternative water
overflow provisions for DCUs; (3) reduced monitoring provisions for fenceline monitoring;
and (4) adjustments to the risk assessment to account for these changes from what was
proposed.

• EPA fully responded to the first petition for reconsideration on July 13, 2016. EPA revised
the compliance date for maintenance vents located at sources constructed on or before
June 30, 2014, from February 1, 2016, to August 1, 2017. 81 FR 45232 (July 13, 2016).

• This action responds to the second and third petitions.

• Following the compliance extension procedure in 40 CFR 63.6(i), most refiners received a
12-month extension to August 1, 2018 to comply with the maintenance vent standards.

For More Information

• To download a copy of the final action, visit https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-
pollution/petroleum-refinery-sector-rule-risk-and-technology-review-and-new.

• Today's action and other background information are also available either electronically at
http://www.regulations.gov, the EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, or in
hardcopy at the EPA Docket Center's Public Reading Room.

o The Public Reading Room is located at the EPA Headquarters, room number 3334 in
the EPA WJC West Building, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Hours
of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. eastern standard time, Monday through
Friday, excluding Federal holidays,
o Visitors are required to show photographic identification, pass through a metal
detector and sign the EPA visitor log. All visitor materials will be processed through

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an X-ray machine as well. Visitors will be provided a badge that must be visible at all
times.

o Materials for the final can be accessed using Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0682.

For further information about this final action, contact Ms. Brenda Shine with EPA's Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards, at (919) 541-3608 or by email at Shine.Brenda@epa.gov.

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