EPA's New Refinery Rule—Next Generation Compliance In Action

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a new air pollution rule in September that illustrates how EPA is implementing its next generation compliance ideas. The rule governs hazardous air emissions from petroleum refineries, but features several "next gen" tools that are relevant to other types of facilities, especially chemical plants and oil and gas storage facilities.

Next Gen Tools Found in the New Refinery Rule

EPA's next generation compliance initiative seeks to modernize the agency's regulations and enforcement efforts. The initiative encourages the use of new technologies for detecting air emissions, aims to incentivize compliance and emissions reductions, rather than relying primarily on the threat of enforcement, and also encourages greater public disclosure of environmental data. Many of these ideas are on display in the new refinery rule.