On December 23, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") toxic pollution requirements for large industrial boilers were flawed, siding with arguments made by environmental groups. The decision left the existing rule in place while ordering the EPA to make the necessary corrections in the boiler, Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards for Boilers, commonly known as Boiler MACT.
Industrial groups have expressed optimism that the incoming Trump administration will take the opportunity to revise how the EPA sets toxic pollutant standards across the board. For example, the Trump administration's EPA could take the remanded boiler standards as an opportunity to set emission standards for work practices for periods when equipment malfunctions – something the current EPA has declined to do in favor of using its enforcement power to bring facilities back into Boiler MACT compliance.
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