National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Site Remediation

This action promulgates national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) from site remediations. The final rule implements the Clean Air Act (CAA) section 112(d) to control hazardous air pollutants (HAP) emissions at major sources where remediation technologies and practices are used at the site to clean up contaminated environmental media (e.g., soils, groundwaters, or surface waters) or certain stored or disposed materials that pose a reasonable potential threat to contaminate environmental media. Site remediations subject to the final rule are required to control emissions of organic HAP by meeting emissions limitations and work practice standards reflecting the application of maximum achievable control technology (MACT). The final rule applies to certain types of site remediation activities that are conducted at a facility where non-remediation sources are a major source of HAP emissions. Some site remediations already regulated by rules established under the Comprehensive Environmental Response and Compensation Liability Act (CERCLA) or the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) are not subject to the final rule. The HAP emitted by site remediation activities can include benzene, ethyl benzene, toluene, vinyl chloride, xylenes, and other volatile organic compounds (VOC). The range of potential human health effects associated with exposure to these organic HAP and VOC include cancer, aplastic anemia, upper respiratory tract irritation, liver damage, and neurotoxic effects (e.g., headache, dizziness, nausea, tremors).