EPA is set to release a final update to air toxics regulations for plants that make a distilled form of coal used by some steelmakers, but only after agency delays that led a frustrated federal judge to threaten a contempt of court finding if they continued.
The White House regulations office ended a routine review of the strengthened standards for coke ovens Wednesday, clearing the way for EPA Administrator Michael Regan or another senior official to sign them in accord with a pending court-ordered deadline, according to a notice on a government tracking website.
Coke is a critically important fuel for the small number of integrated mills that turn iron ore into finished steel. The update would be the first for the industry in almost two decades. In a Thursday email, Earthjustice attorney Adrienne Lee said she did not anticipate significant differences between the final version and a draft released last summer that would require coke plants to monitor for airborne concentrations of cancer-causing benzene along their boundaries with surrounding communities.
The draft also sought to crack down on leaks and add standards for pollutants that are currently unregulated. Lee expected the final version to be made public next week, but an EPA spokesperson indicated in a separate email that the exact timing has not been set.
