EPA Delays Implementation of Revised Coke Oven Emissions Standards

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its plan to delay full implementation of the revised National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) for Integrated Iron and Steel making facilities.  

As a result, U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Works will be authorized to emit greater amounts of hazardous air pollutants between now and July 3, 2027, than it otherwise would have. 

We blogged about that here.

Yesterday, EPA announced that it also plans to delay full implementation of the revised NESHAPs for Coke Ovens and Coke Oven Batteries, which will impact both U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works and Cleveland Cliffs’ Monessen Coke Works.  

We blogged about those revised NESHAPs here, when they were proposed.  

Specifically, EPA plans the following delays to these rules that will apply at Clairton and Monessen:

• The requirement that coke works install and operate fenceline monitors to detect benzene levels will be delayed from July 7, 2025, to July 5, 2027;

• New limits for emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coke oven pushing, quenching, and battery stacks will be delayed from January 6, 2026 to July 5, 2027; and

• New limits on leaking coke oven doors, lids, and offtake piping will be delayed from July 7, 2025, to July 5, 2027.

  
  

Speaking broadly, EPA is justifying the delays based on assertions that compliance with the regulations will in many instances require modifying the facilities, which in turn requires engineering, permitting, and construction of new equipment or controls, all of which can take significant time.  

Those assertions were made by industry groups and bolstered by materials that they submitted in connection with petitions for reconsideration of the rules.

“As with the NESHAPs for Integrated Iron and Steel making facilities, EPA has estimated an industry-wide cost savings associated with the delays, of between $4.2 and $4.4 million,” said GASP Senior Attorney John Baillie.  “In contrast, EPA did not provide an estimate of how much additional pollution will result from the delays.”

You can submit comments on EPA’s plan to delay implementation of these standards and limits for emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coke ovens through August 7, 2025, at https://www.regulations.gov. 

Identify your comments by two Docket ID Numbers (EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0085, for Coke Ovens: Pushing, Quenching, and Battery Stacks, and EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0051, for Coke Oven Batteries) and reference those docket numbers in your comments.