We find ourselves somewhat surprised to report that the federal government’s struggle against its own revised National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for coke ovens continues.  Quick background: The EPA promulgated the Revised Coke Oven NESHAPs in 2024.  Among other things, they required that coke oven operators monitor for benzene at their fencelines; imposed new limits on emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coke oven pushing, quenching, and battery stacks; and imposed new limits on leaking coke oven doors, lids, and offtake piping. Last spring, we   reported  that pursuant to Section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act, EPA offered to delay compliance deadlines that were imposed on facilities by several revised NESHAPs that were promulgated during the waning months of the Biden Administration, including the Revised Coke Oven NESHAPs.   Section 112(i)(4) authorizes the President to delay compliance deadlines set by a NESHAPs when the technology needed to comply is not available and the delay is in the interest of national security.  Both U.S. Steel and Cleveland Cliffs (the operators of the Clairton Coke Works and Monessen Coke Works, respectively) asked for compliance extensions from the deadlines imposed by the Revised Coke Oven NESHAPs.   On July 8, 2025, EPA issued an   interim final rule  that would have extended those compliance deadlines for the full two years authorized by Section 112(i)(4), as U.S. Steel and Cleveland Cliffs requested.   The original compliance deadline was July 5, 2025; the new compliance deadline under the July 8, 2025, Interim Final Rule would have been July 5, 2027.  As you may recall, we spoke out  against the July 8, 2025 Interim Final Rule this past summer. Accordingly, in October we were pleased to   report  that it appeared that EPA would scrap the July 8, 2025 Interim Final Rule and go ahead with the original deadlines in the Revised Coke Oven NESHAPs: on Oct. 3, 2025, EPA withdrew the July 8, 2025 Interim Final Rule, stating that withdrawal “effectively reinstitutes the compliance deadlines set forth in the 2024 final rule,” to wit:  July 5, 2027. Cut to Nov. 21, 2025, when the president issued a   proclamation  that purports to give coke oven operators the full additional two years authorized by Section 112(i)(4) to comply with the deadlines in the Revised Coke Oven NESHAPs.   Should this Proclamation withstand the inevitable legal challenge, the compliance deadline for the Revised Coke Oven NESHAPs will (once again) be July 5, 2027.  “The government’s flip-flops on this beggar belief,” GASP Senior Attorney John Baillie said. “This latest switch sure looks arbitrary and capricious. It further underscores how public health concerns and even common sense seem to have been shoved into the back seat by rule makers in the administration.”

The EPA on Nov. 20 published a   proposed rule  that would redesignate Allegheny County from “nonattainment” of the 2012 National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulate matter (the “2012 NAAQS for PM2.5”) to “attainment.”   EPA’s proposed rule is based on monitored air quality data that shows that all areas of the county attained the 2012 NAAQS for PM2.5 during the years 2018, 2019, and 2020.  The proposed rule also discusses more recent monitored air quality data, which shows that all areas of the county have continued to attain the 2012 NAAQS for PM2.5 since 2020. To attain the 2012 NAAQS for PM2.5, the three-year average of the annual arithmetic mean of monitored air quality data for an area must not exceed 12 micrograms per cubic meter (12 µg/m 3 ).   Among other requirements, to be redesignated from “nonattainment” to “attainment” of a NAAQS the air quality regulator for an area must submit a plan to EPA that shows that the area will continue to attain the NAAQS (which the Allegheny County Health Department has done). EPA’s proposed rule also identifies some of the emission controls that local sources used to reduce their emissions of PM2.5 since the promulgation of the 2012 NAAQS for PM2.5, facility closures that contributed to reductions in PM2.5 levels in Allegheny County, and federal and state regulations that contributed to those same reductions.   That part of the proposed rule is well worth a read.  “The proposed rule is the capstone of a lot of good work that has been done over the last decade to bring Allegheny County into line with the 2012 NAAQS for PM2.5,” said GASP’s Senior Attorney John Baillie. EPA is accepting comments on the proposed rule through December 22, 2025.  You can submit comments at   www.regulations.gov  or via email to gordon.mike@epa.gov ; identify your comments by Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-2025-1777.

The Board of Health on Wednesday approved revisions to Allegheny County Health Department’s portion of Pennsylvania’s State Implementation Plan (SIP). What is a SIP? Here’s how ACHD explains its website: When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes a new National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) or revises an existing standard, it sets in motion a series of actions aimed at ensuring that air quality throughout the country meets those standards. State Implementation Plans (SIPs) are plans put together by states to help them meet the new or revised NAAQS. The EPA designates areas as meeting ("attainment") or not meeting ("non-attainment") the new NAAQS. If an area meets attainment, states are required to develop a general plan to maintain the NAAQS. If an area is classified as non-attainment, states must formulate a specific plan to meet the new NAAQS. These plans are known as SIPs and are developed by state and local air quality management agencies and submitted to EPA for approval. Find more information about SIPs. In this case, the updated coke oven regulations promulgated by EPA necessitated these revisions. An ACHD representative noted that the revisions were needed to align the SIP with requirements set forth in a 2024 consent decree reached between U.S. Steel, environmental organizations and the health department that lowered the limit on sulfur dioxide emissions from the battery stacks at Clairton Coke Works from 35 grains per dry standard cubic foot to 25 grains per dry standard cubic foot. The revision also corrected the number of coke oven batteries operating at Clairton Coke Works. As a result of that consent decree, U.S. Steel permanently shut down its oldest battery, number 15. In other business, the Board of Health also approved its 2026 meeting schedule: ●      12:30 p.m. Jan 14 in the Gold Room ●      12:30 p.m. March 18 at the Food Bank (further details TBA) ●      5:30 p.m. May 13 in the Gold Room ●      12:30 p.m. July 15 in the Gold Room ●      5:30 p.m. Sept. 16 in the Gold Room ●      12:30 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Gold Room