Petroleum Refinery National Priority Case Results

EPA's national Petroleum Refinery Priority addresses air emissions from the Nation's petroleum refineries. Our results have been:

Since March 2000, the Agency has entered into 22 settlements with U.S. companies that refine nearly 87 percent of the Nation's petroleum refining capacity.
These settlements cover 96 refineries in 28 states and on full implementation will result in annual emissions reductions on more than 86,000 tons of nitrogen oxides and more than 245,000 tons of sulfur dioxide.
Negotiations are continuing with other refiners representing an additional 6 percent of domestic refining capacity and investigations are underway on others.

Settling companies have agreed to:

Invest more than $5 billion in control technologies and pay civil penalties of more than $72 million
Perform supplemental environmental projects valued at approximately $65 million

EPA's settlements require:

Significant reductions of nitrogen oxide
Significant reductions of sulfur dioxide
Additional emission reductions of benzene, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter

EPA's investigations focused on the four most significant Clean Air Act compliance challenges for this industry and the emissions units that are the source of most of its pollution:

New Source Review/Prevention of Significant Deterioration
- Fluidized catalytic cracking units
- Heaters and boilers
New Source Performance Standards
- Flares
- Sulfur recovery units
- Fuel gas combustion devices (including heaters and boilers)
Leak Detection and Repair requirements
Benzene National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants

EPA has reached innovative, multi-issue, multi-facility settlement negotiations with the following major petroleum refining companies:

For more information, please review the Petroleum Refinery National Priority Fact Sheet.

A summary of progress to date, and the cumulative impact of individual cases, along with additional information on the National Priority Strategy can be found on the Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Priority: Petroleum Refining web page.

PowerPoint Presentation on the results of the Petroleum Refinery National Priority (PDF) (136pp, 1M, About pdf).

Selected Enforcement Alerts Affecting Petroleum Refineries

Voluntary Program (slotted guidepoles) - May 2000
Fugitive Emissions (LDAR) - October 1999
Flaring - October 2000
RCRA new waste listings - April 1999
NSR/PSD - January 1999

Civil Enforcement | Cleanup Enforcement | Criminal Enforcement

Petroleum Refinery National Priority Case Results

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