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Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Returned to Core:
Petroleum Refining
Planning Topics
The Petroleum Refining priority is the continuation of one of the most successful enforcement initiatives undertaken by EPA. National focus on the petroleum refining sector began in 1995 when, ranked against other sectors emitting air pollutants, it was ranked
- First for volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- First for sulfur dioxide (SO2)
- Second for nitrogen oxide (NOx)
- Fourth for carbon monoxide (CO)
- Eighth for particulate matter (PM10)
EPA links breathing these air pollutants to numerous chronic and acute human health effects, including:
- Respiratory problems
- Exacerbated childhood asthma
- Hospitalization for heart and lung disease
These pollutants also have adverse impacts on aquatic life, vegetation and animals.
To address these environmental and public health threats, EPA focused enforcement activity on refineries. Multiple violations were identified at nearly all refineries inspected. Today the initiative is a mature priority for the air program, having resulted in many cases and settlements that have eliminated the emission of hundred of thousands of tons of air pollutants.
Since 1980, individual refineries have expanded capacity significantly, so that even though the number of refineries has declined, production capacity has increased. As individual refineries got larger, it was expected that emissions would increase as well, but this was not reflected in state permits. EPA responded to this sector-wide problem of unpermitted emissions by embarking on a series of innovative settlement negotiations with various petroleum refiners, at a corporate level, to address both known violations and suspected non-compliance at all of the refiner's facilities. The corporate-wide agreements achieved are referred to as "global" settlements. Because the settlements deal with all of a refiner's facilities based on claims developed at only a few, EPA has quickly and efficiently addressed environmental problems that otherwise would have taken substantially longer to rectify.
The primary goals of the Petroleum Refining priority have been achieved:
- To address 80% of the domestic refining capacity and 90% of that capacity in environmental justice areas
- To reduce emissions of NOx and SO2 by 20%
- To increase compliance in this sector by 50%
The Petroleum Refining national priority will be returning to EPA’s core enforcement and compliance program, where focus will be on addressing the remaining 20% of the industry.
Strategy Summary
For each of the national priority areas, EPA has developed a strategy designed to achieve specific outcomes. The Petroleum Refinery Strategy Summary of 2005 - 2007 (PDF) (3pp, 32K,About PDF) includes a description of the environmental problem to be addressed, goals to be met, strategies for reaching these goals, and measures to track progress toward the goals.
Progress to Date
Between March 2000 and September 2005 the Agency has entered into 17 settlements with U.S. companies that account for nearly 77% of the nation's petroleum refining capacity. These settlements cover 85 refineries in 25 states and on full implementation will result in annual emissions reductions of approximately 80,000 tons of nitrogen oxides and approximately 235,000 tons of sulfur dioxide. For results more recent than September 30, 2005, see the case results.
The settlements also require significant emission reductions of benzene, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter. Settling companies have agreed to invest more than $4.4 billion in control technologies and to pay civil penalties of $55 million. They will also perform supplemental environmental projects valued at approximately $63 million. For more information, please review the Petroleum Refinery National Priority Fact Sheet.
This March 2006 Powerpoint Presentation details the results of the Petroleum Refinery National Priority Powerpoint Presentation (PDF) (109pp, 1.02Mb,About PDF).
Case Results
EPA maintains information on the results of cases and settlements that are part of the Petroleum Refining National Priority. This includes press releases, consent decrees and fact sheets on individual cases.
Online Resources
The online resources provide links to over 400 compliance and enforcement resources to help regions, states, tribes and the regulated community in implementing these performance-based strategies. A Compliance Assurance Resources Compendium for Fiscal year 2008 - 2010 National Enforcement and Compliance Priorities (PDF) (60pp, 632K,About PDF) of these resources current as of February 2008, is also available.
EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) maintains a focused list of links to its policy, guidance and other relevant documents Compliance and Enforcement Resources
The National Environmental Compliance Assistance Clearinghouse is an interactive Web site that links to thousands of compliance assistance resources on specific topics and by geographic locations. Users may add their own links, including links to contact Web pages for the Clearinghouse Expert Directory. The following EPA and non-EPA sources resources are on the Clearinghouse:
Compliance Assistance Resources provides links to information related to this priority on how to comply with environmental laws
Enforcement Resources provides links to information related to this priority on how EPA and the regulated community monitor compliance with environmental laws