EPA is required by the Clean Water Act to issue regulations that limit pollutant discharges by various industry categories.  Although they are called “guidelines,” these regulations establish enforceable discharge limits for certain pollutants reflecting the application of the “best available technology economically achievable.”  EPA is required to issue an effluent guidelines program plan every two years.  The plan sets a schedule for reviewing and revising existing effluent guidelines, and it also identifies new industry categories that EPA expects to investigate further for the possible development of new effluent guidelines.

On December 31, 2003, EPA published in the Federal Register its “Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan for 2004/2005.”  In the notice, EPA announced that it is considering revising existing effluent guidelines for the Petroleum Refining industry and adding petroleum bulk stations and terminals as a new subcategory of Petroleum Refining.  By creating a subcategory for terminals, EPA would impose new, technology-based regulations on terminal discharges.  These new limitations could require the use of new treatment technologies and “pollution prevention alternatives” such as product substitution.  EPA expects to issue its “final” effluent guidelines program plan in June 2004.  Actual effluent guidelines for terminals are not proposed in the preliminary plan, nor will they be proposed in the final plan.  If it decides to establish effluent guidelines for terminals, EPA will initiate a rulemaking proceeding.

In response to EPA’s request for comments on the preliminary plan, ILTA submitted comments on March 18, 2004.  ILTA pointed out that in deciding to designate petroleum terminals as a potential subcategory, EPA relied on two sources of data, but the actual data from those sources reveals that the volume of toxic pollutants discharged by petroleum terminals is minuscule.  ILTA stated that EPA’s own data fails to demonstrate that terminal discharges pose a significant hazard or risk to human health or the environment.  Accordingly, ILTA requested that EPA not add petroleum terminals as a new subcategory of the Petroleum Refining category.  For the full text of ILTA’s comments, please click on the link below.

 Download ILTA's Comments (pdf)