EPA projects $52 million savings for cement industry in final emissions rule

Sources: CP staff; Environmental Protection Agency; Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.

After 28 months of rulemaking, court action, and meetings with industry officials, the EPA issued its Final Emissions Limits for Portland Cement Manufacturing, citing prospective mercury, hydrochloric acid, particulate matter and total hydrocarbon level reductions from 82–93 percent against agency thresholds leading into 2010.

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Cement Regulatory Relief legislation clears the House after NRMCA leadership visit

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.; CP staff

Last week’s bipartisan passage of “Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011” (H.R. 2681) by the U.S. House of Representatives was overwhelmingly called a triumph by construction industry leaders. A year-long effort to reform what they believed would be job-killing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations on the U.S. cement industry came to a head with legislation that seeks to replace harsh new federal rules with commonsense environmental safeguards.

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Cement industry challenges EPA rule driving $26/ton spike

A PCA Petition for Reconsideration and Administrative Stay with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cites late additions to a final rule—national emission standard for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP)—the agency issued in August without affording opportunity for public comment.

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Sierra Club Surrogate: EPA Cement Rule Helps Create, Preserve Jobs

In a press release hailing EPA’s final NESHAP [National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants] Portland Cement rule, environmental activist Earthjustice observes, “Modernizing older cement kilns with technologies such as scrubbers and activated carbon injection will help to create more jobs for the cement industry

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