Inspector General Investigation Finds That EPA Failing To Protect Millions Of Americans From Cancer Causing Toxic Air Pollution

• Improvements in Air Toxics Emissions Data Needed to Conduct Residual Risk Assessments, EPA OIG Report No. 08-P-0020
• Management Alert: Prompt Action Needed to Inform Residents Living Near Ethylene Oxide-Emitting Facilities About Health Concerns and Actions to Address Those Concerns,  EPA OIG Report No. 20-N-0128
• EPA Delayed Risk Communication and Issued Instructions Hindering Region 5’s Ability to Address Ethylene Oxide Emissions, EPA OIG Report No. 21-P-0123

Hazardous air pollutants, known as HAPs, are those air pollutants known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects—such as reproductive effects or birth defects—or adverse environmental effects. HAPs are also known as toxic air pollutants or air toxics. The Clean Air Act, known as the CAA, Amendments of 1990 established a list of 189 air toxics that the EPA is required to regulate. Since 1990, the EPA has revised the list slightly to regulate 187 air toxics.

Environmental Justice May Not Be Achieved Without New RTRs or Emission Standards

Minority and low-income populations are disproportionately impacted by chloroprene and ethylene oxide emissions. According to the EPA’s environmental justice screening tool, EJSCREEN, 100 percent of the people living in the same census block group where Denka is located are minorities and 49 percent of them are low income. The LaPlace Louisiana community is impacted by not only chloroprene emissions from Denka but also ethylene oxide emissions from two nearby chemical plants. The burden from exposure to these two toxic chemicals resulted in the 2014 NATA estimating that these residents have an individual lifetime cancer risk of 2,000 in one million at the census tract level, which is the highest in the country.

According to EJSCREEN, 50 percent or more of the people living in the same census block group as 14 of the 22 ethylene oxide-emitting facilities contributing to cancer risks of 100 in one million or greater at the census tract level are minorities or part of low-income households. Further, the same is true of 18 of the 29 ethylene oxide-emitting facilities contributing to cancer risks of 100 in one million or greater at the census block level. Unless the EPA conducts new RTRs using the new UREs for chloroprene and ethylene oxide for source categories that have not had RTRs using the new UREs or develops emission standards for area source chemical plants that emit ethylene oxide, the Agency may not meet its commitment and responsibility under Executive Order 12898 to achieve environmental justice.

Here are the EPA IG conclusions:

We recommend that OIG change the recommendation to: Develop and implement an internal control process to review source categories that emit pollutants where new information shows that the pollutants are more toxic than previously understood in order to determine if regulatory changes are needed.

This change is suggested because, as written, the OIG appears to be directing EPA to use a specific statutory authority for rulemaking; however, there are other authorities that could be equally effective at addressing the problem. […]

Given that no final decision has yet been made on the appropriate statutory authority to utilize for each of the rules identified above, the draft schedules below for issuing a final rulemaking are based on the assumption that we will conduct the statutorily required technology review as part of any rulemaking action for these rules. EPA will consider risk as part of the rulemakings for these source categories and we will determine whether the Agency should conduct a discretionary residual risk review during the rulemaking. The schedules for these actions are consistent with the amount of time that it takes to conduct the many steps associated with a NESHAP review.

In addition, we believe that the inclusion of the information in Appendix C is not necessary and reflects an invalid use of the National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) results. […]

The identification of specific facilities in Appendix C likely reflects many false positives, while the omission of others may indicate significant false negatives. Our commitments above to consider risk as part of the review of the various source sector rules noted above will result in the proper identification of areas with elevated risks and produce the necessary accurate information to support responsible risk communication. We, therefore, request that the OIG remove Appendix C from the final report.

The EPA periodically conducts the National Air Toxics Assessment, known as NATA, to assess the public health risk from exposure to air toxics. NATA is not required by regulation. The results of the NATA are not used to set regulatory standards for sources of air toxics emissions, as would the results of assessments conducted in the RTR program. NATA is a screening tool that can assist the EPA and state, local, and tribal air agencies in identifying geographic areas, pollutants, or emission sources for further examination.

The EPA’s latest NATA—that is, the 2014 NATA, which was based on 2014 emissions data and was published on August 22, 2018—estimated that more than 472,000 people lived in 106 census tracts where the individual lifetime cancer risk was elevated or equal to or greater than 100 in one million.

Based on the 2014 NATA results, the EPA identified Denka and 22 ethylene oxide-emitting facilities that contribute to individual lifetime cancer risks equal to or greater than 100 in one million at the census tract level. The 22 ethylene oxide-emitting facilities are listed in the OIG’s March 31, 2020 management alert report, along with three census block facilities that the EPA prioritized as contributing to elevated estimated cancer risks.