New air toxics emissions from secondary lead smelters are coming soon.

The EPA is proposing a rule revising air toxics emissions from secondary lead smelters. The proposal would reduce lead and arsenic from the facilities by 63 percent, according to the agency. The proposed revisions would set more stringent national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) from the smelting operations, updating the standards that were originally set in 1997. The proposed rule would require secondary lead smelters to enclose all operations within a building with a venting system to ensure concentrations of lead emissions stay below 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter. Also the proposed rule would set a lead emissions limit of 0.2 milligram per dry standard cubic meter, 10 times lower than the current standard, and require the facilities to control emissions of dioxins. Comments are due 45 days after publication in the Federal Register. The fact sheet for the Proposed Amendments to the Air Toxics Standards for the Secondary Lead Smelting Industry is available by clicking this link to the EPA website.