EPA Penalizing Stationary Engine Violations

Did you know that there are compliance obligations even when a permit might not be required?  Have you reviewed the requirements to comply with the applicable regulations? If you haven’t assessed them recently, now is the time.

Periodically the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) issues Compliance Advisories and Enforcement Alerts. The Advisories and Alerts identify Agency requirements and priorities at the time of publication.

EPA Violations

In August 2022, the OECA issued an Enforcement Alert titled Stationary Engines Cause Excess Emissions in Communities Across the Country. The purpose of the Alert was to note that the EPA has been identifying numerous violations of the applicable Clean Air Act requirements, and that the Agency has taken enforcement actions and assessed substantial penalties for facilities that have failed to comply. Some of the violations noted included failure to retrofit engines with required pollution controls; installation of pollution controls without conducting follow-up testing; and using engines for demand response programs run by electricity system operators, which now removes these engines from emergency status.