The Obama administration wants new regulations for mills that turn wood into pulp.
On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish in the Federal Register a proposal governing plants that use chemicals to break down wood chips into a mush that can be used to make paper.
The proposal includes new emission limits for furnaces, tanks and kilns, and requires additional testing, monitoring and reporting.
Though the new measures would not lower emissions, the EPA claims they will “provide consistency” for meeting current national standards.
The new source performance standards would only apply to new or newly modified facilities. Reforms in the proposal are expected to cost mill owners a combined $390,000 each year for the next five years, the EPA estimates.