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National BREATHE Act: The Bringing Reductions to Energy's Airborne Toxic Health Effects Act
- Current Status:
- Upcoming
- Jursidiction
- National -
- Summary
- On March 17, 2011 Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) along with Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rush Holt (D-NJ) introduced the BREATHE Act (The Bringing Reductions to Energy's Airborne Toxic Health Effects Act) - sister legislation to the FRAC Act - that would close two drilling exemptions which currently exist in the Clean Air Act.
Like the FRAC Act, which addresses an industry exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the BREATHE Act closes two industry exemptions in the Clean Air Act which are causing direct and measurable heath consequences in area.
Specifically, the BREATHE Act:
1) Closes the NESHAPs exemption: While some emissions requirements exist for individual wells, oil and gas drilling is exempted from aggregated "major source" requirements under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP).
In practical terms, this would prompt the industry to follow NESHAP's required use of best available and currently used emissions control technology - technology that the best actors of the industry are already using and which has already proven to be profitable for the oil and gas industry in many instances.
2) Closes the Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) exemption: Hydrogen Sulfide, emitted from oil and gas operations, is a highly toxic gas which can lead to neurological impairment or even death and is currently exempt from regulation as a hazardous air pollutant under the Clean Air Act. Originally included in the Clean Air Act's list of hazardous air pollutants, H2S was removed with industry support.
- Keywords
- hydrogen sulfide, NESHAPS, Fracking
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