US EPA finalizes removal of non-vinyl chloride wastewater pollutant limit for new major PVC plants

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a rule removing a process wastewater limit on organic hazardous air pollutants other than vinyl chloride for new major polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and copolymer production sources, along with its testing, monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

Under the rule, the EPA's existing vinyl chloride wastewater limit for new major sources, 0.28 parts per million by weight, acts as a surrogate for those other pollutants. The agency said steam stripping, the control technology, "indiscriminately" controls all organic hazardous air pollutants, though not all of them equally as well as vinyl chloride.

The EPA said the action will have no immediate cost or emissions impacts because it does not affect existing sources, and the agency is unaware of any new sources currently subject to the rule. It identified one potential new major source that has not yet begun construction.

If a new major source facility starts operating, the EPA estimates the rule will save it about $2,900 in capital and startup costs and $30,000 in annual costs, in 2025 dollars.

The rule does not finalize other parts of a November 2020 proposal, including removing the 110 ppmw limit for existing major sources and revising the vinyl chloride limits. The EPA said it intends to address those issues in a separate action.

Commenters both supported and opposed the 2020 proposal. One commenter argued that using vinyl chloride as a surrogate was unlawful. The EPA disagreed, according to the rule.

The rule, in Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0037 and RIN 2060-AR73, takes effect on its date of publication in the Federal Register, which the document lists as Nov. 9, 2026.

The EPA set the current standards in April 2012. Olin Corporation contacted the agency in January 2026 to express concern about the limit.