Manufacturers of phosphoric acid, a key ingredient in fertilizer, now have until 2018 to reach two compliance deadlines for hazardous air pollutants, the EPA said in a final rule.

Previously, the Environmental Protection Agency had set an August 2016 deadline for phosphoric acid producers to include emissions of hydrogen fluoride and other fluorides from a process that turns raw phosphorus into phosphoric acid in their calculations of how much of the fluorides they emit. Hydrogen fluoride is extremely acidic, according to the EPA.

The EPA also extended (RIN:2060-AT14) the deadline to meet monitoring requirements for low-energy absorbers from August 2017 to 2018, allowing phosphoric acid manufacturers to use alternative air pollution monitoring methods to show compliance until the new deadline. The air toxics standards apply to 13 facilities that make phosphoric acid.

The extensions, proposed in December 2016, came in response to petitions from The Fertilizer Institute and the Phosphate Corporation of Saskatchewan, both of which had supported the extension in the comments on the proposal.

The EPA said it expected the additional compliance time “will have an insignificant effect on a phosphoric acid manufacturing plant’s overall emissions” and would save the industry $1.1 million.

*Original article online at https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/fertilizer-ingredient-makers-get-to-2018-for-air-toxics-rule