EPA rejects request to shield stationary turbines from pollution rules (NYSE:LNG)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency denied a petition by energy companies who sought to persuade the government to remove limits on emissions of harmful pollutants from stationary turbines, Reuters reported Monday.

The EPA denied the petition filed in 2019 by groups including the American Petroleum Institute who sought the removal of combustion turbines from the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Pollutants, which imposes curbs on emissions of known carcinogens like formaldehyde and benzene.

~250 U.S. gas turbines had been subject to the rule, according to an EPA list, which included Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG), which had separately petitioned the EPA in 2022 to exempt it from the limits, saying that complying with the rules would jeopardize gas exports to Europe at a time that European countries were seeking to source gas from outside of Russia, which had just invaded Ukraine.

The petitioners argued the turbines do not pose even a less than one in a million cancer threat, but the EPA rejected the petition, saying it had not presented enough information and analysis.

Environmental groups in southeastern states where turbines are widely used said the denial will protect vulnerable residents who live near the facilities.