The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said it will make it much cheaper for companies to reduce toxic air pollution from industrial boilers and incinerators.

In an overhaul of air pollution regulations, the EPA said it found ways to control pollution at more than 200,000 industrial boilers, heaters and incinerators nationwide at a 50 percent cost savings to the companies and institutions that run them.

Those operating large boilers that burn renewable fuels would not be required to install some expensive technologies, and only maintenance would be required for smaller boilers. That would cost $1.8 billion less each year than the original proposal, and still avert thousands of heart attacks and asthma cases a year, the agency said.

In a press conference Wednesday, Gina McCarthy, a U.S. EPA assistant administrator, said the standards will be effective no sooner than 2014. She called the rules “sound, reasonable and achievable.”

Area reaction

Area environmental regulators expect to sift through these new air pollution rules to see what they mean for Dayton and the state.

“We have to see how this plays out,” said John Paul, director of the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency, a Dayton-based agency that enforces air pollution laws in a six-county area, including Montgomery, Greene, Miami and Clark counties.

But less expensive pollution-control measures would be welcome, regulators say.

“If you could reduce pollution and save money, you’re ahead of the curve,” said Jim Pellegrino, an environmental specialist with the Dayton office of the Ohio EPA.

“Everybody wants lower costs,” said Linda Oros, a spokeswoman for the Ohio EPA.

The industrial boilers in question are not just used by big manufacturers, but by refineries, chemical plants, hospitals and other large buildings.

“We will have some industrial boilers in this area that will likely be affected by the final regulations, so it is important to us,” Paul said.

Financial impact?

No local regulator could estimate the financial impact of such changes Wednesday. Oros said the state agency needs to see the rules. “We haven’t seen them yet, and they’re likely to be 300 pages long, so it’s going to be a little while before we know how they’re going to impact Ohio,” she said.

The AP reported that under the new rule, the bulk of industrial boilers at small facilities would not have to meet certain pollution standards. Instead, they would have to perform a biannual tune-up to cut emissions.