Guidance for violations of the Asbestos NESHAP

As we noted above, the Agency has prepared a general penalty policy applicable to violations of the CAA, known as the Clean Air Act Stationary Source Civil Penalty Policy. Attached to the General CAA Penalty Policy is the Asbestos Penalty Policy, which provides specific guidance for violations of the Asbestos NESHAP.

We have frequently followed the Asbestos Penalty Policy’s guidance in determining the amount of penalties to assess in contested cases appealed to this Board.

We have also held that the General CAA Penalty Policy “facilitate[s] the application of the statutory penalty factors to individual cases in a systematic fashion, and thus provide[s] a sound framework for the exercise of an appellate tribunal’s discretion.” Moreover, in the present case, both parties have requested that we generally follow the guidance of the Asbestos Penalty Policy.

Accordingly, our analysis in this case will generally follow the guidance of the Agency’s Asbestos Penalty Policy and the General CAA Penalty Policy. However, we will also consider the ALJ’s reasons for rejecting these policies’ framework to determine whether we find those reasons persuasive or convincing.