WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a schedule for issuing updated air toxics standards for boilers and certain solid waste incinerators.

Following initial proposals in April 2010, the EPA received more than 4,800 comments from businesses and communities, including a significant amount of information from industry sources not available prior to the proposals, an agency release said Friday.


Extensive revisions of the proposals based on that information meant the intended final standards differed significantly from the initial proposal, and the EPA decided further public review was required and announced it would reconsider the standards.

To give the public ample opportunity to provide additional input and information, the agency will propose standards to be reconsidered by the end of October 2011 and issue final standards by the end of April 2012, the release said.

The open and transparent process will strengthen the basis for protective, cost-effective and achievable standards, the agency said.