U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed regulations requiring airports to collect at least some of the deicing fluid after it is used on aircrafts with a goal of cutting chemical discharge by 22 percent. The regulations would require six of the 14 major U.S. airports that are the biggest users of deicing fluid to install deicing pads or other collection systems to capture 60 percent of fluid sprayed and to install deicing pads or other collection systems. The targeted airports include:
- New York's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports,
- Chicago's O'Hare,
- Boston Logan International,
- Cleveland-Hopkins International, and
- New Jersey's Newark Liberty International
Other targeted airports already have control systems, but would also need to meet performance standards. It would then be the airports' responsibility to ensure that the collected fluid was treated and handled in accordance with requirements. Some 200 smaller facilities around the US would have to collect and treat 20 percent of the fluid by using technologies such as a glycol recovery vehicle. Airports with fewer than 1,000 yearly jet departures would not be impacted.
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