Final Boiler MACT - Air Emission Standards

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued final Clean Air Act standards for boilers and certain incinerators in response to federal court orders requiring the issuance of final standards. In response to a September 2009 court order, EPA issued the proposed rules in April 2010, prompting significant public input. Based on the public input received following the April 2010 proposal, EPA made extensive revisions, and in December 2010 requested additional time for review to ensure the public’s input was fully addressed. The court granted EPA an additional 30 days.

Because the final standards significantly differ from the proposals, EPA believes further public review is required. Therefore, EPA will reconsider the final standards under a Clean Air Act process that allows the agency to seek additional public review and comment to ensure full transparency. EPA’s reconsideration will cover the emissions standards for large and small boilers and for solid waste incinerators.

The final standards require many types of boilers to follow specific work practice standards to reduce emissions. To ensure smooth implementation, EPA is working with the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide facilities impacted by the standards with technical assistance that will help boilers burn cleaner and more efficiently.

The types of boilers and incinerators covered by these updated standards include:

Boilers at large sources of air toxics emissions: It is estimated that the final rules will effect about 13,800 boilers located at large sources of air pollutants, including refineries, chemical plants, and other industrial facilities. These standards will limit emissions of pollutants including mercury, organic air toxics and dioxins at some of these sources.

Boilers located at small sources of air toxics emissions: It is estimated that the final rules will effect about about 187,000 boilers located at small sources of air pollutants, including universities, hospitals, hotels and commercial buildings. The original standards for these have been refined and updated to ensure maximum flexibility for these sources, including for some sources, revising the requirement from maximum achievable control technology to generally available control technology.

Solid waste incinerators: There are estimated to be 88 solid waste incinerators that burn waste at a commercial or an industrial facility, including cement manufacturing facilities. These standards, which facilities will need to meet by 2016 at the latest, will limit emissions of mercury, lead, cadmium, nitrogen dioxide and particles.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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Final Emission Standards For Sewage Sludge Incinerators

EPA is finalizing emission standards for sewage sludge incinerators. It is estimated that the final rules will affect more than 200 sewage sludge incinerators across the country, however, EPA expects that many facilities are already in compliance. These standards will limit emissions of mercury, lead, cadmium, and hydrogen chloride.

EPA has also identified which non-hazardous secondary materials are considered solid waste when burned in combustion units. This distinction determines which Clean Air Act standard is applied when the material is burned. The non-hazardous secondary materials that can be burned as non-waste fuel include scrap tires managed under established tire collection programs. This step simplifies the rules and provides additional clarity and direction for facilities. To determine that materials are non-hazardous secondary materials when burned, materials must not have been discarded and must be legitimately used as a fuel.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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EPA Requests Input On Response to Executive Order 13563

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting public input on a plan that will guide EPA’s retrospective reviews of regulations as part of the agency’s response to President Obama’s January 18, 2011 Executive Order (EO) 13563, “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.” EPA will solicit public input regarding the design of its plan through March 20, 2011. By late May, EPA expects to release its retrospective review plan, as well as the initial list of regulations it plans to review.

EO 13563 directs each federal agency to consider “how best to promote retrospective analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome.” The EO calls on every agency to develop “a preliminary plan, consistent with law and its resources and regulatory priorities, under which the agency will periodically review its existing significant regulations to determine whether such regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded or repealed to make the agency’s regulatory program more effective and or less burdensome in achieving its regulatory objectives.”

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Fuel Conditional Exemptions From EPCRA Tier 2 Reporting

Do facilities need to report fuels stored on-site under EPCRA 311 and 312? In most cases, fuels must be considered under EPCRA 311 and 312, and must be reported on Tier I or Tier II forms if the maximum inventory during the reporting year exceeds the EPCRA reporting threshold of 10,000 pounds, or lower if an Extremely Hazardous Substance (EHS). There are some limited exceptions for fuel storage. However, these apply only to retail establishments and only to storage in underground storage tanks (USTs). For such facilities, the condition exemption applies only to two fuel types: •For gasoline at a retail gas station, the threshold level is 75,000 gallons, if storage meets some specific conditions •For diesel fuel at a retail gas station, the threshold level is 100,000 gallons, again if storage meets some specific conditions.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the preparing hazardous material and chemical inventories for EPCRA Tier I and Tier II reports, preparing EPCRA 311 and EPCRA 312 reports, and preparing cost-effective chemical inventory and MSDS management programs.

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PHMSA Proposed Rulemaking Amendment To Hazardous Materials Regulations

U.S. DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a proposed rulemaking amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to prohibit the transportation of flammable liquids in unprotected external product piping (wetlines) on DOT specification cargo tank motor vehicles. The proposed rule would require many DOT specification transport trailers in flammable service to be equipped with bottom protection devices (steel guards) that would prevent rupture of wetlines in the event of a motor vehicle collision. Transport trailers containing “combustible products” or flammable products reclassified as combustible are exempt from the proposed rule. The proposed amendments do not apply to cargo tank vehicles where the engine, body, and cargo tank are permanently mounted to the same chassis (straight trucks, bobtails, etc).

The proposed rule would require existing transport trailers in flammable service to be retrofitted with bottom protection equipment or meet the maximum 33 ounce residue standard within ten years. Newly manufactured trailers would be required to comply within two years. Interested parties must submit written comments to PHMSA before the March 28, 2011 public comment deadline.

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MACT For Other Solid Waste Incineration Rulemaking

EPA promulgated emissions standards for Other Solid Waste Incineration (OSWI) units in 2005. Units covered under that rule included certain very small municipal waste combustion and institutional waste incineration units. Because EPA did not have emissions test data on OSWI units specifically, the 2005 rulemaking was based on test data from hospital, medical, infectious waste incineration (HMIWI) units, which were considered to be similar to OSWI units. EPA did not issue standards or guidelines for sewage sludge incinerator units, pathological waste incinerator units, and other categories of units.

In 2007, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision vacating EPA's definition of "solid waste incineration unit". In that decision, the court held that any facility that combusts any solid waste material is a commercial or industrial solid waste incineration unit. Based on that decision, EPA has reevaluated some of the categories of units for which EPA did not issue standards or guidelines in the 2005 OSWI rule, such as pathological waste incinerators, and concluded that such units are in fact solid waste incineration units and as such must be regulated under Clean Air Act section 129.

EPA is now initiating rulemaking that will require that an information collection request (ICR) be used to gather data necessary to develop MACT floors and emission limits for the rule.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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MACT & NSPS Review For Petroleum Refinery 1 and 2 Source Categories

EPA is required to evaluate the risk remaining at facilities 8 years after they are required to comply with Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) air-toxic emission standards according to Section 112 (f)(2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA is also required to review and revise the MACT standards if needed every 8 years with regard to practices, processes and control technologies according to Section 112(d)(6) of the CAA.

EPA is currently proposing to conduct risk and technology reviews for both Petroleum Refinery MACT 1 and 2 source categories. Initial work will focus on gathering comprehensive information on petroleum refineries to complete these reviews. In addition, EPA also plans to address issues related to the reconsideration of Petroleum Refinery New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) Subpart Ja.

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the evaluation environmental rules, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

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Changes Proposed To SDDENR Air Construction Permit & GHG Rules

The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is proposing revisions to administrative rules of South Dakota Chapter 74:36, Air Pollution Control Program. DENR is proposing that the Board of Minerals and Environment adopt revisions to the Administrative Rules of South Dakota (ARSD) Article 74:36 – Air Pollution Control Program to be consistent with federal rules.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted revisions to its Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V air quality permit programs which established greenhouse gases (GHG) as a regulated air pollutant and a greenhouse gas air emission threshold for when a business is required to obtain a permit. The proposed revisions to ARSD Article 74:36 will be to adopt the federal greenhouse gas tailoring regulations. The proposed revisions to ARSD Article 74:36 will also allow certain businesses to start construction before a construction permit is issued.

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Heat Loss Infrared Imaging Camera Technology During Energy Audits

In 2010, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued proposed rules that would cut U.S. mercury emissions by more than half and would significantly cut other pollutants from boilers, process heaters and solid waste incinerators.

Under the proposed rule, facilities with boilers would also be required to conduct energy audits to find cost effective ways to reduce fuel use and emissions. Smaller facilities, such as schools, with some of the smallest boilers, would not be included in these requirements, but they would be required to perform tune-ups every two years.

One cost effective tool used to quickly assess commercial, industrial and institutional boilers and other facility systems and equipment is the heat loss infrared imaging camera technology. Thermal infrared cameras are rapidly becoming the high-tech standard for identifying specific areas where energy is being wasted. The benefits of thermal infrared inspections extend beyond the building envelope and help spot inefficient equipment, water leaks, mold, electric hazards and many other hidden problems, for example:

• Identify gaps and cracks in a building’s envelope where heat is escaping (winter) or infiltrating (summer).



• Identify areas in the building envelope where insulation is missing or inadequate.
  Identify which electric devices (such as motors) are running hot and are in need of maintenance.



• Identify whether steam traps are operating inefficiently and are in need of maintenance.



• Identify areas where piping insulation (hot water, steam or refrigerant) has deteriorated.

Examples for heat loss photo imaging:

Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide to conduct thermal camera / infrared camera assessments of buildings, systems, and equipment and conduct energy audits for commercial, industrial & institutional buildings.

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