Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Mercury and Air Toxics Standards For Power Plant Emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for power plant emissions of mercury and air toxics arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium, and cyanide. Power plants are the largest remaining source of several toxic air pollutants, including mercury, arsenic, cyanide, and a range of other pollutants, and emit about half of the mercury and over 75% of the acid gas emissions in the United States. More than half of all coal-fired power plants already deploy pollution control technologies that meet these achievable standards. Once final, the remaining plants take similar steps to decrease emissions.

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are being issued in response to a court deadline. Congress passed the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and mandated that EPA require control of toxic air pollutants including mercury. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which was issued earlier this year, both reduce power plant emissions.

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

General Permits For Commercial Vessel Discharges

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing two draft vessel general permits that would regulate discharges from commercial vessels, excluding military and recreational vessels. The draft Vessel General Permit, which covers commercial vessels greater than 79 feet in length, would replace the current 2008 Vessel General Permit, when it expires in December 2013. The new draft Small Vessel General Permit would cover vessels smaller than 79 feet in length and would provide such vessels with the Clean Water Act permit coverage they will be required to have as of December 2013.

Summary of Draft Vessel General Permit:
The updated permit would reduce the administrative burden for vessel owners and operators, eliminating duplicative reporting requirements, clarifying that electronic recordkeeping may be used instead of paper records, and streamlining self-inspection requirements for vessels that are out of service for extended periods. The permit will, for the first time, manage the discharge of fish hold effluent.

A key new provision of the permit is a proposed numeric standard to control the release of non-indigenous invasive species in ballast water discharges. The draft Vessel General Permit also contains updated conditions for mechanical systems that may leak lubricants into the water and exhaust gas scrubber washwater, which would reduce the amount of oil and other pollutants that enter U.S. waters. EPA will take comment on potentially more stringent requirements for bilgewater discharges.

Summary of Draft Small Vessel General Permit:
This permit would be the first under the Clean Water Act to address discharges incidental to the normal operation of commercial vessels less than 79 feet in length. The draft permit specifies best management practices for several broad discharge management categories including fuel management, engine and oil control, solid and liquid maintenance, graywater management, fish hold effluent management and ballast water management. The permit would go into effect at the conclusion of a current moratorium enacted by Congress that exempts all incidental discharges from such vessels, with the exception of ballast water, from having to obtain a permit until December 18, 2013.

Both permits will be subject to a 75-day public comment period. EPA intends to issue the final permits in November 2012 to allow vessel owners and operators time to prepare for new permit requirements.


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Proposed Changes To Emission Standards For Boilers & Incinerators.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing additional changes to Clean Air Act standards for boilers and certain incinerators. The proposed reconsideration would achieve significant reductions in toxic air pollutants, while increasing the rule’s flexibility and addressing compliance concerns raised by industry and labor groups. The changes also cut the cost of implementation by nearly 50% from the original 2010 proposed rule.

More than 99 % of boilers in the US are either operate cleanly enough that they are not covered by these standards or will only need to conduct maintenance and tune-ups to comply. The current proposed rules focus on the less than 1% of boilers that emit the majority of pollution from this sector. For these high emitting boilers, typically operating at refineries, chemical plants and other industrial facilities, EPA is proposing more targeted emissions limits and provide industry with practical, cost-effective options to meet the standards – informed by data from these stakeholders. These limits are based on currently available technologies that are in use by sources across the country.

Some of the key changes EPA is proposing include:

Boilers at large sources of air toxics emissions: The major source proposal covers approximately 14,000 boilers (less than 1% of all boilers in the United States) located at large sources of air pollutants, including refineries, chemical plants, and other industrial facilities. EPA is proposing to create additional subcategories and revise emissions limits. EPA is also proposing to provide more flexible compliance options for meeting the particle pollution and carbon monoxide limits, replace numeric emissions limits with work practice standards for certain pollutants, allow more flexibility for units burning clean gases to qualify for work practice standards and reduce some monitoring requirements. EPA estimates that the cost of implementing these standards remains about $1.5 billion less than the April 2010 proposed standards.

Boilers located at small sources of air toxics emissions: The proposal also covers about 187,000 boilers located at small sources of air pollutants, including commercial buildings, universities, hospitals and hotels. However, due to how little these boilers emit, 98% of area source boilers would simply be required to perform maintenance and routine tune-ups to comply with these standards. Only 2% of area source boilers may need to take additional steps to comply with the rule. EPA is proposing to require initial compliance tune-ups after two years instead after the first year.

Solid waste incinerators and revisions to the list of non-hazardous secondary materials: There are 95 solid waste incinerators that burn waste at a commercial or an industrial facility, including cement manufacturing facilities. EPA is proposing to adjust emissions limits for waste-burning cement kilns and for energy recovery units.


EPA is also proposing revisions to its final rule which identified the types of non-hazardous secondary materials that can be burned in boilers or solid waste incinerators. EPA has proposed revisions to clarify what types of secondary materials are considered non-waste fuels. The proposed revisions also classify a number of secondary materials as non-wastes when used as a fuel and allow for a boiler or solid waste operator to request that EPA identify specific materials as a non-waste fuel.

EPA is accepting public comment on the proposed standards for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. EPA intends to finalize the reconsideration by spring 2012.


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.




For further information contact Caltha LLP at

info@calthacompany.com or Caltha LLP Website