New Power Plant Mercury and Air Toxics Standards

In response to a court deadline, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed national standards for mercury, arsenic and other air toxics from power plants. The new Power Plant Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will require many power plants to install widely available, proven pollution control technologies to cut emissions of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and acid gases.

Power plants are the largest remaining source of several toxic air pollutants and are responsible for half of mercury and over half of acid gas emissions in the US. Within the power sector, coal-fired power plants are responsible for 99 % of mercury emissions. According to EPA, currently more than half of all coal-fired power plants already use control technologies that allow them to meet these important standards.

The public comment period will extend 60 days from posting to the Federal Register. EPA also expects to hold public hearings on this proposed rule.

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GHG Permitting Requirements For Bioenergy and Biomass Fueled Sources

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to defer, for three years, Clean Air Act permitting requirements for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from bioenergy and other biogenic sources. This additional time will allow the agency to conduct a detailed review on this issue. Sources covered by this proposal would include facilities that emit CO2 from burning forest or agricultural products for energy, wastewater treatment, waste management (landfills), and fermentation processes for ethanol production. Facilities meeting the requirements under the agency’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program will still need to report their CO2 emissions.

New EPA guidance is also being released to assist permitting authorities to determine if using biomass as a fuel can be considered the best available control technology (BACT) for CO2 emissions from the large sources needing permits. According to EPA, the guidance can be used until EPA takes final action on the deferral.

EPA will accept comments on the proposed deferral for 45 days following publication in the Federal Register.

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New Energy Star Standards For Televisions and Cable - Satellite Boxes

EPA has updated the Energy Star requirements for televisions and cable and satellite boxes. Effective in September 2011, these products must be 40 % more efficient than conventional models in order to qualify for the Energy Star label. The updates for televisions and cable and satellite boxes are the first of more than 20 revisions to product requirements the Energy Star program is expected to complete in 2011.

Under the new requirements, a 60 inch television must use less than 108 watts, compared to the average 282 watts used by a standard model that size. The new Energy Star requirements for cable and satellite boxes specify that they enter a deep sleep mode while not in use, dropping their energy consumption from about 16 watts to 2 watts or less. The new requirements also encourage the deployment of multi-room “thin client” devices to transmit programming from one central DVR to other televisions in the home.

In order to earn the Energy Star label, product performance must be certified by an EPA-recognized third-party based on testing in an EPA-recognized lab. In addition, manufacturers of the products must participate in verification testing programs run by recognized certification bodies.

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MACT Review For Mineral Wool and Wool Fiberglass Production

US EPA has entered into the pre-proposal phase in its technology review and residual risk review for the Mineral Wool and Wool Fiberglass Production air emission requirements. The MACT standard for Mineral Wool Production was promulgated on June 1, 1999, and the MACT for Wool Fiberglass Production was promulgated on June 14, 1999. The Clean Air Act requires EPA to evaluate the risk remaining to human health within 8 years of promulgation of each MACT standard; for these regulations that date expired in June 2007.

Along with risk, the EPA is also required to review new technology in the industry that can reduce hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions from regulated sources, and may consider costs under this technology review. EPA is addressing both Clean Air Act requirements under a combined risk and technology review (RTR). EPA was petitioned to review the risk for these source categories, and also to determine MACT floors for pollutants and processes that were not regulated by the MACT standards. The anticipated publication dates for proposal and promulgation of these RTRs are October 31, 2011 and October 31, 2012, respectively.

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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.

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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.

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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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