EPA proposed regulations under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) for maximum achievable control technologies (“MACT”) for boilers, process heaters and solid waste incinerators on April 29. The regulations have been published in the Federal Register[1] and are available for hearing and public comment through August 3, 2010.
Boilers burn fuels including natural gas, coal, wood, and oil to produce steam for electricity or heat. Process heaters are used in industrial processes to heat raw or intermediate materials. Both are used at facilities such as refineries, chemical and manufacturing plants, and paper mills, and may also be used to provide heat for large complexes such as shopping malls or universities. Incinerators are used to burn waste for disposal, and some recover energy in the process.
EPA has proposed this regulatory action for boilers and commercial/industrial solid waste incinerators (“CISWI”) together since similar units may be considered boilers or CISWI depending on what material they burn. As part of this regulatory proposal, EPA included a new rule under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) defining which non-hazardous secondary materials are considered fuel and which are considered solid waste. The regulatory action is the result of a 2007 court order following NRDC’s petition for review of EPA’s old standards for boiler and incinerator emissions, as well as the CISWI definitions rule.[2]
MACT standards for major source boilers and process heaters affect sources emitting greater than 10 tons per year of any one hazardous air pollutant[3] (“HAP”) or more than 25 tons per year of combined HAPs.[4] The standard for existing sources is based on the average emission limitation achieved by the best performing 12 percent of existing sources, and new sources must match the best-controlled similar source.[5]
Area sources are any stationary source of HAPs that are not major sources, and are subject to a different set of MACTs.[6] For all coal-fired boilers and process heaters, new or existing, EPA is proposing emissions limits for mercury, particulate matter (“PM”) and carbon monoxide. Biomass and oil-fired area sources would also have to meet emissions standards for PM and carbon monoxide. Both area sources and major sources would be required to conduct a one-time energy-saving assessment to analyze cost-effective energy saving practices. Additionally, the standards for both major and area sources would apply at all times, including times of malfunction, start-up and shut-down.
Small boilers and process heaters (those with a capacity of less than 10mm BTU/hr) and boilers and process heaters using natural gas or refinery gas will be subject to a less stringent work practice standards including periodic tune-ups rather than emissions limitations. EPA has proposed that these sources would have to come into compliance within three years of the final rule’s publication in the Federal Register.
CISWI are subject to more stringent emissions limits under the Proposed Rule for mercury, lead, cadmium, hydrogen chloride, PM, carbon monoxide, dioxins/furans, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. In addition, the proposed rules require that CISWI units have stacks tested and monitored along with annual inspections of emissions control devices.
States would have to submit revised State Implementation Plans (“SIPs”) within one year of the promulgation of the revised standards. Following the submission of the new SIPs, CISWI units would have a three year period to demonstrate compliance with the SIP. Alternatively, CISWI will have five years to demonstrate compliance after the final regulations are promulgated if a SIP is not submitted.
Overall, these proposed rules if adopted would constitute much more stringent regulation of boilers and incinerators because the emissions limitations apply at all times. The energy-saving assessment required for all boilers and incinerators is a facility-wide assessment, which could serve as a predecessor to energy-saving requirements for greenhouse gases as well.
As noted above, comments are being received on the proposed regulations until August 3.
Maggie Macdonald is a summer associate at Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C.
[1] National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters, 75 Fed. Reg. 32,006 (June 4, 2010) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 63); National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Area Sources: Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Boilers, 75 Fed. Reg. 31,896 (June 4, 2010) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 63); Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units, 75 Fed. Reg. 31,938 (June 4, 2010) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 60); Identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials that Are Solid Waste, 75 Fed. Reg. 31,844 (June 4, 2010) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 241).
[2] NRDC v. EPA, 489 F.3d 1250 (D.C. Cir. 2007).
[3] Hazardous air pollutants are listed in the CAA § 112(b).
[4] CAA § 112(a)(1).
[5] Id. § 112(d)(3).
[6] Id. §§ 112(a)(2), (d)(5).
