On February 21, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule that will reduce emissions of toxic air pollutants from existing and new industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers located at area source facilities. An area source facility emits or has the potential to emit less than 10 tons per year (tpy) of any single air toxic or less than 25 tpy of any combination of air toxics. The final rule will reduce emissions of a number of toxic air pollutants including mercury, metals, and organic air toxics, which include dioxins. The final rule covers boilers located at area source facilities that burn coal, oil, or biomass, or non-waste materials, but not boilers that burn only gaseous fuels or any solid waste. This rulemaking will reduce toxic air pollutants, also known as hazardous air pollutants or air toxics. These pollutants are known or suspected to cause cancer and other serious health and environmental effects. The vast majority of area source boilers are estimated to be located at commercial and institutional facilities and generally owned or operated by small entities. EPA has limited the impact of the final rulemaking on small entities by requiring that only existing coal-fired boilers meet emission limits for mercury and CO, establishing work practices or management practices, instead of emission limits, for existing small coal-fired boilers of less than 10 million Btu per hour of heat input and all existing biomass boilers and oil-fired boilers, and exempting most area source boilers from Clean Air Act title V permit requirements.

 Compliance dates are as follows: 

• Initial notification due by September 17, 2011
• Existing sources subject to a tune-up work practice or management practice standard must demonstrate compliance no later than March 21, 2012.
• Existing sources subject to an emission limit must demonstrate compliance with the emission limits no later than March 21, 2014.
• Existing sources subject to the energy assessment requirement must complete the energy assessment no later than March 21, 2014.
• New sources must demonstrate compliance with all requirements of the rule upon startup of the affected source, or May 20, 2011 whichever is later.

For more information contact the Small Business Environmental Assistance Program at 1-800-252-3998 or visit: 

www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/boiler/boiler/boilerpg.html

Plating & Polishing Rule Amendment

USEPA recently amended the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Area Sources: Plating and Polishing 40 CFR 63 Subpart WWWWWW (6W) on June 14, 2011. The new amendment excludes bench-scale plating or polishing, as well as, a few other definitions and refinements to the rule. For more information please click here

USEPA Proposes Criteria for Waiving Vapor Recovery Systems on Gas Pumps Comments Due Sept 13

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a proposal under the Clean Air Act that would waive requirements for systems used at gas station pumps to capture potentially harmful gasoline vapors while refueling cars.

Beginning in 2013, states that meet the new criteria would have the option to do away with vapor recovery systems at the pump since an estimated 70 percent of all vehicles will be equipped by then with on-board systems that capture these vapors. The result of the proposal would be the continued protection of air quality and public health while potentially saving affected gas stations more than $3,000 annually.

Since 1994, gas stations in certain areas have been required to use gasoline vapor recovery systems. The systems capture fumes that escape from gasoline tanks during refueling. However, as required by the Clean Air Act, automobile manufacturers began installing onboard refueling vapor recovery (ORVR) technologies in 1998, making gas stations' systems redundant. Since 2006, all new automobiles and light trucks (pickups, vans, and SUVs) are equipped with ORVR.

Vapor emissions from refueling, if allowed to escape, can contribute significantly to ground-level ozone, sometimes called smog, as well as to other types of harmful air pollution. Ground-level ozone can cause acute respiratory problems, aggravated asthma, temporary decreases in lung capacity in healthy adults and inflammation of lung tissue. Children and the elderly are most at risk. Gasoline vapors also contain toxic air pollutants associated with a variety of health threats.

The Clean Air Act allows EPA to establish criteria for waiving federal requirements for vapor recovery systems on gasoline pumps when ORVR systems are widely available in the vehicle fleet. EPA is proposing to establish June 30, 2013, as the date by which a sufficient portion of the vehicle fleet will be equipped with such technology. By that date, EPA projects that more than 70 percent of vehicles on the road will have ORVR technology.  Currently in Illinois, gas dispensing facilities located in the Chicago and E. St. Louis nonattainment zones are required to have Stage II vapor recovery equipment.
  

EPA will accept comment on the proposal until September 13th.  

More information: http://www.epa.gov/airquality/ozonepollution/actions.html#impl 

Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule Updates

On August 4, 2011, USEPA issued proposed technical corrections, clarifying and other amendments to seven subparts under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule.

In general, this proposal does not change the overall requirements of the final rule. It does clarify the requirements and ensures consistency across the calculation, monitoring and data reporting requirements for the rule. In addition, EPA is also proposing a limited, one time extension of the 2012 reporting deadline for reporting GHG information for subparts required to start collecting data in 2011. This extension would allow sufficient time for stakeholder testing of the online reporting tool for these new source categories. The six- month deadline extension applies only to the following subparts: Subpart I - Electronics Manufacturing; Subpart L - Fluorinated Gas Production; Subpart T - Magnesium Production; Subpart W - Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems; Subpart DD - Use of Electric Transmission and Distribution Equipment; Subpart FF -Underground Coal Mines; Subpart II - Industrial Wastewater Treatment; Subpart QQ - Imports and Exports of Equipment Pre-charged with Fluorinated GHGs or Containing Fluorinated GHGs in Closed-cell Foams; Subpart RR - Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide; Subpart SS - Manufacture of Electric Transmission and Distribution; Subpart TT- Industrial Waste Landfills; Subpart UU - Injection of Carbon Dioxide. For more information on the proposed amendment: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/technical-corrections.html#2011

Revision to Petroleum Refinery NESHAP

USEPA finalized the partial withdrawal of the revision to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Petroleum Refineries 40 CFR 63 Subpart CC. The revision that is being withdrawn is the January 16, 2009, revision that provided Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards for heat exchangers, residual risk standards for all sources and other clarifications. The effective date of the withdrawal is August 17, 2011. More information concerning the withdrawal and what regulations apply can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/petrefine/petrefpg.html

Proposed Amends to the Definition of Solid Waste

On July 22, 2011, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) proposed amendments to the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) rule. The proposed amendments to the hazardous waste regulations are intended to encourage recycling of hazardous materials. USEPA is proposing to replace the exclusion for hazardous secondary materials transferred for the purpose of reclamation with an alternative Subtitle C regulation for hazardous recyclable materials.  

You can see the full text of the proposed amendments, and get information on how to comment, at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-RCRA-2010-0742-0001