EPA Issues Revised Boiler MACT Standards

Jenni Cawein, STC Program Director, Lexington, NY

On December 20, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a set of adjustments to the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for boilers and solid waste incinerators-commonly called the "Boiler MACT" standards. The revised rules were the outcome of an array of legal and regulatory challenges to Boiler MACT since the rules were first finalized in March 2011.

The regulations set separate standards for boilers located at major source and area sources.  A major source has the potential to emit more than 10 tons per year of a single Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP), or 25 tons per year of a combination of HAPs. Major source boilers are generally found at industrial facilities such as refineries and chemical plants, while area source boilers may be found at universities, hospitals, and commercial facilities. Area source boilers are located are covered sources that are not major sources

According to EPA, of the more than 1.5 million boilers in the United States, 86% (roughly 1.3 million) will be unaffected by the rule because they burn clean natural gas and are located at area sources. Of the remaining boilers, 88% (about 197,000) will need to follow work practice standards, such as instituting annual tune-ups, but will not be required to install new pollution controls.  EPA estimates that only 0.4% of boilers in the USA (about 2,300) will be required to install pollution control equipment to meet more stringent numeric emissions limits. 

In a separate ruling, EPA also revised performance standards for commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators (CISWI) that burn solid waste. The agency says 106 incinerators must comply with the final rule.

Major Sources

Boiler owners with existing major sources (those boilers for which construction commenced before June 4, 2010) have three years to meet the new standards (January 31, 2016), with a possible extension for another year afterwards. New major sources (those constructed on or after June 4, 2010) must be in compliance by January 31, 2013, or upon startup.

Changes from the original rules published in March 2011 for boilers at major sources include the following:

• new categories for light and heavy industrial liquids
• new emissions limits for particulates (PM)and carbon monoxide (CO) for certain fuels
• alternative monitoring approaches for PM and HAP metals
• work practice standards (instead of numeric limits) to control dioxin levels
• revised limits for units outside the continental USA
• removing the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) fuel specification for determining clean gas category

Area Sources

Existing area source boiler owners have until January 20, 2014, to submit any required initial notifications.  Many boiler owners will also have to complete and document an initial tune-up before March 21, 2014.  Rule changes for boilers at area sources include the following:

• reduced requirements so that only certain coal-fired area boilers must meet emissions limits for mercury and CO
• reduced requirements so that small coal-fired boilers with less than 10 million British thermal units (Btus) per hour of heat input, biomass boilers, and oil-fired boilers must meet standards for work or management practices instead of emissions limits
• the addition of new seasonal and limited use subcategories
• an option that allows new boilers to burn low sulfur oil instead of meeting a PM limit
• reduced requirements for fuel testing for mercury for certain boilers

Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerators (CISWI)

The solid waste incinerator final rule revises new source performance standards and emissions guidelines.  It revises emissions limits for dioxins and mercury, adjusts monitoring provisions during periods of startup and shutdown, and requires the installation of continuous parametric monitoring systems (CPMS) for PM for kilns and larger energy recovery units that burn solid waste.

These rules also include a reexamination of the 2011 Identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Material (NHSM) final rule in RCRA (40 CFR Part 241), amending and clarifying certain issues, including definitions of "contaminants" and "clean cellulosic biomass" and certain non-waste determinations.

Information on all three of these rules can be found at http://www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion/actions.html. The final rules were published in the Federal Register on 1/31/13 (major sources), 2/1/13 (area sources), and 2/7/13 (CISWI) and can be found at 78 FR 7138, 78 FR 7488, and 78 FR 9111.

Jenni Cawein is a Program Director located in STC's Lexington, NY office. She has over 16 years experience in the environmental industry. Jenni brings global experience in the performance, structure, strategy, planning, and development of programs related to sustainability and EHS within the healthcare manufacturing and electrical utility industries. As corporate environmental manager at Baxter International for more than 10 years, she participated in the development of sustainability performance metrics, transparent sustainability reports, and innovative management standards. Jenni's innovative approaches to integrating six sigma and lean manufacturing into EHS became the model for U.S. EPA's "Lean and Environment" and "Lean and Energy" toolkits, and her work managing supply chain EHS issues resulted in the launch of U.S. EPA's Green Supplier Network. While serving as Chairman of the Board of CHWMEGshe drove  globalization of hazardous waste site audits into China, India, Singapore, Brazil, and most countries in Europe. Jenni is an experienced ISO 14001 Lead Auditor and has direct operational experience managing air, water, and waste compliance programs within the electric utility industry, as well as site remediation projects and emergency response programs. Jenni is a Six Sigma Green Belt and has served as a Baldrige National Quality Award Examiner.

For more information about these and other MACT rules, contact Jenni at (518) 989-6710 or jencawein@gmail.com.