AIR QUALITY ISSUES
Policies, Reports, Guidance Documents, Meetings
EPA Issues Final Rule on Risk Management Program for Chemical
Accidental Release Prevention
Background: Section 112(r)(7) of the Clean Air Act,
as amended, required EPA to promulgate by November 15, 1993, reasonable
regulations and appropriate guidance to provide for prevention
and detection of accidental releases of chemicals and for response
to such releases. The regulations require the owner or operator
of stationary sources at which a regulated substance is present
to prepare and implement a risk management plan (RMP) that must
include a hazard assessment that evaluates the potential effects
of an accidental release of any regulated substance and must also
include a five-year accident release history. EPA promulgated
a final RMP rule on June 20, 1996. The final rule outlines EPA's
tiering approach for imposing requirements based upon: (1) the
potential for offsite consequences associated with a worst-case
accidental release; (2) accident history; and (3) applicable compliance
with prevention requirements under OSHA's Process Safety Management
(PSM) Standard. Regulated sources have three years (June 21,
1999) to comply with the RMP requirements.
Status: EPA has suggested that funding may be available
to develop a model RMP for wastewater utilities. The Air Quality
Committee is considering options for AMSA involvement. CONTACT:
Sam Hadeed, AMSA (202) 833-4655.
POTW MACT Standards Development
Background: Under the Clean Air Amendments of 1990,
EPA is required to regulate large or "major" industrial
facilities that emit one or more of 189 hazardous air pollutants
(air toxics). On July 16, 1992, EPA published a list of industrial
source categories that emit one or more of these hazardous air
pollutants. For listed industrial categories of "major"
sources (those that have the potential to emit 10 tons/year or
more of a listed pollutant or 25 tons/year or more of a combination
of pollutants), EPA is required to develop standards for these
sources that will require the application of stringent controls,
known as maximum achievable control technology (MACT).
Status: On October 31, a senior EPA official confirmed
that the Agency is considering a plan to exclude POTWs as a source
category under Clean Air Act maximum achievable control technology
(MACT) standard development. It appears that EPA's thinking is
based largely on support information provided by AMSA member agencies.
EPA has been working with AMSA for several years to characterize
emissions of hazardous air emissions (HAPs) from POTWs, identify
control measures, and identify potential major sources of HAPs.
This indication from EPA represents a significant and promising
development for AMSA as EPA is seriously taking under advisement
AMSA's finding that very few potential major POTW sources exist
and the development of MACT standards for POTWs is not warranted.
If EPA issues a proposed rule excluding POTWs from MACT standards
in January 1997, a final rule could conceivably be issued by late
summer 1997. AMSA members should be aware that it remains possible
that POTWs may still face regulation as area sources under an
urban area air emission control mechanism. Similarly, EPA also
has indicated plans to move sewage sludge incinerators from coverage
under the Clean Air Act's Section 112 (Hazardous Air Pollutants)
t Section 129 (Solid Waste Combustion). AMSA will continue its
discussions with OAQPS, and keep members apprised of this ongoing
development. The proposed rule addressing POTW coverage for
MACT standards development is scheduled to appear in the Federal
Register in January 1997. CONTACT: Sam Hadeed, AMSA (202)
833-4655.
AMSA Comments on Proposed Test Methods on Stationary
Internal Combustion Engines and General Information Collection
Plan
Background: EPA is developing National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) and New Source
Performance Standards (NSPS) for certain combustion sources under
the Industrial Combustion Coordinated Rulemaking (ICCR) process.
The ICCR process includes several types of combustion devices
operated by AMSA members which utilize digester gas including
boilers, Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICES), Combustion
Turbines (Cts), and very likely waste gas flares (under the heading
of incineration). EPA will develop the regulations for these
and other combustion devices under the ICCR using an advisory
committee consisting of a Coordinating Committee and various workgroups.
The ICCR Coordinating Committee and workgroups are composed of
various stakeholders which will develop necessary technical information,
identify regulatory alternatives and impacts and make recommendations
to EPA. Members of AMSA's Air Quality Committee are represented
on the Coordinating Committee and Work Groups for boilers, RICES,
CTs, incinerators and the source testing workgroup.
Status: The ICCR process is underway and regular
meetings of the workgroups and Coordinating Committee have been
taking place since August 1996. The Committee last met on January
9-10, 1997. The first major task of the workgroups is to gather
information about the sources of air emissions. EPA plans to
gather this information through a questionnaire in early Spring
1997, which will require a mandatory response under section 114
of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Coordinating Committee has proposed
and EPA has agreed to voluntary questionnaires via an information
collection request (ICR), that would be disseminated by industry
trade groups to their members. The industry trade groups would
be responsible for providing a quality assurance/quality control
review of the industry data. The questionnaire will require responses
concerning: General Facility Information; Combustion Device Information;
Control Device Information; Emissions Information (HAPS and Criteria
pollutants);and, Capital and Operating Costs. The results received
from the questionnaires will form the basis for crafting regulations
for the combustion devices. The basis for control of combustion
devices will be the average of the top performing 12% of the sources
within the category. AMSA's Air Quality Committee is concerned
that the combustion devices operating at POTWs will be considered
with all similar combustion categories, ignoring the unique nature
of the fuel that we burn. If this happens, the combustion control
devices applicable for burning of natural gas may get applied
to the combustion of digester gas, which past experience at several
POTWs has shown to be either technically infeasible or not cost-effective.
The Air Quality Committee is currently considering a plan to
conduct a peer review of the data that would be obtained from
the AMSA membership once EPA has collected the data from the ICR
request.
Notice of Additional Information - Section 129 Contents
for Sewage Sludge Incinerators
Background: According to an internal EPA memorandum
and draft Federal Register notice, the Agency has decided that
sewage sludge incinerators would be more appropriately regulated
under Section 129 (solid waste combustion) rather than Section
112 (hazardous air pollutants). When EPA published an ANPRM for
the Section 129 rulemaking on December 28, 1994, sewage sludge
incinerators were not included among the listed categories of
solid waste incinerators. The upcoming Federal Register NAI is
to announce the Agency's intent to delist sewage sludge incinerators
from coverage under Section 112 and include them under Section
129. Section 129 requires the Agency to promulgate standards
and guidelines, for new and existing sources, which include numerical
emission limitations for the following substances: particulate
matter, opacity, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, oxides of
nitrogen, carbon monoxide, lead, cadmium, mercury, and dioxins
and dibenzofurans. In addition, the standards and guidelines
are to include requirements for emissions and parameter monitoring
and provisions for operator training and certification. The date
for final promulgation of standards and guidelines remains at
November 15, 2000. AMSA's Incineration Workgroup is concerned
whether EPA has the legal authority to regulate them as a category
under Section 129.
Status: EPA published in the January 14, 1997 Federal
Register a notice of additional information (NAI) under Section
129 of the Clean Air Act establishing new source performance standards
and emission guidelines for new and existing solid waste incineration
units including units that incinerate municipal sewage sludge.
As recently as two months ago, the Agency was planning to issue
an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM). The deadline
for submittal of public comments is March 17, 1997. A meeting
of the Incineration Workgroup will be held in Cleveland, Ohio
on January 22, 1997 to discuss concerns with the EPA action and
to develop AMSA comments during the 60 day public comment period.
AMSA and it Incineration Workgroup leadership plan to meet with
senior officials in the Offices of Air, Radiation and Water in
February to discuss Agency plans to addresses sewage sludge incinerators.