Air Quality Issues
Notice of Additional Information - Section 129 Contents for Sewage Sludge Incinerators
Background: 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. When EPA published an ANPRM for the Section
129 rulemaking on Dec. 28, 1994, sewage sludge incinerators were
not included among the listed categories of solid waste incinerators.
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. On March 17, AMSA submitted
comments in opposition to EPA's Office of Air & Radiation
proposal to subject sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs) to the same
regulations as solid waste incinerators. In its technical and
legal analysis, AMSA pointed out that the proposal could result
in the elimination of incineration of sewage sludge, "even
though the agency has declared that incineration is a safe and
acceptable" disposal method. AMSA notes that the practice
could be eliminated because operators of publicly owned treatment
works may "find it either cost prohibitive or technically
infeasible to simultaneously meet the proposed standards for carbon
monoxide and oxides of nitrogen. In its March 17 comments, AMSA
offers support for the agency's intent to delist SSIs from Section
112, because "there is substantial evidence that SSIs do
not qualify as 'major sources' as defined under Section 112."
However, AMSA presents strong opposition to regulation of SSIs
under Section 129 of the CAA for several reasons: (1) regulation
of SSIs under Section 129 is beyond the agency's statutory authority,
(2) the agency's contemplated method for establishing maximum
achievable control technology standards for SSIs under Section
129 would lead to the elimination of sewage sludge incineration
as a "safe, viable and cost-effective" management practice,
(3) the properties of sewage sludge are quite different than those
of the hazardous, medical and municipal wastes currently regulated
under Section 129, (4) SSI emissions, that comply with 40 CFR
Part 503 limits and management practices do not adversely affect
human health and the environment, and (5) the "expensive
and/or infeasible" control measures that Section 129 will
impose will not yield any environmental benefits, and may create
a "net loss" of environmental benefits. EPA
and AMSA met in Washington, DC on July 9, 1997, to review these
issues and establish a mechanism to coordinate efforts over the
next several months as EPA evaluates options to regulate HAP emissions
from SSIs. In a July 31, 1997, follow-up letter to EPA's Assistant
Administrator for Air and Radiation, AMSA discussed the consent
agreement, related to Gearhart v. Reilly, and encouraged
EPA to consider a mechanism under Round II of Section 405 regulations
as a more appropriate location for promulgation of new SSI regulations.
Status: EPA and AMSA met September 16, 1997 in Research Triangle Park, NC to review the data collection activities underway for the proposed regulation of SSIs under Section129. EPA indicated that it had gathered data on SSIs from the permit compliance system (PCS) database, information from the regions on Part 503 permits, and source test data from 97 incinerators. In addition, OAQPS and its contractor along with AMSA representatives later visited several test sites in PA and NJ to assess various controls in place at both multiple hearth and fluidized bed incinerators. Following these data collection efforts, EPA indicated that it will then evaluate whether additional data is necessary. EPA stated that it will most likely use a technology approach to establish emission levels based on performance of the top 12 percent of control devices in place to determine the maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standard for SSIs under Section 129. Some form of integration with the risk-based approach of Part 503 will be conducted later for each of the eleven pollutants under section 129. EPA will develop a workplan and implementation schedule by late October and plans to meet with AMSA by the end of the year to review the next steps. Final promulgation is set for November 15, 2000. CONTACT: Sam Hadeed, AMSA 202/833-4655, or Gene Crumpler, EPA 919/541-0881.
POTW MACT Standards Development - Anticipated Proposed Rule
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: In a May 1997 memorandum issued to the Regions,
EPA changed the November 15, 1995, promulgation date for the MACT
standards to November 15, 1997 which in turn modified the section
112(j) hammer date requirements under the CAA which has now been
established for May 15, 1999. In October 1996, EPA signaled
plans to exclude POTWs as a source category under Clean Air Act
maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standard development.
EPA has cited difficulty in defining a MACT floor for existing
POTWs, as relatively few facilities meet the definition of a major
source under Section 112. There is speculation that new source
POTWs would be required to install covers up to the primary treatment
facilities. 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. CONTACT: Sam Hadeed,
AMSA 202/833-4655, or Bob Lucas, EPA 919/541-0884.
AMSA Conducts Survey to Support EPA ICCR Process
Background: EPA is developing National Emission Standards
for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) 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. 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: In the summer of 1997, EPA conducted a limited
data gathering survey to support development of 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. Due to concerns that the combustion devices operating
at POTWs will be considered with all similar combustion categories,
AMSA's Board of Directors approved funding support to conduct
a survey of the membership to collect both data inventory and
emission data for combustion devices. A major concern was that
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. Following a competitive bidding
process for contractual support, the Committee leadership selected
the firm of Malcolm Pirnie to support AMSA's data collection and
evaluation needs. The National Office distributed the
survey forms to the membership via Regulatory Alert 97-12 and
97-12a . The information requested in the survey will be
used by the Air Quality Committee in negotiations with EPA on
development of air emissions standards for combustion devices.
Preliminary survey results were presented to the Air Quality Committee
during AMSA's Summer Conference in Seattle. The preliminary results
indicate that very few AMSA member agencies have conducted emissions
testing for hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and criteria pollutants
and will most likely need to conduct such source testing in the
future if required by EPA. Complete results of the
survey were submitted to EPA in late September 1997. CONTACT:
Sam Hadeed, AMSA 202/833-4655, or Fred Porter, EPA 919/541-5251.
Model Risk Management Plan Development
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: The American Water Works Association Research Foundation
has developed a model RMP for drinking water utilities which is
scheduled for completion in late summer of 1997 and may have elements
that are applicable to wastewater facilities. AMSA's Air Quality
Committee received Board of Directors approval of up to $10,000,
from the Technical Action Fund, to support development of a model
RMP for wastewater facilities to comply with the June 1999 compliance
deadline to implement the CAA's Section 112(r)(7) requirements.
EPA's Office of Chemical Emergency Preparedness & Prevention
and the AMSA National Office have agreed to jointly develop a
RMP. EPA has provided funding assistance under an existing work
assignment with two of its contractors, ICF Kaiser and SAIC, who
will coordinate with AMSA and a steering committee comprised of
member agencies that will provide technical assistance to develop
the RMP for the wastewater industry. An outline for a model RMP
has been developed based on generic RMP guidance documents. Using
this outline as a basis, a model RMP for the wastewater industry
covering all chemicals will be developed. A first draft of the
RMP is expected in mid- December and a second draft in February
1998. Following completion of the second draft, the guidance
document will be pilot tested at several member agencies across
the country and undergo a peer review process by various wastewater
agencies. A late-Summer 1998 project completion date is anticipated.
EPA and the AMSA RMP Steering Committee have scheduled their
next conference call on October 28, 1997 to discuss the progress
of the project and review several chapters of the RMP first draft.
The first draft of chapters 1,2,3, 5, and 8 were distributed
to the RMP Steering Committee in late September 1997. CONTACT:
Sam Hadeed, AMSA 202/833-4655.
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