On October 30, 2009, the U.S. EPA published a final Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reporting rule in the Federal Register that would require approximately 10,000 facilities to report their GHG emissions (see October 2009 issue of the EQ newsletter for more details).
For more information, see the Federal Register notice or contact EQ's Tom Robertson or Steve Felton at (800) 229-5299 or EQ's Bob McCullough or Laurie Buckman at (800) 229-7495.
On October 27, 2009, U.S. EPA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register requiring large new or modified facilities to obtain permits under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program demonstrating they will use best practices and technologies to minimize greenhouse gases (GHGs). New sources that would emit more than 25,000 tons per year (tons/yr) of CO2 and modified major GHG sources that would have a net CO2e increase of 10,000 to 25,000 tons/yr would be subject to these new PSD requirements.
Existing sources with a potential to emit more than 25,000 tons/yr of CO2e would be required to obtain or revise their permits under the Title V operating permits program. Since there are generally no GHG emission control requirements, affected Title V sources would not need to immediately revise their permits. At the end of a 5-year period when the operating permit must be renewed, these facilities would be required to include estimates of their GHG emissions in their permit applications. Facilities may use the same data reported to U.S. EPA under the Mandatory Reporting Rule to fulfill this requirement.
Under the proposed emissions thresholds, U.S. EPA estimates that 400 new sources and modifications would be subject to PSD review each year for GHG emissions. Less than 100 of these would be newly subject to PSD. In total, approximately 14,000 large sources would need to obtain operating permits for GHG emissions under the operating permits program. About 3,000 of these sources would be newly subject to Clean Air Act operating permit requirements as a result of this action. The majority of these sources are expected to be municipal solid waste landfills.
These new requirements will take effect immediately upon promulgation of the final rule.
For more information, see the Federal Register notice or contact EQ's Kent Berry at (800) 229-5299.
On October 21, 2009, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on combustible dust hazards, the first step in the development of a dust standard.
The advance notice follows a U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board report, published September 24 on the Imperial Sugar Co. explosion, that recommends OSHA proceed toward rulemaking.
According to an October 2009 report on OSHA’s ongoing combustible dust national emphasis program, the agency has found more than 4,900 violations in inspections under the emphasis program (from November 1, 2007 through February 24, 2009). Wood products, food products, chemicals, metal products, and rubber/plastic product industries have accounted for more than 70 percent of the inspections, the report said.
Furthermore, OSHA categorized 74 percent of violations found at facilities under federal jurisdiction as serious, the report said.
For more information, visit the OSHA website or contact EQ’s John Kominsky at (800) 229-7495.
On October 8, 2009, the U.S. EPA announced the designation of 31 areas in 18 states as nonattainment with respect to the 24-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5. The designations cover all or parts of 120 counties, down from the 211 nonattainment counties announced by EPA in December 2008. The reduction in nonattainment counties is due to the use of air quality data from 2006-2008 rather than 2005-2007 (the more recent data are much improved than the earlier data set).
The 24-hour standard was significantly tightened in October 2006. Because the NAAQS revision in 2006 did not change the annual standard, no new nonattainment areas were designated for the annual standard. Many of the 120 counties were previously designated nonattainment for PM2.5 under the pre-2006 standards. The effective date for the designation of new nonattainment areas is 90 days from publication in the Federal Register (i.e., in January 2010). The most immediate impact of the designations will be on new source review (NSR) requirements in the nonattainment areas not previously designated nonattainment for PM2.5. Nonattainment NSR requirements (see the June 2008 issue of the EQ newsletter) will become applicable in such areas in January 2010.
For more information, see the U.S. EPA website or contact EQ’s Kent Berry at 800-229-5299 or Jeff Slayback at 800-229-7495.
On October 8, 2009, U.S. EPA promulgated final changes to the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Coal Preparation and Processing Plants (40 CFR Part 60, Subpart Y). The final rule sets more stringent particulate matter (PM) emission limits for thermal dryers constructed after April 28, 2008 and processing more than 200 tons of coal per day. The final rule expands the applicability of the PM standards for thermal dryers to all types of coal and to petroleum coke (Subpart Y previously applied only to dryers processing bituminous coal) and sets separate grain loading and opacity limits for new and reconstructed dryers and for modified dryers. The final rule also sets emission limits (in lb per million Btu) for SO2 and a combined limit for CO and NOx applicable to thermal dryers constructed after May 27, 2009. Thermal dryers receiving all their thermal input from an affected facility covered by another NSPS limit for PM, SO2, and NOx and/or CO are not subject to Subpart Y but are subject to the other applicable NSPS limits.
Lastly, the final rule lowers the opacity limits (to 10%) for coal conveying, transfer storage, and loading systems, sets an emission limit of 0.01 gr/dscf for mechanical vents from such equipment, and requires fugitive dust control plans for coal storage piles at an affected plant. These new requirements are applicable to equipment constructed or modified after April 28, 2008.
For more information, see the Federal Register notice or contact EQ’s Kent Berry at (800) 229-5299.
On October 7, 2009, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration jointly issued a “safety advisory” alerting shippers and carriers to the hazards of transporting lithium batteries.
The agencies have determined that lithium batteries are hazardous materials in transportation because they present both chemical (e.g., flammable electrolytes) and electrical hazards. If not safely packaged and handled when transported, lithium batteries can overheat and ignite and, once ignited, fires can be especially difficult to extinguish. Overheating has the potential to create a thermal runaway, a chain reaction leading to self-heating and release of the battery's stored energy. Fires in aircraft can result in catastrophic events presenting unique challenges not encountered in other transport modes.
The Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171-180) include requirements for packaging and handling lithium batteries. For transportation by all modes, lithium batteries of all types and sizes must be packaged to prevent short circuits, including movement that could lead to short circuits and damage to the batteries. The HMR also imposes additional restrictions on the transport of lithium batteries in the air mode, including a limited prohibition on the transport of lithium metal batteries as cargo on board passenger aircraft.
Spare rechargeable batteries for most cell phones, PDAs, game consoles, and lap top computers are prohibited from being shipped with baggage and cargo. Spare batteries carried on your person must be packaged in such a manner that they cannot make contact with conducting materials (e.g., paper clips, other batteries, zippers, pens jump drives, etc.) that could lead to short circuiting, over heating, and fire.
For more information, see the Federal Register notice or contact EQ’s Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
On October 5, 2009, the U.S. EPA announced it intends to propose new National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter - particles 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller (PM2.5) - by July 2010, and promulgate a final rule by April 2011. The announcement, made during a presentation to the agency’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), is in response to a remand from a federal appeals court.
A draft of U.S. EPA's policy assessment will be released in December and will provide evidence for the revised air quality standards, according to the presentation, which was made available on the CASAC website.
U.S. EPA had originally planned to propose new standards in February 2011, with a final rule by November of that year as part of its periodic review of the standards.
In September, the U.S. EPA released a draft risk assessment on the current PM2.5 standards and found that an estimated 1.7 to 6.7 percent of all deaths in 2007 in 15 studied cities were attributable to long-term exposure to fine particulate matter. Lowering both the annual and 24-hour air quality standards for fine particles could reduce the risk of mortality from long-term exposure to the pollutant by as much as 89 percent in some urban areas, according to the assessment.
The U.S. EPA previously revised the PM2.5 standards in 2006. At that time, the agency lowered the 24-hour air quality standard for fine particles from 65 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) to 35 µg/m3 but chose not to revise either the primary or secondary standard for fine particles or its daily standard for coarse particles - those smaller than 10 microns.
Thirteen states and several environmental groups challenged the 2006 standards as insufficiently protective.
In February 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered U.S. EPA to reconsider both the primary and secondary air quality standards for fine particles.
For more information, visit the CASAC website or contact EQ’s Kent Berry at (800) 229-5299 or Jeff Slayback at (800) 229-7495.
On September 30, 2009, U.S. EPA published a notice in the Federal Register staying a Bush Administration rule published on December 19, 2008 (see January 2009 issue of the EQ newsletter) regarding inclusion of fugitive emissions in determining the applicability of New Source Review (NSR) rules for major sources being modified. The December 2008 rules changed previous rules under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Nonattainment NSR (NNSR) program by limiting the inclusion of fugitive emissions only to sources in 28 named source categories. The September 30 notice stayed these changes until December 29, 2009 and reinstated the previous provisions on a temporary basis pending further rulemaking. During the stay, fugitive emissions must be included, to the extent quantifiable, in determining whether PSD or NNSR applies to modifications for all types of sources, not just the 28 named source categories.
For further information, see the Federal Register notice or contact EQ’s Kent Berry at (800) 229-5299 or Jeff Slayback at (800) 229-7495.
A recent U.S. EPA proposal to control air emissions from some marine diesel engines has sparked a battle between the maritime industry and the Obama Administration and also delayed consideration of the U.S. EPA's budget.
In late August 2009, the U.S. EPA for the first time proposed emission standards for new marine diesel engines installed on U.S. vessels, with per cylinder displacement at or above 30 liters (called Category 3 marine diesel engines). The near term standards for newly built engines would apply beginning in 2011. Long-term standards would begin in 2016 and are based on the application of high-efficiency, after-treatment technology.
U.S. EPA is also proposing a change to the diesel fuel program that would forbid the production and sale of “bunker fuel,” which contains about 30,000 parts per million (ppm) sulfur, and allow the production and sale of fuel with less than 1,000 ppm sulfur within the proposed U.S. environmental control area and internal U.S. waters.
The proposal is part of a coordinated strategy to ensure that all ships that affect U.S. air quality meet stringent NOx and fuel sulfur requirements. Emissions from ships are the only mode of transportation not covered under new federal air pollution regulations. According to the U.S. EPA, large vessels rank second only to power plants as to the health risk their air pollution poses.
For further information, see the Federal Register notice or contact EQ’s Bob McCullough at (800) 229-7495.
This winter keep warm, save energy, and help the environment.
Nearly half of the average monthly energy bill is due to heating and cooling. Here are some green tips to improve your home or office’s energy efficiency:
Did you know?
EQ’s Cincinnati office reduced its HVAC energy impact by more than 23% between 2007 and 2009! What can you do?
Find out more ways to be green and weather the winter by visiting this U.S. EPA webpage.
To learn more about EQ’s Sustainability Program, visit our website or contact EQ’s Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
For your engineering needs, please contact EQ Engineers at 219-844-3500, or email Ron Hawks
For questions about EQ's capabilities, please contact
Bob McCullough or Laurie Buckman, or call (800) 229-7495.
To subscribe to the EQuation Newsletter, please send an email to subscribe-eq@eqm.com.
To remove your name from the EQuation Newsletter listing, please send an email to unsubscribe-eq@eqm.com.