By: Bradley Coyle, CHMM
EPA has, yet again, been tasked with a reissuance of a very
controversial rule - the Boiler MACT. The DC Circuit Court
mandated that EPA issue a proposed rule and, as such, they
have. MACT, of course, is an acronym for Maximum Achievable
Control Technology and is designated by utilizing the top
performing 'units' in the country. Normally, EPA will take an
individual unit (boiler, in this case) and assess its
emissions. Quite different on this round though - EPA,
rather, took the top 12% of boilers operating 'in the wild' and
cherry-picked their constituents of concern. Fine,
right? Not this time - they actually took the best performers
on INDIVIDUAL CONSTITUENTS rather than the entire sweep of
chemicals that they are wishing to regulate under this MACT.
In short, if Boiler A had great numbers for mercury emissions but
lousy numbers for particulate matter, they only took the mercury
emissions in to account for promulgation of the rule.
Like it or not, the MACT is in the pipeline and will plop out
the end in due time - in fact, the latest word is as early as the
beginning of next year with the final rule also going in for the
2012 year. Here's who will be snagged by this MACT:
- Major sources of HAPs that burn coal, biomass, natural gas (or
equivalent) or liquid fuels. Needless to say, if you're a
major for HAPs and have a boiler, you're likely in…
- Minor sources of HAPs that burn coal. Nope, not a worry
for you if you're a natural gas burner. You're not in this
round… maybe later but, not yet.
Of course, there are twists and turns within the MACT - for
example, emergency fuels and such but, for the most part, you're in
if you're one of the above.
But, wait a minute - didn't EPA 'stay' the Boiler MACT?
Yep. They did but, ONLY FOR MAJOR SOURCES. The JJJJJJ
MACT (Boilers for minor HAP sources) is still out there, coming
down the pipe, and will require you to conduct an energy audit and
will establish a few additional hoops to jump through depending on
if you're above or below the 10 million BTU threshold.
For Minor Sources only - a reporting deadline is RAPIDLY
approaching and will be upon you before you know it. Simply
put, it's a reporting deadline to declare applicability to the
MINOR SOURCE MACT. The due date to have this to your
regulatory agency (federal, state, local) is September 17,
2011. This means it's time to get on the ball and get your
notification in if it is applicable to your source.
For more information on the Boiler MACTs - or any of the other
130+ MACTs, let us know. We are currently assisting major and
minor sources from metal cutting to surface coating and a variety
of other source categories subject to 40 CFR Part 60 (NSPS) and 63
(MACT).
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Mr. Coyle has worked with Linebach Funkhouser, Inc. for
nearly 10 years. In his current role, Mr. Coyle leads the
environmental compliance group assisting various nationwide
clientele with air, water, and waste issues. Mr. Coyle can be
reached by calling 502.895.5009.