The compliance dates for the rule are January 31, 2016, for existing sources and, January 31, 2013, or upon startup, whichever is later, for new sources. New sources are defined as sources that began operation on or after June 4, 2010.

Existing boilers have until April 31, 2013, to submit their Initial Notification. New sources must comply by January 31, 2013, or upon startup, whichever is later. New sources are defined as sources which commenced construction or reconstruction on or after June 4, 2010.

Existing boilers will have to complete the following no later than January 31, 2016:

• Meet the requirements during periods of startup and shutdown.
• Conduct performance tests to demonstrate compliance with all applicable emission limits.
• Boiler tune-up
• Energy Assessment

BOILER GACT: In general, the final rule requires facilities classified as area sources of HAP with affected boilers to reduce emissions of harmful toxic air emissions from these combustion sources, improving air quality, and protecting public health in communities where these facilities are located.

The compliance date for existing sources is March 21, 2014. The compliance date for new sources that began operations on or before May 20, 2011 is May 20, 2011. For new sources that start up after May 20, 2011, the compliance date is the date of startup. New sources are defined as sources that began operation after June 4, 2010.

Existing boilers have until January 20, 2014, to submit their Initial Notification.

Existing boilers will have to complete the following no later than March 21, 2014:

• Boiler tune-up
• Energy assessment

For more information visit our website: www.boilermactcompliance.com

EPA is issuing adjustments to the March 2011 standards based on evaluation of additional information provided to the agency since that time, including the following key changes:

• Extending by two years the initial compliance date for existing area source boilers subject to the tune-up requirement.

• Revising the deadline for initial notification for existing area source boilers to no later than January 20, 2014.

• Revising provisions for existing dual-fuel fired units that fuel switch from gas to coal, biomass or oil such that they would still be considered existing sources.

• Providing subcategories for seasonally-operated boilers and limited-use boilers.

• Requiring tune-ups every five years, instead of every two, for certain area source boilers: seasonally-operated units, limited-use units, small oil-fired units and units with oxygen trim systems.

• Clarifying that temporary boilers and residential boilers are not part of the source categories being regulated.

• Revising particulate matter (PM) emission limit requirements such that combustion of oil meeting certain sulfur content requirements by new oil-fired boilers is considered an alternative method of meeting the PM emission standard and that such units are not required to meet the PM emission limit.

• Reducing the fuel sampling and performance testing requirements such that after demonstration of initial compliance, under certain circumstances, further fuel sampling for boilers subject to a mercury emission limit and further PM performance testing for boilers subject to a PM emission limit is not required.

• Providing the option of continuous emissions monitoring to demonstrate continuous compliance with the carbon monoxide (CO) emission limit.

• More clearly defining the scope of the energy assessment and allowing for more streamlined assessments, including allowing sources already operating under certain energy management programs to satisfy the assessment requirement.

For Major Source Facilities (Boiler MACT): Existing sources must comply with the standards 3 years from the date of publication of the final revised standards, and if needed, may request an additional year.

With these adjustments, the EPA is:

• Adding new subcategories for light and heavy industrial liquids to reflect design differences in the boilers that burn these fuels.

• Adding new emission limits for particulate matter (PM) that are different for each biomass fuel subcategory to better reflect emissions during real‐world operating conditions.

• Adding new emission limits for carbon monoxide (CO) based on newly submitted data that shows CO emissions from boilers vary greatly. EPA is setting new limits to more adequately capture that variability.

• Allowing alternative total selective metals emission limits to regulate metallic air toxics instead of using a PM as a surrogate, allowing more flexibility and decreasing compliance costs for units that emit low levels of HAP metals.

• Replacing numeric dioxin emission limits with work practice standards to reflect a more robust analysis that shows dioxin emissions are below levels that can be accurately measured.

• Increasing flexibility in compliance monitoring by adding alternative monitoring approaches for demonstrating continuous compliance with the PM limit.

• Adjusting PM and CO emission limits for units located outside the continental United States to reflect new data and to better reflect the unique operating conditions associated with operating these units.

• Continuing to allow units burning clean gases to qualify for work practice standards instead of numeric emission limits. EPA is removing the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) fuel specification from the rule because it does not provide a direct indication of potential hazardous air pollutants (HAP) from combustion of gaseous fuel. Instead, mercury content alone is being used to determine clean gas.

Sources are required to submit a Notification of Compliance Status regarding the initial tune-up by July 19, 2012. 

On March 13, 2012, the EPA issued a No Action Assurance (NAA), stating that it would not enforce the Notification. The NAA states that it remains in effect until either (1) October 1, 2012, or (2) A final rule addressing the proposed reconsideration of the Area Source Boiler Rule, whichever occurs earlier.

On July 18, 2012, EPA extended the NAA for Boiler Area Source to December 31, 2012, or until the final rule is issued whichever occurs earlier.

For more information visit www.boilermactcompliance.com.

Upon issuance of this new permit, the Notice of Intent (NOI), and No Exposure Exclusion (NEE) are due to the EPD no more than 30 days after the effective date of the permit. Due to the extended holdup of the permit, the next Annual Report deadline has been pushed back until January 31, 2013.  This Annual Report will include the rest of 2012 and all of 2013.

A Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWP3) must be prepared before submitting the NOI for new dischargers.  Existing permitted facilities must have an updated SWP3 within 90 days of the effective date of the 2012 IGP.  Any proposed modifications need to be implemented within 180 days of the effective date of the 2012 IGP.

Under this permit, site inspections and evaluations are required to be conducted quarterly, at a minimum.  These inspections should be conducted for all areas of the facility where industrial materials are exposed to stormwater, and there should be added focus on control measures during these inspections.  An inspection must be conducted at least once per calendar year when stormwater discharges are occurring.

Among many changes from the 2006 IGP, there are significant modifications to monitoring and sampling requirements.  Specifically, the permit will now have sector specific benchmarks, which are target values set for stormwater sampling results.  Permitted facilities must monitor for any benchmark parameter specified for their industrial sector.  This benchmark data is primarily for facilities to determine the effectiveness of control measures. 

In addition to sector specific benchmarks, Impaired Stream benchmarks are included in the permit.  Every facility needs to evaluate if their receiving water, within 1 mile of each outfall, is impaired, even if it was not classified as impaired in the previous permit.  An exceedence of these sector or impaired stream benchmark values is not a violation; however, the facility will be required to evaluate administrative and physical controls used to reduce stormwater pollution and take feasible corrective actions.

If, during a site inspection, unauthorized discharges are observed, or a facility determines that control measures need to be added or modified, the need for corrective actions must be reviewed.  Within 24 hours of discovery of these unauthorized discharges or incidents of non-compliance, a facility must identify and document any triggering conditions, descriptions of the problems, and the date the problem was identified.  Within 30 days of discovery, facilities must document a summary of the corrective actions to be taken, the date(s) the corrective actions are initiated, and the date(s) the corrective actions are expected to be completed.  Modifications must be made no more than 90 days after discovery.

There are several other important aspects of the new permit that will affect industrial activities. A few of these components are:

·         Vehicle and equipment wash water is considered an unauthorized non-stormwater discharge.  If a facility is currently washing vehicles and equipment outside, that is not approved under this permit, and the facility will have to come up with a course of action for disposal.

·         Waste pile leachate, over de minimus amounts, is also considered an unauthorized non-stormwater discharge and is not eligible for coverage under this permit.

·         All employees who work in the areas where industrial materials or activities are exposed to stormwater must be properly trained.  It is required that training be conducted at time of hire and refreshed annually for existing employees.

·         Smoke/Dye testing must be performed at least once during the permit cycle to evaluate for the presence of non-storm water discharges into the storm sewer system from all floor drains, and from all sinks in industrial areas (excluding eye wash stations) that were installed prior to January 2006. 

We have already begun updating the SWP3s for a number of our clients.

Please contact CTI if you have any questions or would like assistance in bringing your SWP3 and facility into compliance with the new permit.

http://conversiontechnology.com/

For Boiler MACT sources the deadline for compliance has not changed and is still March 21, 2012. This includes Minor Sources of HAP pollutants and Major Sources of non-HAP pollutants. 

The effective dates for HAP Major Source Boiler MACT & CISWI rules are delayed until such time as judicial review is no longer pending or until the US EPA completes its reconsideration of the rules, whichever is earlier.

For more information you can go to www.boilermactcompliance.com or contact us @ 770-263-6330.