Will New Industrial Boiler MACT Standards Affect You? Act Now.

The proposed rule creates work-practice standards of annual tune-ups for natural-gas and refinery-gas-fired units and biennial tune-ups for boilers that have a heat-input capacity of less than 10MMBtuh. However, boilers that have a capacity of equal to or greater than 10MMBtuh are subject to emission limits on particulate matter, mercury, hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide and dioxin/furan. Also, the rules affect boilers previously referred to as multi-fuel by reclassifying them as incinerators.

One concern by many is how much more strict this rule is than the original vacated standard. For example, emission limit levels on certain hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) are close to the detection limits on current testing methods; in other words, the current technology employed by most in the wood and paper products industries would not be able to detect the new limits set by the rules.

The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), the American Wood Council (AWC) and the Biomass Producers Association (BPA) have all released comments on the proposed rule that call for subtle changes to the rule. They particularly request that the rules be more flexible and take into account current, economically viable technology. According to Bob Cleaves, president and CEO of the BPA, “We think the administration’s heart is in the right place in terms of promoting biomass, but it has to adopt rules that are fair and reasonable at home or there is no future for this technology.”

In its present form, the IB MACT Rule is estimated to cost $7 billion for the forest products industry alone with an EPA estimated cost of $5 million per biomass-fired boiler retrofit. That is assuming that the technology required to meet the limits is available. Due to the less rigorous standards imposed upon natural-gas-fired units, it is expected that many boiler operators will consider making the conversion to natural gas. Cleaves said, “I have received universal feedback from my members that if enacted as proposed, it would halt development."

Further details about the proposed rules can be found at this website address: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/boiler/fr04jn10mp.pdf.

If you will be affected by the rules, you may submit your comments, identified by the following Docket ID No., EPA–HQ–OAR–2002–0058 (Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters located at major sources) by one of the following methods:

• Go to: http://www.regulations.gov and follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
• E-mail: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov
• Fax: (202) 566–9744.
• Mail: U.S. Postal Service, send comments to: EPA Docket Center (6102T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please include as the second line of the address the name of the proposal that you are commenting on and the Docket ID No. Please include two copies.
• Hand Delivery: In person or by courier, deliver comments to: EPA Docket Center (6102T), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20004. Please include as the second line of the address the name of the proposal that you are commenting on and the Docket ID No. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket’s normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. Please include two copies.

While form letters do have more of an effect on the decision making processes of regulatory bodies than no letters at all, they carry much less weight than personal, individualized responses. To make sure you’re feedback is considered appropriately, be specific about the exact repercussions of the new rules to your business or livelihood.

The EPA will develop a final rule after the comment period has ended on August 3. The compliance date is expected to be in late 2013 or early 2014.