On September 30, 2009, U.S. EPA proposed a new rule requiring large facilities emitting 25,000 tons or more a year of greenhouse gases (GHG) to obtain permits demonstrating they are using the best practices and technologies to minimize GHG emissions.
The rule proposes new thresholds for GHG emissions that define when Clean Air Act (CAA) permits under the New Source Review (NSR) and Title V operating permits programs would be required for new or existing industrial facilities.
The proposed thresholds would “tailor” the permit programs to limit which facilities would be required to obtain NSR and Title V permits and would cover nearly 70 percent of the national GHG emissions that come from stationary sources, including those from the nation’s largest emitters—including power plants, refineries, and cement production facilities.
Small farms, restaurants and many other types of small facilities would not be subject to these permitting programs.
U.S. EPA estimates that 400 new sources and modifications to existing sources would be subject to PSD review each year for GHG emissions, and approximately 14,000 sources would need to obtain operating permits for GHG emissions.
For more information, see the U.S. EPA website or contact EQ's Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
On September 22, 2009, the U.S. EPA announced a final rule on the new greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program. Publication in the Federal Register is expected shortly.
Beginning January 1, 2010, facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide or equivalent per year will be required to annually report GHG emissions data to the U.S. EPA. This new program will cover approximately 85 percent of the nation’s GHG emissions and apply to roughly 10,000 facilities.
Regulated entities include, but are not limited to, ammonia manufacturing, aluminum production, cement production, electrical generation, ferroalloy production, general stationary fuel combustion sources, glass production, HCFC-22 production and HFC-23 destruction, iron or steel production, lead production, lime production, petrochemical production, petroleum refineries, pulp and paper manufacturing, and silicon carbide production.
The rule requires the first annual report, covering calendar year 2010, to be submitted to the U.S. EPA on March 31, 2011. Similar to the U.S. EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), the new GHG reporting program has applicability thresholds, exemptions and exclusions. The reporting obligations accrue on a facility basis and include any physical property, plant, building, structure, source, or stationary equipment located on one or more contiguous properties by the same owner.
The reporting rule does not make GHGs a regulated pollutant under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program.
For more information, see the U.S. EPA website or contact EQ’s Tom Robertson or Steve Felton at (800) 229-5299 or EQ’s Jerry Day or Laurie Buckman at (800) 229-7495.
On September 28, 2009, the U.S. EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a proposed rule regarding new fuel economy standards that will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel economy.
The proposal would require cars and light trucks sold in model year 2016 to achieve an average of 35.5 miles per gallon. It also would impose a national average carbon dioxide emissions standard of 250 grams per mile.
According to the White House, the standards would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cars and light trucks by 21 percent in 2030 and would be the equivalent of taking 42 million cars out of use.
The proposed rule stems from a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that said carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and that U.S. EPA must decide whether to regulate emissions.
U.S. EPA is also working on proposals regarding greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources.
For more information, see the June EQ e-Newsletter, the Federal Register notice or contact EQ's Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
On September 22, 2009, the U.S. EPA published a final rule that extends until June 22, 2010 the existing administrative stay on the "grandfathering" provision for PM2.5 requirements in the federal New Source Review (NSR) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program.
The stay does not affect state-adopted (“SIP approved”) PSD rules which apply in most states.
The grandfathering provision allows the permitting authority to review PSD permit applications received before July 15, 2008 according to U.S. EPA's 1997 policy of satisfying the requirements for particulate matter less than 10 micrometers (PM10) as a surrogate for meeting the new requirements for PM2.5.
The existing administrative stay was in effect from June 1, 2009 until September 1, 2009. This action proposes to extend the existing administrative stay by an additional 9 months. U.S. EPA expects to propose, take public comment on, and issue a final action concerning the repeal of the grandfathering provision for PM2.5 in the federal PSD program by the end of the stay.
For more information, see the Federal Register notice or contact EQ's Jeff Slayback at (800) 229-7495 or Kent Berry at (800) 229-5299.
On September 21, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a lower court decision and reinstated a lawsuit by eight states and New York City against six large electric utilities, including Cinergy. The lawsuit seeks to limit their greenhouse gas emissions by claiming they contribute to the public nuisance of global warming.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the lawsuit in 2005, holding that the claims represented a “non-judiciable political question,” according to the appeals court.
In vacating that decision and remanding it to a lower court, the appeals court ruled that although Congress has enacted laws affecting air pollution, none of those laws has displaced federal common law.
The lawsuit was filed by California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and New York City against American Electric Power Co., American Electric Power Service Corp., Southern Co., Tennessee Valley Authority, Xcel Energy Inc., and Cinergy Corp.
For more information, contact EQ's Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
On September 16, 2009, the U.S. EPA announced it will reconsider the revised National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone (smog) that was set under the Bush Administration in March 2008 (see the April 2008 EQuation newsletter). The 2008 ozone standard was promulgated amid considerable controversy when U.S. EPA set a standard above the range recommended by its independent scientific advisory committee. States were to have submitted to U.S. EPA their attainment/nonattainment designation recommendations with respect to the revised 2008 standard by June 2009 and U.S. EPA was to have promulgated final nonattainment designations by June 2010.
In its September 16 announcement, U.S. EPA indicated that it will stay this nonattainment designation process pending an expedited review of the ozone NAAQS. U.S. EPA indicated that it would propose any revisions to the ozone NAAQS by December 2009 and issue a final decision by August 2010. This would delay the nonattainment designations (and their impact on major new or modified source construction in those areas) by at least two more years.
For more information, contact EQ’s Kent Berry at (800) 229-5299 or Jeff Slayback at (800) 229-7495.
On September 15, 2009, the U.S. EPA published final rules that redesignated the Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio metropolitan areas as being in attainment with the 1997 8-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. The redesignations also became effective on September 15, 2009. The Cleveland area includes Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit Counties. The Columbus area includes Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Knox, Licking, and Madison Counties.
One significant impact of the redesignations is that major new source review (NSR) activities will no longer be regulated under Nonattainment NSR (“Emission Offset”) regulations. Examples include major new sources and major modifications involving volatile organic compound (VOC) or nitrous oxide (NOX) emissions. Major source permitting activities for these two pollutants as ozone precursors will now be regulated under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. In addition, U.S. EPA has approved a waiver from NOX Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements for the Cleveland area. Ohio EPA will have to undertake rulemaking before currently effective NOX RACT requirements are rescinded.
For more information, see the Federal Register notices (Columbus and Cleveland) or contact EQ’s Jeff Slayback at (800) 229-7495 or Kent Berry at (800) 229-5299.
On August 31, 2009, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) announced that introduction of a Senate climate bill would be delayed until the end of September.
Senator Boxer, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and is drafting the bulk of the climate legislation, had originally planned to introduce the bill the week of September 7.
Introducing the bill in late September means Boxer's committee, as well as other Senate committees with jurisdiction over the measure, will not take up the bill until October.
The House introduced climate legislation on March 31 and passed it in June. The House bill puts mandatory caps on emissions with a cap-and-trade system requiring power plants and other companies to hold allowances, or permits, for each ton of greenhouse gases they emit.
Senator Boxer is expected to draw heavily from the House bill, which would cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels.
For more information, contact EQ's Tom Robertson at (800) 229-5299.
On August 19, 2009, the U.S. EPA sent a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review that would withdraw the so-called “emission-comparable fuel rule.”
This rule, which was promulgated in the last days of the Bush administration and took effect on January 20, 2009, greatly expanded the amount of hazardous waste that could be burned as fuel under an exemption to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
For more information, contact EQ’s Kent Berry at (800) 229-5299.
Under the heading of “unusual requests,” EQ was recently asked to tackle a fish dilemma in a Donna, Texas reservoir.
The fish, which are the source of food and income to many inhabitants of the Donna-Weslaco area, are contaminated by an unknown source of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Despite warnings about adverse health effects, many residents refused to stop catching and eating or selling the fish.
As a preventive measure, U.S. EPA Region 6 asked EQ to catch and dispose of contaminated fish from the reservoir, as well as 8 miles of connected canals and irrigation ditches. EQ also installed barriers to prevent more game fish from entering the contaminated waters.
Working in conjunction with the Texas Fish & Wildlife Agency, EQ removed about 24,000 fish from the waterways using electric probes, nets, and gaff hooks.
EQ conducted this project as part of its prime Emergency & Rapid Response Service (ERRS) contract with Region 6.
For more information, please contact EQ’s John Foster at (985) 863-9840.
Just because the leaves are changing to reds, yellows, and oranges doesn’t mean you can’t make fall a green time of year! Try a couple of these green tips.
Think outside the candy box:
Winter isn’t here yet but get ready:
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
Jerry Day or Laurie Buckman, or call (800) 229-7495.
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