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Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units CISWI. EPA Proposed Rule April 30, 2010. ARIPPA Board of Directors Meeting May 3, 2010. Osman Environmental Solutions Harrisburg, PA. Background.
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Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration UnitsCISWI EPA Proposed Rule April 30, 2010 ARIPPA Board of Directors Meeting May 3, 2010 Osman Environmental Solutions Harrisburg, PA
Background • Traditionally EPA has considered units that combusted waste without heat recovery for the purpose of waste reduction to be incinerators, and those that combusted waste with heat recovery (apart from MSW units) to be boilers. Incinerators are subject to Section 129 of the Clean Air Act and Boilers are subject to Sections 111 and 112. • In 2007, the DC District Court vacated and remanded EPA’s CISWI definition and ruled that the CAA required any combustion of Solid Waste be subject to Section 129 incinerator requirements.
EPA Response • On April 30, 2010, EPA proposed 4 separate rules to address recent court decisions on combustion sources: • NSPS and EG’s for CISWI Units • Major Source Industrial Commercial and Institutional Boiler MACT • Area Source Industrial Commercial and Institutional Boiler MACT • Identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials that are Solid Wastes • The waste rule used the authority of the Solid Waste Disposal Act to remove a few materials from being considered as waste in order to avoid triggering CISWI for the combustion of these fuels.
NSPS and Emissions Guidelines (EG’s) • NSPS are effective 6 months after EPA promulgation and affect new, reconstructed, or modified sources. • EG’s are based on state rules that are SIP’d. The state rules are due within one year of the final EPA regulation establishing the EG requirement and they require compliance as “expeditiously” as possible but no later than three years after EPA approval of the SIP’d regulation and no later than five years from the date of the final EPA regulation. • In the event States do not promulgate an EG, EPA publishes a Federal Rule which will impose the requirements in the states that do not have approved plans.
Impact on ARIPPA Plants • “Legacy” Waste Coal, as opposed to currently generated waste coal is considered a waste material, which would, in the absence of CAA exemptions, subject a plant to CISWI. • The CAA exempts QF facilities which combust a homogeneous waste for heat or power from regulation as incinerators. These would be considered boilers. • ARIPPA plants burning any material in addition to waste coal, even non-waste fuels, would likely not be combusting a homogeneous fuel. • ARIPPA plants that do not meet QF status would be subject to CISWI. • ARIPPA plants seeking to add a biomass fuel after the date of publication of the proposed rule would be considered a “new” CISWI facility, since the change in fuel would constitute a modification. • In addition to NSPS requirements, Section 129 regulations also include Emission Guideline Requirements which will apply to any applicable existing source (even w/o modification) starting in 2015.
CISWI Source Categories and Pollutants CISWI Categories CISWI Pollutants HCl CO Pb Cd Hg PM Dioxin/Furans, total Dioxin/Furans, TEQ NOX SO2 OPACITY • Incinerators • Energy Recovery Units • Waste-Burning Kilns • Burn-Off Ovens • Small, Remote Incinerators
General EPA Approach to Waste/Combustion Issue • Traditional fuels, including fossil fuels and clean cellulosic biomass are not solid wastes when used in a combustion process for energy recovery. • Discarded materials burned for energy recovery are wastes unless they are processed to make a legitimate fuel. • Materials managed outside the control of the generator are wastes unless they are processed into non-waste fuel products. • Persons burning secondary materials which have not been discarded, that are not managed under the control of the generator (which are otherwise solid wastes) may petition EPA for a determination that the materials are not discarded. But they still must meet legitimacy criteria. • Secondary Materials are not solid wastes if they remain under the control of the generator and meet legitimacy criteria.
Alternative Approach • In addition to the primary approach discussed above, EPA is also proposing an alterative approach, which is broader in scope. In the alternative approach only the following materials would not be solid wastes: • Traditional Fuels • Non-hazardous secondary materials that remain within the control of the generator and meet the legitimacy requirement.
Performance Testing and Monitoring Requirements for Energy Recovery Units (New and Existing)
Startup, Shutdown, Malfunction Issues • Emission Limits apply during startup and shutdown. • Emission Limits do not apply during malfunctions. • When Using CEMS, the emission limits are based on a 24-hour block average.
Final Observation • EPA projects that no new CISWI sources will be constructed due to the costs associated with the MACT floor limits in the proposed NSPS. • Thus it seems unlikely that an ARIPPA plant can ever be modified to burn any fuel other than waste coal and those facilities currently burning alternative fuels will likely need to discontinue those fuels prior to the effective date of the EG. • The “good” news is that sources triggering CISWI are not subject to acid rain or CAIR.