On December 2, 2011, the US EPA published a reconsideration proposal to standards that aim at reducing emissions from boilers and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators (CISWI). The proposed standards would cost-effectively protect Americans by reducing toxic air pollutants; they would also increase rule flexibility by addressing compliance concerns raised by industry and labor groups.
Boilers and incinerators release pollutants that can cause adverse health effects including cancer, heart disease, asthma and premature death. Pollutants such as mercury and lead are linked to developmental disabilities in children. The proposed standards would avoid up to 8,100 premature deaths, prevent 5,100 heart attacks and avert 52,000 asthma attacks per year. This would equate to 12–30 dollars in health benefits for every dollar spent to meet the proposed standards.
Of the more than 1.5 million boilers in the United States, 86 percent would not be affected by the new standards because they burn clean natural gas at area source facilities and emit little pollution. For 13 percent of US boilers, the EPA would continue to rely on practical, cost-effective work practice standards (which include periodic maintenance and tune-ups) to reduce emissions. The new proposals focus on the less than 1 percent of boilers that emit the majority of pollution.
Major Source Boilers
Typically operating at refineries, chemical plants and other industrial facilities, there are 14,000 major source boilers in the US. Under the new standards, 88 percent would be required to conduct periodic tune-ups and 12 percent would be required to take steps to meet emission standards if they do not already do so. The EPA is proposing to create new subcategories for light and heavy industrial liquids, set new emission limits for various pollutants, increase flexibility for compliance monitoring, and continue to allow units burning clean gases to qualify for work practice standards instead of numeric emissions limits.
Area Source Boilers
The proposal covers about 187,000 boilers located at smaller pollution sources that include commercial buildings, universities, hospitals and hotels. Because they are not major emission sources, only 2 percent of area source boilers would need to meet emissions limits. The EPA is proposing additional subcategories that require initial tune-ups after 2 years, instead of the first year, to give facilities ample time to comply. Seasonal-use operators will conduct tune-ups every 5 years instead of every other year.
CISWI
The EPA is revising the emission limits for dioxin and mercury, and is clarifying what units would fall under the definition of CISWI. The agency has also revised some monitoring requirements, providing facilities with more flexibility in achieving standards and lowering compliance costs.
The EPA is also revising its final rule that identified the types of non-hazardous secondary materials that can be burned in boilers or solid waste incinerators. The revisions provide clarity on what types of secondary materials are considered non-waste fuels. The proposed revisions also classify a number of secondary materials as non-wastes when used as a fuel and allow an operator to request that the EPA identify specific materials as a non-waste fuel.
Following the April, 2010 proposals, the agency received more than 4,800 comments from businesses, communities and other key stakeholders. As part of the reconsideration process, the EPA also received additional feedback after the agency issued the final standards in March, 2011. The EPA will accept public comment on the proposed standards for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. EPA intends to finalize the reconsideration by spring, 2012.
For more information, visit the EPA's Emission Standards page. The page contains documents and presentations that will be of help in assessing the new regulatory actions.
