New Source Performance Standards and Emission Guidelines: Industrial and Commercial Waste Incinerators and Other Solid Waste Incinerators

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 60

[AD-FRL-5127-8]

New Source Performance Standards and Emission Guidelines:

Industrial and Commercial Waste Incinerators and Other Solid Waste

Incinerators

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM).

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SUMMARY: The EPA seeks information to identify and characterize

industrial and commercial waste incinerators (ICWI) sources and where

they are located. This action requests information and data concerning

the operation, location, emissions, and emission controls for ICWI's.

Another source category that may be similar to ICWI's is other

solid waste incinerators (OSWI's). The EPA also requests information

and data concerning the operation, emissions, and emission controls for

OSWI's.

DATES: Information, data, and comments must be received on or before

March 28, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments. Information, data, and comments on this notice

should be submitted in duplicate to: The Air and Radiation Docket and

Information Center, ATTN: Docket No. A-94-63, U. S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 401 M. St., S.W., Room M1500 Mail Code 6102,

Washington, DC 20460. Commenters wishing to submit proprietary

information to be treated as confidential business information should

not use the preceding address. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for

directions on submitting proprietary comments.

Docket. Dockets are available for public inspection and copying

between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the Air and

Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. EPA, 401 M St., S.W.,

Room M1500, Washington, DC 20460. Their telephone number is (202) 260-

7548 and their fax number is (202) 260-4400. A reasonable fee may be

charged for copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. George Smith at (919) 541-1549 or

Mr. Fred Porter at (919) 541-5251, Emission Standards Division (MD-13),

U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Submission of Comments

The EPA seeks full public participation in arriving at its final

decisions, and strongly encourages comments on this notice from all

interested parties. Whenever applicable, full supporting data and

detailed analysis should accompany all comments to allow EPA to

consider and understand these comments for the proposed rulemaking. All

information, data, and comments should be directed to the EPA Air and

Radiation Docket and Information Center, Docket No. A-94-63 (See

Addresses). Information, data, and comments must be received on or

before March 28, 1995.

Commenters wishing to submit proprietary information for

consideration should clearly distinguish such information from other

comments, and clearly label it ``Confidential Business Information.''

Submissions containing such proprietary information should be sent

directly to the following address, and not to the public docket, to

ensure that proprietary information is not inadvertently placed in the

docket: Attention: Mr. George Smith, c/o Ms. Melva Toomer, U. S. EPA

Confidential Business Manager, 411 W. Chapel Hill Street, Room 944,

Durham, NC 27701. Information covered by such a claim of

confidentiality will be disclosed by the EPA only to the extent allowed

and by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. If no claim of

confidentiality accompanies a submission when it is received by the

EPA, it may be made available to the public without further notice to

the commenter.

II. Background Information

Section 129 of the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to develop NSPS

and EG for four classes of solid waste incineration units. These are

municipal waste combustors (MWC's), medical waste incinerators (MWI's),

ICWI's, and categories of OSWI's. The pollutants that will be regulated

by these standards are particulate matter, opacity, sulfur dioxide,

hydrogen chloride, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, lead, cadmium,

mercury, and dioxins and dibenzofurans. Standards applicable to solid

waste incineration units promulgated under this section shall reflect

the maximum degree of reduction in emissions of the air pollutants

listed above that the Administrator, taking into consideration the cost

of achieving such emission reduction, and any non-air quality health

and environmental impacts and energy requirements, determines

achievable for new or existing units in each category. The

Administrator may distinguish among classes, types (including mass-

burn, refuse-derived fuel, modular and other types of units), and sizes

of units within a category in establishing such standards. The degree

of reduction in emissions that is deemed achievable for new units in a

category shall not be less stringent than the emissions control that is

achieved in practice by the best controlled similar unit, as determined

by the Administrator. Emission standards for existing units in a

category may be less stringent than standards for new units in the same

category but shall not be less stringent than the average emissions

limitation achieved by the best performing 12 percent of units in the

category (excluding units which first met lowest achievable emissions

rates 18 months before the date such standards are proposed or 30

months before the date such standards are promulgated, whichever is

later).

An MWC is defined as any equipment that combusts municipal solid

waste. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is defined as either a mixture or a

single-item stream of household, commercial, and/or institutional

discards. This would include materials such as paper, wood, yard

wastes, tree trimmings, plastics, leather, rubber, glass, metals, and

other combustible and noncombustible materials. The MSW definition

includes household discards as well as discards from institutional and

commercial sources, but does not include industrial process or

manufacturing discards. The MWC NSPS and EG were proposed on September

20, 1994 (59 FR 48198 and 48228). The MWC NSPS and EG will regulate all

new and existing units with plant capacities greater than 35 Mg/day.

An MWI is defined as any device used to burn medical waste, with or

without other types of waste and including the heat recovery device, if

one is present. Medical waste is defined as any solid waste that is

generated in the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings

or animals, in research pertaining thereto, or in production or testing

of biologicals. Medical waste includes materials such as sharps,

fabrics, plastics, paper, waste chemicals/drugs that are not resource

conservation and recovery act (RCRA) hazardous waste, and pathological

waste. Medical waste does not include household waste, hazardous waste,

or human and animal remains not generated as medical waste. The EPA is

under a court order to propose the MWI standards by February 1, 1995.

The EPA listed categories of OSWI's and a regulatory schedule for

issuing standards under section 129 on November 2, 1993 (58 FR 58498).

Promulgation for the NSPS AND EG is scheduled for November 15, 2000,

and the OSWI categories that will be covered by these standards are as

follows:

1. MWC's with plant capacities less than 35 Mg/day

2. Residential incinerators

3. Agricultural waste incinerators

4. Wood waste incinerators

5. Construction and demolition waste incinerators

6. Crematories

7. Contaminated soil treatment facilities

All other incinerators burning solid waste other than what has been

defined above, are probably industrial and commercial waste

incinerators.

The EPA believes that most incinerators operate in basically the

same manner and that the controls for most incinerators are similar,

i.e., wet scrubbers, acid gas control systems, electrostatic

precipitators, spray dryer/fabric filter, etc. At this time, EPA

believes that the technology requirements on which emission limits (and

other requirements) are established are transferable to the other

categories of sources. Unless enough information is received to develop

standards for ICWI's, EPA may have to rely upon the data and

information obtained during the study of other combustion sources. The

EPA will also consider establishing a de minimis emission concentration

level at which all facilities that emit less than this level may be

exempt from some of the NSPS and EG requirements. Testing may be

required to validate the facility's emissions.

III. Request for Comments, Data, and Information

It is important that the Agency receive comments, data, and

information from the owners and operators of ICWI's and OSWI's, States

and local agencies, and anyone else who may have information concerning

these sources. It would be very helpful for the Agency to learn what

processes and/or control technologies that ICWI and OSWI facilities

would use to reduce emissions. Therefore, comments on the information

presented in this notice are requested from the public and the affected

industry. Specific comments are requested on the following areas:

Are there any incineration sources that are not already

included by the MWC, MWI, or OSWI source categories? If so, please

provide the following information about these sources: Name, address,

phone number, type of waste burned, number of units, size of units,

combustor type, existing control technology, age of equipment, and

emissions data. Please accompany any emissions data with test method

used and incinerator's parameters when test was performed.

Please provide the following information about OSWI source

categories: Name, address, phone number, type of waste burned, number

of units, size of units, combustor type, existing control technology,

age of equipment, and emissions data. Please accompany any emissions

data with test method used and incinerator's parameters when test was

performed.

What are the capital and annual costs to operate and

maintain the facility? Please itemize the costs to include the capital

and annual cost of the incinerator, capital and annual cost of any

emission controls used, capital and annual monitoring costs, and any

other costs incurred as a result of emission control.

What specific plant or control device characteristics

would impact on a plant's ability to reduce emissions. Describe how and

why the impact would occur.

The EPA will consider only those comments that pertain to ICWI's

and OSWI's sources and their performance levels and associated control

technologies as discussed in this notice.

Dated: December 19, 1994.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 94-31743 Filed 12-27-94; 8:45 am]

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