Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources; Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 60

[AD-FRL-5326-9]

Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources; Small

Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: Today's proposal would revise the applicability of the sulfur

dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM) emission control

requirements of the standards of performance for new, modified, and

reconstructed small industrial-commercial-institutional steam

generating units (40 CFR part 60, subpart Dc; September 12, 1990, 55 FR

37683) by excluding certain small steam generating units--when

conducting combustion research--from the category of small steam

generating units that are regulated as new sources (see Clean Air Act

section 111(b)(2)). Small steam generating units are units with a

maximum design heat input capacity of 29 megawatts (MW) (100 million

Btu per hour (Btu/hr)), or less, but greater than or equal to 2.9 MW

(10 million Btu/hr). The proposed revisions would encourage the

development of air pollution control technology that will ultimately

result in reduced air emissions from all steam generating units.

DATES: Comments. Comments must be received on or before January 2,

1996.

Public Hearing. If anyone requests to speak at a public hearing by

December 15, 1995, a public hearing will be held on December 22, 1995,

beginning at 10:00 a.m. Persons interested in attending the hearing

should call Ms. Donna Collins at (919) 541-5578 to verify that a

hearing will be held. Assistance will be available for persons with

hearing impairments.

Request to Speak at Hearing. Persons wishing to present oral

testimony must request to speak at the public hearing by December 15,

1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments. Comments should be submitted in duplicate to: U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, The Air and Radiation Docket &

Information Center, 401 M Street, S.W., Room 1500, Mail Code 6102,

Washington, DC 20460. Attention Docket Number A-86-02.

Public Hearing. If anyone requests a public hearing, it will be

held at the EPA's Office of Administration Auditorium, Research

Triangle Park, North Carolina. Persons interested in attending the

hearing or wishing to present oral testimony, should notify Ms. Donna

Collins, Emission Standards Division (MD-13), U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711,

telephone (919) 541-5578.

Docket. Docket Number A-86-02, containing information used in

developing the original standards, is available for public inspection

and copying between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at

the EPA Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, Room 1500,

First Floor, Waterside Mall, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460.

A reasonable fee may be charged for copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Rick Copland (919) 541-5265 or Mr.

Fred Porter (919) 541-5251, Emission Standards Division (MD-13), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

27711.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The revisions to the applicability of the

SO2 and PM emission control requirements of 40 CFR Part 60,

Subpart Dc are being proposed pursuant to a settlement agreement that

would resolve litigation in the case of Babcock and Wilcox Company v.

U.S. EPA, No. 90-1509 (D.C.Cir.). Notice of the proposed settlement was

published in the Federal Register on April 4, 1994 (59 FR 15728) in

accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act. There was only one

comment and it supported the proposed settlement.

Final adoption of today's proposal, which solicits comments on the

appropriateness of the proposed revisions to the applicability of the

SO2 and PM emission control requirements of 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart Dc,

is contingent upon EPA's review of any comments submitted in response

to this notice. As discussed below, today's proposal is intended to

revise the applicability requirements primarily for a small steam

generating unit operated by the Babcock and Wilcox Company. This steam

generating unit is occasionally used for combustion research to

evaluate the performance of and to develop unproven combustion

technologies. The applicability requirements would be revised, however,

to apply to any small steam generating unit used for research purposes

which operates in a manner similar to the unit operated by the Babcock

and Wilcox Company. There may be other small steam generating

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units also used to evaluate the performance of and to develop unproven

combustion technologies and EPA solicits comments on both the merits

and means of extending these revised applicability requirements to

these units.

The Babcock and Wilcox Company challenged the New Source

Performance Standards' emission control requirements for small-scale,

intermittently-operated steam generating research units, because such

steam generating units are often equipped with experimental, and as yet

unproven, air pollution control technology that may not consistently

meet the required standards of performance. Babcock & Wilcox Company,

therefore, maintains that compliance with the standards of performance

when conducting combustion research (that is used to evaluate the

performance of and to develop unproven combustion technologies) would

create serious start up and shut down problems during test runs and

would hinder the purpose of the tests of obtaining useful data within

normal operating ranges. The Babcock and Wilcox Company, Research &

Development Division, conducts research, development, experimentation,

and testing of small-scale burners, boilers, processes, and special

equipment arrangements in combustion devices for the purpose of

producing data and information necessary to evaluate the performance of

and to develop unproven combustion technologies. The data and

information are used by The Babcock and Wilcox Company, by the EPA, the

Department of Energy, and others to, among other things, ascertain the

technological achievability of air pollution emission control

standards.

EPA initially rejected The Babcock and Wilcox Company's request--in

its comments to the June 9, 1989 proposed standards of performance (54

FR 24792)--for an exemption for small steam generating units conducting

combustion research, because EPA's research showed that the impacts of

the promulgated standards, including the allowable emissions, potential

emission reductions and compliance costs, were reasonable for

intermittently or infrequently operated steam generating units,

irrespective of whether such units were used for combustion research.

Nevertheless, EPA has agreed to revise the applicability of the

SO2 and PM emission control requirements of 40 CFR Part 60,

Subpart Dc because of the limited potential impact of combustion

research on the environment: Babcock & Wilcox Company, the petitioner

which requested the revision of the applicability of the standards of

performance, operates a single small steam generating unit for research

purposes, which is used for combustion research less than five percent

of its operating time. Significantly, Babcock and Wilcox Company also

does not use the energy that the steam generating unit produces during

periods of combustion research for any other purpose (such as space

heating, process heating, electric generation, etc.). Accordingly, in

order to minimize the potential for inappropriate claims of combustion

research (potentially undermining EPA's ability to enforce the

standards of performance for small steam generating units), EPA has

conditioned today's proposed exclusion of certain limited combustion

research activities from the standards of performance on the

requirement that a steam generating unit not use the energy produced

during combustion research for other purposes. No other members of the

regulated community have commented on or challenged--at the time of the

June 9, 1989 proposed rule or the September 12, 1990 final rule--the

applicability of the standards of performance to combustion research

(that is used to evaluate the performance of and to develop unproven

combustion technologies) that may also use the energy produced for

other purposes.

Economic and Regulatory Impacts

Today's proposal will impose no additional costs on the regulated

community or the national economy. It would reduce the costs of

compliance for some small steam generating units when conducting

combustion research by not requiring them to comply with the standards

of performance for new, modified, and reconstructed small industrial-

commercial-institutional steam generating units. Accordingly, EPA has

determined that today's proposal: (1) Does not constitute a ``major

rule'' under Executive Order 12291 (the proposal would not result in

any increase in costs or prices and would not disrupt market

competition), (2) does not constitute a substantial revision that would

require an economic impact assessment pursuant to section 317 of the

Clean Air Act, (3) does not constitute a Federal mandate under Title II

of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public Law 104-4,

for State, local, or tribal governments or the private sector, (4) does

not contain regulatory requirements that might significantly or

uniquely affect small governments under Title II of UMRA, and (5) would

not affect the public reporting burden for the collection of

information required, in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1980, under the new source performance standards for small steam

generating units.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the Administrator certifies that these

revisions would not have a significant impact on a substantial number

of small entities. Not only would today's proposal reduce the

regulatory burden on the small steam generating units source category,

but it has previously been determined that even without today's

proposed revisions the standards would not affect a substantial number

of small entities (55 FR 37682, September 12, 1990).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 60

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental

relations, reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Dated October 31, 1995.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator.

For the reasons set out in the preamble, title 40, chapter I of the

Code of Federal Regulations is proposed to be amended as set forth

below.

PART 60--STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE FOR NEW STATIONARY SOURCES

1. The authority citation for part 60 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7411, 7414, and 7601(a).

2. Section 60.40c is amended by revising paragraph (a) and adding

paragraphs (c) and (d) as follows:

Sec. 60.40c Applicability and delegation of authority.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, the

affected facility to which this subpart applies is each steam

generating unit for which construction, modification, or reconstruction

is commenced after June 9, 1989 and that has a maximum design heat

input capacity of 29 megawatts (MW) (100 million Btu per hour (Btu/hr))

or less, but greater than or equal to 2.9 MW (10 million Btu/hr).

* * * * *

(c) Steam generating units which meet the applicability

requirements in paragraph (a) of this section are not subject to the

sulfur dioxide (SO2) or particulate matter (PM) emission limits,

performance testing requirements, or monitoring requirements under this

subpart (Secs. 60.42c, 60.43c, 60.44c, 60.45c, 60.46c, or 60.47c)

during

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periods of combustion research, as defined in Sec. 60.41c.

(d) Any temporary change to an existing steam generating unit for

the purpose of conducting combustion research is not considered a

modification under Sec. 60.14.

3. Section 60.41c is amended by adding the following definition in

alphabetical order:

Sec. 60.41c Definitions.

* * * * *

Combustion Research means the experimental firing of any fuel or

combination of fuels in a steam generating unit for the purpose of

conducting research and development of more efficient combustion or

more effective prevention or control of air pollutant emissions from

combustion, provided that, during these periods of research and

development, the heat generated is not used for any purpose other than

preheating combustion air for use by that steam generating unit (i.e.,

the heat generated is released to the atmosphere without being used for

space heating, process heating, driving pumps, preheating combustion

air for other units, generating electricity, or any other purpose).

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 95-28187 Filed 11-14-95; 8:45 am]

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