New Source Performance Standards and Emissions Guidelines: Sewage Sludge Incinerators

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 60

[FRL-5676-3]

New Source Performance Standards and Emissions Guidelines: Sewage

Sludge Incinerators

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Additional Information (NAI).

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SUMMARY: This action announces the EPA's intention to issue regulations

and guidelines under Section 129 of the Clean Air Act for Sewage Sludge

Incinerators (SSI) that combust sludge from Publicly Owned Treatment

Works and to remove Sewage Sludge Incinerators from the list of Major

Source Categories previously scheduled for rule development under

Section 112 of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 17, 1997.

.ADDRESSES: Comments. Comments on this notice should be submitted in

duplicate, if possible, to: The Air and Radiation Docket and

Information Center (6102), ATTN: Docket No. A-96-42, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460.

Docket. Dockets are available for public inspections 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 Street, S.W.,

Room M1500, Washington, D.C. 20460. The center's telephone number is

(202) 260-7548 and the fax number is (202) 260-4400. A reasonable fee

may be charged for copying docket materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Eugene Crumpler at (919) 541-0881,

Emissions Standards Division (MD-13),

[[Page 1869]]

U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27711.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information in this preamble is

organized as follows:

1. Background

The Clean Air Act as amended November 1990, requires under the

revisions to Section 112, that the Agency list and promulgate National

Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) in order to

control, reduce, or otherwise limit the emissions of HAP for categories

of major and area sources. Pursuant to the various specific listing

requirements in Section 112(c), the Agency published on July 16, 1992

(57 FR 31576) an initial list of 174 categories of major and area

sources that would be henceforth subject to emissions standards. Sewage

Sludge Incineration (SSI) was one of the 174 categories listed for

development of a NESHAP.

Following this initial listing, and pursuant to requirements in

Section 122(e), on December 3, 1993 (58 FR 63941), the Agency published

a schedule for the promulgation of emission standards for each of the

174 listed source categories. The SSI were listed for promulgation of a

NESHAP no later than November 15, 2000. The reader is directed to those

two notices for information relating to development of the initial list

and schedule.

The Agency published a Notice of Listing of Categories and

Regulatory Schedule for Air Emissions From Other Solid Waste

Incineration (OSWI) on November 2, 1993 (58 F.R. 58498). The New Source

Performance Standards (NSPS) and Emissions Guidelines (EG) for OSWI's

are to be developed under section 129 of the Clean Air Act. That notice

listed seven categories of OSWIs. The notice established a promulgation

date for rulemaking for the seven categories of OSWI's of no later than

November 15, 2000. Incineration of sludge from publicly owned waste

water treatment works (POTW's) was not listed.

The Agency published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

(ANPRM) for NSPS and EG applicable to Industrial and Commercial Waste

Incinerators (ICWI) and Other Solid Waste Incinerators (OSWI) on

December 28, 1994 (59 FR 66850). That notice announced the EPA's intent

to develop NSPS and EG under Section 129 of the Act for the seven OSWI

categories and ICWIs. Not included among the listed categories were

incinerators used to combust sewage sludge produced at POTWs.

Today's Notice of Additional Information is announcing EPA's

oversight in not listing SSI's in the November 2, 1993 listing of OSWI.

The Agency, on closer reading of Section 129 of the Act, has now

determined that SSI should properly be regulated under Section 129

rather that Section 112. Section 129 requires the EPA to establish NSPS

for new and EG for existing facilities, for each category of solid

waste incineration units. Section 129 defines a solid waste

incineration unit as ``a distinct operating unit of any facility which

combusts any solid waste material from commercial or industrial

establishments or the general public (including single and multiple

residences, hotels, and motels).'' Sludge generated by POTWs is a solid

waste from the general public, commercial and industrial

establishments.

Regulation of SSI under Section 129 provides for regulation of four

criteria pollutants that are not listed as Hazardous Air Pollutants in

Section 112. Also Section 129 provides for regulation of both new and

existing units and does not have the major source quantity cutoff of

Section 112(a)(1). Development of guidelines for operator training and

certification of SSI operators is also a requirement of Section 129.

These provisions will give the EPA more flexibility in setting rules

for different sizes of SSI and will assure the public that the SSI are

being operated in a manner that will protect the public health. The

promulgation date for an NSPS and EG applicable to SSI remains no later

than November 15, 2000.

The Agency also notes that this action announces the EPA's intent

to delist SSI from the Section 112(c) source category list and the

112(e) schedule and to add SSI to the list of categories of Other Solid

Waste Incinerators. At the time of proposal of the NSPS and EG under

Section 129, the SSI will be delisted from the Section 112(c) list and

the 112(e) schedule and added to the list of categories and regulatory

schedule for Other Solid Waste Incinerators.

Dated: January 8, 1997.

Mary D. Nichols,

Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.

[FR Doc. 97-873 Filed 1-13-97; 8:45 am]

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