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On February 26, 2004, the EPA issued a final Maximum Achievable Control
Technology (MACT) regulation for industrial boilers and process heaters
in response to emission reductions from facilities emitting ten tons a year
or more of a single air toxic (from a list of 188 air pollutants). This
rule will reduce emissions, including hydrogen chloride, manganese, lead,
arsenic and mercury by more than 58,000 tons annually in the fifth year
after promulgation.
The EPA estimated that 58,000 existing boilers and process heaters built
each year over the next five years will be affected by this final rule.
In addition, this rule will limit the amount of emissions that are released
from exhaust stacks of all new (built after January 13, 2003) and existing
large and limited use solid fuel boilers and process heaters.
According to the EPA this MACT will result in:
- 2,270 fewer premature deaths
- 5,100 fewer cases of chronic bronchitis, reduced hospital admissions
for pneumonia, asthma and cardiovascular problems
- 150,000 fewer respiratory incidences in children, lost work days and
restricted activity days for people with respiratory problems
MACT Compliance
The EPA has provided the following three options for a facility to demonstrate
that a boiler or process heater meets the emission limits:
- "Lookup tables" - listed in the rule and posted on the Internet --
allow facilities to use a limited number of site-specific input parameters
to determine whether emissions from boilers or process heaters might
cause a hazard index limit for non-carcinogens to be exceeded.
- Facilities may demonstrate by modeling, using site-specific information
that emissions of a combination of threshold pollutants such as hydrogen
chloride (HCl) from the boiler or process heater under evaluation do
not cause a hazard index limit to be exceeded.
(Note: Facilities that meet either of the first two alternative compliance
tests would not be required to install scrubbers to control certain
air toxics emissions. These boilers or process heaters may be required
to install fabric filters to reduce particle emissions for a separate
particle standard for boilers.)
- Boilers or process heaters fueled by dried wood may, via a similar
eligibility test, exclude emissions of manganese from their calculation
of total metals emitted. This total is used to determine if particulate
matter emissions controls are required. These units may still be required
to install other emissions controls.
Exemptions
Gas fired boilers and process heaters are exempt from the MACT standard,
except for compliance with a carbon monoxide limit of 400 ppm @ 3% O2.
MACT Timeline
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EXISTING
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NEW
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PUBLISHED IN FEDERAL REGISTER
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9/13/04
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9/13/04
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EFFECTIVE DATE OF RULE
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11/12/04
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11/12/04
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INITIAL NOTIFICATION TO COMPLY
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BY 3/12/04
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15 DAYS OF START-UP
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COMPLIANCE DATE
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9/13/07
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UPON START-UP
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NOTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE DATE
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30 DAYS PRIOR
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30 DAYS PRIOR
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COMPLIANCE TEST DEADLINE
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BY 3/11/08
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180 DAYS OF START-UP
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NOTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE TEST STATUS
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60 DAYS AFTER TEST
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60 DAYS AFTER TEST
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COEN MACT Compliance Solutions
Contact Information
Jim Eddinger
EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
Phone: 919-541-5426
Email: eddinger.jim@epa.gov
Resource Links
National
Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Industrial/Commercial/Institutional
Boilers and Process Heaters: Final Rule
Industrial
/ Commercial / Institutional Boilers MACT
United States Environmental
Protection Agency (Office of Air & Radiation)
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