Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of Washington; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan; Federal Implementation Plan for Best Available Retrofit Technology for Alcoa Intalco Operations, Tesoro Refining and Marketing, and Alcoa Wenatchee, 33438-33456 [2014-13491]
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Dated: June 6, 2014.
Thomas L. Tidwell,
Chief, Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 2014–13627 Filed 6–10–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411–15–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R10–OAR–2010–1071; FRL–9911–83–
Region 10]
Approval and Promulgation of
Implementation Plans; State of
Washington; Regional Haze State
Implementation Plan; Federal
Implementation Plan for Best Available
Retrofit Technology for Alcoa Intalco
Operations, Tesoro Refining and
Marketing, and Alcoa Wenatchee
Environmental Protection
Agency.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA or Agency) is taking final
action to partially approve and partially
disapprove a State Implementation Plan
(SIP) submitted by the State of
Washington (State) on December 22,
2010, as meeting the requirements of
Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) section
169 and federal regional haze
regulations and to promulgate a Federal
Implementation Plan (FIP) for the
disapproved elements of the SIP. As
described in Part I of this preamble, this
final rule approves numerous elements
in the SIP including the State’s Best
Available Retrofit Technology (BART)
determinations for a number of sources.
This action also: Disapproves the NOX
BART determination and promulgates a
Federal BART alternative for five BART
emission units at the Tesoro Refining
and Marketing refinery (Tesoro refinery)
located in Anacortes, Washington;
finalizes a limited approval and limited
disapproval of the State’s SO2 BART
determination and promulgates a
Federal BART alternative for the Intalco
Aluminum Corp. (Intalco facility)
potline operation located in Ferndale,
Washington; and disapproves the State’s
BART exemption for the Alcoa
Wenatchee Works located in Malaga,
Washington (Wenatchee Works),
determines that the Wenatchee Works is
subject to BART, and promulgates
Federal BART for all emission units
subject to BART at the facility.
DATES: This final rule is effective on July
11, 2014.
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SUMMARY:
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The EPA has established a
docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA–R10–OAR–
2010–1071. All documents in the docket
are listed on the www.regulations.gov
Web site. Although listed in the index,
some information may not be publicly
available, i.e., Confidential Business
Information or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute.
Certain other material, such as
copyrighted material, is not placed on
the Internet and will be publicly
available only in hard copy form.
Publicly available docket materials are
available either electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the EPA Region 10, Office of Air, Waste,
and Toxics, AWT–107, 1200 Sixth
Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, Washington
98101. The EPA requests that you
contact the person listed in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to
schedule your inspection. The Regional
Office’s official hours of business are
Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30,
excluding Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Steve Body at (206) 553–0782,
Body.Steve@epa.gov, or at the above
EPA Region 10 address.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document whenever
‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean
the EPA. Information is organized as
follows:
ADDRESSES:
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Table of Contents
I. Summary of our Final Action
II. Background
III. Response to Comments
IV. Conclusion
V. Statutory and Executive Orders Review
I. Summary of our Final Action
The EPA is taking final action to
partially approve and partially
disapprove the Washington Regional
Haze SIP submitted on December 22,
2010. In this action, the EPA is
approving the following provisions of
the Washington SIP: The identification
of affected Class I areas and
determination of baseline conditions,
the natural conditions and uniform rate
of progress (URP) for each Class I area;
the emission inventories; the sources of
visibility impairment in Washington’s
Class I areas; the State’s monitoring
strategy; the State’s consultation with
other states and Federal Land Managers
(FLMs); the reasonable progress goals
(RPGs); the long-term strategy (LTS);
and the commitment to submit the
periodic SIP revisions and 5-year
Progress Reports.
In today’s action, we are also
approving the State’s BART
determinations for the BP Cherry Point
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Refinery, the Port Townsend Paper
Company, the LaFarge North America
facility, and Weyerhaeuser’s Longview
facility, as well as portions of the BART
determinations for the Tesoro refinery
and the Intalco facility. The EPA is
disapproving Washington’s NOX BART
determination and promulgating a
BART Alternative for five emission
units at the Tesoro refinery. The EPA is
also finalizing a limited approval and
limited disapproval of the State’s SO2
BART determination for the potlines at
the Intalco facility and promulgating an
SO2 BART Alternative for the potlines,
consisting of an annual limit of 80% of
base year SO2 emissions. Finally, the
EPA is disapproving the State’s BART
exemption for the Wenatchee Works
and promulgating BART for SO2, NOX,
and PM emissions at the facility.
The resulting BART FIP for the Tesoro
refinery, the Intalco facility, and the
Wenatchee Works does not require the
purchase or installation of new air
pollution control equipment, but rather
establishes BART based on existing
control technology. Thus, the only
additional costs incurred by these
facilities will be minimal expenditures
for monitoring, reporting, and
recordkeeping. The benefit to the
environment is the prevention of
visibility degradation due to potential
future increases in emissions from
changes envisioned at the facilities.
This final action is consistent with
our proposed actions and meets the
requirements of CAA sections 169A and
169B and 40 CFR 51.308.
II. Background
In the CAA Amendments of 1977,
Congress established a program to
protect and improve visibility in
national parks and wilderness areas. See
CAA section 169A. Congress amended
the visibility provisions in the CAA in
1990 to focus attention on the problem
of regional haze. See CAA section 169B.
The EPA promulgated regulations in
1999 to implement sections 169A and
169B of the Act. These regulations
require states to develop and implement
plans to ensure reasonable progress
toward improving visibility in
mandatory Class I Federal areas 1 (Class
1 Areas designated as mandatory Class I Federal
areas consist of national parks exceeding 6,000
acres, wilderness areas and national memorial parks
exceeding 5,000 acres, and all international parks
that were in existence on August 7, 1977. 42 U.S.C.
7472(a). In accordance with section 169A of the
CAA, the EPA, in consultation with the Department
of Interior, promulgated a list of 156 areas where
visibility is identified as an important value. 44 FR
69122 (November 30, 1979). The extent of a
mandatory Class I area includes subsequent changes
in boundaries, such as park expansions. 42 U.S.C.
7472(a). Although states and tribes may designate
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I areas). 64 FR 35714 (July 1, 1999); See
also 70 FR 39104 (July 6, 2005).
On behalf of the State of Washington,
the Washington State Department of
Ecology (Ecology) submitted its
Regional Haze State Implementation
Plan (Regional Haze SIP or SIP) to the
EPA on December 22, 2010. In an action
published on December 6, 2012, the
EPA approved BART provisions for the
TransAlta Centralia Generation, LLC
coal-fired power plant. 77 FR 72742.
On December 26, 2012, the EPA
proposed to partially approve and
partially disapprove the remaining
portions of the Washington Regional
Haze SIP covering the first
implementation period (77 FR 76714).
In that action, the EPA proposed to
approve the following SIP elements:
We proposed to approve
Washington’s identification of affected
Class I areas in the State. The State
calculated the baseline visibility
conditions in each Class I area using
data from the Interagency Monitoring of
Protected Visual Environments
(IMPROVE) from monitoring sites
representing each Class I area.
We proposed to approve the State’s
determination of natural conditions and
the uniform rate of progress (URP) for
each Class I area. Washington used the
Western Regional Air Partnership
(WRAP) derived natural visibility
conditions. In general, the WRAP based
their estimates on the EPA guidance
document titled, ‘‘Guidance for
Estimating Natural Visibility Conditions
Under the Regional Haze Program’’
(EPA–45/B–03–0005 September 2003).
However, the WRAP incorporated
refinements into its estimates that the
EPA believes provide results more
appropriate for western states than the
general EPA default approach.
We proposed to approve the statewide
emission inventory of pollutants that are
reasonably anticipated to cause or
contribute to visibility impairment in
the Class I areas. The WRAP, with data
supplied by Washington, compiled
emission inventories for all major
source categories in Washington for the
2002 baseline year and for estimated
emissions in 2018. Emission estimates
for 2018 were generated from
anticipated population growth, growth
in industrial activity, and emission
reductions from implementation of
as Class I additional areas which they consider to
have visibility as an important value, the
requirements of the visibility program set forth in
section 169A of the CAA apply only to ‘‘mandatory
Class I Federal areas.’’ Each mandatory Class I
Federal area is the responsibility of a ‘‘Federal Land
Manager.’’ Id. 7602(i). When we use the term ‘‘Class
I area’’ in this action, we mean a ‘‘mandatory Class
I Federal area.’’
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expected control measures, e.g.,
implementation of BART emission
limitations and reductions in motor
vehicle tailpipe emissions.
We proposed to approve the State’s
identification of the sources of visibility
impairment in each Washington Class I
areas, which used the approach and
modeling tools recommended by the
WRAP. These modeling tools were stateof-the-science, and the EPA determined
that these tools were appropriately used
by WRAP for regional haze planning.
We proposed to approve the State’s
monitoring strategy. The primary
monitoring network for regional haze in
Washington is the IMPROVE network.
There are currently IMPROVE
monitoring sites that represent
conditions for all Class I areas in
Washington. The State commits to rely
on the IMPROVE network for future
regional haze implementation periods.
Data from the IMPROVE network will be
used for preparing the 5-year progress
reports and the 10-year SIP revisions.
We proposed to approve the State’s
consultation with other states and
FLMs. Through the WRAP, member
states and the Tribes worked extensively
with the FLMs from the U.S.
Departments of the Interior and
Agriculture to develop technical
analyses that support the regional haze
SIPs for the WRAP states. In addition,
the State provided its proposed SIP to
the FLMs for comment in March 2010.
The State also consulted with the states
of Idaho and Oregon, as well as the
other WRAP member states and Tribes.
We proposed to approve the Stateidentified visibility improvement
anticipated by 2018 in each of the Class
I areas as a result of the BART emission
limits established in the SIP. The
projected improvement was determined
by using the results of the Community
Multi-Scale Air Quality (CMAQ)
modeling conducted by WRAP. The
WRAP CMAQ modeling predicted
visibility impairment in each Class I
area based on 2018 projected source
emission inventories, which included
federal and state regulations already in
place (‘‘on the books’’) and BART
emission limitations.
We proposed to approve the State’s
LTS because it includes the
documentation and control measures
necessary to achieve the RPGs at all
Class I areas affected by the State’s
sources. The State’s LTS included
consideration of all anthropogenic
sources of visibility impairment,
including major and minor stationary
sources, mobile sources, and area
sources. The anticipated net effect on
visibility over the first planning period
due to changes in point, area, and
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mobile source emissions is an
improvement in visibility in all Class I
areas in Washington.
We proposed to approve the State’s
commitment to develop and submit a
comprehensive Regional Haze SIP
revision to the EPA by July 31, 2018,
and every ten years thereafter. The State
also committed to submit a report to the
EPA every five years that evaluates the
progress being made towards the RPGs
and the need for any additional control
measures.
We proposed to approve the majority
of the State’s BART determinations. The
State appropriately identified all BARTeligible sources located in Washington
and, with one exception, appropriately
identified those BART-eligible sources
that are subject to BART. In this action,
we are finalizing our approval of these
SIP elements as proposed.
In our December 26, 2012 and
December 30, 2013 actions, we also
proposed to disapprove the following
SIP elements and promulgate a FIP to
fill any gaps left by our partial
disapproval:
We proposed a limited disapproval of
the State’s SO2 BART determination for
Alcoa’s Intalco facility potlines. The
State determined that installing new
control technology was not costeffective and that the level of existing
control for the potlines was BART. We
identified a number of errors with the
State’s cost analysis that rendered the
State’s control determination
unreasonable. We conducted our own
analysis and determined that limestone
slurry forced oxidation (LSFO) was SO2
BART. However, Alcoa asserted that it
could not afford LSFO at the Intalco
facility and remain a viable business. In
response, we conducted an affordability
analysis, which included updated
information as described in the
December 30, 2013 proposal, and
proposed to concur that LSFO was not
affordable at the Intalco facility. Alcoa
offered a BART Alternative of
implementing pollution prevention
measures, primarily the requirement of
3% or less sulfur in the anode coke, and
limiting potline SO2 emissions to 80%
of base year emissions. We included this
BART Alternative in our FIP. The BART
Alternative makes Washington’s
pollution prevention requirements
federally enforceable and makes the
20% SO2 reduction from baseline
permanent and federally enforceable.
We proposed to disapprove the State’s
NOX BART determination for five
emission units subject to BART at the
Tesoro refinery. The State determined
that NOX controls were not costeffective. We determined the State’s cost
estimates were unreasonably high
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because the State assumed that controls
could not be installed when the facility
is shut down for maintenance in the
estimated 2017 turnaround cycle and
still fall within the five year BART
implementation period. Tesoro offered a
BART Alternative consisting of
exclusive use of low-sulfur refinery gas
in several non-BART heaters and boilers
in lieu of installing the NOX BART
controls. We included this BART
Alternative in our proposed FIP.
We initially proposed to approve the
State’s determination that the
Wenatchee Works did not contribute to
visibility impairment in any Class I area
and was therefore not subject to BART.
During the comment period, however,
we received adverse comments that the
State’s determination was based on
visibility modeling that relied upon an
unapproved and unproven fine-grid
modeling protocol. Consequently, we
issued a supplemental notice of
proposed rulemaking on December 30,
2013, and proposed to disapprove the
State’s determination that the
Wenatchee Works was not subject to
BART and also proposed a BART FIP
(78 FR 79344). In that notice, we
proposed to find that one of the four
potlines at the Wenatchee Works, as
well as some of the supporting emission
units, are subject to BART. After
evaluating various control technologies,
we proposed to find that the costs of
compliance and the anticipated
visibility benefits did not warrant new
controls at the facility. We therefore
proposed that the existing controls at
the facility were BART and proposed to
adjust some emission limits in the
facility’s operating permit to reflect the
level of emission reductions achievable
by those existing controls.
This final action is the result of our
initial proposed action, the re-proposal
for the Wenatchee Works, and our
consideration of all public comments
received. This final action is consistent
with our proposed actions. However, as
explained below in the response to
comments we revised 40 CFR
52.2470(d) to correct the list of
conditions which are applicable to BP
Cherry Point. Additionally, we revised
the NOX emission limit and made minor
adjustments to the FIP provisions
related to the Wenatchee Works.
Finally, the compliance dates for the
Wenatchee Works and the Tesoro
refinery were slightly modified.
III. Response to Comments
We are responding to comments
received on both the initial proposal
and the re-proposal. However, the reproposal summarized and responded to
some comments received on the initial
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proposal. 78 FR 79347–79355. Those
comments and our responses will not be
repeated here. The following are our
responses to the remaining comments
received on the initial proposal for
which we have not yet responded and
new comments received on the reproposal. We are also responding to
comments received on the additional
information that was provided for
public review in the re-proposal.
Comments:
A. BP Cherry Point Refinery BART
Determination
Comment: One commenter noted that
the BART Order 7836 for the BP Cherry
Point Refinery included BART emission
limits for boilers #6 and #7, despite the
fact that these units were constructed in
2007 and are not BART-eligible
emission units. These units should not
be regulated in the BART Order. Thus,
conditions 1.1, 1.3.1, 2.1, 3.1, and 6.1 of
the BART Order should not be approved
into the Washington SIP.
Response: The EPA agrees that the BP
Cherry Point Refinery boilers #6 and #7
are not BART-eligible and thus not
subject to BART. Subsequent to the
publication of the initial proposal, the
State of Washington sent the EPA a
letter dated July 31, 2013, requesting
that conditions 1.1, 1.3.1, 2.1 3.1 and 6.1
and Finding B.c. be withdrawn from
their SIP submittal. These conditions
and Finding B.c. will not be
incorporated by reference into the SIP.
B. Tesoro-BART Alternative
Comment: Several comments were
received on our initial proposal that the
EPA should use dispersion modeling to
demonstrate the visibility improvement
from the proposed BART Alternative for
the Tesoro Refinery and compare the
results to the visibility improvement
from BART.
Response: Based on consideration of
the comments, we concluded that
additional modeling analysis was
appropriate for the BART Alternative
demonstration at the Tesoro Refinery.
The EPA requested Tesoro provide such
a modeling demonstration. The results
of that modeling were presented in the
December 30, 2013 re-proposal. The
modeling protocol and results were
posted in the docket for this action and
the Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) site on December 30, 2013. The
public was notified of its availability. 78
FR 79354–79355. The comments
received on the initial proposal and our
response regarding the need for
dispersion modeling for the Tesoro
BART Alternative, as set forth in the reproposal, will not be reiterated here.
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The following is our response to the
remaining comments received on the
initial proposal, as well as new
comments received on the re-proposal
and the additional information that was
provided for public review.
Comment: One commenter inquired
whether the EPA evaluated the model
input and output files that Tesoro used
in modeling for the BART Alternative.
Such a review is needed to verify that
the proper model settings have been
used and that only the emission rates for
the listed emission units have been
changed from the original modeling.
Response: The EPA reviewed the
model input and output files and
verified the proper settings were used.
Comment: A commenter questioned
why the EPA used the annual average
concentration limit for total reduced
sulfur (TRS) content of refinery fuel gas
rather than the maximum 24-hour rate
as required by the BART Guidelines.
The justification to use the annual
average vs. the 24-hour maximum rate
needs to be clearly included in the
administrative record. The commenter
said that if the justification cannot be
made, then the BART Alternative
should be rejected and the NOX BART
should be required.
Response: As described in our
December 30, 2013 proposal, the
purpose of visibility modeling is to
demonstrate whether the BART
Alternative provides greater reasonable
progress than BART considering the
different atmospheric chemistry
between SO2 and NOX. The modeling
described in the BART Guidelines is for
determining the maximum potential
impact of a source at Class I areas and
whether the source is subject to BART.
The purpose of the more recent
modeling here is to evaluate the relative
visibility impacts from the atmospheric
formation of visibility impairing
aerosols of sulfate and nitrate. The
absolute value of emission rates is not
of concern, because we are evaluating
the ratio of SO2 to NOX emission rates
and the resulting relative visibility
impairment.
It should also be noted that the model
used the maximum monthly average
total reduced sulfur (TRS) emission rate
during the time period 2004–2006, not
annual emission rates as stated by the
commenter. See May 14, 2013 letter
from Tesoro to the EPA.
Comment: A commenter suggested
that trading SO2 emissions for NOX
emissions does not meet the EPA’s
guidance on BART alternative programs.
The commenter specifically references
an EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning
and Standards (OAQPS), Q&A
document, August 3, 2006, that states,
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‘‘The regulations, however, do allow
States to adopt alternative measures in
lieu of BART, so long as the alternative
measures provide for greater reasonable
progress than would be BART. Interpollutant trading is not allowed in a
trading program alternative to BART.’’
Response: We believe the commenter
has misunderstood the Agency’s policy.
The complete explanation of the policy
is in the Federal Register action
referenced in the Q&A document cited
by the commenter. The Agency allows
for inter-pollutant trading as long as it
is based on a technically acceptable
approach for demonstrating the BART
Alternative provides for greater
reasonable progress. The Federal
Register action for the Regional Haze
Rule (40 CFR 51.308) (RHR) explains:
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. . . interpollutant trading should not be
allowed until the technical difficulties
associated with ensuring equivalence in the
overall environmental effect are resolved.
Some other emissions trading programs (e.g.,
trading under the acid rain program) prohibit
emission trades between pollutants. An
emissions trading program for regional haze
might also need to restrict trades to common
pollutants. Each of the five pollutants which
cause or contribute to visibility impairment
has a different impact on light extinction for
a given particle mass, making it therefore
extremely difficult to judge the equivalence
of interpollutant trades in a manner that
would be technically credible, yet convenient
to implement in the timeframe needed for
transactions to be efficient. This analysis is
further complicated by the fact that the
visibility impact that each pollutant can have
varies with humidity, so that control of
different pollutants can have markedly
different effects on visibility in different
geographic areas and at different times of the
year. Despite the technical difficulties
associated with interpollutant trading today,
EPA would be willing to consider such
trading programs in the future that
demonstrate an acceptable technical
approach. 64 FR 35743.
This guidance on BART alternatives is
primarily envisioned for large statewide,
or region-wide (multi-state) emissions
trading programs where emissions could
be traded across large, geographically
separated areas. 64 FR 35741–35743.
The technical difficulties discussed in
the above policy statement also are
focused on situations where a BART
alternative trading program is based on
emission reduction equivalency in
determining Better-than-BART results.
In such a trading program, when SO2
emissions are traded for NOX emissions,
the demonstration that the BART
alternative provides greater reasonable
progress may be technically difficult, or
impossible, due to spatial, temporal,
climate and meteorological differences
between the sources in the program. In
particular, the OAQPS Q&A document
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refers to a regional trading program.
However, in this specific situation for
the Tesoro Refinery, the BART
Alternative is not a state-wide or
regional trading program, but rather
trading within the same facility.
Therefore, the technical difficulties that
may be associated with interpollutant
trading in a state-wide or regional
trading program are of less concern.
The Tesoro BART Alternative is
confined to one facility with emissions
of SO2 and NOX coming from essentially
the same location. The CALPUFF model
is used to estimate the impacts from all
visibility impairing pollutants,
including SO2 and NOX, and is the
regulatory tool used to determine
whether a BART-eligible source is
subject to BART. We believe that the
CALPUFF model used in Washington
(and other states within EPA Region 10)
to demonstrate visibility impacts on
Class I areas to evaluate whether sources
are subject to BART, is technically
adequate to demonstrate whether or not
a BART Alternative measure that relies
on interpollutant trading results in
greater reasonable progress. As
described in the Federal Register
preamble to the RHR (64 FR 35734), it
may be difficult to assess the impacts of
different pollutants due to the potential
difference in light extinction for a given
particle mass and due to seasonal and
geographic variations. The CALPUFF
model, using the approved modeling
protocol, addresses the different light
extinction properties of different
pollutants. In the Tesoro Refinery case,
the emissions from both the BART and
the BART Alternative emission units are
from the same facility. Thus, the
potential concern regarding
interpollutant trading of emissions from
emission units separated by large
distances is not present. Also, because
the model includes the three year
baseline period, seasonal variation is
also not a concern in this instance.
Comment: Several commenters stated
that trading between BART and nonBART sources is not allowed.
Response: The preamble to the RHR
encourages both BART and non-BART
sources to be included in a BART
alternative. 64 FR 35743. Specifically,
‘‘the regional trading program may
include sources not subject to BART.
Inclusion of such sources provides for a
more economically efficient and robust
trading program. The EPA believes the
program can include diverse sources,
including mobile and area sources, so
long as the reductions from these
sources can be accurately calculated and
tracked.’’ 64 FR 35743.
Comment: One commenter states that
the NOX controls for the five Tesoro
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33441
Refinery emission units should be
imposed as reasonable progress controls
if they are not required as BART. The
EPA should still require unit-specific
NOX controls on the five BART units as
reasonable progress controls.
Response: The RHR provides states
with the opportunity to establish
alternative measures as an alternative to
BART. As discussed previously, the
RHR provides that a BART alternative
measure can include non-BART
emission units. This approach can result
in a more cost-effective control strategy.
Because we are proposing to approve
the State’s reasonable progress goals as
providing sufficient progress for this
planning period, we do not believe that
any additional reasonable progress
controls are necessary on the BARTeligible units at the Tesoro Refinery at
this time. However, the State may
consider these units for reasonable
progress controls in the next regional
haze SIP due for submittal to the EPA
in 2018.
Comment: A commenter stated that
the CAA instructs states to issue SIPs
requiring BART, and provides a process
for exempting a source from BART. The
statute does not authorize the EPA to
allow a source to escape its BART
obligations other than through the
exemption process.
Response: The commenter seems to be
saying that by imposing a BART
alternative, we are exempting Tesoro
from BART. The Tesoro facility and the
emission units associated with the
BART Alternative are not exempt from
BART. Rather, the facility is meeting its
BART obligation through a BART
Alternative measure as allowed under
the RHR. 40 CFR 51.308(e)(2).
Comment: Several commenters
suggested the SO2 emission reductions
in the BART Alternative are not surplus
reductions. They say the emission
reductions were needed to meet other
CAA requirements including Prevention
of Significant Deterioration (PSD)
requirements. They also cite the H2S
concentration limit that is already part
of a Federally enforceable permit. They
also say the emission reductions were
achieved prior to the SIP submittal.
Response: The RHR requires that
emission reductions resulting from the
alternative measure must be ‘‘surplus to
those reductions resulting from
measures adopted to meet requirements
of the CAA as of the baseline date of the
SIP.’’ 40 CFR 51.308(e)(2)(iv). When
promulgating this requirement in 1999,
the EPA explained that emission
reductions must be ‘‘surplus to other
Federal requirements as of the baseline
date of the SIP, that is, the date of the
emissions inventories on which the SIP
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relies. See 64 FR 35714, 35742; see also
70 FR 39143. ‘‘[W]hatever the origin of
the emission reduction requirement, the
relevant question for BART purposes is
whether the alternative program makes
greater reasonable progress.’’ The
Washington Regional Haze SIP relies on
emission inventories in the baseline
period 2002–2005. See Washington
Regional Haze SIP, chapter 6, section
6.3, included in the docket for this
action. Thus, reductions resulting from
any measure adopted after 2002 are
considered ‘surplus’ under 40 CFR
51.308(e)(2)(iv).
The EPA examined the permitting
history for the Tesoro Refinery and
confirmed that the emission reductions
achieved through the installation and
operation in 2007 of the flue gas
desulfurization (FGD) system to remove
sulfur from the refinery fuel gas (RFG)
used to fire several heaters and boilers
occurred after the emission inventory
baseline and are surplus for the
purposes of the alternative measure.
Comment: A commenter noted that
the SO2 reductions resulting from the
modifications to the refinery gas system
occurred for plant-specific reasons, not
to meet a regulatory requirement. These
reductions occurred in the past and will
not be the result of imposing BART
controls on any aspect of plant
operations. The commenter requests
that the EPA reject the BART
Alternative in favor of the EPA BART
proposal, which would result in
additional reduction of nearly 500 tons
of NOX.
Response: As described previously,
even if the emission reductions at this
facility occurred for plant-specific
reasons, the reductions may be
considered surplus for purposes of a
BART alternative. Additionally, as
previously explained, the EPA has
determined and confirmed with
modeling that the reductions resulting
from the now federally enforceable
requirement to operate the FGD system
result in greater reasonable progress
towards meeting natural visibility
conditions than the NOX controls that
the EPA determined to be BART.
Comment: A commenter cited a letter
dated September 16, 2011, from the EPA
Region 5 to the State of Wisconsin that
describes what emissions are considered
surplus. The commenter further
explained that the Economic Incentive
Program (EIP) defines ‘‘surplus
reductions to mean emission reductions
that are not otherwise relied on in any
of several programs, including
reductions made to insure compliance
with the NAAQS as well as reductions
included in the relevant SIP.’’ Thus the
commenter stated that to the extent the
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SO2 emissions requirements have been
incorporated into the Washington SIP
and relied on to meet other applicable
requirements, they are not ‘‘surplus’’
under the EIP.
Response: As explained previously,
we have determined that the emission
reductions are surplus for BART
alternative purposes and as such, this
action is consistent with the EIP
position that consideration (or credits)
may only be given for surplus
reductions. The SO2 emission
reductions resulting from the
combustion of low-sulfur RFG in these
heaters and boilers have not been
incorporated into the Washington SIP,
nor have they been relied on to meet
any other applicable requirements of the
Act. In our final action on the
Wisconsin SIP, we noted that, ‘‘In cases
like this where a subject is addressed by
both the general guidance in the draft
Economic Incentive Program Guidance
and in program-specific guidance that
more directly addresses specific
statutory requirements, the EPA gives
more weight to the regulatory provisions
that are promulgated for the specific
statutory requirements, in this case to
the provisions of the regional haze rule.
As noted above, the regional haze
regulations promulgated in 40 CFR
51.308 allow credit for reductions
achieved after the baseline date of the
SIP (2002), irrespective of any
recommendations to the contrary in the
draft Economic Incentives Program
Guidance.’’ 77 FR 46592 (January 31,
2008.)
Comment: A commenter requested
that the EPA evaluate BART for the
Tesoro Refinery flare, Unit X–819,
including consideration of flare
minimization efforts to reduce
emissions from this unit.
Response: BART is an emission
limitation based on the five-factor
analysis and considers the degree of
reduction available through the
application of the best system of
continuous emission reduction for each
pollutant that is emitted by an existing
stationary facility. As reflected in our
December 26, 2012, proposal, Unit X–
819 is subject to BART and we agree
with the State’s BART determination.
We considered the flare requirements of
other regulatory air pollution agencies
to determine whether there are any
available control techniques for
reducing emissions from flares. In
particular we reviewed the California,
Bay Area Air Quality Management
District (BAAQMD), Reg. 12, Rule 12,
which requires San Francisco Bay Area
refineries to prepare a flare management
plan (FMP), to reduce the frequency and
magnitude of flaring events. The rule
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provides for no specific control
technology. Rather, it requires refineries
to minimize the need to flare gases
through careful planning of
maintenance, start-up, and shutdown of
various refinery processes. However,
should an upset condition occur, it does
not prevent or otherwise restrict flaring.
It does not appear that the requirement
for a FMP would represent BART.
Additionally, Tesoro and the State
evaluated whether adding a second gas
compressor to handle excess gas
resulting from emergency vents and
directed to the RFG system would be
cost effective. See SIP, appendix L.
Tesoro determined it would cost
$21,960/ton of SO2 removed and reduce
emissions by 10 tons/year. We find that
it is not cost-effective to require the
addition of a second gas compressor at
this facility as BART.
C. Intalco Facility
As part of the December 26, 2012
proposal, we proposed that Alcoa could
not afford limestone slurry forced
oxidation (LSFO) as the basis for BART.
As explained in the re-proposal, we
received comments on the affordability
determination, requesting that we
update the affordability assessment with
current information and expressing
concern with the use of information that
was not publically available. We
responded to these comments in the reproposal and explained that we
obtained updated information and
revised the 2012 Affordability
Assessment. The Revised Affordability
Assessment and supporting
documentation was made available to
the public for review as part of the reproposal. We received no further
comment on the Revised Affordability
Assessment. We believe the updated
analysis continues to support our
determination that installation and
operation of LSFO at the Intalco facility
is not affordable.
A number of comments were received
regarding our proposed BART
determination for the Intalco facility.
The comments focused on procedural
issues, issues regarding the BART
determination and the affordability
analysis, and the BART Alternative.
Comment: A commenter asserted that
the EPA proposed BART for Intalco fails
to comply with the public notice
requirements of the CAA because it is
impossible for the public to understand
and comment on the affordability claim
because critical information is not
available. The CAA forbids the EPA
from promulgating a rule that relies in
whole or part on information not
included in the docket. The commenter
stated that critical information regarding
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Alcoa’s affordability claim had been
excluded from the record, specifically
Attachment 2 of Alcoa’s June 2012
letter, and that the failure to disclose
this information means that they are
unable to provide meaningful comment
on Alcoa’s claim that they cannot afford
LSFO controls. Finally the commenter
claimed that that the EPA has failed to
identify any support in the CAA that
permits the EPA to ignore the
requirements of the CAA for public
review and comment.
Response: The EPA recognizes the
importance of making information
available to the public so that the public
can meaningfully comment upon
proposed rules and, if they choose,
ultimately challenge its rules. This task
is somewhat more complicated when, as
here, the rulemaking necessarily
requires consideration of material
claimed as Confidential Business
Information (CBI). Nevertheless, the
CAA, the EPA’s implementing
regulations, and other statutes impose
stringent procedures for the use and
availability of information claimed to be
CBI, See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. 7414, 33 U.S.C.
1318(b); 40 CFR 2.204, 2.205, and 2.301.
As explained in the BART Guidelines,
an economic analysis regarding how the
installation of controls may impact the
viability of continued plant operation
must preserve the confidentiality of
sensitive business information.
Alcoa provided information to the
EPA to support its claim that the
company cannot afford the installation
of LSFO. See June 22, 2012 Alcoa letter
to the EPA. Alcoa requested that
Attachment 2 of the letter be treated as
confidential.
Under the CAA and EPA’s
regulations, a company may assert a
business confidentiality claim covering
information furnished to the EPA. 40
CFR 2.203(b). Once a claim is asserted,
the Agency must consider the
information to be confidential and must
treat it accordingly either until the EPA
determines that the information is not
subject to CBI protection or until the
EPA determines that release of the
information is relevant to a proceeding
and in the public interest. 40 CFR 2.205,
2.301(g). The EPA’s regulations set forth
the specific procedures that the EPA
must follow when making a CBI
determination. 40 CFR 2.204, 2.205, and
2.301(g). Under the regulations, the EPA
must provide the affected businesses
with notice and, usually, an opportunity
to comment on the impending CBI
determination or release, including an
opportunity to justify their CBI claims.
See, e.g., 40 CFR 2.204(e), 2.209(d), and
2.301(g)(2).
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Following the procedures outlined in
40 CFR part 2, the EPA requested that
Alcoa substantiate its CBI claim. The
company narrowed its CBI claim but
informed us that portions of Attachment
2 were still claimed as CBI and provided
a version of Attachment 2 with the CBI
information redacted. The redacted
information consists of six years (2008–
2013) of ‘‘after tax’’ cash flow values.
After consideration of applicable
information, requirements and case law,
the EPA completed its CBI
determination and found that the
redacted information in Attachment 2
constitutes CBI within the meaning of
the CBI regulations. The final CBI
determination is dated July 10, 2013.
Accordingly, the information may not
be disclosed to the public at this time.
When the EPA assembled the record
for this rulemaking, it physically
separated the CBI portion of the record
from the rest of the publicly available
record. The EPA placed into the public
record all information for which no
claim of CBI was asserted. Any
information or analyses based on CBI,
was presented in such a way to avoid
disclosing the underlying CBI. In
addition, the EPA placed into the public
record the Revised Affordability
Analysis which included an extensive
list of references to other publicly
available information relevant to the
economic analyses, such as companyspecific public financial reports, cost
information reported in trade journals
and industry conference presentations,
and price quotations obtained from
vendors.
Subsequent to the proposal and in
response to comments, the EPA
conducted additional analysis regarding
Alcoa’s affordability claim. More
specifically, the EPA reviewed the
recent long term power supply contract
between Alcoa and the Bonneville
Power Administration (BPA) which
established the amount and rate at
which electricity would be supplied to
the Intalco facility. The EPA also
conducted additional investigation to
obtain publically available and updated
financial information and economic
forecasts regarding the aluminum
industry. This new and additional
information was placed in the docket
and made available for public review on
December 30, 2013. The docket also
contains the June 22, 2011 Alcoa letter
with the redacted version of Attachment
2. As is evident by the list of documents
in the docket, a considerable amount of
information regarding Alcoa’s financial
condition is included and has been
made available for public review.
The publicly available information
taken together with the EPA’s
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33443
Affordability Analyses, and the
description of our analysis in the prior
Federal Register proposals are sufficient
to support and explain today’s final
action. Therefore, for the reasons stated
above, the EPA believes that the public
record is adequate to allow meaningful
review of the EPA’s decision regarding
Alcoa’s claim that they cannot afford
LSFO controls.
Comment: Referring to CAA section
110(k)(5), a commenter asserts that
before the EPA may promulgate a FIP
there must be a finding that the state
implementation plan is substantially
inadequate to comply with the CAA
requirement. The commenter claims
that because the Administrator has not
made such a finding, has not notified
Washington of the inadequacies of the
SIP or that the SIP needs to be revised,
and has not established a reasonable
deadline to revise and submit a revised
SIP, the proposed FIP is premature. This
action is premature under CAA section
110(k)(5).
Response: The EPA disagrees with
this comment. Section 110(k)(5) of the
CAA states ‘‘[w]henever the
Administrator finds that the applicable
implementation plan for any area is
substantially inadequate to . . . comply
with any requirement of [the Act], the
Administrator shall require the State to
revise the plan as necessary to correct
such inadequacies.’’ This provision
requires the EPA to issue what is known
as a ‘‘SIP call’’ whenever the EPA finds
that a state’s existing SIP is substantially
inadequate to meet CAA requirements.
Importantly, this provision bears no
relation to the EPA’s authority to review
SIP submissions and revisions, which
by definition are not incorporated into
the state’s existing SIP until they have
been approved by the EPA. Rather,
when the EPA receives a SIP submission
or revision from a state, CAA sections
110(k)(3) and 110(l) provide that the
EPA can only approve the SIP if it meets
all CAA requirements and would not
otherwise interfere with any applicable
requirement of the Act. If the EPA
determines that a SIP submission or
revision does not comply with all
applicable CAA requirements, then the
EPA must disapprove the SIP in whole
or in part. At that time, CAA section
110(c)(1)(B) provides the EPA with the
authority ‘‘to promulgate a Federal
implementation plan at any time within
2 years’’ of the disapproval.
Additionally, the EPA has the authority
to promulgate a FIP after finding that a
state has failed to make a required SIP
submission or revision entirely or that a
state has submitted an incomplete SIP.
CAA section 110(c)(1)(A). The EPA’s
obligation to promulgate a FIP does not
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expire unless the state corrects the
deficiency, and the EPA approves the
SIP before promulgating a FIP. CAA
section 110(c)(1).
Here, Washington’s Regional Haze SIP
was due on December 17, 2007. On
January 15, 2009, the EPA published
notice of its finding that Washington
and 36 other States, the District of
Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
had failed to timely submit their
regional haze SIPs. 74 FR 2392 (January
15, 2009). The notice explained that the
finding started the ‘‘two year clock’’ for
the promulgation by the EPA of a FIP.
The notice also explained that the EPA’s
FIP obligation would expire only if a
state submitted a SIP and the EPA
approved that SIP before the EPA had
promulgated a FIP. At approximately
the same time as the notice was signed,
the Region 10 Administrator sent a letter
to the Department of Ecology informing
the Director that Washington had failed
to make the required regional haze SIP
submission and explaining that within
two years, the EPA would need to either
fully approve the Washington Regional
Haze SIP or promulgate a FIP. EPA sent
similar letters to the other states, the
District of Colombia, and the U.S. Virgin
Islands.
Washington submitted its Regional
Haze SIP on December 22, 2010. As we
explained in the December 26, 2012
proposal, the EPA could not approve the
entire SIP. 78 FR 79344. Thus, the EPA
proposed to disapprove in part the
Washington Regional Haze SIP and
proposed to promulgate a FIP to fill the
gaps left by the EPA’s partial
disapproval. See CAA section 302(y).
Thus, based on both the EPA’s prior
finding of failure to submit and the
EPA’s partial disapproval of the
Washington Regional Haze SIP, the EPA
has the authority and obligation to
promulgate a FIP. We also note that the
EPA’s authority to issue a FIP in these
circumstances has been upheld recently
by both the Eighth and Tenth Circuit
Courts of Appeal. North Dakota v. EPA,
730 F.3d 750, 759 (8th Cir. 2013),
Oklahoma v. EPA, 723 F.3d 1201, 1222–
24 (10th Cir. 2013).
Comment: A commenter stated that
the EPA’s proposed action of limited
approval and limited disapproval does
not comport with the CAA or the
regulatory requirements of 40 CFR 51,
subpart P. More specifically the
commenter asserts that: (1) The CAA
requires the Administrator to approve a
state’s implementation plan ‘in whole’ if
it meets applicable requirements; (2)
Ecology dutifully executed its statutory
and regulatory obligations by preparing
and submitting a complete SIP, which
included the requisite BART
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determinations, consistent with the
CAA and promulgated regulations; (3)
the EPA’s partial disapproval is
unfounded either because the EPA has
not shown that Ecology’s BART
determination is not grounded in its
thorough consideration of the five
factors or because the EPA abused its
statutory discretion with regard to
rendering its analysis of the cost of
compliance; and (4) it is the State’s
obligation to determine BART. The EPA
does not have the authority to override
Ecology’s cost estimates and BART
determinations.
Response: As explained in our initial
proposal, the Washington Regional Haze
SIP does not meet all of the applicable
CAA requirements. Therefore the EPA
proposed a partial approval and partial
disapproval. Specifically, the EPA does
not agree that the State’s BART
determinations for the Intalco facility
and the Tesoro Refinery are consistent
with the EPA’s regulations. The EPA
agrees that in the first instance, it is
State’s obligation to determine BART,
but contrary to the comment, the EPA
does have the authority to disapprove
Ecology’s cost of compliance estimates
and BART determinations when it finds
that they are not in compliance with the
applicable CAA requirements.
The commenter’s claim that the EPA
has failed to show that Ecology’s BART
determination is not grounded in its
thorough consideration of the five
factors or that it abused its statutory
discretion is not supported by the
record. As explained in our initial
proposal, and further described here,
there are deficiencies in the State’s cost
of compliance calculations for the
Intalco facility. As also explained, the
State’s BART determination for Tesoro
is no longer accurate because it was
based on the assumption that the retrofit
would need to occur before the next
scheduled maintenance shutdown
period (turnaround) which would
significantly increase the cost. This
assumption is no longer valid because
the retrofit may occur during a
scheduled Tesoro turnaround and is
now considered cost-effective. Also
importantly, Intalco and Tesoro both
requested that the EPA consider a BART
Alternative. The EPA then found that
each BART Alternative would result in
greater overall reasonable progress
towards attaining the national visibility
goal than would requiring BART. We
therefore proposed these BART
Alternative measures instead of BART.
Comment: A commenter stated that
the EPA Region 10 referenced sections
of the EPA Air Pollution Control Cost
Manual that are irrelevant to SO2
control technologies but then the EPA
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Region 10 disregarded an SO2-specific
example in section 5 of the Control Cost
Manual which uses a 15-year equipment
lifetime. The commenter further
claimed that by using a 30-year
equipment lifetime in the cost
effectiveness calculations for the LSFO
scrubber, the EPA Region 10 ignored
agency precedent from the EPA Regions
4 and 8 and that on more than one
occasion Region 8 has had sources
reanalyze annualized costs for scrubbers
using 15-years.
Response: The EPA Air Pollution
Control Cost Manual 2 (Cost Manual)
states that the actual expected
equipment lifetime of an air pollution
control device should be used for
purposes of cost calculations. Section 1,
chapter 2 of the Cost Manual addresses
the capital recovery factor (CRF), which
is determined using the control
equipment lifetime and interest rate.
The Cost Manual clearly defines the
control equipment lifetime as the entire
life of the control. For example, on page
2–19, the Cost Manual states: ‘‘For each
alternative: calculate a discounting
factor each year over the life of the
equipment . . .’’ and on page 2–21: ‘‘In
essence, annualization involves
establishing an annual ‘payment’
sufficient to finance the investment for
its entire life, using the formula . . .
[CRF] . . . where PMT is the equivalent
uniform payment amount over the life
of the control, ‘n’, at an interest rate,
‘i.’ ’’ The variable ‘n’ in the CFR
equation used to annualize total capital
investment is thus the actual life of the
control.
The commenter provided no basis for
the 15-year equipment lifetime. Rather
the comment simply pointed to
examples of different situations or types
of control technologies where 15 years
was used. The commenter’s citation of
specific equipment lifetimes within
calculations in the Cost Manual
implying that these specific lifetimes
must always be used for a particular
control technology is incorrect. The 15year equipment lifetime contained
within section 5 of the Cost Manual
does not preclude the use of a different,
better supported time period for the
equipment lifetime of packed tower
absorbers, the technology addressed in
section 5.
In this case, as explained in the
proposal, we determined that 30 years is
a reasonable and well founded estimate
of the expected life of wet FGD systems,
such as LSFO. This determination
2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air
Pollution Control Cost Manual, Sixth Edition,
January 2002. Section 1—Introduction, Chapter 2—
Cost Estimation: Concepts and Methodology. p. 2–
19 through 2–21. EPA–452/B–02–001.
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considered among other things standard
cost estimating handbooks,3 published
papers,4 and published EPA reports 5
that report 30 years as a typical life for
a scrubber as well as industry reports
that identify specific scrubbers in
operation since the 1970s and 1980s.6
Additional support for a 30 year
scrubber life can also be found in the
EPA Response to Comments for the final
Oklahoma Regional Haze FIP.7
Region 10’s use of a 30-year life is not
inconsistent with other Agency
decisions; the EPA Region 6 used 30
years for SO2 spray dry scrubbing on
energy generation units in the final
Oklahoma FIP. The EPA Region 6
research included wet FGD technologies
such as LSFO, and indicated that the 30year lifetime was equally applicable to
both wet and spray dry FGD scrubbing.
The EPA action on the Oklahoma
Regional Haze FIP occurred subsequent
to the EPA Region 8 letters cited by the
commenter. The Region 4 action cited
by the commenter reflects the EPA
approval of a case-specific BART
determination made by the State of
Tennessee, and does not necessarily
reflect EPA endorsement of all aspects
of the underlying BART analysis
conducted by the facility in question.
Combined, the EPA Region 6 research
and analysis and the subsequent related
work by the EPA Region 10 reflect a
current and robust technical basis for
both spray dry and wet scrubbing FGD
equipment life. We therefore find that
use of 30 years as the equipment life for
LSFO in the Intalco BART analysis
remains appropriate.
Comment: A commenter stated that
the EPA Region 10 decision to use the
lower of two vendor air pollution
control cost quotes is arbitrary and
instead we should have used the
average of the two quotes. The
commenter states that it is inconsistent
that the EPA Region 10 would assert
that it was improper for Washington to
rely on the average of the two quotes
when the EPA Region 4 concluded that
Tennessee’s BART analysis relying on
3 Vatavuk, W.M., Estimating Costs for Air
Pollution Control. 1990: Lewis Publishers. p. 198.
4 Warych, J., Szymanowski, M., Optimum Values
of Process Parameters of the ‘‘Wet Limestone Flue
Gas Desulfurization System’’. Chemical Engineering
Technology, 2002. 25: p. 427–432.
5 Kaplan, N., Retrofit Costs of SO and NO
2
X
Control at 200 U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants,
September 11, 1990.
6 Electric Power Research Institute, Flue Gas
Desulfurization Systems: Component Material
Performance and Welding. December 2005.
7 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Response to Technical Comments for Sections E.
through H. of the Federal Register Notice for the
Oklahoma Regional Haze and Visibility Transport
Federal Implementation Plan, December 13, 2011.
Docket No. EPA–R06–OAR–2010–0190.
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the same average costs was reasonable.
The comment also states that the EPA
Region 10’s use of the lower of the two
quotes is inconsistent with an EPA
Region 9 action that ‘‘relied primarily
on the highest of several cost
estimates. . . .’’
Response: As described in the initial
proposal and supporting documents, it
is appropriate to base the cost of
compliance calculation on the lower of
the two vendor quotes. While not
explicitly stated as a directive in section
1, chapter 2 of the Cost Manual (which
discusses general methodology), the
Cost Manual includes a discussion
indicating support for the use of the
most competitive, lowest responsive bid
within cost effectiveness calculations. In
Section 6, chapter 3, the Cost Manual
states that ‘‘[s]ignificant savings can be
had by soliciting multiple quotes,’’ 8 and
in section 4.2, chapter 1, the Cost
Manual suggests that vendor quotes be
‘‘compare[d] to other bids.’’ 9 These
sections inherently recognize the
practice of competitive bidding in the
contracting process with the goal of
procuring air pollution control
equipment using the most cost effective
option.10 That these statements are
made within chapters of the Cost
Manual that address specific control
technologies does not reduce their
applicability to cost effectiveness
calculations in general.
The two vendor quotes were from
experienced, reliable equipment
vendors, and the lower of the two
quotes was in fact more robust and
detailed.
Using the lowest responsive bid also
makes common sense from a contracting
perspective. Given multiple responsive
bids from well qualified equipment
suppliers, it is reasonable to expect that
the lower cost supplier is most likely to
be chosen to provide the control
equipment. The use of the average of
multiple bids, as advocated by the
commenter, is illogical since the
resulting cost does not reflect the actual
cost of control equipment from any
supplier.
8 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air
Pollution Control Cost Manual, Sixth Edition,
January 2002. Section 6—Particulate Matter
Controls, Chapter 3—Electrostatic Precipitators. p.
3–38. EPA–452/B–02–001.
9 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air
Pollution Control Cost Manual, Sixth Edition,
January 2002. Section 4.2—NOX Post Combustion,
Chapter 1—Selective Non-catalytic Reduction. p. 1–
29. EPA–452/B–02–001.
10 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air
Pollution Control Cost Manual, Sixth Edition,
January 2002. Section 4.2—NOX Post Combustion,
Chapter 1—Selective Non-catalytic Reduction. p. 1–
30. Chapter 2—Selective Catalytic Reduction. p. 2–
40. EPA–452/B–02–001.
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We acknowledge that the EPA Region
4 approved the State’s decision
regarding the BART analysis for the
Alcoa facility in Tennessee. However,
Region 4 did not initiate this approach,
but rather approved the State’s
approach. In instances where the EPA is
conducting the BART analysis (rather
than the EPA reviewing a state’s
analysis), we are consistent.
Contrary to the comment, the Region
9 and Region 10 approaches regarding
cost are consistent. The EPA Region 9
BART cost analysis for the Four Corners
Power Plant (FCPP) was based on a
combination of cost information
submitted from equipment suppliers as
well as information based on the Cost
Manual. In the course of developing the
FCPP FIP, the EPA Region 9 received
three bids from the same vendor
containing pricing information that was
updated as the project proceeded. The
second bid submitted was the highest
cost bid. The EPA Region 9 used the
second bid in their cost analysis because
the third bid, which reflected lower
costs, was submitted later in the BART
analysis process and the overall
difference between the three bids was
not significant enough to affect the cost
effectiveness determination.
The EPA Region 9 statement in the
action cited by the commenter 11 was
intended to communicate that the EPA
Region 9 considered the costs to be
conservatively high, which still resulted
in the control equipment being
determined to be cost effective. This
position is stated more explicitly in the
technical support document for the
FCPP BART FIP developed by the EPA
Region 9: ‘‘. . . the EPA’s revised cost
information and our additional analysis
that rely on the capital and annual costs
are conservatively overestimated.’’ 12
Additionally, we note that the EPA
Region 9 did not accept the bid as
submitted, but revised numerous cost
elements based on independent
research, competing equipment supplier
bids for certain control equipment
elements, and information contained in
the Cost Manual. Therefore, the final
cost numbers used in the EPA Region
9’s analysis, while based on the highest
of the three base vendor bids, were
lower than the third vendor bid due to
the changes made by the EPA Region 9.
11 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Source
Specific Federal Implementation Plan Best
Available Retrofit Technology for Four Corners
Power Plant: Navajo Nation. Final Rule. Docket
Number EPA–R09–OAR–2010–0683. 77 FR 51620.
12 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Proposed Rule: Source Specific Federal
Implementation Plan Best Available Retrofit
Technology for Four Corners Power Plant: Navajo
Nation, Technical Support Document. Docket
Number EPA–R09–OAR–2010–0683, p. 30.
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Thus, the EPA Region 9 action in fact
relied on the principles of competitive
bidding where appropriate, consistent
with the EPA Region 10 action.
Comment: A commenter states that
the EPA Region 10 cost analysis
disregarded the fact that the EPA Region
10’s internal economic analysis
concluded that the gypsum by-product
market is speculative and did not prove
there would be a guaranteed market for
the gypsum in the future. The
commenter also states that the EPA
Region 10 ignored relevant market
information provided by Alcoa and that
this biased the EPA Region 10’s control
cost estimate in favor of controls being
deemed cost effective.
Response: The EPA Region 10
continues to believe it is unreasonable
to assume that the gypsum produced by
LSFO would require disposal in a
landfill given its suitability as a
feedstock in many re-use applications
and that it is appropriate to eliminate
the disposal cost for purposes of the cost
effectiveness analysis. The assumption
that the by-product gypsum would be
reused is consistent with the approach
taken in a 2003 technology evaluation
conducted by Sargent and Lundy, where
a disposal cost of zero was used.13
Contrary to the comment, the EPA
Region 10 did consider all information
submitted by Alcoa, including the letter
dated June 22, 2012. In this letter, Alcoa
outlines technical challenges associated
with re-use of the gypsum in various
potential applications, but includes no
discussion regarding potential
resolutions of these technical
challenges. The EPA Region 10 found
that the financial incentive to avoid
disposal costs for a re-usable product
would encourage reuse. For example,
although moist synthetic gypsum may
be inappropriate for use in cement
manufacturing, dry synthetic gypsum
may be appropriate. In a cost analysis
conducted by Sargent and Lundy for the
LSFO scrubber built for the coal-fired
power plant in Centralia Washington,14
it was assumed that the gypsum byproduct would be re-used, and a
gypsum credit of $5/ton was assumed.
In fact the gypsum produced by
Centralia plant was re-used by local
wallboard manufacturers.15 16
13 Sargent & Lundy LLC, Wet Flue Gas
Desulfurization Technology Evaluation, January
2003. https://www.lime.org/documents/uses_of_
lime/wet_fgdte2003.pdf
14 Sargent & Lundy LLC, Cost Study for a 1,400
MW Flue Gas Desulfurization Unit, Centralia Units
1 & 2, October 1996.
15 ‘‘TransAlta and George Pacific Share Win-Win
Situation’’. Daniel Brunell. Association of
Washington Business online article. July-August
2004. https://www.awb.org/articles/environment/
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The EPA Region 10 further believes
that, were landfill disposal required, the
disposal cost assumed in the original
Alcoa BART analysis of $145/ton is
excessively high. The 1996 Sargent &
Lundy report cites landfill disposal
costs of only $6/ton, and a more recent
Sargent & Lundy paper cites landfill
disposal costs of only $12/ton for a
similar waste product from dry FGD.17
A disposal cost several times higher
than that cited by Sargent & Lundy
would not significantly impact the cost
effectiveness determination for LSFO at
Intalco.
Thus, while recognizing some gypsum
market uncertainty, we conclude that
the gypsum disposal costs are properly
excluded in the cost effectiveness
calculation for LSFO.
Comment: One commenter requested
the EPA reject the affordability
argument as the affordability claim is
unprecedented and the EPA’s reliance
on affordability in this instance is
inconsistent with the EPA’s approach to
BART determinations across the
country. The commenter asserted that
because the EPA has proposed and/or
finalized BART determinations in other
areas that have contributed to power
plants shutting down because the
electrical generating units (EGUs) were
not profitable enough after accounting
for the cost of pollution controls (e.g.
New York, Oklahoma, Four Corners,
Boardman, and TransAlta) that the EPA
must explain the different outcome for
this BART determination. Intalco is the
only BART determination where a
company is excused from complying
with the law on the grounds that it
cannot ‘afford’ the law.
Response: The BART Guidelines
explain that, even where a control
technology is cost-effective, ‘‘there may
be cases where the installation of
controls would affect the viability of
continued plant operations.’’ 40 CFR
part 51, appendix Y, section IV.E.3.1. In
these unusual circumstances, the BART
Guidelines allow states and the EPA to
take into consideration how requiring
controls could affect ‘‘product prices,
the market share, and profitability of the
source.’’ Id. section IV.E.3.2.
Nevertheless, only when these effects
are ‘‘judged to have a severe impact on
plant operations’’ can they play a role in
transalta_and_georgia_pacific_share_win_win_
situation.htm.
16 ‘‘Why Centralia Matters to Washington State’’.
TransAlta. April 2010. https://www.transalta.com/
sites/default/files/Why-Centralia-Matters.pdf.
17 Sargent & Lundy LLC, Economics of Lime and
Limestone for Control of Sulfur Dioxide, 2003.
https://www.graymont-mx.com/technical/
Economics_of_Lime_and_Limestone_Control_
Sulfur_Dioxide.pdf.
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the ultimate control determination. The
affordability analysis we conducted for
Intalco was therefore proper. As
explained in our re-proposal, the results
of the analysis demonstrated that
requiring controls at the Intalco facility
would have a ‘‘severe impact’’ on the
facility’s ability to continue business
operations. The examples cited by the
commenter, on the other hand, are
inapposite. In those instances, none of
the sources submitted affordability
analyses to the EPA as part of the BART
evaluation process. While the sources
may have determined that it was in their
financial interest to cease operating
certain EGUs rather than install
pollution control technology, the EPA
has no reason to believe that the sources
could not afford the controls in
question. Rather, the sources made
voluntary business decisions that the
benefits of continuing to generate
electricity at the affected units were
outweighed by a number of factors,
which likely included the costs of
controls, potential future regulatory
requirements, market trends, the
availability of alternative generating
strategies, etc. The EPA has no evidence
to suggest, however, that the costs of
controls in those instances were so
onerous that the sources simply could
not afford them or that the sources’
decisions to cease operations were in
essence involuntary.
Comment: One commenter requested
the EPA’s or Ecology’s commitment to
revisit the BART determination for the
Intalco facility every 10 years based on
then current information. Two
commenters recommended that the EPA
explain how the Intalco facility will be
reevaluated in the 5-year report or next
SIP planning cycle to determine if LSFO
does become affordable in the future.
One commenter would like the EPA
or Ecology to commit to revisiting the
BART determination for Intalco in each
round of revised regional haze SIPs (i.e.,
every 10 years) utilizing the
technological and financial information
that is current for this source at that
time.
Response: BART is a ‘one time’
decision that is not required to be
revisited in future planning cycles.
However, the source could in the future
be subject to an analysis of control to
achieve reasonable progress, should a
new breakthrough in technology occur
and cost effective controls be identified.
The RHR explains that ‘‘After a state has
met the requirements for BART, or
implemented an emission trading
program, or other alternative measure
that achieves more reasonable progress
than the installation and operation of
BART, BART eligible sources will be
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subject to the requirements of paragraph
(d) of this section in the same manner
as other sources.’’ 40 CFR 51.308(e)(5).
A commitment to revisit whether cost
effective controls are available for a
particular source in the future is not a
required SIP element of this planning
cycle and is not required for the EPA to
approve the regional haze plan. A stated
intention in the State’s SIP submittal to
revisit controls in the future is not an
enforceable requirement. Accordingly
the EPA’s approval today is not
conditioned upon the State’s
commitment to conduct future control
technology reviews on a specific
schedule.
Comment: One commenter
recommended that the EPA consider the
number of Class I areas impacted.
Response: The EPA considered the
fact that Intalco had impacts greater
than 0.5 deciview (dv) at six Class I
areas. Additionally, we took into
account Intalco’s significant impact of
over 1 dv at Olympic National Park.
Thus, as explained in the proposal, the
EPA considered cumulative visibility
impacts, as well as the other BART
factors in reaching its BART
determination for this facility. See 77 FR
76191.
Comment: A commenter suggested
that it was improper to use baseline
emissions rather than future (or even
current) conditions to assess visibility
improvement.
Response: As previously described in
our response regarding Tesoro’s baseline
emissions, the BART Guidelines (40
CFR part 51, appendix Y) provide, ‘‘In
general, for existing sources subject to
BART, you will estimate the anticipated
annual emissions based upon actual
emissions from a baseline period.’’ 40
CFR part 51, appendix Y, section
IV.D.4.d.1. The baseline period in the
Washington SIP submittal for emissions
used in the BART analysis is 2002–
2005. The BART Alternative analysis
correctly used the highest 24-hour
emission rate in the baseline period to
assess visibility improvement.
Comment: One commenter requested
that the EPA clarify that the modeled
BART Alternative improvements are not
improvements from current conditions.
Response: Intalco has seen dramatic
fluctuation in production over the last
decade ranging from no production to
production at approximately 80% of full
operation. Thus, visibility improvement
in Class I areas impacted by the Intalco
facility will vary based on operating
rates. The Intalco facility is currently
operating at slightly less than 80% of
full operation. As stated in the Federal
Register proposal of December 26, 2012,
the proposal to limit SO2 emissions to
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80% of baseline, combined with making
the other components in the BART
Alternative permanent and federally
enforceable, will prevent degradation if
the Intalco facility increases production
above 80%. 77 FR 76193.
D. Alcoa Wenatchee Works
Comment: Several commenters
suggested that the Alcoa Wenatchee
Works was improperly exempted from
BART review. This comment is based
on Ecology’s use of refined air quality
dispersion modeling (0.5 km grid)
which the commenters believe
underestimates visibility impact. The
commenters asserted that the use of fine
grid modeling inappropriately
underestimates the Wenatchee Works
impacts at the Alpine Lakes Wilderness
Area to a level below the BART
threshold thus allowing it to be
improperly exempt from BART.
Allowing the use of fine grid modeling
is contrary to numerous prior statements
by the EPA. The commenters requested
that the EPA disapprove Washington’s
BART exemption determination and
conduct a BART analysis for the
Wenatchee Works.
Response: In response to the
comments, the EPA re-evaluated the
dispersion modeling that the State used
to exempt the Wenatchee Works from
BART. On December 30, 2013, we
published a proposed rulemaking action
where we explained our rationale for
proposing to disapprove the State’s
BART exemption determination,
proposing that the facility was subject to
BART, and proposing a BART FIP for
the Wenatchee Works. 78 FR 79344. The
adverse comments on that re-proposal
are addressed below.
Comment: A commenter asserts that
the EPA failed to address and resolve
deficiencies in the Draft ‘‘Modeling
Protocol for the Application of the
CALPUFF Modeling System Pursuant to
the Best Available Retrofit Technology
(BART) Regulation’’ (the draft Three
State Protocol) as identified by Alcoa to
the EPA in a June 30, 2006 letter to EPA
Region 10. The commenter claimed that
this failure adversely affected the
subject-to-BART modeling activities and
improperly determined visibility
impairment within the State of
Washington.
Response: The major concern raised
in the June 30, 2006 letter was that the
draft Three State Protocol did not
include a provision to allow for site
specific protocols that include technical
enhancements, such as better resolution
and other site specific improvements.
The June 30, 2006 letter requested that
such enhancements be allowed in the
BART exemption modeling and the
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33447
BART determination modeling. It also
stated that the 4 kilometer (km) grid
resolution 18 did not replicate on-theground terrain features such as valley
flow and land/water boundaries. For
purposes of this action, a 4 km grid is
considered a course grid and a 0.5 km
grid is considered to be a fine grid.
The final Three State Protocol
provided for site specific protocols.
Deviations from and site specific
improvements to the Three State
Protocol are allowed. The Modeling
Protocol for Washington, Oregon, and
Idaho: Protocol for the Application of
the CALPUFF Modeling System
Pursuant to the Best Available Retrofit
Technology (BART) Regulation (the
final Three State Protocol) states in
section 1.1 that:
This modeling protocol is a cooperative
effort among Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality (IDEQ), Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality
(ODEQ), and Washington Department of
Ecology (WDOE) to develop an analysis that
will be applied consistently to the Idaho,
Washington, and Oregon BART-eligible
sources. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service,
and U.S. EPA Region 10 were consulted
during the development of this protocol (EPA
2006a, b, c). This protocol adopts the BART
Guideline and addresses both the BART
exemption as well as the BART
determination modeling. The three agencies
are also collaborating on the development of
a consistent three-year meteorological data
set. Collaboration on the protocol and
meteorological data set helps ensure
modeling consistency and the sharing of
resources and workload.
As stated above, the development of
the Three State Protocol was a
collaborative effort that included seven
government agencies. The Three State
Protocol was viewed as guidance and
not a prescription of how the modeling
must be done in all cases. Consequently,
if a BART-eligible source preferred to
deviate from the Three State Protocol,
such as generate its own predicted
mesoscale meteorology simulations or
employ a different grid resolution, as in
the Wenatchee Works case, the state
with jurisdiction would consult with
the other six government agencies,
including the EPA, before accepting the
deviation. The purpose of the
consultation is to resolve differing
opinions on the deviation, ensure
consistency and the integrity of the
18 Grid resolution is the distance between points
for which model data is established. In this case the
data is the elevation above mean sea level. A course
grid may miss changes in elevation in mountainous
terrain (i.e. river valley features) and the model may
not account for channeling of wind flow. The grid
points are also the points where estimated pollutant
concentrations and visibility impairment are
calculated.
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Three State Protocol, and maintain
fairness to the BART-eligible sources.
The EPA’s endorsement of significant
deviations from the Three State Protocol
is necessary to effectively evaluate the
SIP for technical adequacy in this
important case of exempting a source
from BART. As described below, the
EPA had concerns with the deviation.
In July 2008, the EPA Region 10
communicated to Washington our
concerns regarding use of fine grid
modeling for the Wenatchee Works. In
a July 8, 2008 email message to Ecology
we stated, ‘‘Nevertheless, R10 is willing
to allow the use of new procedures,
techniques or options as long as an
acceptability demonstration is made in
accordance with applicable guidance
and is fully vetted by peers.’’ The email
also explained that, ‘‘[t]he CALPUFF
modeling system has never been
evaluated or tested against tracer gas
studies/experiments using a fine grid.
As a minimum, Ecology and TRC
should have submitted a protocol to R10
for acceptance to evaluate and test the
sensitivity using a fine grid resolution in
CALPUFF Version 5.8.’’ The State failed
to address these concerns.
Comment: A commenter claims that
the EPA ‘‘cherry picked’’ statements and
portrayed out of context, portions of the
EPA’s 2009 Modeling Clearinghouse
Memorandum and misrepresented its
relevance to the Wenatchee Works
BART exemption modeling.
Response: The EPA disagrees with the
commenter that the Modeling
Clearinghouse Memorandum, dated
May 15, 2009, was taken out of context
to justify the rejection of the Wenatchee
Works BART exemption modeling. The
memorandum states in part that, ‘‘. . .
the Otter Tail Protocol presents no
scientific evidence to support the claim
that 1 km CALMET resolution increases
the objective accuracy of the final wind
field, especially in areas of relatively
modest topographic relief, such as for
each of the three proposed domains.’’
Similarly, the commenter did not
present any scientific evidence to
support its claim that the proposed 500
meter grid resolution will adequately
capture the terrain influenced wind
flows (e.g., valley and slope) at its river
valley location.
CALMET is a diagnostic
meteorological model that produces
non-steady-state hourly meteorological
data but has limited ability to
independently capture the full threedimensional structure of complex wind
flows at the Wenatchee Work’s river
valley location. Unlike the Otter Tail
situation where the benefit may be
limited, the EPA believes a network of
meteorological monitoring stations (e.g.,
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surface and upper air measurements) at
the river valley location would better
capture the three-dimensional, nonsteady-state meteorology of this site.
These data could be used to create a
more accurate wind field that could
then be used to more accurately predict
the visibility impact from the
Wenatchee Works.
Comment: A commenter questioned
the value of revising the PM emission
limitations that are being required of
various emission units at the Wenatchee
Works. The commenter states that the
potential visibility improvement
resulting from the reduction in
allowable emissions is below the
capability of the model to determine.
Any potential visibility improvement
that may accrue from imposing the SO2
limit on Potline 5 would far exceed that
of the direct PM2.5 being emitted by
these stacks. However another
commenter said, ‘‘We support retaining
the existing particulate matter limit of
.005 gr/dscf.’’
Response: We acknowledge that
tightening the particulate matter
emission limits may have little effect on
visibility improvement because the
existing fabric filters are high efficiency
control devices. However, in some
instances the existing emission limits
are well above the level that a properly
operating fabric filter can achieve.
BART is defined as an emission limit
based on the degree of reduction
achievable through the application of
the best system of continuous emission
reduction. The existing emission limits
in some cases are not based on the
degree of reduction achievable at this
facility. The BART emission limits we
are establishing reflect the achievable
emission reductions for these units, and
result in tighter limits.
Comment: A commenter said that
they have been unable to ascertain the
source of the emission factor for NOX
emissions from Potline 5. Additionally,
they wonder about the value of an
emission limitation based solely on the
potline aluminum production rate and
an emission factor. The commenter
suggests three options; that the NOX
emission limit be removed, the emission
factor be substantiated, or the emissions
be based on actual monitoring.
Response: The EPA understands that
this emission factor has been used by
Alcoa to report NOX emissions to the
Department of Ecology for years.
However, we recognize the lack of
substantiation for the emission factor
and Alcoa has indicated that they
cannot quickly provide the EPA with a
basis for the factor. In response to this
comment, the EPA has revised the NOX
BART emission limit from the proposed
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0.95 tons per calendar month to a ‘‘test
and set’’ requirement that will require
Alcoa to conduct source tests and
develop a unit-specific NOX emission
factor for Potline 5. That emission factor
will then be used to establish a monthly
NOX emission limit for Potline 5.
Comment: A commenter states that
the EPA erroneously asserts that there
are ‘‘no’’ SO2 emissions associated with
Ingot Furnaces No. 1, 2, and 11. The
commenter requests that the statement
be corrected to indicate there are trivial
amounts of SO2 created during the
combustion of natural gas. Should the
EPA elect not to withdraw its proposed
actions and approve the Washington
SIP, the commenter asks that the EPA
determine that BART for SO2 for these
furnaces be comparable to the BART
limit proposed for NOX, which is a
limitation on the type of fuel that may
be combusted.
Response: There are trivial amounts of
SO2 emissions from the Ingot furnaces.
The total SO2 emitted from the three
Ingot furnaces is 0.014 t/yr. We consider
these insignificant, but as requested by
the commenter, we will establish a
BART requirement for SO2. We agree
with the commenter that BART for SO2
would be the continued combustion of
natural gas in the Ingot Furnaces. Thus,
we are requiring the combustion of
natural gas as BART for NOX emissions
and are adding a provision that requires
the combustion of natural gas as BART
for SO2 emissions as well.
Comment: A commenter suggests that
the EPA appears to be inconsistent in
the cost analyses produced for
limestone scrubbing for SO2. The
commenter explains that, in what
appears to be the final cost analysis
(document #501 in the docket), the EPA
has included no costs for gypsum
disposal, but that documents #503 and
#504 in the docket do contain a disposal
cost for gypsum. Based on experience
with similar useable waste materials the
commenter states that the EPA should
include a disposal cost for the gypsum
produced by the limestone scrubbing
system. The commenter has found that
even a useful waste like gypsum cannot
be disposed of or given away at no cost
to the source. At a minimum, the
company generating the waste material
has to cover the cost of storage and
transport to a user.
Response: The commenter appears to
be confusing cost analyses conducted by
Alcoa (documents #503 and #504) with
the EPA’s cost analysis (document
#501). A detailed response to the
comment with regard to the inclusion of
gypsum disposal cost in the cost
analysis has been provided above
addressing a similar comment regarding
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the SO2 BART analysis for the Intalco
facility.
Comment: A commenter states that
the EPA Region 10 ignored agency
precedent and other factual information
in the development of the Wenatchee
Works cost of compliance analysis when
it relied on the cost analysis for a
similar scrubber at the Intalco facility.
The commenter states that the EPA
made the same flaws in the Wenatchee
analysis that it made in the Intalco
analysis specifically: Equipment life,
use of vendor quotes, use of
unsubstantiated costs, ignoring cost data
provided by Alcoa, and using data that
underestimate the cost of LSFO.
Response: This comment for the
Wenatchee Works is similar to a
comment about the Intalco BART
analysis addressed above. See our
response regarding the cost of
compliance calculation for the Intalco
facility. The same rationale for our
response to the Intalco BART analysis
comment applies to this comment
regarding the Wenatchee Works.
Comment: A commenter suggests that
the process description for the anode
bake furnace at the Wenatchee facility is
incorrect in the preamble to the
December 30, 2013 re-proposal.
Response: The commenter is correct
in that the carbon anodes are not used
in an electric arc furnace, rather the
facility produces aluminum from
alumina via an electrochemical
reduction process that occurs in
‘‘electrolytic reduction cells’’ commonly
known as (pots) using the Hall-Heroult
process.
Comment: A commenter said that
provisions for alternative fuel use
should be included, when a change to
fuel use is permitted or required
pursuant to governmental dictate.
Response: We understand that Alcoa
may change to an alternate fuel in the
future. However, we cannot ensure that
the requirement for BART is met by
simply allowing for the use of an
alternative fuel that is permitted or
required by the government. If Alcoa
choses to change to a fuel other than
natural gas, the normal process would
be to request the EPA to revise this rule
and establish an appropriate BART
emission limit for the alternative fuel.
We do, however, believe that we can
provide for the situation where the use
of an alternative fuel may be approved
in a Prevention of Significant
Deterioration (PSD) permit. It is the
EPA’s position that a Best Available
Control Technology (BACT) emission
limit for a pollutant established in a
PSD permit will likely be at least as
stringent as a BART emission limit for
that pollutant. We have added a
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provision to this rule that would allow
a federally-enforceable BACT emission
limit for NOX which is established in a
PSD permit to supersede the BART
emission limit for NOX established in
this rule.
Comment: A commenter notes there
appears to be a discrepancy between the
baseline SO2 emissions and emissions
reduced through LFSO at Potline 5. The
proposal states that Potline 5 has a
baseline emissions rate of 1000.8 tons of
SO2 per year. However, the supporting
BART analysis appears to assume that
an LFSO scrubber could reduce
emissions by 1955 tons per year which
would be greater than the annual
baseline emissions.
Response: The EPA does not agree
that there is a discrepancy between the
SO2 emission values for Potline 5 in the
proposal and in the BART analysis. The
1000.8 tons per year value in the
proposal is the baseline SO2 emission
rate which represents the actual annual
emissions from the Potline during the
baseline period. The 1955 tons per year
emission reduction in the BART
analysis represents an estimate of the
potential emission reduction from the
maximum potential to emit from the
Potline that could be expected from the
application of LFSO.
Comment: A commenter said that the
EPA should consider ways to monitor
and make more easily enforceable the
proposed BART emissions limits. Most
of the units at the Wenatchee Works do
not have continuous emissions
monitoring systems (‘‘CEMS’’), and for
many of the units, the EPA is proposing
limits based on the content of the fuel
or emissions per unit of production. For
Potline 5, the EPA proposes a BART
limit expressed as pounds of SO2 per
ton of aluminum produced, per calendar
month. Potline 5 has the highest SO2
emissions of any BART-eligible unit at
the Wenatchee facility, but it does not
currently have a CEMS. To gather more
accurate data on the unit’s actual
emissions and to ensure compliance
with any emissions limit, the
commenter believes that the EPA should
require installation of a CEMS and
express the emissions limit in terms of
SO2 emitted per month, as a rolling 30day average.
Response: Emissions from primary
aluminum plants have traditionally
been regulated with emission standards
in the form of pounds of emissions per
ton of aluminum produced (see, e.g., the
EPA’s New Source Performance
Standards for aluminum plants at 40
CFR part 60, subpart S, the EPA’s
Maximum Achievable Control
Technology standards for aluminum
plants at 40 CFR part 63, subpart LL,
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33449
and Ecology’s emission limits for
aluminum plants at WAC 173–415). The
EPA believes that establishing BART
emission limits in the same form as the
limits for other pollutants set under
other programs will both ensure
enforceable limits on visibility
impairing pollutants as well as provide
a consistent set of requirements for the
regulated sources. The EPA also
believes that for SO2 emissions, a mass
balance approach to demonstrating
compliance, rather than CEMS, is
appropriate for Potline 5. SO2 from
Potline 5 is emitted both from the gas
treatment centers air pollution control
units (GTC) and the roof vents.
Measuring SO2 emissions from the roof
vents with CEMS is not feasible. In
addition, a mass balance approach with
frequent monitoring of the sulfur in the
anodes adequately accounts for the SO2
emissions from both the GTC and the
roof vents. Similarly, restricting BARTeligible units to a particular fuel (e.g.,
natural gas) and then monitoring the
fuel combusted in the units that have no
other SO2 emission controls also
adequately accounts for the SO2
emissions from those units.
Comment: A commenter said that the
EPA merged monitoring and compliance
demonstration requirements in 40 CFR
52.2502(c)(1)(i) and created ambiguity
that requires further clarification.
Response: We agree with the
commenter that the proposed rule
merged the monitoring and compliance
demonstration requirements for the
sulfur limit for incoming coke in a way
that was confusing. We have
reformatted the provision to more
clearly specify how compliance is
demonstrated for the sulfur limit for
incoming coke and the required
monitoring to determine the sulfur
content of incoming coke. Note that this
SO2 BART limit for the anode bake
furnaces does not affect the SO2 BACT
emission limit in the 1982 EPA PSD
permit (PSD–X82–04) for Potlines 1
through 3.
Comment: A commenter notes that
the emissions in excess of the various
BART limits proposed throughout the
final rule must not be exceeded onehundred twenty days after the final rule
is published in the Federal Register.
The commenter claims a more
appropriate compliance date for these
emission limits is the requirement to
comply with the BART limits ‘‘within
120 days of the final rule becoming
effective,’’ not when the final rule is
published in the Federal Register. The
EPA should restate the compliance date
for the BART requirements affected by
this proposed regulation.
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Response: We have changed the
compliance dates throughout the rule to
reflect both the expected effective date
of this action as well as to tie the
compliance date to the effective date of
the final rule. Specifically, the
compliance date for the Intalco facility’s
calendar year SO2 BART limit is set at
January 1, 2015. The compliance date
for the NOX ‘test and set’ emission limit
is 180 days after the effective date of the
final rule. The compliance dates for all
other BART emission limits are 120
days after the effective date of this
action. The compliance date for the
Tesoro refinery was also revised to 120
days after the effective date of this
action.
IV. Conclusion
EPA is taking final action to partially
approve and partially disapprove
Washington’s SIP for Regional Haze and
to promulgate a FIP for the disapproved
elements. The EPA is approving
portions of the Washington Regional
Haze SIP as meeting the requirements of
40 CFR 51.308 for the first planning
period and disapproving other portions.
The disapproved portions are corrected
with today’s promulgation of FIP
elements.
As discussed above, promulgation of
the FIP BART elements for the Tesoro
refinery, the Intalco facility, and the
Wenatchee Works does not require the
purchase or installation new air
pollution control equipment, but rather
establishes BART based on existing
control technology. Thus, the only
additional costs incurred by the owners
of these facilities will be minimal
expenditures for monitoring, reporting,
and recordkeeping. EPA expects that
this action will prevent visibility
degradation in the Class I areas by
limiting potential future increases in
emissions from changes at the facilities.
V. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
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A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory
Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and
Regulatory Review
This action finalizes approval of
portions of the Washington SIP and a
FIP for emission units subject to BART
at three facilities. This action is not a
‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under
the terms of Executive Order 12866 (58
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and is
therefore not subject to review under
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 (76
FR 3821, January 21, 2011). It is
therefore not a rule of general
applicability.
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B. Paperwork Reduction Act
This action does not impose an
information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction
Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Burden is
defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b). Because the
final FIP applies to just three facilities,
the Paperwork Reduction Act does not
apply. See 5 CFR 1320(c).
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
generally requires an agency to prepare
a regulatory flexibility analysis of any
rule subject to notice and comment
rulemaking requirements under the
Administrative Procedure Act or any
other statute unless the agency certifies
that the rule will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Small entities
include small businesses, small
organizations, and small governmental
jurisdictions. For purposes of assessing
the impacts of today’s final rule on
small entities, small entity is defined as:
(1) A small business as defined by the
Small Business Administration’s (SBA)
regulations at 13 CFR 121.201; (2) a
small governmental jurisdiction that is a
government of a city, county, town,
school district or special district with a
population of less than 50,000; and (3)
a small organization that is any not-forprofit enterprise which is independently
owned and operated and is not
dominant in its field. After considering
the economic impacts of today’s final
rule on small entities, I certify that this
action will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. The FIP that
the EPA is finalizing for purposes of the
regional haze program consists of
imposing Federal controls to meet the
BART requirements for three
specifically identified facilities. The net
result of this FIP action is that the EPA
is finalizing emission limits on selected
units at only three sources which are
not considered small business. The
sources in question are two aluminum
smelters and a petroleum refinery. The
final partial approval of the SIP merely
approves state law as meeting Federal
requirements and does not impose
additional requirements.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA)
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public
Law 104–4, establishes requirements for
Federal agencies to assess the effects of
their regulatory actions on State, local,
and Tribal governments and the private
sector. Under section 202 of UMRA, the
EPA generally must prepare a written
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statement, including a cost-benefit
analysis, for final rules with ‘‘Federal
mandates’’ that may result in
expenditures to State, local, and Tribal
governments, in the aggregate, or to the
private sector, of $100 million or more
(adjusted for inflation) in any one year.
Before promulgating an EPA rule for
which a written statement is needed,
section 205 of UMRA generally requires
the EPA to identify and consider a
reasonable number of regulatory
alternatives and adopt the least costly,
most cost-effective, or least burdensome
alternative that achieves the objectives
of the rule. The provisions of section
205 of UMRA do not apply when they
are inconsistent with applicable law.
Moreover, section 205 of UMRA allows
the EPA to adopt an alternative other
than the least costly, most cost-effective,
or least burdensome alternative if the
Administrator publishes with the final
rule an explanation why that alternative
was not adopted. Before the EPA
establishes any regulatory requirements
that may significantly or uniquely affect
small governments, including Tribal
governments, it must have developed
under section 203 of UMRA a small
government agency plan. The plan must
provide for notifying potentially
affected small governments, enabling
officials of affected small governments
to have meaningful and timely input in
the development of the EPA regulatory
actions with significant Federal
intergovernmental mandates, and
informing, educating, and advising
small governments on compliance with
the regulatory requirements. Under title
II of UMRA, the EPA has determined
that this final rule does not contain a
Federal mandate that may result in
expenditures that exceed the inflationadjusted UMRA threshold of $100
million ($150 in 2013 when adjusted for
inflation) by State, local, or Tribal
governments or the private sector in any
one year. The private sector
expenditures that will result from the
FIP, including BART emission limits,
are insignificant. The BART emission
limits for the Alcoa Intalco Operations
and Alcoa Wenatchee Works do not
involve installation of new control
technology, but rather establish BART
emission limits based on the existing
control technology. The BART
Alternative for the Tesoro refinery
involves taking credit for voluntary SO2
emission reductions in-lieu of installing
BART-level NOX control technology on
emission units subject to BART. Thus,
because the annual expenditures
associated with the FIP are less than the
inflation-adjusted threshold of $150
million in any one year, this rule is not
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subject to the requirements of sections
202 or 205 of UMRA. This rule is also
not subject to the requirements of
section 203 of UMRA because it
contains no regulatory requirements that
might significantly or uniquely affect
small governments.
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Executive Order 13132, Federalism,
(64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999) revokes
and replaces Executive Orders 12612
(Federalism) and 12875 (Enhancing the
Intergovernmental Partnership).
Executive Order 13132 requires the EPA
to develop an accountable process to
ensure ‘‘meaningful and timely input by
State and local officials in the
development of regulatory policies that
have federalism implications.’’ ‘‘Policies
that have federalism implications’’ is
defined in the Executive Order to
include regulations that have
‘‘substantial direct effects on the States,
on the relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the
distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various
levels of government.’’ Under Executive
Order 13132, the EPA may not issue a
regulation that has federalism
implications, that imposes substantial
direct compliance costs, and that is not
required by statute, unless the Federal
government provides the funds
necessary to pay the direct compliance
costs incurred by state and local
governments, or the EPA consults with
state and local officials early in the
process of developing the final
regulation. The EPA also may not issue
a regulation that has federalism
implications and that preempts state
law unless the Agency consults with
state and local officials early in the
process of developing the final
regulation. This rule will not have
substantial direct effects on the states,
on the relationship between the national
government and the states, or on the
distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various
levels of government, as specified in
Executive Order 13132, because it
merely addresses the State not fully
meeting its obligation under the CAA to
include in its SIP provisions to meet the
visibility requirements of part C of title
I of the CAA and to prohibit emissions
from interfering with other states
measures to protect visibility. Thus,
Executive Order 13132 does not apply
to this action.
F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation
and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
Executive Order 13175, entitled
Consultation and Coordination With
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Indian Tribal Governments (65 FR
67249, November 9, 2000), requires the
EPA to develop an accountable process
to ensure ‘‘meaningful and timely input
by tribal officials in the development of
regulatory policies that have tribal
implications.’’ This final rule does not
have Tribal implications, as specified in
Executive Order 13175 because the SIP
and FIP do not have substantial direct
effects on Tribal governments. Thus,
Executive Order 13175 does not apply
to this rule. The EPA nonetheless
provided a consultation opportunity to
Tribes in Idaho, Oregon and Washington
in letters dated January 14, 2011. The
EPA received one request for
consultation. We followed-up with that
Tribe and the Tribe does not think
consultation is necessary at this time.
On September 20, 2012, EPA provided
an additional consultation opportunity
to seven Tribes in Washington near the
facilities that would be regulated under
the FIP. We received no requests for
consultation.
G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of
Children From Environmental Health
Risks and Safety Risks
The EPA interprets EO 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997) as applying only
to those regulatory actions that concern
health or safety risks, such that the
analysis required under section 5–501 of
the EO has the potential to influence the
regulation. This action is not subject to
EO 13045 because it implements
specific standards established by
Congress in statutes. However, to the
extent this final rule will limit
emissions of NOX and PM, the rule will
have a beneficial effect on children’s
health by reducing air pollution.
H. Executive Order 13211: Actions
Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive
Order 13211 (66 FR 28355 (May 22,
2001)), because it is not a significant
regulatory action under Executive Order
12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act
Section 12(d) of the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (‘‘NTTAA’’), Public Law
104–113, 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
directs the EPA to use voluntary
consensus standards (VCS) in its
regulatory activities unless to do so
would be inconsistent with applicable
law or otherwise impractical. VCS are
technical standards (e.g., materials
specifications, test methods, sampling
procedures, and business practices) that
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33451
are developed or adopted by voluntary
consensus standards bodies. NTTAA
directs the EPA to provide Congress,
through OMB, explanations when the
Agency decides not to use available and
applicable VCS. The EPA believes that
VCS are inapplicable to the partial
approval of the SIP that if merely
approves state law as meeting Federal
requirements and imposes no additional
requirements beyond those imposed by
state law. The FIP portion of this
rulemaking involves technical
standards. The EPA is using American
Society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM) Methods and generally
accepted test methods previously
promulgated by the EPA. Because all of
these methods are generally accepted
and are widely used by State and local
agencies for determining compliance
with similar rules, the EPA believes it
would be impracticable and potentially
confusing to put in place methods that
vary from what is already accepted. As
a result, the EPA believes it is
unnecessary and inappropriate to
consider alternative technical standards.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal
Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and
Low-Income Populations
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629,
February 16, 1994), establishes Federal
executive policy on environmental
justice. Its main provision directs
Federal agencies, to the greatest extent
practicable and permitted by law, to
make environmental justice part of their
mission by identifying and addressing,
as appropriate, disproportionately high
and adverse human health or
environmental effects of their programs,
policies, and activities on minority
populations and low-income
populations in the United States. We
have determined that this final action
will not have disproportionately high
and adverse human health or
environmental effects on minority or
low-income populations because it
increases the level of environmental
protection for all affected populations
without having any disproportionately
high and adverse human health or
environmental effects on any
population, including any minority or
low-income population.
K. Congressional Review Act
The Congressional Review Act, 5
U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides
that before a rule may take effect, the
agency promulgating the rule must
submit a rule report, which includes a
copy of the rule, to each House of the
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Congress and to the Comptroller General
of the United States. Section 804
exempts from section 801 the following
types of rules (1) rules of particular
applicability; (2) rules relating to agency
management or personnel; and (3) rules
of agency organization, procedure, or
practice that do not substantially affect
the rights or obligations of non-agency
parties. 5 U.S.C. 804(3). The EPA is not
required to submit a rule report
regarding today’s action under section
801 because this is a rule of particular
applicability.
Administrator of this final rule does not
affect the finality of this action for the
purposes of judicial review nor does it
extend the time within which a petition
for judicial review may be filed, and
shall not postpone the effectiveness of
such rule or action. This action may not
be challenged later in proceedings to
enforce its requirements. See CAA
section 307(b)(2).
PART 52—[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for Part 52
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart WW—Washington
L. Judicial Review
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA,
petitions for judicial review of this
action must be filed in the United States
Court of Appeals for the appropriate
circuit by August 11, 2014. Pursuant to
CAA section 307(d)(1)(B), this action is
subject to the requirements of CAA
section 307(d) as it promulgates a FIP
under CAA section 110(c). Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Regional
haze, Visibility, and Volatile organic
compounds.
Dated: May 30, 2014.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.
2. Section 52.2470 is amended as
follows:
■ a. In paragraph (d) by adding footnote
1 to the table and adding six entries to
the end of the table.
■ b. In paragraph (e) by adding in
TABLE 2—ATTAINMENT,
MAINTENANCE, AND OTHER PLANS
an entry ‘‘Regional Haze SIP’’ at the end
of the section with the heading
‘‘Visibility and Regional Haze Plans.’’
§ 52.2470
■
*
Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code
of Federal Regulations is amended as
follows:
Identification of plan.
*
*
(d) * * *
*
*
EPA-APPROVED WASHINGTON SOURCE-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS 1
Name of source
*
State
effective
date
Order/permit number
*
EPA approval date
*
*
*
Administrative Order
No. 7836.
7/7/2010
6/11/2014 [Insert page
number where the
document begins].
Alcoa Intalco Works .......
Administrative Order
No. 7837, Revision 1.
11/15/10
Tesoro Refining and
Marketing Company.
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BP Cherry Point Refinery
Administrative Order
7838.
6/11/14 [Insert page
number where the
document begins].
6/11/14 [Insert page
number where the
document begins].
Port Townsend Paper
Corporation.
Administrative Order
No. 7839, Revision 1.
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10/20/10
Frm 00034
6/11/14 [Insert page
number where the
document begins].
Fmt 4700
Explanation
Sfmt 4700
*
*
The following conditions: 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.3, 1.3.2,
1.3.3, 2.2, 2.2.1,2.2.2,2.2.3, 2.2.4, 2.2.5, 2.3,
2,3,1, 2.3.2, 2.4, 2.4.1, 2.4.2, 2.5, 2.5.1, 2.5.2,
2.5.2.1, 2.6, 2.6.1, 2.6.1.1., 2.6.1.2, 2.6.2,
2.6.3, 2.6.4, 2.7, 2.7.1, 2.7.2, 2.7.3, 2.8, 2.8.1,
2.8.2, 2.8.3, 2.8.4, 2.9, 2.9.1, 2.9.2, 2.9.3,
2.9.4, 2.9.5, 2.9.6, 3., 3.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.3,
3.3.1, 3.3.1.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3, 3.3.4, 4, 4.1, 4.1.1,
4.1.1.1, 4.1.1.2, 4.1.1.3, 4.1.1.4, 5., 6, 6.2, 6.3,
6.4, 7.
The following conditions: 1, 2., 2.1, 3., 4., 4.1,
Attachment A conditions: A1, A2, A3, A4, A5,
A6, A7, A8, A9, A10, A11, A12, A13, A14.
The following conditions: 1., 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2,
1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.5.1, 1.5.1.1,1.5.1.2,
1.5.1.3, 1.5.2, 1.5.3, 1.5.4, 1.5.5, 1.5.6, 2., 2.1,
2.1.1, 2.1.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.2, 2.2.1, 3. 3.1,
3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.2.1, 3.1.2.2, 3.1.2.3, 3.2,
3.2.1, 3.2.1.1, 3.2.1.2, 3.2.1.3, 3.2.1.4,
3.2.1.4.1, 3.2.1.4.2, 3.2.1.4.3, 3.2.1.4.4,
3.2.1.4.5, 3.3, 3.3.1, 3.4, 3.4.1, 3.4.2, 4., 4.1,
5., 5.1, 6., 6.1, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.3, 6.1.4, 7.,
7.1, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4, 7.1.5, 7.2, 7.2.1,
7.2.2, 7.2.3, 7.2.4, 8. 8.1, 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.2,
8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.2.3, 8.3, 8.3.1, 8.3.2, 9., 9.1,
9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2, 9.2.1, 9.39.3.1, 9.3.2,
9.3.3,9.4, 9.4.1, 9.4.2, 9.4.3, 9.4.5, 9.4.6, 9.5,
10, 11, 12, 13, 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5,
13.6.
The following Conditions:1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2, 2.1,
3, 3.1, 4.
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EPA-APPROVED WASHINGTON SOURCE-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS 1—Continued
Name of source
State
effective
date
Order/permit number
Lafarge North America,
Inc. Seattle, Wa.
Administrative Revised
Order No. 7841.
Weyerhaeuser Corporation, Longview, Wa.
Administrative Order
No. 7840.
EPA approval date
7/28/10
6/11/14 [Insert page
number where the
document begins].
7/7/10
Explanation
The following Conditions: 1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, 2.1,
2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.2, 2.3, 3, 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3,
3.2, 3.3, 4, 4.1, 5, 5.1, 5.1.1, 5.1.2, 5.2, 5.3, 6,
6.1, 7, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 8, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3,
8.4, 8.5, 9, 10, 11, 12.
The following Conditions: 1, 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2,
1.1.3, 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.3, 1.3.1, 1.4, 2,
2.1, 3, 3.1, 4, 4.1.
6/11/14 [Insert page
number where the
document begins].
1 The EPA does not have the authority to remove these source-specific requirements in the absence of a demonstration that their removal
would not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the NAAQS, violate any prevention of significant deterioration increment or result in visibility impairment. Washington Department of Ecology may require removal by submitting such a demonstration to the EPA as a SIP revision.
*
(e) * * *
*
*
*
*
TABLE 2—ATTAINMENT, MAINTENANCE, AND OTHER PLANS
Name of SIP provision
*
State
submittal
date
Applicable geographic
or nonattainment area
*
EPA approval date
*
*
Comments
*
*
*
*
*
*
Visibility and Regional Haze Plans
*
*
Regional Haze SIP .........
*
*
State-wide .....................
*
3. Section 52.2475 is amended by
revising the heading of paragraph (g)
and paragraph (g)(1) to read as follows:
Approval of plans.
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*
*
*
*
*
(g) Visibility protection. (1) The EPA
approves portions of a Regional Haze
SIP submitted by the Washington
Department of Ecology on December 22,
2010, as meeting the requirements of
Clean Air Act section 169A and 169B
and 40 CFR 51.308, with the exception
of certain BART requirements for the
Alcoa Intalco Works, the Alcoa
VerDate Mar<15>2010
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12/22/10
6/11/14 [Insert page
number where the
document begins].
*
■
§ 52.2475
*
Jkt 232001
*
The Regional Haze SIP including those provisions relating to BART incorporated by reference in § 52.2470 ‘Identification of plan’ with
the exception of the BART provisions that are
replaced with a BART FIP in § 52.2498 Visibility protection., § 52.2500 Best available retrofit technology requirements for the Intalco
Aluminum Corporation (Intalco Works) primary
aluminum plant—Better than BART Alternative., § 52.2501 Best available retrofit technology (BART) requirement for the Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company oil refinery—
Better than BART Alternative., § 52.2502 Best
available retrofit technology requirements for
the Alcoa Inc.—Wenatchee Works primary
aluminum smelter.
*
Wenatchee Works, and the Tesoro
Refining and Marketing Company.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 4. Section 52.2498 is amended by
adding paragraph (c) to read as follows:
§ 52.2498
Visibility protection.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) The requirements of sections 169A
and 169B of the Clean Air Act are not
met because the plan does not include
approvable provisions for protection of
visibility in mandatory Class I Federal
areas, specifically the Best Available
Retrofit Technology (BART)
requirement for regional haze visibility
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*
*
impairment (§ 51.308(e)). The EPA
BART requirements are found in
§§ 52.2500, 52.2501, and 52.2502.
5. Section 52.2500 is added to subpart
WW to read as follows:
■
§ 52.2500 Best available retrofit
technology requirements for the Intalco
Aluminum Corporation (Intalco Works)
primary aluminum plant—Better than BART
Alternative.
(a) Applicability. This section applies
to the Intalco Aluminum Corporation
(Intalco) primary aluminum plant
located in Ferndale, Washington and to
its successors and/or assignees.
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(b) Better than BART Alternative—
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission limit for
potlines. Starting January 1, 2015, SO2
emissions from all potlines in aggregate
must not exceed a total of 5,240 tons for
any calendar year.
(c) Compliance demonstration. (1)
Intalco must determine on a calendar
month basis, SO2 emissions using the
following formula:
SO2 emissions in tons per calendar
month = (carbon consumption ratio)
× (% sulfur in baked anodes/100) ×
(% sulfur converted to SO2/100) ×
(2 pounds of SO2 per pound of
sulfur) × (tons of aluminum
production per calendar month)
(i) Carbon consumption ratio is the
calendar month average of tons of baked
anodes consumed per ton of aluminum
produced as determined using the baked
anode consumption and production
records required in paragraph (e)(2) of
this section.
(ii) % sulfur in baked anodes is the
calendar month average sulfur content
as determined in paragraph (d) of this
section.
(iii) % sulfur converted to SO2 is
95%.
(2) Calendar year SO2 emissions shall
be calculated by summing the 12
calendar month SO2 emissions for the
calendar year.
(d) Emission monitoring. (1) Intalco
must determine the % sulfur of baked
anodes using ASTM Method D6376 or
an alternative method approved by the
EPA Region 10.
(2) Intalco must collect at least four
anode core samples during each
calendar week.
(3) Calendar month average sulfur
content shall be determined by
averaging the sulfur content of all
samples collected during the calendar
month.
(e) Recordkeeping. (1) Intalco must
record the calendar month SO2
emissions and the calendar year SO2
emissions determined in paragraphs
(c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section.
(2) Intalco must maintain records of
the baked anode consumption and
aluminum production data used to
develop the carbon consumption ratio
used in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this
section.
(3) Intalco must retain a copy of all
calendar month carbon consumption
ratio and potline SO2 emission
calculations.
(4) Intalco must record the calendar
month net production of aluminum and
tons of aluminum produced each
calendar month. Net production of
aluminum is the total mass of molten
metal produced from tapping all pots in
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15:10 Jun 10, 2014
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all of the potlines that operated at any
time in the calendar month, measured at
the casthouse scales and the rod shop
scales.
(5) Intalco must record the calendar
month average sulfur content of the
baked anodes.
(6) Records are to be retained at the
facility for at least five years and be
made available to the EPA Region 10
upon request.
(f) Reporting. (1) Intalco must report
the calendar month SO2 emissions and
the calendar year SO2 emissions to the
EPA Region 10 at the same time as the
annual compliance certification
required by the Part 70 operating permit
for the Intalco facility is submitted to
the Title V permitting authority.
(2) All documents and reports must be
sent to the EPA Region 10
electronically, in a format approved by
the EPA Region 10, to the following
email address: R10-AirPermitReports@
epa.gov.
■ 6. Section 52.2501 is added to subpart
WW to read as follows:
§ 52.2501 Best available retrofit
technology (BART) requirement for the
Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company oil
refinery—Better than BART Alternative.
(a) Applicability. This section applies
to the Tesoro Refining and Marketing
Company oil refinery (Tesoro) located in
Anacortes, Washington and to its
successors and/or assignees.
(b) Better than BART Alternative. The
sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission limitation
for non-BART eligible process heaters
and boilers (Units F–101, F–102, F–201,
F–301, F–652, F–751, and F–752)
follows.
(1) Compliance Date. Starting no later
November 10, 2014, Units F–101, F–
102, F–201, F–301, F–652, F–751, and
F–752 shall only fire refinery gas
meeting the criteria in paragraph (b)(2)
of this section or pipeline quality
natural gas.
(2) Refinery fuel gas requirements. In
order to limit SO2 emissions, refinery
fuel gas used in the units from blend
drum V–213 must not contain greater
than 0.10 percent by volume hydrogen
sulfide (H2S), 365-day rolling average,
measured according to paragraph (d) of
this section.
(c) Compliance demonstration.
Compliance with the H2S emission
limitation must be demonstrated using a
continuous emissions monitoring
system as required in paragraph (d) of
this section.
(d) Emission monitoring. (1) A
continuous emissions monitoring
system (CEMS) for H2S concentration
must be installed, calibrated,
maintained and operated measuring the
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outlet stream of the fuel gas blend drum
subsequent to all unmonitored incoming
sources of sulfur compounds to the
system and prior to any fuel gas
combustion device. The monitor must
be certified in accordance with 40 CFR
part 60 appendix B and operated in
accordance with 40 CFR part 60
appendix F.
(2) Tesoro must record the calendar
day average H2S concentration of the
refinery fuel gas as measured by the
CEMS required in paragraph (d)(1) of
this section. The daily averages must be
used to calculate the 365-day rolling
average.
(e) Recordkeeping. Records of the
daily average H2S concentration and
365-day rolling averages must be
retained at the facility for at least five
years and be made available to the EPA
Region 10 upon request.
(f) Reporting. (1) Calendar day and
365-day rolling average refinery fuel gas
H2S concentrations must be reported to
the EPA Region 10 at the same time that
the semi-annual monitoring reports
required by the Part 70 operating permit
for the Tesoro oil refinery are submitted
to the Title V permitting authority.
(2) All documents and reports must be
sent to the EPA Region 10
electronically, in a format approved by
the EPA Region 10, to the following
email address: R10-AirPermitReports@
epa.gov.
■ 7. Section 52.2502 is added to subpart
WW to read as follows:
§ 52.2502 Best available retrofit
technology requirements for the Alcoa
Inc.—Wenatchee Works primary aluminum
smelter.
(a) Applicability. This section applies
to the Alcoa Inc.—Wenatchee Works
primary aluminum smelter (Wenatchee
Works) located near Wenatchee,
Washington and to its successors and/or
assignees.
(b) Best available retrofit technology
(BART) emission limitations for Potline
5—(1) Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission
limit. Starting November 10, 2014, SO2
emissions from Potline 5 must not
exceed 46 pounds per ton of aluminum
produced during any calendar month as
calculated in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this
section.
(i) Compliance demonstration. Alcoa
must determine SO2 emissions, on a
calendar month basis using the
following formulas:
SO2 emissions in pounds = (carbon
ratio) × (tons of aluminum
produced during the calendar
month) × (% sulfur in baked
anodes/100) × (% sulfur converted
to SO2/100) × (2 pounds of SO2 per
pound of sulfur)
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SO2 emissions in pounds per ton of
aluminum produced = (SO2
emissions in pounds during the
calendar month)/(tons of aluminum
produced during the calendar
month)
(A) The carbon ratio is the calendar
month average of tons of baked anodes
consumed per ton of aluminum
produced as determined using the baked
anode consumption and aluminum
production records required in
paragraph (h)(2) of this section.
(B) The % sulfur in baked anodes is
the calendar month average sulfur
content as determined in paragraph
(b)(1)(ii) of this section.
(C) The % sulfur converted to SO2 is
90%.
(ii) Emission monitoring. The %
sulfur of baked anodes must be
determined using ASTM Method D6376
or an alternative method approved by
the EPA Region 10.
(A) At a minimum, Alcoa must collect
no less than four baked anode core
samples during each calendar week.
(B) Calendar month average sulfur
content must be determined by
averaging the sulfur content of all
samples collected during the calendar
month.
(2) Particulate matter (PM) emission
limit. Starting November 10, 2014, PM
emissions from the Potline 5 Gas
Treatment Center stack must not exceed
0.005 grains per dry standard cubic foot
of exhaust gas.
(3) Nitrogen oxides (NOX) emission
limit. Starting January 7, 2015, NOX
emissions from Potline 5 must not
exceed, in tons per calendar month, the
emission limit determined under
paragraph (b)(3)(iii) of this section.
(i) Compliance demonstration. Alcoa
must determine NOX emissions, on a
calendar month basis using the
following formula:
NOX emissions in tons per calendar
month = (the emission factor
determined under paragraph
(b)(3)(ii) of this section, in pounds
of NOX per ton of aluminum
produced) × (number of tons of
aluminum produced in the calendar
month)/(2000 pounds per ton).
(ii) NOX emission factor development.
By September 9, 2014, Alcoa must
submit to the EPA a plan for testing
NOX emissions from Potline 5 and
developing an emission factor in terms
of pounds of NOX per ton of aluminum
produced. This plan must include
testing NOX emissions from both the
Gas Treatment Center stack and the
potline roof vents along with
measurements of volumetric flow and
aluminum production such that mass
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emissions can be determined and
correlated with aluminum production.
Within 90 days after the EPA approval
of the plan, Alcoa shall conduct the
testing and submit the resultant
emission factor to the EPA at the
address listed in paragraph (i)(5) of this
section.
(iii) NOX emission limit. NOX
emission limit in tons per calendar
month = (the emission factor
determined under paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of
this section, in pounds of NOX per ton
of aluminum produced) × (5546.2 tons
of aluminum per month)/(2000 pounds
per ton).
(c) Best available retrofit technology
(BART) emission limitations for Anode
Bake Furnace #62—(1) Sulfur dioxide
(SO2) emission limit. Starting November
10, 2014, the sulfur content of the coke
used in anode manufacturing must not
exceed a weighted average of 3.0
percent during any calendar month as
calculated in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this
section.
(i) Compliance demonstration. The
weighted monthly average sulfur
content of coke used in manufacturing
shall be calculated as follows:
Weighted average percent sulfur =
è(C1-n×SC1-n/100)/èC1-n*100
Where:
Cn is the quantity of coke in shipment n in
tons
SCn is the percent sulfur content by weight
of the coke in shipment n
n is the number of shipments of coke in the
calendar month
(ii) Emission monitoring. Alcoa must
test each shipment of coke for sulfur
content using ASTM Method D6376 or
an alternative method approved by the
EPA Region 10. Written documentation
from the coke supplier certifying the
sulfur content is an approved alternative
method.
(2) Particulate matter (PM) emission
limit. Starting November 10, 2014, the
PM emissions from the anode bake
furnaces stack must not exceed 0.01
grains per dry standard cubic foot of
exhaust gas.
(3) Nitrogen oxides (NOX) emission
limit. Starting November 10, 2014, the
anode bake furnaces must only combust
natural gas.
(i) Compliance demonstration.
Compliance shall be demonstrated
through fuel purchase records.
(ii) Best Available Retrofit Technology
(BART) Nitrogen oxides (NOX) emission
limit for an approved alternative fuel.
Compliance with a Best Available
Control Technology (BACT) emission
limit for NOX for the anode bake
furnaces, established in a Prevention of
Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit
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33455
issued pursuant to 40 CFR 52.21 or
pursuant to an EPA-approved PSD
program that meets the requirements of
40 CFR 51.166, shall be deemed to be
compliance with BART for a fuel other
than natural gas.
(d) Best available retrofit technology
(BART) emission limitations for Ingot
Furnace 1 (IP–1), Ingot Furnace 2 (IP–2),
and Ingot Furnace 11 (IP–11)—(1)
Particulate matter (PM) emission limits.
Starting November 10, 2014, the PM
emissions from each of ingot furnaces
IP–1, IP–2, and IP–11 must not exceed
0.1 grains per dry standard cubic foot of
exhaust gas.
(2) Nitrogen oxides (NOX) emission
limit. Starting November 10, 2014, each
of the ingot furnaces IP–1, IP–2, and IP–
11 must only combust natural gas.
(3) Sulfur dioxide (SOX) emission
limit. Starting November 10, 2014, each
of the ingot furnaces IP–1, IP–2, and IP–
11 must only combust natural gas.
(i) Compliance demonstration. Alcoa
must demonstrate compliance through
fuel purchase records.
(ii) [Reserved]
(e) Best available retrofit technology
(BART) particulate matter (PM)
emission limitations for the Green Mill.
(1) Starting November 10, 2014, the PM
emissions from the Green Mill Dry Coke
Scrubber must not exceed 0.005 grains
per dry standard cubic foot of exhaust
gas.
(2) Starting November 10, 2014, the
PM emissions from the Green Mill Dust
Collector 2 must not exceed 0.01 grains
per dry standard cubic foot of exhaust
gas.
(f) Best available retrofit technology
(BART) particulate matter (PM)
emission limitations for alumina
handling operations. (1) Starting
November 10, 2014, the opacity from
the alumina handling fabric filters (21M
and 19C) must not exceed 20 percent.
(2) Starting November 10, 2014, the
PM emissions from the alumina rail car
unloading baghouse (43E) must not
exceed 0.005 grains per dry standard
cubic foot of exhaust gas.
(g) Source testing. (1) Alcoa must
perform source testing to demonstrate
compliance with emission limits
established in this section upon request
by the EPA Region 10 Administrator.
(2) The reference test method for
measuring PM emissions is EPA Method
5 (40 CFR part 60, appendix A).
(3) The reference test method for
measuring opacity from the alumina
handling fabric filters (21M and 19C) is
EPA Method 9 (40 CFR part 60,
appendix A).
(4) The EPA Region 10 may approve
the use of an alternative to a reference
test method upon an adequate
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demonstration by Alcoa that such
alternative provides results equivalent
to that of the reference method.
(h) Recordkeeping. Except as
provided in paragraph (h)(6) of this
section, starting November 10, 2014,
Alcoa must keep the following records:
(1) Alcoa must retain a copy of all
calendar month Potline 5 SO2 emissions
calculations.
(2) Alcoa must maintain records of the
baked anode consumption and
aluminum production data used to
develop the carbon ratio.
(3) Alcoa must retain a copy of all
calendar month carbon ratio and potline
SO2 emission calculations.
(4) Alcoa must record the calendar
day and calendar month production of
aluminum.
(5) Alcoa must record the calendar
month average sulfur content of the
baked anodes.
(6) Starting January 7, 2015, Alcoa
must retain a copy of all calendar month
potline NOX emission calculations.
(7) Alcoa must record the sulfur
content of each shipment of coke and
the quantity of each shipment of coke.
(8) Alcoa must keep fuel purchase
records showing the type(s) of fuel
combusted in the anode bake furnaces.
(9) Alcoa must keep fuel purchase
records showing the type(s) of fuel
combusted in the ingot furnaces.
(10) Records must be retained at the
facility for at least five years and be
made available to the EPA Region 10
upon request.
(i) Reporting. (1) Alcoa must report
SO2 emissions by calendar month to the
EPA Region 10 on an annual basis at the
same time as the annual compliance
certification required by the Part 70
operating permit for the Wenatchee
Works is submitted to the Title V
permitting authority.
(2) Alcoa must report NOX emissions
by calendar month to the EPA Region 10
on an annual basis at the same time as
the annual compliance certification
required by the Part 70 operating permit
for the Wenatchee Works is submitted to
the Title V permitting authority.
(3) Alcoa must report the monthly
weighted average sulfur content of coke
received at the facility for each calendar
month during the compliance period to
the EPA Region 10 at the same time as
the annual compliance certification
required by the Part 70 operating permit
for the Wenatchee Works is submitted to
the Title V permitting authority.
(4) Alcoa must report the fuel
purchase records for the anode bake
furnaces and the ingot furnaces during
the compliance period to the EPA
Region 10 at the same time as the
annual compliance certification
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required by the Part 70 operating permit
for the Wenatchee Works is submitted to
the Title V permitting authority.
(5) All documents and reports must be
sent to the EPA Region 10
electronically, in a format approved by
the EPA Region 10, to the following
email address: R10-AirPermitReports@
epa.gov.
[FR Doc. 2014–13491 Filed 6–10–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 62
[EPA–R02–OAR–2014–0127; FRL–9912–05–
Region 2]
Approval and Promulgation of State
Plans for Designated Facilities; New
York; Control of Emissions From
Existing Sewage Sludge Incineration
Units
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is approving the section
111(d)/129 plan submitted by New York
State for the purpose of implementing
and enforcing the emission guidelines
for existing sewage sludge incineration
(SSI) units. The intended effect of this
action is to approve a plan required by
the Clean Air Act (CAA) which
establishes emission limits and other
requirements for existing sewage sludge
incineration units and provides for the
implementation and enforcement of
those limits and other requirements.
New York submitted its plan to fulfill
the requirements of sections 111 and
129 of the CAA.
DATES: This rule is effective on July 11,
2014.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a
docket for this action under Docket ID
No. EPA–R02–OAR–2014–0127. All
documents in the docket are listed on
the www.regulations.gov Web site.
Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available,
e.g., CBI or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute.
Certain other material, such as
copyrighted material, is not placed on
the Internet and will be publicly
available only in hard copy form.
Publicly available docket materials are
available either electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the Environmental Protection Agency,
Region II Office, Air Programs Branch,
290 Broadway, 25th Floor, New York,
New York 10007–1866. This Docket
SUMMARY:
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Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
legal holidays. The Docket telephone
number is 212–637–4249.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Anthony (Ted) Gardella
(Gardella.Anthony@EPA.Gov), Air
Programs Branch, Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 2, 290
Broadway, 25th Floor, New York, New
York 10007–1866, (212) 637–3892.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. What action is EPA taking today?
EPA is approving New York’s plan,
and the elements therein, as submitted
on July 1, 2013, for the control of air
emissions from existing sewage sludge
incineration (SSI) units throughout the
State, except for any existing SSI units
located in Indian Nation Land.1 When
EPA developed the New Source
Performance Standards (NSPS) (subpart
LLLL) for SSI units on March 21, 2011,
it concurrently promulgated Emission
Guidelines (subpart MMMM) to control
air emissions from existing SSI units.
The New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
developed a plan, as required by
sections 111(d) and 129 of the Clean Air
Act (CAA), to adopt the Emission
Guidelines (EG) into its body of
regulations, and EPA is acting today to
approve New York’s plan.
II. What are the details of EPA’s action?
On March 21, 2011, in accordance
with sections 111(d) and 129 of the
CAA, EPA promulgated the SSI EG and
compliance times for the control of
emissions from existing SSI units. See
76 FR 15371. EPA codified these
guidelines at 40 CFR part 60, subpart
MMMM. They include a model rule at
40 CFR 60.5085 through 62.5250 that
States may use to develop their own
plans. Under that rule, EPA has defined
an ‘‘SSI unit,’’ in part, as any device that
combusts sewage sludge for the purpose
of reducing the volume of the sewage
sludge by removing combustible matter.
40 CFR 60.5250.
On July 1, 2013,2 New York submitted
a plan for implementing and enforcing
EPA’s EG for existing SSI units. Section
60.5015 of the EG describes all of the
required elements that must be included
in a state’s plan for existing SSI units.
New York’s State plan includes all of
the required elements described in
section 60.5015 of the EG. For further
1 If there are any existing SSI units located in
Indian Nation Land these existing SSI units will be
subject to the Federal plan.
2 On February 28, 2014, New York provided
clarifying information concerning its State plan. To
view this information see EPA’s electronic docket
at www.regulations.gov.
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 112 (Wednesday, June 11, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33438-33456]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-13491]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R10-OAR-2010-1071; FRL-9911-83-Region 10]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of
Washington; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan; Federal
Implementation Plan for Best Available Retrofit Technology for Alcoa
Intalco Operations, Tesoro Refining and Marketing, and Alcoa Wenatchee
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) is taking
final action to partially approve and partially disapprove a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Washington (State)
on December 22, 2010, as meeting the requirements of Clean Air Act (CAA
or the Act) section 169 and federal regional haze regulations and to
promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for the disapproved
elements of the SIP. As described in Part I of this preamble, this
final rule approves numerous elements in the SIP including the State's
Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) determinations for a number
of sources. This action also: Disapproves the NOX BART
determination and promulgates a Federal BART alternative for five BART
emission units at the Tesoro Refining and Marketing refinery (Tesoro
refinery) located in Anacortes, Washington; finalizes a limited
approval and limited disapproval of the State's SO2 BART
determination and promulgates a Federal BART alternative for the
Intalco Aluminum Corp. (Intalco facility) potline operation located in
Ferndale, Washington; and disapproves the State's BART exemption for
the Alcoa Wenatchee Works located in Malaga, Washington (Wenatchee
Works), determines that the Wenatchee Works is subject to BART, and
promulgates Federal BART for all emission units subject to BART at the
facility.
DATES: This final rule is effective on July 11, 2014.
ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket Identification No. EPA-R10-OAR-2010-1071. All documents in the
docket are listed on the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed
in the index, some information may not be publicly available, i.e.,
Confidential Business Information or other information whose disclosure
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are
available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard
copy at the EPA Region 10, Office of Air, Waste, and Toxics, AWT-107,
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, Washington 98101. The EPA
requests that you contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The Regional
Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to
4:30, excluding Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Body at (206) 553-0782,
Body.Steve@epa.gov, or at the above EPA Region 10 address.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA. Information is organized
as follows:
Table of Contents
I. Summary of our Final Action
II. Background
III. Response to Comments
IV. Conclusion
V. Statutory and Executive Orders Review
I. Summary of our Final Action
The EPA is taking final action to partially approve and partially
disapprove the Washington Regional Haze SIP submitted on December 22,
2010. In this action, the EPA is approving the following provisions of
the Washington SIP: The identification of affected Class I areas and
determination of baseline conditions, the natural conditions and
uniform rate of progress (URP) for each Class I area; the emission
inventories; the sources of visibility impairment in Washington's Class
I areas; the State's monitoring strategy; the State's consultation with
other states and Federal Land Managers (FLMs); the reasonable progress
goals (RPGs); the long-term strategy (LTS); and the commitment to
submit the periodic SIP revisions and 5-year Progress Reports.
In today's action, we are also approving the State's BART
determinations for the BP Cherry Point Refinery, the Port Townsend
Paper Company, the LaFarge North America facility, and Weyerhaeuser's
Longview facility, as well as portions of the BART determinations for
the Tesoro refinery and the Intalco facility. The EPA is disapproving
Washington's NOX BART determination and promulgating a BART
Alternative for five emission units at the Tesoro refinery. The EPA is
also finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval of the
State's SO2 BART determination for the potlines at the
Intalco facility and promulgating an SO2 BART Alternative
for the potlines, consisting of an annual limit of 80% of base year
SO2 emissions. Finally, the EPA is disapproving the State's
BART exemption for the Wenatchee Works and promulgating BART for
SO2, NOX, and PM emissions at the facility.
The resulting BART FIP for the Tesoro refinery, the Intalco
facility, and the Wenatchee Works does not require the purchase or
installation of new air pollution control equipment, but rather
establishes BART based on existing control technology. Thus, the only
additional costs incurred by these facilities will be minimal
expenditures for monitoring, reporting, and recordkeeping. The benefit
to the environment is the prevention of visibility degradation due to
potential future increases in emissions from changes envisioned at the
facilities.
This final action is consistent with our proposed actions and meets
the requirements of CAA sections 169A and 169B and 40 CFR 51.308.
II. Background
In the CAA Amendments of 1977, Congress established a program to
protect and improve visibility in national parks and wilderness areas.
See CAA section 169A. Congress amended the visibility provisions in the
CAA in 1990 to focus attention on the problem of regional haze. See CAA
section 169B. The EPA promulgated regulations in 1999 to implement
sections 169A and 169B of the Act. These regulations require states to
develop and implement plans to ensure reasonable progress toward
improving visibility in mandatory Class I Federal areas \1\ (Class
[[Page 33439]]
I areas). 64 FR 35714 (July 1, 1999); See also 70 FR 39104 (July 6,
2005).
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\1\ Areas designated as mandatory Class I Federal areas consist
of national parks exceeding 6,000 acres, wilderness areas and
national memorial parks exceeding 5,000 acres, and all international
parks that were in existence on August 7, 1977. 42 U.S.C. 7472(a).
In accordance with section 169A of the CAA, the EPA, in consultation
with the Department of Interior, promulgated a list of 156 areas
where visibility is identified as an important value. 44 FR 69122
(November 30, 1979). The extent of a mandatory Class I area includes
subsequent changes in boundaries, such as park expansions. 42 U.S.C.
7472(a). Although states and tribes may designate as Class I
additional areas which they consider to have visibility as an
important value, the requirements of the visibility program set
forth in section 169A of the CAA apply only to ``mandatory Class I
Federal areas.'' Each mandatory Class I Federal area is the
responsibility of a ``Federal Land Manager.'' Id. 7602(i). When we
use the term ``Class I area'' in this action, we mean a ``mandatory
Class I Federal area.''
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On behalf of the State of Washington, the Washington State
Department of Ecology (Ecology) submitted its Regional Haze State
Implementation Plan (Regional Haze SIP or SIP) to the EPA on December
22, 2010. In an action published on December 6, 2012, the EPA approved
BART provisions for the TransAlta Centralia Generation, LLC coal-fired
power plant. 77 FR 72742.
On December 26, 2012, the EPA proposed to partially approve and
partially disapprove the remaining portions of the Washington Regional
Haze SIP covering the first implementation period (77 FR 76714). In
that action, the EPA proposed to approve the following SIP elements:
We proposed to approve Washington's identification of affected
Class I areas in the State. The State calculated the baseline
visibility conditions in each Class I area using data from the
Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) from
monitoring sites representing each Class I area.
We proposed to approve the State's determination of natural
conditions and the uniform rate of progress (URP) for each Class I
area. Washington used the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP)
derived natural visibility conditions. In general, the WRAP based their
estimates on the EPA guidance document titled, ``Guidance for
Estimating Natural Visibility Conditions Under the Regional Haze
Program'' (EPA-45/B-03-0005 September 2003). However, the WRAP
incorporated refinements into its estimates that the EPA believes
provide results more appropriate for western states than the general
EPA default approach.
We proposed to approve the statewide emission inventory of
pollutants that are reasonably anticipated to cause or contribute to
visibility impairment in the Class I areas. The WRAP, with data
supplied by Washington, compiled emission inventories for all major
source categories in Washington for the 2002 baseline year and for
estimated emissions in 2018. Emission estimates for 2018 were generated
from anticipated population growth, growth in industrial activity, and
emission reductions from implementation of expected control measures,
e.g., implementation of BART emission limitations and reductions in
motor vehicle tailpipe emissions.
We proposed to approve the State's identification of the sources of
visibility impairment in each Washington Class I areas, which used the
approach and modeling tools recommended by the WRAP. These modeling
tools were state-of-the-science, and the EPA determined that these
tools were appropriately used by WRAP for regional haze planning.
We proposed to approve the State's monitoring strategy. The primary
monitoring network for regional haze in Washington is the IMPROVE
network. There are currently IMPROVE monitoring sites that represent
conditions for all Class I areas in Washington. The State commits to
rely on the IMPROVE network for future regional haze implementation
periods. Data from the IMPROVE network will be used for preparing the
5-year progress reports and the 10-year SIP revisions.
We proposed to approve the State's consultation with other states
and FLMs. Through the WRAP, member states and the Tribes worked
extensively with the FLMs from the U.S. Departments of the Interior and
Agriculture to develop technical analyses that support the regional
haze SIPs for the WRAP states. In addition, the State provided its
proposed SIP to the FLMs for comment in March 2010. The State also
consulted with the states of Idaho and Oregon, as well as the other
WRAP member states and Tribes.
We proposed to approve the State-identified visibility improvement
anticipated by 2018 in each of the Class I areas as a result of the
BART emission limits established in the SIP. The projected improvement
was determined by using the results of the Community Multi-Scale Air
Quality (CMAQ) modeling conducted by WRAP. The WRAP CMAQ modeling
predicted visibility impairment in each Class I area based on 2018
projected source emission inventories, which included federal and state
regulations already in place (``on the books'') and BART emission
limitations.
We proposed to approve the State's LTS because it includes the
documentation and control measures necessary to achieve the RPGs at all
Class I areas affected by the State's sources. The State's LTS included
consideration of all anthropogenic sources of visibility impairment,
including major and minor stationary sources, mobile sources, and area
sources. The anticipated net effect on visibility over the first
planning period due to changes in point, area, and mobile source
emissions is an improvement in visibility in all Class I areas in
Washington.
We proposed to approve the State's commitment to develop and submit
a comprehensive Regional Haze SIP revision to the EPA by July 31, 2018,
and every ten years thereafter. The State also committed to submit a
report to the EPA every five years that evaluates the progress being
made towards the RPGs and the need for any additional control measures.
We proposed to approve the majority of the State's BART
determinations. The State appropriately identified all BART-eligible
sources located in Washington and, with one exception, appropriately
identified those BART-eligible sources that are subject to BART. In
this action, we are finalizing our approval of these SIP elements as
proposed.
In our December 26, 2012 and December 30, 2013 actions, we also
proposed to disapprove the following SIP elements and promulgate a FIP
to fill any gaps left by our partial disapproval:
We proposed a limited disapproval of the State's SO2
BART determination for Alcoa's Intalco facility potlines. The State
determined that installing new control technology was not cost-
effective and that the level of existing control for the potlines was
BART. We identified a number of errors with the State's cost analysis
that rendered the State's control determination unreasonable. We
conducted our own analysis and determined that limestone slurry forced
oxidation (LSFO) was SO2 BART. However, Alcoa asserted that
it could not afford LSFO at the Intalco facility and remain a viable
business. In response, we conducted an affordability analysis, which
included updated information as described in the December 30, 2013
proposal, and proposed to concur that LSFO was not affordable at the
Intalco facility. Alcoa offered a BART Alternative of implementing
pollution prevention measures, primarily the requirement of 3% or less
sulfur in the anode coke, and limiting potline SO2 emissions
to 80% of base year emissions. We included this BART Alternative in our
FIP. The BART Alternative makes Washington's pollution prevention
requirements federally enforceable and makes the 20% SO2
reduction from baseline permanent and federally enforceable.
We proposed to disapprove the State's NOX BART
determination for five emission units subject to BART at the Tesoro
refinery. The State determined that NOX controls were not
cost-effective. We determined the State's cost estimates were
unreasonably high
[[Page 33440]]
because the State assumed that controls could not be installed when the
facility is shut down for maintenance in the estimated 2017 turnaround
cycle and still fall within the five year BART implementation period.
Tesoro offered a BART Alternative consisting of exclusive use of low-
sulfur refinery gas in several non-BART heaters and boilers in lieu of
installing the NOX BART controls. We included this BART
Alternative in our proposed FIP.
We initially proposed to approve the State's determination that the
Wenatchee Works did not contribute to visibility impairment in any
Class I area and was therefore not subject to BART. During the comment
period, however, we received adverse comments that the State's
determination was based on visibility modeling that relied upon an
unapproved and unproven fine-grid modeling protocol. Consequently, we
issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on December 30,
2013, and proposed to disapprove the State's determination that the
Wenatchee Works was not subject to BART and also proposed a BART FIP
(78 FR 79344). In that notice, we proposed to find that one of the four
potlines at the Wenatchee Works, as well as some of the supporting
emission units, are subject to BART. After evaluating various control
technologies, we proposed to find that the costs of compliance and the
anticipated visibility benefits did not warrant new controls at the
facility. We therefore proposed that the existing controls at the
facility were BART and proposed to adjust some emission limits in the
facility's operating permit to reflect the level of emission reductions
achievable by those existing controls.
This final action is the result of our initial proposed action, the
re-proposal for the Wenatchee Works, and our consideration of all
public comments received. This final action is consistent with our
proposed actions. However, as explained below in the response to
comments we revised 40 CFR 52.2470(d) to correct the list of conditions
which are applicable to BP Cherry Point. Additionally, we revised the
NOX emission limit and made minor adjustments to the FIP
provisions related to the Wenatchee Works. Finally, the compliance
dates for the Wenatchee Works and the Tesoro refinery were slightly
modified.
III. Response to Comments
We are responding to comments received on both the initial proposal
and the re-proposal. However, the re-proposal summarized and responded
to some comments received on the initial proposal. 78 FR 79347-79355.
Those comments and our responses will not be repeated here. The
following are our responses to the remaining comments received on the
initial proposal for which we have not yet responded and new comments
received on the re-proposal. We are also responding to comments
received on the additional information that was provided for public
review in the re-proposal.
Comments:
A. BP Cherry Point Refinery BART Determination
Comment: One commenter noted that the BART Order 7836 for the BP
Cherry Point Refinery included BART emission limits for boilers
6 and 7, despite the fact that these units were
constructed in 2007 and are not BART-eligible emission units. These
units should not be regulated in the BART Order. Thus, conditions 1.1,
1.3.1, 2.1, 3.1, and 6.1 of the BART Order should not be approved into
the Washington SIP.
Response: The EPA agrees that the BP Cherry Point Refinery boilers
6 and 7 are not BART-eligible and thus not subject to
BART. Subsequent to the publication of the initial proposal, the State
of Washington sent the EPA a letter dated July 31, 2013, requesting
that conditions 1.1, 1.3.1, 2.1 3.1 and 6.1 and Finding B.c. be
withdrawn from their SIP submittal. These conditions and Finding B.c.
will not be incorporated by reference into the SIP.
B. Tesoro-BART Alternative
Comment: Several comments were received on our initial proposal
that the EPA should use dispersion modeling to demonstrate the
visibility improvement from the proposed BART Alternative for the
Tesoro Refinery and compare the results to the visibility improvement
from BART.
Response: Based on consideration of the comments, we concluded that
additional modeling analysis was appropriate for the BART Alternative
demonstration at the Tesoro Refinery. The EPA requested Tesoro provide
such a modeling demonstration. The results of that modeling were
presented in the December 30, 2013 re-proposal. The modeling protocol
and results were posted in the docket for this action and the Federal
Docket Management System (FDMS) site on December 30, 2013. The public
was notified of its availability. 78 FR 79354-79355. The comments
received on the initial proposal and our response regarding the need
for dispersion modeling for the Tesoro BART Alternative, as set forth
in the re-proposal, will not be reiterated here. The following is our
response to the remaining comments received on the initial proposal, as
well as new comments received on the re-proposal and the additional
information that was provided for public review.
Comment: One commenter inquired whether the EPA evaluated the model
input and output files that Tesoro used in modeling for the BART
Alternative. Such a review is needed to verify that the proper model
settings have been used and that only the emission rates for the listed
emission units have been changed from the original modeling.
Response: The EPA reviewed the model input and output files and
verified the proper settings were used.
Comment: A commenter questioned why the EPA used the annual average
concentration limit for total reduced sulfur (TRS) content of refinery
fuel gas rather than the maximum 24-hour rate as required by the BART
Guidelines. The justification to use the annual average vs. the 24-hour
maximum rate needs to be clearly included in the administrative record.
The commenter said that if the justification cannot be made, then the
BART Alternative should be rejected and the NOX BART should
be required.
Response: As described in our December 30, 2013 proposal, the
purpose of visibility modeling is to demonstrate whether the BART
Alternative provides greater reasonable progress than BART considering
the different atmospheric chemistry between SO2 and
NOX. The modeling described in the BART Guidelines is for
determining the maximum potential impact of a source at Class I areas
and whether the source is subject to BART. The purpose of the more
recent modeling here is to evaluate the relative visibility impacts
from the atmospheric formation of visibility impairing aerosols of
sulfate and nitrate. The absolute value of emission rates is not of
concern, because we are evaluating the ratio of SO2 to
NOX emission rates and the resulting relative visibility
impairment.
It should also be noted that the model used the maximum monthly
average total reduced sulfur (TRS) emission rate during the time period
2004-2006, not annual emission rates as stated by the commenter. See
May 14, 2013 letter from Tesoro to the EPA.
Comment: A commenter suggested that trading SO2
emissions for NOX emissions does not meet the EPA's guidance
on BART alternative programs. The commenter specifically references an
EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS), Q&A
document, August 3, 2006, that states,
[[Page 33441]]
``The regulations, however, do allow States to adopt alternative
measures in lieu of BART, so long as the alternative measures provide
for greater reasonable progress than would be BART. Inter-pollutant
trading is not allowed in a trading program alternative to BART.''
Response: We believe the commenter has misunderstood the Agency's
policy. The complete explanation of the policy is in the Federal
Register action referenced in the Q&A document cited by the commenter.
The Agency allows for inter-pollutant trading as long as it is based on
a technically acceptable approach for demonstrating the BART
Alternative provides for greater reasonable progress. The Federal
Register action for the Regional Haze Rule (40 CFR 51.308) (RHR)
explains:
. . . interpollutant trading should not be allowed until the
technical difficulties associated with ensuring equivalence in the
overall environmental effect are resolved. Some other emissions
trading programs (e.g., trading under the acid rain program)
prohibit emission trades between pollutants. An emissions trading
program for regional haze might also need to restrict trades to
common pollutants. Each of the five pollutants which cause or
contribute to visibility impairment has a different impact on light
extinction for a given particle mass, making it therefore extremely
difficult to judge the equivalence of interpollutant trades in a
manner that would be technically credible, yet convenient to
implement in the timeframe needed for transactions to be efficient.
This analysis is further complicated by the fact that the visibility
impact that each pollutant can have varies with humidity, so that
control of different pollutants can have markedly different effects
on visibility in different geographic areas and at different times
of the year. Despite the technical difficulties associated with
interpollutant trading today, EPA would be willing to consider such
trading programs in the future that demonstrate an acceptable
technical approach. 64 FR 35743.
This guidance on BART alternatives is primarily envisioned for
large statewide, or region-wide (multi-state) emissions trading
programs where emissions could be traded across large, geographically
separated areas. 64 FR 35741-35743. The technical difficulties
discussed in the above policy statement also are focused on situations
where a BART alternative trading program is based on emission reduction
equivalency in determining Better-than-BART results. In such a trading
program, when SO2 emissions are traded for NOX
emissions, the demonstration that the BART alternative provides greater
reasonable progress may be technically difficult, or impossible, due to
spatial, temporal, climate and meteorological differences between the
sources in the program. In particular, the OAQPS Q&A document refers to
a regional trading program. However, in this specific situation for the
Tesoro Refinery, the BART Alternative is not a state-wide or regional
trading program, but rather trading within the same facility.
Therefore, the technical difficulties that may be associated with
interpollutant trading in a state-wide or regional trading program are
of less concern.
The Tesoro BART Alternative is confined to one facility with
emissions of SO2 and NOX coming from essentially
the same location. The CALPUFF model is used to estimate the impacts
from all visibility impairing pollutants, including SO2 and
NOX, and is the regulatory tool used to determine whether a
BART-eligible source is subject to BART. We believe that the CALPUFF
model used in Washington (and other states within EPA Region 10) to
demonstrate visibility impacts on Class I areas to evaluate whether
sources are subject to BART, is technically adequate to demonstrate
whether or not a BART Alternative measure that relies on interpollutant
trading results in greater reasonable progress. As described in the
Federal Register preamble to the RHR (64 FR 35734), it may be difficult
to assess the impacts of different pollutants due to the potential
difference in light extinction for a given particle mass and due to
seasonal and geographic variations. The CALPUFF model, using the
approved modeling protocol, addresses the different light extinction
properties of different pollutants. In the Tesoro Refinery case, the
emissions from both the BART and the BART Alternative emission units
are from the same facility. Thus, the potential concern regarding
interpollutant trading of emissions from emission units separated by
large distances is not present. Also, because the model includes the
three year baseline period, seasonal variation is also not a concern in
this instance.
Comment: Several commenters stated that trading between BART and
non-BART sources is not allowed.
Response: The preamble to the RHR encourages both BART and non-BART
sources to be included in a BART alternative. 64 FR 35743.
Specifically, ``the regional trading program may include sources not
subject to BART. Inclusion of such sources provides for a more
economically efficient and robust trading program. The EPA believes the
program can include diverse sources, including mobile and area sources,
so long as the reductions from these sources can be accurately
calculated and tracked.'' 64 FR 35743.
Comment: One commenter states that the NOX controls for
the five Tesoro Refinery emission units should be imposed as reasonable
progress controls if they are not required as BART. The EPA should
still require unit-specific NOX controls on the five BART
units as reasonable progress controls.
Response: The RHR provides states with the opportunity to establish
alternative measures as an alternative to BART. As discussed
previously, the RHR provides that a BART alternative measure can
include non-BART emission units. This approach can result in a more
cost-effective control strategy. Because we are proposing to approve
the State's reasonable progress goals as providing sufficient progress
for this planning period, we do not believe that any additional
reasonable progress controls are necessary on the BART-eligible units
at the Tesoro Refinery at this time. However, the State may consider
these units for reasonable progress controls in the next regional haze
SIP due for submittal to the EPA in 2018.
Comment: A commenter stated that the CAA instructs states to issue
SIPs requiring BART, and provides a process for exempting a source from
BART. The statute does not authorize the EPA to allow a source to
escape its BART obligations other than through the exemption process.
Response: The commenter seems to be saying that by imposing a BART
alternative, we are exempting Tesoro from BART. The Tesoro facility and
the emission units associated with the BART Alternative are not exempt
from BART. Rather, the facility is meeting its BART obligation through
a BART Alternative measure as allowed under the RHR. 40 CFR
51.308(e)(2).
Comment: Several commenters suggested the SO2 emission
reductions in the BART Alternative are not surplus reductions. They say
the emission reductions were needed to meet other CAA requirements
including Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements.
They also cite the H2S concentration limit that is already
part of a Federally enforceable permit. They also say the emission
reductions were achieved prior to the SIP submittal.
Response: The RHR requires that emission reductions resulting from
the alternative measure must be ``surplus to those reductions resulting
from measures adopted to meet requirements of the CAA as of the
baseline date of the SIP.'' 40 CFR 51.308(e)(2)(iv). When promulgating
this requirement in 1999, the EPA explained that emission reductions
must be ``surplus to other Federal requirements as of the baseline date
of the SIP, that is, the date of the emissions inventories on which the
SIP
[[Page 33442]]
relies. See 64 FR 35714, 35742; see also 70 FR 39143. ``[W]hatever the
origin of the emission reduction requirement, the relevant question for
BART purposes is whether the alternative program makes greater
reasonable progress.'' The Washington Regional Haze SIP relies on
emission inventories in the baseline period 2002-2005. See Washington
Regional Haze SIP, chapter 6, section 6.3, included in the docket for
this action. Thus, reductions resulting from any measure adopted after
2002 are considered `surplus' under 40 CFR 51.308(e)(2)(iv).
The EPA examined the permitting history for the Tesoro Refinery and
confirmed that the emission reductions achieved through the
installation and operation in 2007 of the flue gas desulfurization
(FGD) system to remove sulfur from the refinery fuel gas (RFG) used to
fire several heaters and boilers occurred after the emission inventory
baseline and are surplus for the purposes of the alternative measure.
Comment: A commenter noted that the SO2 reductions
resulting from the modifications to the refinery gas system occurred
for plant-specific reasons, not to meet a regulatory requirement. These
reductions occurred in the past and will not be the result of imposing
BART controls on any aspect of plant operations. The commenter requests
that the EPA reject the BART Alternative in favor of the EPA BART
proposal, which would result in additional reduction of nearly 500 tons
of NOX.
Response: As described previously, even if the emission reductions
at this facility occurred for plant-specific reasons, the reductions
may be considered surplus for purposes of a BART alternative.
Additionally, as previously explained, the EPA has determined and
confirmed with modeling that the reductions resulting from the now
federally enforceable requirement to operate the FGD system result in
greater reasonable progress towards meeting natural visibility
conditions than the NOX controls that the EPA determined to
be BART.
Comment: A commenter cited a letter dated September 16, 2011, from
the EPA Region 5 to the State of Wisconsin that describes what
emissions are considered surplus. The commenter further explained that
the Economic Incentive Program (EIP) defines ``surplus reductions to
mean emission reductions that are not otherwise relied on in any of
several programs, including reductions made to insure compliance with
the NAAQS as well as reductions included in the relevant SIP.'' Thus
the commenter stated that to the extent the SO2 emissions
requirements have been incorporated into the Washington SIP and relied
on to meet other applicable requirements, they are not ``surplus''
under the EIP.
Response: As explained previously, we have determined that the
emission reductions are surplus for BART alternative purposes and as
such, this action is consistent with the EIP position that
consideration (or credits) may only be given for surplus reductions.
The SO2 emission reductions resulting from the combustion of
low-sulfur RFG in these heaters and boilers have not been incorporated
into the Washington SIP, nor have they been relied on to meet any other
applicable requirements of the Act. In our final action on the
Wisconsin SIP, we noted that, ``In cases like this where a subject is
addressed by both the general guidance in the draft Economic Incentive
Program Guidance and in program-specific guidance that more directly
addresses specific statutory requirements, the EPA gives more weight to
the regulatory provisions that are promulgated for the specific
statutory requirements, in this case to the provisions of the regional
haze rule. As noted above, the regional haze regulations promulgated in
40 CFR 51.308 allow credit for reductions achieved after the baseline
date of the SIP (2002), irrespective of any recommendations to the
contrary in the draft Economic Incentives Program Guidance.'' 77 FR
46592 (January 31, 2008.)
Comment: A commenter requested that the EPA evaluate BART for the
Tesoro Refinery flare, Unit X-819, including consideration of flare
minimization efforts to reduce emissions from this unit.
Response: BART is an emission limitation based on the five-factor
analysis and considers the degree of reduction available through the
application of the best system of continuous emission reduction for
each pollutant that is emitted by an existing stationary facility. As
reflected in our December 26, 2012, proposal, Unit X-819 is subject to
BART and we agree with the State's BART determination. We considered
the flare requirements of other regulatory air pollution agencies to
determine whether there are any available control techniques for
reducing emissions from flares. In particular we reviewed the
California, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Reg. 12,
Rule 12, which requires San Francisco Bay Area refineries to prepare a
flare management plan (FMP), to reduce the frequency and magnitude of
flaring events. The rule provides for no specific control technology.
Rather, it requires refineries to minimize the need to flare gases
through careful planning of maintenance, start-up, and shutdown of
various refinery processes. However, should an upset condition occur,
it does not prevent or otherwise restrict flaring. It does not appear
that the requirement for a FMP would represent BART.
Additionally, Tesoro and the State evaluated whether adding a
second gas compressor to handle excess gas resulting from emergency
vents and directed to the RFG system would be cost effective. See SIP,
appendix L. Tesoro determined it would cost $21,960/ton of
SO2 removed and reduce emissions by 10 tons/year. We find
that it is not cost-effective to require the addition of a second gas
compressor at this facility as BART.
C. Intalco Facility
As part of the December 26, 2012 proposal, we proposed that Alcoa
could not afford limestone slurry forced oxidation (LSFO) as the basis
for BART. As explained in the re-proposal, we received comments on the
affordability determination, requesting that we update the
affordability assessment with current information and expressing
concern with the use of information that was not publically available.
We responded to these comments in the re-proposal and explained that we
obtained updated information and revised the 2012 Affordability
Assessment. The Revised Affordability Assessment and supporting
documentation was made available to the public for review as part of
the re-proposal. We received no further comment on the Revised
Affordability Assessment. We believe the updated analysis continues to
support our determination that installation and operation of LSFO at
the Intalco facility is not affordable.
A number of comments were received regarding our proposed BART
determination for the Intalco facility. The comments focused on
procedural issues, issues regarding the BART determination and the
affordability analysis, and the BART Alternative.
Comment: A commenter asserted that the EPA proposed BART for
Intalco fails to comply with the public notice requirements of the CAA
because it is impossible for the public to understand and comment on
the affordability claim because critical information is not available.
The CAA forbids the EPA from promulgating a rule that relies in whole
or part on information not included in the docket. The commenter stated
that critical information regarding
[[Page 33443]]
Alcoa's affordability claim had been excluded from the record,
specifically Attachment 2 of Alcoa's June 2012 letter, and that the
failure to disclose this information means that they are unable to
provide meaningful comment on Alcoa's claim that they cannot afford
LSFO controls. Finally the commenter claimed that that the EPA has
failed to identify any support in the CAA that permits the EPA to
ignore the requirements of the CAA for public review and comment.
Response: The EPA recognizes the importance of making information
available to the public so that the public can meaningfully comment
upon proposed rules and, if they choose, ultimately challenge its
rules. This task is somewhat more complicated when, as here, the
rulemaking necessarily requires consideration of material claimed as
Confidential Business Information (CBI). Nevertheless, the CAA, the
EPA's implementing regulations, and other statutes impose stringent
procedures for the use and availability of information claimed to be
CBI, See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. 7414, 33 U.S.C. 1318(b); 40 CFR 2.204, 2.205,
and 2.301. As explained in the BART Guidelines, an economic analysis
regarding how the installation of controls may impact the viability of
continued plant operation must preserve the confidentiality of
sensitive business information.
Alcoa provided information to the EPA to support its claim that the
company cannot afford the installation of LSFO. See June 22, 2012 Alcoa
letter to the EPA. Alcoa requested that Attachment 2 of the letter be
treated as confidential.
Under the CAA and EPA's regulations, a company may assert a
business confidentiality claim covering information furnished to the
EPA. 40 CFR 2.203(b). Once a claim is asserted, the Agency must
consider the information to be confidential and must treat it
accordingly either until the EPA determines that the information is not
subject to CBI protection or until the EPA determines that release of
the information is relevant to a proceeding and in the public interest.
40 CFR 2.205, 2.301(g). The EPA's regulations set forth the specific
procedures that the EPA must follow when making a CBI determination. 40
CFR 2.204, 2.205, and 2.301(g). Under the regulations, the EPA must
provide the affected businesses with notice and, usually, an
opportunity to comment on the impending CBI determination or release,
including an opportunity to justify their CBI claims. See, e.g., 40 CFR
2.204(e), 2.209(d), and 2.301(g)(2).
Following the procedures outlined in 40 CFR part 2, the EPA
requested that Alcoa substantiate its CBI claim. The company narrowed
its CBI claim but informed us that portions of Attachment 2 were still
claimed as CBI and provided a version of Attachment 2 with the CBI
information redacted. The redacted information consists of six years
(2008-2013) of ``after tax'' cash flow values. After consideration of
applicable information, requirements and case law, the EPA completed
its CBI determination and found that the redacted information in
Attachment 2 constitutes CBI within the meaning of the CBI regulations.
The final CBI determination is dated July 10, 2013. Accordingly, the
information may not be disclosed to the public at this time.
When the EPA assembled the record for this rulemaking, it
physically separated the CBI portion of the record from the rest of the
publicly available record. The EPA placed into the public record all
information for which no claim of CBI was asserted. Any information or
analyses based on CBI, was presented in such a way to avoid disclosing
the underlying CBI. In addition, the EPA placed into the public record
the Revised Affordability Analysis which included an extensive list of
references to other publicly available information relevant to the
economic analyses, such as company-specific public financial reports,
cost information reported in trade journals and industry conference
presentations, and price quotations obtained from vendors.
Subsequent to the proposal and in response to comments, the EPA
conducted additional analysis regarding Alcoa's affordability claim.
More specifically, the EPA reviewed the recent long term power supply
contract between Alcoa and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)
which established the amount and rate at which electricity would be
supplied to the Intalco facility. The EPA also conducted additional
investigation to obtain publically available and updated financial
information and economic forecasts regarding the aluminum industry.
This new and additional information was placed in the docket and made
available for public review on December 30, 2013. The docket also
contains the June 22, 2011 Alcoa letter with the redacted version of
Attachment 2. As is evident by the list of documents in the docket, a
considerable amount of information regarding Alcoa's financial
condition is included and has been made available for public review.
The publicly available information taken together with the EPA's
Affordability Analyses, and the description of our analysis in the
prior Federal Register proposals are sufficient to support and explain
today's final action. Therefore, for the reasons stated above, the EPA
believes that the public record is adequate to allow meaningful review
of the EPA's decision regarding Alcoa's claim that they cannot afford
LSFO controls.
Comment: Referring to CAA section 110(k)(5), a commenter asserts
that before the EPA may promulgate a FIP there must be a finding that
the state implementation plan is substantially inadequate to comply
with the CAA requirement. The commenter claims that because the
Administrator has not made such a finding, has not notified Washington
of the inadequacies of the SIP or that the SIP needs to be revised, and
has not established a reasonable deadline to revise and submit a
revised SIP, the proposed FIP is premature. This action is premature
under CAA section 110(k)(5).
Response: The EPA disagrees with this comment. Section 110(k)(5) of
the CAA states ``[w]henever the Administrator finds that the applicable
implementation plan for any area is substantially inadequate to . . .
comply with any requirement of [the Act], the Administrator shall
require the State to revise the plan as necessary to correct such
inadequacies.'' This provision requires the EPA to issue what is known
as a ``SIP call'' whenever the EPA finds that a state's existing SIP is
substantially inadequate to meet CAA requirements. Importantly, this
provision bears no relation to the EPA's authority to review SIP
submissions and revisions, which by definition are not incorporated
into the state's existing SIP until they have been approved by the EPA.
Rather, when the EPA receives a SIP submission or revision from a
state, CAA sections 110(k)(3) and 110(l) provide that the EPA can only
approve the SIP if it meets all CAA requirements and would not
otherwise interfere with any applicable requirement of the Act. If the
EPA determines that a SIP submission or revision does not comply with
all applicable CAA requirements, then the EPA must disapprove the SIP
in whole or in part. At that time, CAA section 110(c)(1)(B) provides
the EPA with the authority ``to promulgate a Federal implementation
plan at any time within 2 years'' of the disapproval. Additionally, the
EPA has the authority to promulgate a FIP after finding that a state
has failed to make a required SIP submission or revision entirely or
that a state has submitted an incomplete SIP. CAA section 110(c)(1)(A).
The EPA's obligation to promulgate a FIP does not
[[Page 33444]]
expire unless the state corrects the deficiency, and the EPA approves
the SIP before promulgating a FIP. CAA section 110(c)(1).
Here, Washington's Regional Haze SIP was due on December 17, 2007.
On January 15, 2009, the EPA published notice of its finding that
Washington and 36 other States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands had failed to timely submit their regional haze SIPs. 74
FR 2392 (January 15, 2009). The notice explained that the finding
started the ``two year clock'' for the promulgation by the EPA of a
FIP. The notice also explained that the EPA's FIP obligation would
expire only if a state submitted a SIP and the EPA approved that SIP
before the EPA had promulgated a FIP. At approximately the same time as
the notice was signed, the Region 10 Administrator sent a letter to the
Department of Ecology informing the Director that Washington had failed
to make the required regional haze SIP submission and explaining that
within two years, the EPA would need to either fully approve the
Washington Regional Haze SIP or promulgate a FIP. EPA sent similar
letters to the other states, the District of Colombia, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands.
Washington submitted its Regional Haze SIP on December 22, 2010. As
we explained in the December 26, 2012 proposal, the EPA could not
approve the entire SIP. 78 FR 79344. Thus, the EPA proposed to
disapprove in part the Washington Regional Haze SIP and proposed to
promulgate a FIP to fill the gaps left by the EPA's partial
disapproval. See CAA section 302(y). Thus, based on both the EPA's
prior finding of failure to submit and the EPA's partial disapproval of
the Washington Regional Haze SIP, the EPA has the authority and
obligation to promulgate a FIP. We also note that the EPA's authority
to issue a FIP in these circumstances has been upheld recently by both
the Eighth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal. North Dakota v. EPA, 730
F.3d 750, 759 (8th Cir. 2013), Oklahoma v. EPA, 723 F.3d 1201, 1222-24
(10th Cir. 2013).
Comment: A commenter stated that the EPA's proposed action of
limited approval and limited disapproval does not comport with the CAA
or the regulatory requirements of 40 CFR 51, subpart P. More
specifically the commenter asserts that: (1) The CAA requires the
Administrator to approve a state's implementation plan `in whole' if it
meets applicable requirements; (2) Ecology dutifully executed its
statutory and regulatory obligations by preparing and submitting a
complete SIP, which included the requisite BART determinations,
consistent with the CAA and promulgated regulations; (3) the EPA's
partial disapproval is unfounded either because the EPA has not shown
that Ecology's BART determination is not grounded in its thorough
consideration of the five factors or because the EPA abused its
statutory discretion with regard to rendering its analysis of the cost
of compliance; and (4) it is the State's obligation to determine BART.
The EPA does not have the authority to override Ecology's cost
estimates and BART determinations.
Response: As explained in our initial proposal, the Washington
Regional Haze SIP does not meet all of the applicable CAA requirements.
Therefore the EPA proposed a partial approval and partial disapproval.
Specifically, the EPA does not agree that the State's BART
determinations for the Intalco facility and the Tesoro Refinery are
consistent with the EPA's regulations. The EPA agrees that in the first
instance, it is State's obligation to determine BART, but contrary to
the comment, the EPA does have the authority to disapprove Ecology's
cost of compliance estimates and BART determinations when it finds that
they are not in compliance with the applicable CAA requirements.
The commenter's claim that the EPA has failed to show that
Ecology's BART determination is not grounded in its thorough
consideration of the five factors or that it abused its statutory
discretion is not supported by the record. As explained in our initial
proposal, and further described here, there are deficiencies in the
State's cost of compliance calculations for the Intalco facility. As
also explained, the State's BART determination for Tesoro is no longer
accurate because it was based on the assumption that the retrofit would
need to occur before the next scheduled maintenance shutdown period
(turnaround) which would significantly increase the cost. This
assumption is no longer valid because the retrofit may occur during a
scheduled Tesoro turnaround and is now considered cost-effective. Also
importantly, Intalco and Tesoro both requested that the EPA consider a
BART Alternative. The EPA then found that each BART Alternative would
result in greater overall reasonable progress towards attaining the
national visibility goal than would requiring BART. We therefore
proposed these BART Alternative measures instead of BART.
Comment: A commenter stated that the EPA Region 10 referenced
sections of the EPA Air Pollution Control Cost Manual that are
irrelevant to SO2 control technologies but then the EPA
Region 10 disregarded an SO2-specific example in section 5
of the Control Cost Manual which uses a 15-year equipment lifetime. The
commenter further claimed that by using a 30-year equipment lifetime in
the cost effectiveness calculations for the LSFO scrubber, the EPA
Region 10 ignored agency precedent from the EPA Regions 4 and 8 and
that on more than one occasion Region 8 has had sources reanalyze
annualized costs for scrubbers using 15-years.
Response: The EPA Air Pollution Control Cost Manual \2\ (Cost
Manual) states that the actual expected equipment lifetime of an air
pollution control device should be used for purposes of cost
calculations. Section 1, chapter 2 of the Cost Manual addresses the
capital recovery factor (CRF), which is determined using the control
equipment lifetime and interest rate. The Cost Manual clearly defines
the control equipment lifetime as the entire life of the control. For
example, on page 2-19, the Cost Manual states: ``For each alternative:
calculate a discounting factor each year over the life of the equipment
. . .'' and on page 2-21: ``In essence, annualization involves
establishing an annual `payment' sufficient to finance the investment
for its entire life, using the formula . . . [CRF] . . . where PMT is
the equivalent uniform payment amount over the life of the control,
`n', at an interest rate, `i.' '' The variable `n' in the CFR equation
used to annualize total capital investment is thus the actual life of
the control.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Pollution Control
Cost Manual, Sixth Edition, January 2002. Section 1--Introduction,
Chapter 2--Cost Estimation: Concepts and Methodology. p. 2-19
through 2-21. EPA-452/B-02-001.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The commenter provided no basis for the 15-year equipment lifetime.
Rather the comment simply pointed to examples of different situations
or types of control technologies where 15 years was used. The
commenter's citation of specific equipment lifetimes within
calculations in the Cost Manual implying that these specific lifetimes
must always be used for a particular control technology is incorrect.
The 15-year equipment lifetime contained within section 5 of the Cost
Manual does not preclude the use of a different, better supported time
period for the equipment lifetime of packed tower absorbers, the
technology addressed in section 5.
In this case, as explained in the proposal, we determined that 30
years is a reasonable and well founded estimate of the expected life of
wet FGD systems, such as LSFO. This determination
[[Page 33445]]
considered among other things standard cost estimating handbooks,\3\
published papers,\4\ and published EPA reports \5\ that report 30 years
as a typical life for a scrubber as well as industry reports that
identify specific scrubbers in operation since the 1970s and 1980s.\6\
Additional support for a 30 year scrubber life can also be found in the
EPA Response to Comments for the final Oklahoma Regional Haze FIP.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Vatavuk, W.M., Estimating Costs for Air Pollution Control.
1990: Lewis Publishers. p. 198.
\4\ Warych, J., Szymanowski, M., Optimum Values of Process
Parameters of the ``Wet Limestone Flue Gas Desulfurization System''.
Chemical Engineering Technology, 2002. 25: p. 427-432.
\5\ Kaplan, N., Retrofit Costs of SO2 and
NOX Control at 200 U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants,
September 11, 1990.
\6\ Electric Power Research Institute, Flue Gas Desulfurization
Systems: Component Material Performance and Welding. December 2005.
\7\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Response to Technical
Comments for Sections E. through H. of the Federal Register Notice
for the Oklahoma Regional Haze and Visibility Transport Federal
Implementation Plan, December 13, 2011. Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-2010-
0190.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Region 10's use of a 30-year life is not inconsistent with other
Agency decisions; the EPA Region 6 used 30 years for SO2
spray dry scrubbing on energy generation units in the final Oklahoma
FIP. The EPA Region 6 research included wet FGD technologies such as
LSFO, and indicated that the 30-year lifetime was equally applicable to
both wet and spray dry FGD scrubbing. The EPA action on the Oklahoma
Regional Haze FIP occurred subsequent to the EPA Region 8 letters cited
by the commenter. The Region 4 action cited by the commenter reflects
the EPA approval of a case-specific BART determination made by the
State of Tennessee, and does not necessarily reflect EPA endorsement of
all aspects of the underlying BART analysis conducted by the facility
in question.
Combined, the EPA Region 6 research and analysis and the subsequent
related work by the EPA Region 10 reflect a current and robust
technical basis for both spray dry and wet scrubbing FGD equipment
life. We therefore find that use of 30 years as the equipment life for
LSFO in the Intalco BART analysis remains appropriate.
Comment: A commenter stated that the EPA Region 10 decision to use
the lower of two vendor air pollution control cost quotes is arbitrary
and instead we should have used the average of the two quotes. The
commenter states that it is inconsistent that the EPA Region 10 would
assert that it was improper for Washington to rely on the average of
the two quotes when the EPA Region 4 concluded that Tennessee's BART
analysis relying on the same average costs was reasonable. The comment
also states that the EPA Region 10's use of the lower of the two quotes
is inconsistent with an EPA Region 9 action that ``relied primarily on
the highest of several cost estimates. . . .''
Response: As described in the initial proposal and supporting
documents, it is appropriate to base the cost of compliance calculation
on the lower of the two vendor quotes. While not explicitly stated as a
directive in section 1, chapter 2 of the Cost Manual (which discusses
general methodology), the Cost Manual includes a discussion indicating
support for the use of the most competitive, lowest responsive bid
within cost effectiveness calculations. In Section 6, chapter 3, the
Cost Manual states that ``[s]ignificant savings can be had by
soliciting multiple quotes,'' \8\ and in section 4.2, chapter 1, the
Cost Manual suggests that vendor quotes be ``compare[d] to other
bids.'' \9\ These sections inherently recognize the practice of
competitive bidding in the contracting process with the goal of
procuring air pollution control equipment using the most cost effective
option.\10\ That these statements are made within chapters of the Cost
Manual that address specific control technologies does not reduce their
applicability to cost effectiveness calculations in general.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Pollution Control
Cost Manual, Sixth Edition, January 2002. Section 6--Particulate
Matter Controls, Chapter 3--Electrostatic Precipitators. p. 3-38.
EPA-452/B-02-001.
\9\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Pollution Control
Cost Manual, Sixth Edition, January 2002. Section 4.2--
NOX Post Combustion, Chapter 1--Selective Non-catalytic
Reduction. p. 1-29. EPA-452/B-02-001.
\10\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Pollution Control
Cost Manual, Sixth Edition, January 2002. Section 4.2--
NOX Post Combustion, Chapter 1--Selective Non-catalytic
Reduction. p. 1-30. Chapter 2--Selective Catalytic Reduction. p. 2-
40. EPA-452/B-02-001.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two vendor quotes were from experienced, reliable equipment
vendors, and the lower of the two quotes was in fact more robust and
detailed.
Using the lowest responsive bid also makes common sense from a
contracting perspective. Given multiple responsive bids from well
qualified equipment suppliers, it is reasonable to expect that the
lower cost supplier is most likely to be chosen to provide the control
equipment. The use of the average of multiple bids, as advocated by the
commenter, is illogical since the resulting cost does not reflect the
actual cost of control equipment from any supplier.
We acknowledge that the EPA Region 4 approved the State's decision
regarding the BART analysis for the Alcoa facility in Tennessee.
However, Region 4 did not initiate this approach, but rather approved
the State's approach. In instances where the EPA is conducting the BART
analysis (rather than the EPA reviewing a state's analysis), we are
consistent.
Contrary to the comment, the Region 9 and Region 10 approaches
regarding cost are consistent. The EPA Region 9 BART cost analysis for
the Four Corners Power Plant (FCPP) was based on a combination of cost
information submitted from equipment suppliers as well as information
based on the Cost Manual. In the course of developing the FCPP FIP, the
EPA Region 9 received three bids from the same vendor containing
pricing information that was updated as the project proceeded. The
second bid submitted was the highest cost bid. The EPA Region 9 used
the second bid in their cost analysis because the third bid, which
reflected lower costs, was submitted later in the BART analysis process
and the overall difference between the three bids was not significant
enough to affect the cost effectiveness determination.
The EPA Region 9 statement in the action cited by the commenter
\11\ was intended to communicate that the EPA Region 9 considered the
costs to be conservatively high, which still resulted in the control
equipment being determined to be cost effective. This position is
stated more explicitly in the technical support document for the FCPP
BART FIP developed by the EPA Region 9: ``. . . the EPA's revised cost
information and our additional analysis that rely on the capital and
annual costs are conservatively overestimated.'' \12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Source Specific
Federal Implementation Plan Best Available Retrofit Technology for
Four Corners Power Plant: Navajo Nation. Final Rule. Docket Number
EPA-R09-OAR-2010-0683. 77 FR 51620.
\12\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Proposed Rule: Source
Specific Federal Implementation Plan Best Available Retrofit
Technology for Four Corners Power Plant: Navajo Nation, Technical
Support Document. Docket Number EPA-R09-OAR-2010-0683, p. 30.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, we note that the EPA Region 9 did not accept the bid
as submitted, but revised numerous cost elements based on independent
research, competing equipment supplier bids for certain control
equipment elements, and information contained in the Cost Manual.
Therefore, the final cost numbers used in the EPA Region 9's analysis,
while based on the highest of the three base vendor bids, were lower
than the third vendor bid due to the changes made by the EPA Region 9.
[[Page 33446]]
Thus, the EPA Region 9 action in fact relied on the principles of
competitive bidding where appropriate, consistent with the EPA Region
10 action.
Comment: A commenter states that the EPA Region 10 cost analysis
disregarded the fact that the EPA Region 10's internal economic
analysis concluded that the gypsum by-product market is speculative and
did not prove there would be a guaranteed market for the gypsum in the
future. The commenter also states that the EPA Region 10 ignored
relevant market information provided by Alcoa and that this biased the
EPA Region 10's control cost estimate in favor of controls being deemed
cost effective.
Response: The EPA Region 10 continues to believe it is unreasonable
to assume that the gypsum produced by LSFO would require disposal in a
landfill given its suitability as a feedstock in many re-use
applications and that it is appropriate to eliminate the disposal cost
for purposes of the cost effectiveness analysis. The assumption that
the by-product gypsum would be reused is consistent with the approach
taken in a 2003 technology evaluation conducted by Sargent and Lundy,
where a disposal cost of zero was used.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ Sargent & Lundy LLC, Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization
Technology Evaluation, January 2003. https://www.lime.org/documents/uses_of_lime/wet_fgdte2003.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contrary to the comment, the EPA Region 10 did consider all
information submitted by Alcoa, including the letter dated June 22,
2012. In this letter, Alcoa outlines technical challenges associated
with re-use of the gypsum in various potential applications, but
includes no discussion regarding potential resolutions of these
technical challenges. The EPA Region 10 found that the financial
incentive to avoid disposal costs for a re-usable product would
encourage reuse. For example, although moist synthetic gypsum may be
inappropriate for use in cement manufacturing, dry synthetic gypsum may
be appropriate. In a cost analysis conducted by Sargent and Lundy for
the LSFO scrubber built for the coal-fired power plant in Centralia
Washington,\14\ it was assumed that the gypsum by-product would be re-
used, and a gypsum credit of $5/ton was assumed. In fact the gypsum
produced by Centralia plant was re-used by local wallboard
manufacturers.15 16
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ Sargent & Lundy LLC, Cost Study for a 1,400 MW Flue Gas
Desulfurization Unit, Centralia Units 1 & 2, October 1996.
\15\ ``TransAlta and George Pacific Share Win-Win Situation''.
Daniel Brunell. Association of Washington Business online article.
July-August 2004. https://www.awb.org/articles/environment/transalta_and_georgia_pacific_share_win_win_situation.htm.
\16\ ``Why Centralia Matters to Washington State''. TransAlta.
April 2010. https://www.transalta.com/sites/default/files/Why-Centralia-Matters.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The EPA Region 10 further believes that, were landfill disposal
required, the disposal cost assumed in the original Alcoa BART analysis
of $145/ton is excessively high. The 1996 Sargent & Lundy report cites
landfill disposal costs of only $6/ton, and a more recent Sargent &
Lundy paper cites landfill disposal costs of only $12/ton for a similar
waste product from dry FGD.\17\ A disposal cost several times higher
than that cited by Sargent & Lundy would not significantly impact the
cost effectiveness determination for LSFO at Intalco.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ Sargent & Lundy LLC, Economics of Lime and Limestone for
Control of Sulfur Dioxide, 2003. https://www.graymont-mx.com/technical/Economics_of_Lime_and_Limestone_Control_Sulfur_Dioxide.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thus, while recognizing some gypsum market uncertainty, we conclude
that the gypsum disposal costs are properly excluded in the cost
effectiveness calculation for LSFO.
Comment: One commenter requested the EPA reject the affordability
argument as the affordability claim is unprecedented and the EPA's
reliance on affordability in this instance is inconsistent with the
EPA's approach to BART determinations across the country. The commenter
asserted that because the EPA has proposed and/or finalized BART
determinations in other areas that have contributed to power plants
shutting down because the electrical generating units (EGUs) were not
profitable enough after accounting for the cost of pollution controls
(e.g. New York, Oklahoma, Four Corners, Boardman, and TransAlta) that
the EPA must explain the different outcome for this BART determination.
Intalco is the only BART determination where a company is excused from
complying with the law on the grounds that it cannot `afford' the law.
Response: The BART Guidelines explain that, even where a control
technology is cost-effective, ``there may be cases where the
installation of controls would affect the viability of continued plant
operations.'' 40 CFR part 51, appendix Y, section IV.E.3.1. In these
unusual circumstances, the BART Guidelines allow states and the EPA to
take into consideration how requiring controls could affect ``product
prices, the market share, and profitability of the source.'' Id.
section IV.E.3.2. Nevertheless, only when these effects are ``judged to
have a severe impact on plant operations'' can they play a role in the
ultimate control determination. The affordability analysis we conducted
for Intalco was therefore proper. As explained in our re-proposal, the
results of the analysis demonstrated that requiring controls at the
Intalco facility would have a ``severe impact'' on the facility's
ability to continue business operations. The examples cited by the
commenter, on the other hand, are inapposite. In those instances, none
of the sources submitted affordability analyses to the EPA as part of
the BART evaluation process. While the sources may have determined that
it was in their financial interest to cease operating certain EGUs
rather than install pollution control technology, the EPA has no reason
to believe that the sources could not afford the controls in question.
Rather, the sources made voluntary business decisions that the benefits
of continuing to generate electricity at the affected units were
outweighed by a number of factors, which likely included the costs of
controls, potential future regulatory requirements, market trends, the
availability of alternative generating strategies, etc. The EPA has no
evidence to suggest, however, that the costs of controls in those
instances were so onerous that the sources simply could not afford them
or that the sources' decisions to cease operations were in essence
involuntary.
Comment: One commenter requested the EPA's or Ecology's commitment
to revisit the BART determination for the Intalco facility every 10
years based on then current information. Two commenters recommended
that the EPA explain how the Intalco facility will be reevaluated in
the 5-year report or next SIP planning cycle to determine if LSFO does
become affordable in the future.
One commenter would like the EPA or Ecology to commit to revisiting
the BART determination for Intalco in each round of revised regional
haze SIPs (i.e., every 10 years) utilizing the technological and
financial information that is current for this source at that time.
Response: BART is a `one time' decision that is not required to be
revisited in future planning cycles. However, the source could in the
future be subject to an analysis of control to achieve reasonable
progress, should a new breakthrough in technology occur and cost
effective controls be identified. The RHR explains that ``After a state
has met the requirements for BART, or implemented an emission trading
program, or other alternative measure that achieves more reasonable
progress than the installation and operation of BART, BART eligible
sources will be
[[Page 33447]]
subject to the requirements of paragraph (d) of this section in the
same manner as other sources.'' 40 CFR 51.308(e)(5).
A commitment to revisit whether cost effective controls are
available for a particular source in the future is not a required SIP
element of this planning cycle and is not required for the EPA to
approve the regional haze plan. A stated intention in the State's SIP
submittal to revisit controls in the future is not an enforceable
requirement. Accordingly the EPA's approval today is not conditioned
upon the State's commitment to conduct future control technology
reviews on a specific schedule.
Comment: One commenter recommended that the EPA consider the number
of Class I areas impacted.
Response: The EPA considered the fact that Intalco had impacts
greater than 0.5 deciview (dv) at six Class I areas. Additionally, we
took into account Intalco's significant impact of over 1 dv at Olympic
National Park. Thus, as explained in the proposal, the EPA considered
cumulative visibility impacts, as well as the other BART factors in
reaching its BART determination for this facility. See 77 FR 76191.
Comment: A commenter suggested that it was improper to use baseline
emissions rather than future (or even current) conditions to assess
visibility improvement.
Response: As previously described in our response regarding
Tesoro's baseline emissions, the BART Guidelines (40 CFR part 51,
appendix Y) provide, ``In general, for existing sources subject to
BART, you will estimate the anticipated annual emissions based upon
actual emissions from a baseline period.'' 40 CFR part 51, appendix Y,
section IV.D.4.d.1. The baseline period in the Washington SIP submittal
for emissions used in the BART analysis is 2002-2005. The BART
Alternative analysis correctly used the highest 24-hour emission rate
in the baseline period to assess visibility improvement.
Comment: One commenter requested that the EPA clarify that the
modeled BART Alternative improvements are not improvements from current
conditions.
Response: Intalco has seen dramatic fluctuation in production over
the last decade ranging from no production to production at
approximately 80% of full operation. Thus, visibility improvement in
Class I areas impacted by the Intalco facility will vary based on
operating rates. The Intalco facility is currently operating at
slightly less than 80% of full operation. As stated in the Federal
Register proposal of December 26, 2012, the proposal to limit
SO2 emissions to 80% of baseline, combined with making the
other components in the BART Alternative permanent and federally
enforceable, will prevent degradation if the Intalco facility increases
production above 80%. 77 FR 76193.
D. Alcoa Wenatchee Works
Comment: Several commenters suggested that the Alcoa Wenatchee
Works was improperly exempted from BART review. This comment is based
on Ecology's use of refined air quality dispersion modeling (0.5 km
grid) which the commenters believe underestimates visibility impact.
The commenters asserted that the use of fine grid modeling
inappropriately underestimates the Wenatchee Works impacts at the
Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area to a level below the BART threshold thus
allowing it to be improperly exempt from BART. Allowing the use of fine
grid modeling is contrary to numerous prior statements by the EPA. The
commenters requested that the EPA disapprove Washington's BART
exemption determination and conduct a BART analysis for the Wenatchee
Works.
Response: In response to the comments, the EPA re-evaluated the
dispersion modeling that the State used to exempt the Wenatchee Works
from BART. On December 30, 2013, we published a proposed rulemaking
action where we explained our rationale for proposing to disapprove the
State's BART exemption determination, proposing that the facility was
subject to BART, and proposing a BART FIP for the Wenatchee Works. 78
FR 79344. The adverse comments on that re-proposal are addressed below.
Comment: A commenter asserts that the EPA failed to address and
resolve deficiencies in the Draft ``Modeling Protocol for the
Application of the CALPUFF Modeling System Pursuant to the Best
Available Retrofit Technology (BART) Regulation'' (the draft Three
State Protocol) as identified by Alcoa to the EPA in a June 30, 2006
letter to EPA Region 10. The commenter claimed that this failure
adversely affected the subject-to-BART modeling activities and
improperly determined visibility impairment within the State of
Washington.
Response: The major concern raised in the June 30, 2006 letter was
that the draft Three State Protocol did not include a provision to
allow for site specific protocols that include technical enhancements,
such as better resolution and other site specific improvements. The
June 30, 2006 letter requested that such enhancements be allowed in the
BART exemption modeling and the BART determination modeling. It also
stated that the 4 kilometer (km) grid resolution \18\ did not replicate
on-the-ground terrain features such as valley flow and land/water
boundaries. For purposes of this action, a 4 km grid is considered a
course grid and a 0.5 km grid is considered to be a fine grid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ Grid resolution is the distance between points for which
model data is established. In this case the data is the elevation
above mean sea level. A course grid may miss changes in elevation in
mountainous terrain (i.e. river valley features) and the model may
not account for channeling of wind flow. The grid points are also
the points where estimated pollutant concentrations and visibility
impairment are calculated.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The final Three State Protocol provided for site specific
protocols. Deviations from and site specific improvements to the Three
State Protocol are allowed. The Modeling Protocol for Washington,
Oregon, and Idaho: Protocol for the Application of the CALPUFF Modeling
System Pursuant to the Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART)
Regulation (the final Three State Protocol) states in section 1.1 that:
This modeling protocol is a cooperative effort among Idaho
Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ), Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality (ODEQ), and Washington Department of Ecology
(WDOE) to develop an analysis that will be applied consistently to
the Idaho, Washington, and Oregon BART-eligible sources. The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Forest
Service, and U.S. EPA Region 10 were consulted during the
development of this protocol (EPA 2006a, b, c). This protocol adopts
the BART Guideline and addresses both the BART exemption as well as
the BART determination modeling. The three agencies are also
collaborating on the development of a consistent three-year
meteorological data set. Collaboration on the protocol and
meteorological data set helps ensure modeling consistency and the
sharing of resources and workload.
As stated above, the development of the Three State Protocol was a
collaborative effort that included seven government agencies. The Three
State Protocol was viewed as guidance and not a prescription of how the
modeling must be done in all cases. Consequently, if a BART-eligible
source preferred to deviate from the Three State Protocol, such as
generate its own predicted mesoscale meteorology simulations or employ
a different grid resolution, as in the Wenatchee Works case, the state
with jurisdiction would consult with the other six government agencies,
including the EPA, before accepting the deviation. The purpose of the
consultation is to resolve differing opinions on the deviation, ensure
consistency and the integrity of the
[[Page 33448]]
Three State Protocol, and maintain fairness to the BART-eligible
sources. The EPA's endorsement of significant deviations from the Three
State Protocol is necessary to effectively evaluate the SIP for
technical adequacy in this important case of exempting a source from
BART. As described below, the EPA had concerns with the deviation.
In July 2008, the EPA Region 10 communicated to Washington our
concerns regarding use of fine grid modeling for the Wenatchee Works.
In a July 8, 2008 email message to Ecology we stated, ``Nevertheless,
R10 is willing to allow the use of new procedures, techniques or
options as long as an acceptability demonstration is made in accordance
with applicable guidance and is fully vetted by peers.'' The email also
explained that, ``[t]he CALPUFF modeling system has never been
evaluated or tested against tracer gas studies/experiments using a fine
grid. As a minimum, Ecology and TRC should have submitted a protocol to
R10 for acceptance to evaluate and test the sensitivity using a fine
grid resolution in CALPUFF Version 5.8.'' The State failed to address
these concerns.
Comment: A commenter claims that the EPA ``cherry picked''
statements and portrayed out of context, portions of the EPA's 2009
Modeling Clearinghouse Memorandum and misrepresented its relevance to
the Wenatchee Works BART exemption modeling.
Response: The EPA disagrees with the commenter that the Modeling
Clearinghouse Memorandum, dated May 15, 2009, was taken out of context
to justify the rejection of the Wenatchee Works BART exemption
modeling. The memorandum states in part that, ``. . . the Otter Tail
Protocol presents no scientific evidence to support the claim that 1 km
CALMET resolution increases the objective accuracy of the final wind
field, especially in areas of relatively modest topographic relief,
such as for each of the three proposed domains.'' Similarly, the
commenter did not present any scientific evidence to support its claim
that the proposed 500 meter grid resolution will adequately capture the
terrain influenced wind flows (e.g., valley and slope) at its river
valley location.
CALMET is a diagnostic meteorological model that produces non-
steady-state hourly meteorological data but has limited ability to
independently capture the full three-dimensional structure of complex
wind flows at the Wenatchee Work's river valley location. Unlike the
Otter Tail situation where the benefit may be limited, the EPA believes
a network of meteorological monitoring stations (e.g., surface and
upper air measurements) at the river valley location would better
capture the three-dimensional, non-steady-state meteorology of this
site. These data could be used to create a more accurate wind field
that could then be used to more accurately predict the visibility
impact from the Wenatchee Works.
Comment: A commenter questioned the value of revising the PM
emission limitations that are being required of various emission units
at the Wenatchee Works. The commenter states that the potential
visibility improvement resulting from the reduction in allowable
emissions is below the capability of the model to determine. Any
potential visibility improvement that may accrue from imposing the
SO2 limit on Potline 5 would far exceed that of the direct
PM2.5 being emitted by these stacks. However another
commenter said, ``We support retaining the existing particulate matter
limit of .005 gr/dscf.''
Response: We acknowledge that tightening the particulate matter
emission limits may have little effect on visibility improvement
because the existing fabric filters are high efficiency control
devices. However, in some instances the existing emission limits are
well above the level that a properly operating fabric filter can
achieve. BART is defined as an emission limit based on the degree of
reduction achievable through the application of the best system of
continuous emission reduction. The existing emission limits in some
cases are not based on the degree of reduction achievable at this
facility. The BART emission limits we are establishing reflect the
achievable emission reductions for these units, and result in tighter
limits.
Comment: A commenter said that they have been unable to ascertain
the source of the emission factor for NOX emissions from
Potline 5. Additionally, they wonder about the value of an emission
limitation based solely on the potline aluminum production rate and an
emission factor. The commenter suggests three options; that the
NOX emission limit be removed, the emission factor be
substantiated, or the emissions be based on actual monitoring.
Response: The EPA understands that this emission factor has been
used by Alcoa to report NOX emissions to the Department of
Ecology for years. However, we recognize the lack of substantiation for
the emission factor and Alcoa has indicated that they cannot quickly
provide the EPA with a basis for the factor. In response to this
comment, the EPA has revised the NOX BART emission limit
from the proposed 0.95 tons per calendar month to a ``test and set''
requirement that will require Alcoa to conduct source tests and develop
a unit-specific NOX emission factor for Potline 5. That
emission factor will then be used to establish a monthly NOX
emission limit for Potline 5.
Comment: A commenter states that the EPA erroneously asserts that
there are ``no'' SO2 emissions associated with Ingot
Furnaces No. 1, 2, and 11. The commenter requests that the statement be
corrected to indicate there are trivial amounts of SO2
created during the combustion of natural gas. Should the EPA elect not
to withdraw its proposed actions and approve the Washington SIP, the
commenter asks that the EPA determine that BART for SO2 for
these furnaces be comparable to the BART limit proposed for
NOX, which is a limitation on the type of fuel that may be
combusted.
Response: There are trivial amounts of SO2 emissions
from the Ingot furnaces. The total SO2 emitted from the
three Ingot furnaces is 0.014 t/yr. We consider these insignificant,
but as requested by the commenter, we will establish a BART requirement
for SO2. We agree with the commenter that BART for
SO2 would be the continued combustion of natural gas in the
Ingot Furnaces. Thus, we are requiring the combustion of natural gas as
BART for NOX emissions and are adding a provision that
requires the combustion of natural gas as BART for SO2
emissions as well.
Comment: A commenter suggests that the EPA appears to be
inconsistent in the cost analyses produced for limestone scrubbing for
SO2. The commenter explains that, in what appears to be the
final cost analysis (document 501 in the docket), the EPA has
included no costs for gypsum disposal, but that documents 503
and 504 in the docket do contain a disposal cost for gypsum.
Based on experience with similar useable waste materials the commenter
states that the EPA should include a disposal cost for the gypsum
produced by the limestone scrubbing system. The commenter has found
that even a useful waste like gypsum cannot be disposed of or given
away at no cost to the source. At a minimum, the company generating the
waste material has to cover the cost of storage and transport to a
user.
Response: The commenter appears to be confusing cost analyses
conducted by Alcoa (documents 503 and 504) with the
EPA's cost analysis (document 501). A detailed response to the
comment with regard to the inclusion of gypsum disposal cost in the
cost analysis has been provided above addressing a similar comment
regarding
[[Page 33449]]
the SO2 BART analysis for the Intalco facility.
Comment: A commenter states that the EPA Region 10 ignored agency
precedent and other factual information in the development of the
Wenatchee Works cost of compliance analysis when it relied on the cost
analysis for a similar scrubber at the Intalco facility. The commenter
states that the EPA made the same flaws in the Wenatchee analysis that
it made in the Intalco analysis specifically: Equipment life, use of
vendor quotes, use of unsubstantiated costs, ignoring cost data
provided by Alcoa, and using data that underestimate the cost of LSFO.
Response: This comment for the Wenatchee Works is similar to a
comment about the Intalco BART analysis addressed above. See our
response regarding the cost of compliance calculation for the Intalco
facility. The same rationale for our response to the Intalco BART
analysis comment applies to this comment regarding the Wenatchee Works.
Comment: A commenter suggests that the process description for the
anode bake furnace at the Wenatchee facility is incorrect in the
preamble to the December 30, 2013 re-proposal.
Response: The commenter is correct in that the carbon anodes are
not used in an electric arc furnace, rather the facility produces
aluminum from alumina via an electrochemical reduction process that
occurs in ``electrolytic reduction cells'' commonly known as (pots)
using the Hall-Heroult process.
Comment: A commenter said that provisions for alternative fuel use
should be included, when a change to fuel use is permitted or required
pursuant to governmental dictate.
Response: We understand that Alcoa may change to an alternate fuel
in the future. However, we cannot ensure that the requirement for BART
is met by simply allowing for the use of an alternative fuel that is
permitted or required by the government. If Alcoa choses to change to a
fuel other than natural gas, the normal process would be to request the
EPA to revise this rule and establish an appropriate BART emission
limit for the alternative fuel. We do, however, believe that we can
provide for the situation where the use of an alternative fuel may be
approved in a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit. It
is the EPA's position that a Best Available Control Technology (BACT)
emission limit for a pollutant established in a PSD permit will likely
be at least as stringent as a BART emission limit for that pollutant.
We have added a provision to this rule that would allow a federally-
enforceable BACT emission limit for NOX which is established
in a PSD permit to supersede the BART emission limit for NOX
established in this rule.
Comment: A commenter notes there appears to be a discrepancy
between the baseline SO2 emissions and emissions reduced
through LFSO at Potline 5. The proposal states that Potline 5 has a
baseline emissions rate of 1000.8 tons of SO2 per year.
However, the supporting BART analysis appears to assume that an LFSO
scrubber could reduce emissions by 1955 tons per year which would be
greater than the annual baseline emissions.
Response: The EPA does not agree that there is a discrepancy
between the SO2 emission values for Potline 5 in the
proposal and in the BART analysis. The 1000.8 tons per year value in
the proposal is the baseline SO2 emission rate which
represents the actual annual emissions from the Potline during the
baseline period. The 1955 tons per year emission reduction in the BART
analysis represents an estimate of the potential emission reduction
from the maximum potential to emit from the Potline that could be
expected from the application of LFSO.
Comment: A commenter said that the EPA should consider ways to
monitor and make more easily enforceable the proposed BART emissions
limits. Most of the units at the Wenatchee Works do not have continuous
emissions monitoring systems (``CEMS''), and for many of the units, the
EPA is proposing limits based on the content of the fuel or emissions
per unit of production. For Potline 5, the EPA proposes a BART limit
expressed as pounds of SO2 per ton of aluminum produced, per
calendar month. Potline 5 has the highest SO2 emissions of
any BART-eligible unit at the Wenatchee facility, but it does not
currently have a CEMS. To gather more accurate data on the unit's
actual emissions and to ensure compliance with any emissions limit, the
commenter believes that the EPA should require installation of a CEMS
and express the emissions limit in terms of SO2 emitted per
month, as a rolling 30-day average.
Response: Emissions from primary aluminum plants have traditionally
been regulated with emission standards in the form of pounds of
emissions per ton of aluminum produced (see, e.g., the EPA's New Source
Performance Standards for aluminum plants at 40 CFR part 60, subpart S,
the EPA's Maximum Achievable Control Technology standards for aluminum
plants at 40 CFR part 63, subpart LL, and Ecology's emission limits for
aluminum plants at WAC 173-415). The EPA believes that establishing
BART emission limits in the same form as the limits for other
pollutants set under other programs will both ensure enforceable limits
on visibility impairing pollutants as well as provide a consistent set
of requirements for the regulated sources. The EPA also believes that
for SO2 emissions, a mass balance approach to demonstrating
compliance, rather than CEMS, is appropriate for Potline 5.
SO2 from Potline 5 is emitted both from the gas treatment
centers air pollution control units (GTC) and the roof vents. Measuring
SO2 emissions from the roof vents with CEMS is not feasible.
In addition, a mass balance approach with frequent monitoring of the
sulfur in the anodes adequately accounts for the SO2
emissions from both the GTC and the roof vents. Similarly, restricting
BART-eligible units to a particular fuel (e.g., natural gas) and then
monitoring the fuel combusted in the units that have no other
SO2 emission controls also adequately accounts for the
SO2 emissions from those units.
Comment: A commenter said that the EPA merged monitoring and
compliance demonstration requirements in 40 CFR 52.2502(c)(1)(i) and
created ambiguity that requires further clarification.
Response: We agree with the commenter that the proposed rule merged
the monitoring and compliance demonstration requirements for the sulfur
limit for incoming coke in a way that was confusing. We have
reformatted the provision to more clearly specify how compliance is
demonstrated for the sulfur limit for incoming coke and the required
monitoring to determine the sulfur content of incoming coke. Note that
this SO2 BART limit for the anode bake furnaces does not
affect the SO2 BACT emission limit in the 1982 EPA PSD
permit (PSD-X82-04) for Potlines 1 through 3.
Comment: A commenter notes that the emissions in excess of the
various BART limits proposed throughout the final rule must not be
exceeded one-hundred twenty days after the final rule is published in
the Federal Register. The commenter claims a more appropriate
compliance date for these emission limits is the requirement to comply
with the BART limits ``within 120 days of the final rule becoming
effective,'' not when the final rule is published in the Federal
Register. The EPA should restate the compliance date for the BART
requirements affected by this proposed regulation.
[[Page 33450]]
Response: We have changed the compliance dates throughout the rule
to reflect both the expected effective date of this action as well as
to tie the compliance date to the effective date of the final rule.
Specifically, the compliance date for the Intalco facility's calendar
year SO2 BART limit is set at January 1, 2015. The
compliance date for the NOX `test and set' emission limit is
180 days after the effective date of the final rule. The compliance
dates for all other BART emission limits are 120 days after the
effective date of this action. The compliance date for the Tesoro
refinery was also revised to 120 days after the effective date of this
action.
IV. Conclusion
EPA is taking final action to partially approve and partially
disapprove Washington's SIP for Regional Haze and to promulgate a FIP
for the disapproved elements. The EPA is approving portions of the
Washington Regional Haze SIP as meeting the requirements of 40 CFR
51.308 for the first planning period and disapproving other portions.
The disapproved portions are corrected with today's promulgation of FIP
elements.
As discussed above, promulgation of the FIP BART elements for the
Tesoro refinery, the Intalco facility, and the Wenatchee Works does not
require the purchase or installation new air pollution control
equipment, but rather establishes BART based on existing control
technology. Thus, the only additional costs incurred by the owners of
these facilities will be minimal expenditures for monitoring,
reporting, and recordkeeping. EPA expects that this action will prevent
visibility degradation in the Class I areas by limiting potential
future increases in emissions from changes at the facilities.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
This action finalizes approval of portions of the Washington SIP
and a FIP for emission units subject to BART at three facilities. This
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the terms of
Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and is therefore
not subject to review under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 (76 FR
3821, January 21, 2011). It is therefore not a rule of general
applicability.
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
This action does not impose an information collection burden under
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b). Because the final FIP applies to
just three facilities, the Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply. See
5 CFR 1320(c).
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires an agency
to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to
notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative
Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses,
small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. For purposes
of assessing the impacts of today's final rule on small entities, small
entity is defined as: (1) A small business as defined by the Small
Business Administration's (SBA) regulations at 13 CFR 121.201; (2) a
small governmental jurisdiction that is a government of a city, county,
town, school district or special district with a population of less
than 50,000; and (3) a small organization that is any not-for-profit
enterprise which is independently owned and operated and is not
dominant in its field. After considering the economic impacts of
today's final rule on small entities, I certify that this action will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The FIP that the EPA is finalizing for purposes of the
regional haze program consists of imposing Federal controls to meet the
BART requirements for three specifically identified facilities. The net
result of this FIP action is that the EPA is finalizing emission limits
on selected units at only three sources which are not considered small
business. The sources in question are two aluminum smelters and a
petroleum refinery. The final partial approval of the SIP merely
approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose
additional requirements.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public
Law 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the
effects of their regulatory actions on State, local, and Tribal
governments and the private sector. Under section 202 of UMRA, the EPA
generally must prepare a written statement, including a cost-benefit
analysis, for final rules with ``Federal mandates'' that may result in
expenditures to State, local, and Tribal governments, in the aggregate,
or to the private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted for
inflation) in any one year. Before promulgating an EPA rule for which a
written statement is needed, section 205 of UMRA generally requires the
EPA to identify and consider a reasonable number of regulatory
alternatives and adopt the least costly, most cost-effective, or least
burdensome alternative that achieves the objectives of the rule. The
provisions of section 205 of UMRA do not apply when they are
inconsistent with applicable law. Moreover, section 205 of UMRA allows
the EPA to adopt an alternative other than the least costly, most cost-
effective, or least burdensome alternative if the Administrator
publishes with the final rule an explanation why that alternative was
not adopted. Before the EPA establishes any regulatory requirements
that may significantly or uniquely affect small governments, including
Tribal governments, it must have developed under section 203 of UMRA a
small government agency plan. The plan must provide for notifying
potentially affected small governments, enabling officials of affected
small governments to have meaningful and timely input in the
development of the EPA regulatory actions with significant Federal
intergovernmental mandates, and informing, educating, and advising
small governments on compliance with the regulatory requirements. Under
title II of UMRA, the EPA has determined that this final rule does not
contain a Federal mandate that may result in expenditures that exceed
the inflation-adjusted UMRA threshold of $100 million ($150 in 2013
when adjusted for inflation) by State, local, or Tribal governments or
the private sector in any one year. The private sector expenditures
that will result from the FIP, including BART emission limits, are
insignificant. The BART emission limits for the Alcoa Intalco
Operations and Alcoa Wenatchee Works do not involve installation of new
control technology, but rather establish BART emission limits based on
the existing control technology. The BART Alternative for the Tesoro
refinery involves taking credit for voluntary SO2 emission
reductions in-lieu of installing BART-level NOX control
technology on emission units subject to BART. Thus, because the annual
expenditures associated with the FIP are less than the inflation-
adjusted threshold of $150 million in any one year, this rule is not
[[Page 33451]]
subject to the requirements of sections 202 or 205 of UMRA. This rule
is also not subject to the requirements of section 203 of UMRA because
it contains no regulatory requirements that might significantly or
uniquely affect small governments.
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Executive Order 13132, Federalism, (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999)
revokes and replaces Executive Orders 12612 (Federalism) and 12875
(Enhancing the Intergovernmental Partnership). Executive Order 13132
requires the EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure
``meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the
development of regulatory policies that have federalism implications.''
``Policies that have federalism implications'' is defined in the
Executive Order to include regulations that have ``substantial direct
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government.'' Under
Executive Order 13132, the EPA may not issue a regulation that has
federalism implications, that imposes substantial direct compliance
costs, and that is not required by statute, unless the Federal
government provides the funds necessary to pay the direct compliance
costs incurred by state and local governments, or the EPA consults with
state and local officials early in the process of developing the final
regulation. The EPA also may not issue a regulation that has federalism
implications and that preempts state law unless the Agency consults
with state and local officials early in the process of developing the
final regulation. This rule will not have substantial direct effects on
the states, on the relationship between the national government and the
states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132,
because it merely addresses the State not fully meeting its obligation
under the CAA to include in its SIP provisions to meet the visibility
requirements of part C of title I of the CAA and to prohibit emissions
from interfering with other states measures to protect visibility.
Thus, Executive Order 13132 does not apply to this action.
F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian
Tribal Governments
Executive Order 13175, entitled Consultation and Coordination With
Indian Tribal Governments (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), requires the
EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure ``meaningful and timely
input by tribal officials in the development of regulatory policies
that have tribal implications.'' This final rule does not have Tribal
implications, as specified in Executive Order 13175 because the SIP and
FIP do not have substantial direct effects on Tribal governments. Thus,
Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this rule. The EPA nonetheless
provided a consultation opportunity to Tribes in Idaho, Oregon and
Washington in letters dated January 14, 2011. The EPA received one
request for consultation. We followed-up with that Tribe and the Tribe
does not think consultation is necessary at this time. On September 20,
2012, EPA provided an additional consultation opportunity to seven
Tribes in Washington near the facilities that would be regulated under
the FIP. We received no requests for consultation.
G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks
The EPA interprets EO 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) as
applying only to those regulatory actions that concern health or safety
risks, such that the analysis required under section 5-501 of the EO
has the potential to influence the regulation. This action is not
subject to EO 13045 because it implements specific standards
established by Congress in statutes. However, to the extent this final
rule will limit emissions of NOX and PM, the rule will have
a beneficial effect on children's health by reducing air pollution.
H. Executive Order 13211: Actions Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355
(May 22, 2001)), because it is not a significant regulatory action
under Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (``NTTAA''), Public Law 104-113, 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
directs the EPA to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS) in its
regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with
applicable law or otherwise impractical. VCS are technical standards
(e.g., materials specifications, test methods, sampling procedures, and
business practices) that are developed or adopted by voluntary
consensus standards bodies. NTTAA directs the EPA to provide Congress,
through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides not to use available
and applicable VCS. The EPA believes that VCS are inapplicable to the
partial approval of the SIP that if merely approves state law as
meeting Federal requirements and imposes no additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law. The FIP portion of this rulemaking
involves technical standards. The EPA is using American Society for
Testing and Materials (ASTM) Methods and generally accepted test
methods previously promulgated by the EPA. Because all of these methods
are generally accepted and are widely used by State and local agencies
for determining compliance with similar rules, the EPA believes it
would be impracticable and potentially confusing to put in place
methods that vary from what is already accepted. As a result, the EPA
believes it is unnecessary and inappropriate to consider alternative
technical standards.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994), establishes
Federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision
directs Federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and
permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission
by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high
and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs,
policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income
populations in the United States. We have determined that this final
action will not have disproportionately high and adverse human health
or environmental effects on minority or low-income populations because
it increases the level of environmental protection for all affected
populations without having any disproportionately high and adverse
human health or environmental effects on any population, including any
minority or low-income population.
K. Congressional Review Act
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the
[[Page 33452]]
Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. Section
804 exempts from section 801 the following types of rules (1) rules of
particular applicability; (2) rules relating to agency management or
personnel; and (3) rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice
that do not substantially affect the rights or obligations of non-
agency parties. 5 U.S.C. 804(3). The EPA is not required to submit a
rule report regarding today's action under section 801 because this is
a rule of particular applicability.
L. Judicial Review
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by August 11, 2014. Pursuant to CAA section
307(d)(1)(B), this action is subject to the requirements of CAA section
307(d) as it promulgates a FIP under CAA section 110(c). Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this action for the purposes of
judicial review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for
judicial review may be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness
of such rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in
proceedings to enforce its requirements. See CAA section 307(b)(2).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides,
Regional haze, Visibility, and Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: May 30, 2014.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.
Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is
amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for Part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart WW--Washington
0
2. Section 52.2470 is amended as follows:
0
a. In paragraph (d) by adding footnote 1 to the table and adding six
entries to the end of the table.
0
b. In paragraph (e) by adding in TABLE 2--ATTAINMENT, MAINTENANCE, AND
OTHER PLANS an entry ``Regional Haze SIP'' at the end of the section
with the heading ``Visibility and Regional Haze Plans.''
Sec. 52.2470 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
EPA-Approved Washington Source-Specific Requirements \1\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State
Name of source Order/permit number effective EPA approval date Explanation
date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BP Cherry Point Refinery........ Administrative 7/7/2010 6/11/2014 [Insert The following
Order No. 7836. page number where conditions: 1.2,
the document 1.2.1, 1.3, 1.3.2,
begins]. 1.3.3, 2.2,
2.2.1,2.2.2,2.2.3,
2.2.4, 2.2.5, 2.3,
2,3,1, 2.3.2, 2.4,
2.4.1, 2.4.2, 2.5,
2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.2.1,
2.6, 2.6.1, 2.6.1.1.,
2.6.1.2, 2.6.2, 2.6.3,
2.6.4, 2.7, 2.7.1,
2.7.2, 2.7.3, 2.8,
2.8.1, 2.8.2, 2.8.3,
2.8.4, 2.9, 2.9.1,
2.9.2, 2.9.3, 2.9.4,
2.9.5, 2.9.6, 3., 3.2,
3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.3,
3.3.1, 3.3.1.1, 3.3.2,
3.3.3, 3.3.4, 4, 4.1,
4.1.1, 4.1.1.1,
4.1.1.2, 4.1.1.3,
4.1.1.4, 5., 6, 6.2,
6.3, 6.4, 7.
Alcoa Intalco Works............. Administrative 11/15/10 6/11/14 [Insert The following
Order No. 7837, page number where conditions: 1, 2.,
Revision 1. the document 2.1, 3., 4., 4.1,
begins]. Attachment A
conditions: A1, A2,
A3, A4, A5, A6, A7,
A8, A9, A10, A11, A12,
A13, A14.
Tesoro Refining and Marketing Administrative 7/7/10 6/11/14 [Insert The following
Company. Order 7838. page number where conditions: 1., 1.1,
the document 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.2,
begins]. 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.5.1,
1.5.1.1,1.5.1.2,
1.5.1.3, 1.5.2, 1.5.3,
1.5.4, 1.5.5, 1.5.6,
2., 2.1, 2.1.1,
2.1.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3,
2.2, 2.2.1, 3. 3.1,
3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.2.1,
3.1.2.2, 3.1.2.3, 3.2,
3.2.1, 3.2.1.1,
3.2.1.2, 3.2.1.3,
3.2.1.4, 3.2.1.4.1,
3.2.1.4.2, 3.2.1.4.3,
3.2.1.4.4, 3.2.1.4.5,
3.3, 3.3.1, 3.4,
3.4.1, 3.4.2, 4., 4.1,
5., 5.1, 6., 6.1,
6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.1.3,
6.1.4, 7., 7.1, 7.1.1,
7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4,
7.1.5, 7.2, 7.2.1,
7.2.2, 7.2.3, 7.2.4,
8. 8.1, 8.1.1, 8.1.2,
8.2, 8.2.1, 8.2.2,
8.2.3, 8.3, 8.3.1,
8.3.2, 9., 9.1, 9.1.1,
9.1.2, 9.2, 9.2.1,
9.39.3.1, 9.3.2,
9.3.3,9.4, 9.4.1,
9.4.2, 9.4.3, 9.4.5,
9.4.6, 9.5, 10, 11,
12, 13, 13.1, 13.2,
13.3, 13.4, 13.5,
13.6.
Port Townsend Paper Corporation. Administrative 10/20/10 6/11/14 [Insert The following
Order No. 7839, page number where Conditions:1, 1.1,
Revision 1. the document 1.2, 1.3, 2, 2.1, 3,
begins]. 3.1, 4.
[[Page 33453]]
Lafarge North America, Inc. Administrative 7/28/10 6/11/14 [Insert The following
Seattle, Wa. Revised Order No. page number where Conditions: 1, 1.1,
7841. the document 1.2, 2, 2.1, 2.1.1,
begins]. 2.1.2, 2.2, 2.3, 3,
3.1, 3.1.1, 3.1.2,
3.1.3, 3.2, 3.3, 4,
4.1, 5, 5.1, 5.1.1,
5.1.2, 5.2, 5.3, 6,
6.1, 7, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3,
7.4, 7.5, 8, 8.1, 8.2,
8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 9, 10,
11, 12.
Weyerhaeuser Corporation, Administrative 7/7/10 6/11/14 [Insert The following
Longview, Wa. Order No. 7840. page number where Conditions: 1, 1.1,
the document 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3,
begins]. 1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.2,
1.2.3, 1.3, 1.3.1,
1.4, 2, 2.1, 3, 3.1,
4, 4.1.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The EPA does not have the authority to remove these source-specific requirements in the absence of a
demonstration that their removal would not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the NAAQS, violate any
prevention of significant deterioration increment or result in visibility impairment. Washington Department of
Ecology may require removal by submitting such a demonstration to the EPA as a SIP revision.
(e) * * *
* * * * *
Table 2--Attainment, Maintenance, and Other Plans
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applicable State
Name of SIP provision geographic or submittal EPA approval date Comments
nonattainment area date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visibility and Regional Haze Plans
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regional Haze SIP............... State-wide......... 12/22/10 6/11/14 [Insert The Regional Haze SIP
page number where including those
the document provisions relating to
begins]. BART incorporated by
reference in Sec.
52.2470
`Identification of
plan' with the
exception of the BART
provisions that are
replaced with a BART
FIP in Sec. 52.2498
Visibility
protection., Sec.
52.2500 Best available
retrofit technology
requirements for the
Intalco Aluminum
Corporation (Intalco
Works) primary
aluminum plant--Better
than BART
Alternative., Sec.
52.2501 Best available
retrofit technology
(BART) requirement for
the Tesoro Refining
and Marketing Company
oil refinery--Better
than BART
Alternative., Sec.
52.2502 Best available
retrofit technology
requirements for the
Alcoa Inc.--Wenatchee
Works primary aluminum
smelter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0
3. Section 52.2475 is amended by revising the heading of paragraph (g)
and paragraph (g)(1) to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2475 Approval of plans.
* * * * *
(g) Visibility protection. (1) The EPA approves portions of a
Regional Haze SIP submitted by the Washington Department of Ecology on
December 22, 2010, as meeting the requirements of Clean Air Act section
169A and 169B and 40 CFR 51.308, with the exception of certain BART
requirements for the Alcoa Intalco Works, the Alcoa Wenatchee Works,
and the Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company.
* * * * *
0
4. Section 52.2498 is amended by adding paragraph (c) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.2498 Visibility protection.
* * * * *
(c) The requirements of sections 169A and 169B of the Clean Air Act
are not met because the plan does not include approvable provisions for
protection of visibility in mandatory Class I Federal areas,
specifically the Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) requirement
for regional haze visibility impairment (Sec. 51.308(e)). The EPA BART
requirements are found in Sec. Sec. 52.2500, 52.2501, and 52.2502.
0
5. Section 52.2500 is added to subpart WW to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2500 Best available retrofit technology requirements for the
Intalco Aluminum Corporation (Intalco Works) primary aluminum plant--
Better than BART Alternative.
(a) Applicability. This section applies to the Intalco Aluminum
Corporation (Intalco) primary aluminum plant located in Ferndale,
Washington and to its successors and/or assignees.
[[Page 33454]]
(b) Better than BART Alternative--Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
emission limit for potlines. Starting January 1, 2015, SO2
emissions from all potlines in aggregate must not exceed a total of
5,240 tons for any calendar year.
(c) Compliance demonstration. (1) Intalco must determine on a
calendar month basis, SO2 emissions using the following
formula:
SO2 emissions in tons per calendar month = (carbon
consumption ratio) x (% sulfur in baked anodes/100) x (% sulfur
converted to SO2/100) x (2 pounds of SO2 per
pound of sulfur) x (tons of aluminum production per calendar month)
(i) Carbon consumption ratio is the calendar month average of tons
of baked anodes consumed per ton of aluminum produced as determined
using the baked anode consumption and production records required in
paragraph (e)(2) of this section.
(ii) % sulfur in baked anodes is the calendar month average sulfur
content as determined in paragraph (d) of this section.
(iii) % sulfur converted to SO2 is 95%.
(2) Calendar year SO2 emissions shall be calculated by
summing the 12 calendar month SO2 emissions for the calendar
year.
(d) Emission monitoring. (1) Intalco must determine the % sulfur of
baked anodes using ASTM Method D6376 or an alternative method approved
by the EPA Region 10.
(2) Intalco must collect at least four anode core samples during
each calendar week.
(3) Calendar month average sulfur content shall be determined by
averaging the sulfur content of all samples collected during the
calendar month.
(e) Recordkeeping. (1) Intalco must record the calendar month
SO2 emissions and the calendar year SO2 emissions
determined in paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section.
(2) Intalco must maintain records of the baked anode consumption
and aluminum production data used to develop the carbon consumption
ratio used in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section.
(3) Intalco must retain a copy of all calendar month carbon
consumption ratio and potline SO2 emission calculations.
(4) Intalco must record the calendar month net production of
aluminum and tons of aluminum produced each calendar month. Net
production of aluminum is the total mass of molten metal produced from
tapping all pots in all of the potlines that operated at any time in
the calendar month, measured at the casthouse scales and the rod shop
scales.
(5) Intalco must record the calendar month average sulfur content
of the baked anodes.
(6) Records are to be retained at the facility for at least five
years and be made available to the EPA Region 10 upon request.
(f) Reporting. (1) Intalco must report the calendar month
SO2 emissions and the calendar year SO2 emissions
to the EPA Region 10 at the same time as the annual compliance
certification required by the Part 70 operating permit for the Intalco
facility is submitted to the Title V permitting authority.
(2) All documents and reports must be sent to the EPA Region 10
electronically, in a format approved by the EPA Region 10, to the
following email address: R10-AirPermitReports@epa.gov.
0
6. Section 52.2501 is added to subpart WW to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2501 Best available retrofit technology (BART) requirement
for the Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company oil refinery--Better than
BART Alternative.
(a) Applicability. This section applies to the Tesoro Refining and
Marketing Company oil refinery (Tesoro) located in Anacortes,
Washington and to its successors and/or assignees.
(b) Better than BART Alternative. The sulfur dioxide
(SO2) emission limitation for non-BART eligible process
heaters and boilers (Units F-101, F-102, F-201, F-301, F-652, F-751,
and F-752) follows.
(1) Compliance Date. Starting no later November 10, 2014, Units F-
101, F-102, F-201, F-301, F-652, F-751, and F-752 shall only fire
refinery gas meeting the criteria in paragraph (b)(2) of this section
or pipeline quality natural gas.
(2) Refinery fuel gas requirements. In order to limit
SO2 emissions, refinery fuel gas used in the units from
blend drum V-213 must not contain greater than 0.10 percent by volume
hydrogen sulfide (H2S), 365-day rolling average, measured
according to paragraph (d) of this section.
(c) Compliance demonstration. Compliance with the H2S
emission limitation must be demonstrated using a continuous emissions
monitoring system as required in paragraph (d) of this section.
(d) Emission monitoring. (1) A continuous emissions monitoring
system (CEMS) for H2S concentration must be installed,
calibrated, maintained and operated measuring the outlet stream of the
fuel gas blend drum subsequent to all unmonitored incoming sources of
sulfur compounds to the system and prior to any fuel gas combustion
device. The monitor must be certified in accordance with 40 CFR part 60
appendix B and operated in accordance with 40 CFR part 60 appendix F.
(2) Tesoro must record the calendar day average H2S
concentration of the refinery fuel gas as measured by the CEMS required
in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The daily averages must be used to
calculate the 365-day rolling average.
(e) Recordkeeping. Records of the daily average H2S
concentration and 365-day rolling averages must be retained at the
facility for at least five years and be made available to the EPA
Region 10 upon request.
(f) Reporting. (1) Calendar day and 365-day rolling average
refinery fuel gas H2S concentrations must be reported to the
EPA Region 10 at the same time that the semi-annual monitoring reports
required by the Part 70 operating permit for the Tesoro oil refinery
are submitted to the Title V permitting authority.
(2) All documents and reports must be sent to the EPA Region 10
electronically, in a format approved by the EPA Region 10, to the
following email address: R10-AirPermitReports@epa.gov.
0
7. Section 52.2502 is added to subpart WW to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2502 Best available retrofit technology requirements for the
Alcoa Inc.--Wenatchee Works primary aluminum smelter.
(a) Applicability. This section applies to the Alcoa Inc.--
Wenatchee Works primary aluminum smelter (Wenatchee Works) located near
Wenatchee, Washington and to its successors and/or assignees.
(b) Best available retrofit technology (BART) emission limitations
for Potline 5--(1) Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission limit.
Starting November 10, 2014, SO2 emissions from Potline 5
must not exceed 46 pounds per ton of aluminum produced during any
calendar month as calculated in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section.
(i) Compliance demonstration. Alcoa must determine SO2
emissions, on a calendar month basis using the following formulas:
SO2 emissions in pounds = (carbon ratio) x (tons of aluminum
produced during the calendar month) x (% sulfur in baked anodes/100) x
(% sulfur converted to SO2/100) x (2 pounds of
SO2 per pound of sulfur)
[[Page 33455]]
SO2 emissions in pounds per ton of aluminum produced =
(SO2 emissions in pounds during the calendar month)/(tons of
aluminum produced during the calendar month)
(A) The carbon ratio is the calendar month average of tons of baked
anodes consumed per ton of aluminum produced as determined using the
baked anode consumption and aluminum production records required in
paragraph (h)(2) of this section.
(B) The % sulfur in baked anodes is the calendar month average
sulfur content as determined in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section.
(C) The % sulfur converted to SO2 is 90%.
(ii) Emission monitoring. The % sulfur of baked anodes must be
determined using ASTM Method D6376 or an alternative method approved by
the EPA Region 10.
(A) At a minimum, Alcoa must collect no less than four baked anode
core samples during each calendar week.
(B) Calendar month average sulfur content must be determined by
averaging the sulfur content of all samples collected during the
calendar month.
(2) Particulate matter (PM) emission limit. Starting November 10,
2014, PM emissions from the Potline 5 Gas Treatment Center stack must
not exceed 0.005 grains per dry standard cubic foot of exhaust gas.
(3) Nitrogen oxides (NOX) emission limit. Starting January 7, 2015,
NOX emissions from Potline 5 must not exceed, in tons per
calendar month, the emission limit determined under paragraph
(b)(3)(iii) of this section.
(i) Compliance demonstration. Alcoa must determine NOX
emissions, on a calendar month basis using the following formula:
NOX emissions in tons per calendar month = (the emission
factor determined under paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section, in pounds
of NOX per ton of aluminum produced) x (number of tons of
aluminum produced in the calendar month)/(2000 pounds per ton).
(ii) NOX emission factor development. By September 9, 2014, Alcoa
must submit to the EPA a plan for testing NOX emissions from
Potline 5 and developing an emission factor in terms of pounds of
NOX per ton of aluminum produced. This plan must include
testing NOX emissions from both the Gas Treatment Center
stack and the potline roof vents along with measurements of volumetric
flow and aluminum production such that mass emissions can be determined
and correlated with aluminum production. Within 90 days after the EPA
approval of the plan, Alcoa shall conduct the testing and submit the
resultant emission factor to the EPA at the address listed in paragraph
(i)(5) of this section.
(iii) NOX emission limit. NOX emission limit in tons per
calendar month = (the emission factor determined under paragraph
(b)(3)(ii) of this section, in pounds of NOX per ton of
aluminum produced) x (5546.2 tons of aluminum per month)/(2000 pounds
per ton).
(c) Best available retrofit technology (BART) emission limitations
for Anode Bake Furnace #62--(1) Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission limit.
Starting November 10, 2014, the sulfur content of the coke used in
anode manufacturing must not exceed a weighted average of 3.0 percent
during any calendar month as calculated in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this
section.
(i) Compliance demonstration. The weighted monthly average sulfur
content of coke used in manufacturing shall be calculated as follows:
Weighted average percent sulfur =
[sum](C1-nxSC1-n/100)/[sum]C1-n*100
Where:
Cn is the quantity of coke in shipment n in tons
SCn is the percent sulfur content by weight of the coke
in shipment n
n is the number of shipments of coke in the calendar month
(ii) Emission monitoring. Alcoa must test each shipment of coke for
sulfur content using ASTM Method D6376 or an alternative method
approved by the EPA Region 10. Written documentation from the coke
supplier certifying the sulfur content is an approved alternative
method.
(2) Particulate matter (PM) emission limit. Starting November 10,
2014, the PM emissions from the anode bake furnaces stack must not
exceed 0.01 grains per dry standard cubic foot of exhaust gas.
(3) Nitrogen oxides (NOX) emission limit. Starting November 10,
2014, the anode bake furnaces must only combust natural gas.
(i) Compliance demonstration. Compliance shall be demonstrated
through fuel purchase records.
(ii) Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) Nitrogen oxides
(NOX) emission limit for an approved alternative fuel. Compliance with
a Best Available Control Technology (BACT) emission limit for
NOX for the anode bake furnaces, established in a Prevention
of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit issued pursuant to 40 CFR
52.21 or pursuant to an EPA-approved PSD program that meets the
requirements of 40 CFR 51.166, shall be deemed to be compliance with
BART for a fuel other than natural gas.
(d) Best available retrofit technology (BART) emission limitations
for Ingot Furnace 1 (IP-1), Ingot Furnace 2 (IP-2), and Ingot Furnace
11 (IP-11)--(1) Particulate matter (PM) emission limits. Starting
November 10, 2014, the PM emissions from each of ingot furnaces IP-1,
IP-2, and IP-11 must not exceed 0.1 grains per dry standard cubic foot
of exhaust gas.
(2) Nitrogen oxides (NOX) emission limit. Starting November 10,
2014, each of the ingot furnaces IP-1, IP-2, and IP-11 must only
combust natural gas.
(3) Sulfur dioxide (SOX) emission limit. Starting November 10,
2014, each of the ingot furnaces IP-1, IP-2, and IP-11 must only
combust natural gas.
(i) Compliance demonstration. Alcoa must demonstrate compliance
through fuel purchase records.
(ii) [Reserved]
(e) Best available retrofit technology (BART) particulate matter
(PM) emission limitations for the Green Mill. (1) Starting November 10,
2014, the PM emissions from the Green Mill Dry Coke Scrubber must not
exceed 0.005 grains per dry standard cubic foot of exhaust gas.
(2) Starting November 10, 2014, the PM emissions from the Green
Mill Dust Collector 2 must not exceed 0.01 grains per dry standard
cubic foot of exhaust gas.
(f) Best available retrofit technology (BART) particulate matter
(PM) emission limitations for alumina handling operations. (1) Starting
November 10, 2014, the opacity from the alumina handling fabric filters
(21M and 19C) must not exceed 20 percent.
(2) Starting November 10, 2014, the PM emissions from the alumina
rail car unloading baghouse (43E) must not exceed 0.005 grains per dry
standard cubic foot of exhaust gas.
(g) Source testing. (1) Alcoa must perform source testing to
demonstrate compliance with emission limits established in this section
upon request by the EPA Region 10 Administrator.
(2) The reference test method for measuring PM emissions is EPA
Method 5 (40 CFR part 60, appendix A).
(3) The reference test method for measuring opacity from the
alumina handling fabric filters (21M and 19C) is EPA Method 9 (40 CFR
part 60, appendix A).
(4) The EPA Region 10 may approve the use of an alternative to a
reference test method upon an adequate
[[Page 33456]]
demonstration by Alcoa that such alternative provides results
equivalent to that of the reference method.
(h) Recordkeeping. Except as provided in paragraph (h)(6) of this
section, starting November 10, 2014, Alcoa must keep the following
records:
(1) Alcoa must retain a copy of all calendar month Potline 5
SO2 emissions calculations.
(2) Alcoa must maintain records of the baked anode consumption and
aluminum production data used to develop the carbon ratio.
(3) Alcoa must retain a copy of all calendar month carbon ratio and
potline SO2 emission calculations.
(4) Alcoa must record the calendar day and calendar month
production of aluminum.
(5) Alcoa must record the calendar month average sulfur content of
the baked anodes.
(6) Starting January 7, 2015, Alcoa must retain a copy of all
calendar month potline NOX emission calculations.
(7) Alcoa must record the sulfur content of each shipment of coke
and the quantity of each shipment of coke.
(8) Alcoa must keep fuel purchase records showing the type(s) of
fuel combusted in the anode bake furnaces.
(9) Alcoa must keep fuel purchase records showing the type(s) of
fuel combusted in the ingot furnaces.
(10) Records must be retained at the facility for at least five
years and be made available to the EPA Region 10 upon request.
(i) Reporting. (1) Alcoa must report SO2 emissions by
calendar month to the EPA Region 10 on an annual basis at the same time
as the annual compliance certification required by the Part 70
operating permit for the Wenatchee Works is submitted to the Title V
permitting authority.
(2) Alcoa must report NOX emissions by calendar month to
the EPA Region 10 on an annual basis at the same time as the annual
compliance certification required by the Part 70 operating permit for
the Wenatchee Works is submitted to the Title V permitting authority.
(3) Alcoa must report the monthly weighted average sulfur content
of coke received at the facility for each calendar month during the
compliance period to the EPA Region 10 at the same time as the annual
compliance certification required by the Part 70 operating permit for
the Wenatchee Works is submitted to the Title V permitting authority.
(4) Alcoa must report the fuel purchase records for the anode bake
furnaces and the ingot furnaces during the compliance period to the EPA
Region 10 at the same time as the annual compliance certification
required by the Part 70 operating permit for the Wenatchee Works is
submitted to the Title V permitting authority.
(5) All documents and reports must be sent to the EPA Region 10
electronically, in a format approved by the EPA Region 10, to the
following email address: R10-AirPermitReports@epa.gov.
[FR Doc. 2014-13491 Filed 6-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P