Utility MACT Information Collection Request (ICR) Results Available for Review

U.S. EPA has initiated work to develop emissions standards for utility power plants under Clean Air Act Section 112, consistent with the D.C. Circuit’s opinion (PDF) regarding the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR). The Court-issued final Consent Decree calls for signature of the proposed rule no later than March 16, 2011 and signature of the final rule no later than November 16, 2011. On July 20, 2010, U.S. EPA published a final draft database of selected Electric Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology Information Collection Request (EU MACT ICR) response data that includes all of the general facility information, fuel analysis, and emissions data provided to U.S. EPA. 

All respondents are encouraged to review the information for their facilities and provide any corrections and/or comments to U.S. EPA. To aid in this, U.S. EPA has set up an email subject area at their EU MACT ICR website entitled “Correction to Parts I & II Data” which can be found here. A deadline for notifying U.S. EPA of corrections and/or comments has not been proposed. At the same time, utilities are wrapping up their testing requirements and submitting their test data per the Part III requirements. 

U.S. EPA Proposes New Pulp and Paper Information Collection Request

U.S. EPA is proposing to distribute an information collection request (ICR) to individual Pulp and Paper Mills in an effort to obtain additional emissions related information to aid in U.S. EPA’s re-evaluation of emission standards for the industry. The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires U.S. EPA to periodically evaluate the effectiveness of existing New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS). To perform the evaluation for existing pulp and paper air quality regulations, U.S. EPA is proposing to distribute electronic surveys to all Pulp and Paper Mills soliciting mill-wide process and emissions information. The information collected will be used in air quality modeling assessments to evaluate the adequacy of existing NSPS and NESHAP standards. Mills should be prepared to complete the survey, which may include providing updates to U.S. EPA to ensure that the most current stack and emissions information is being used in U.S. EPA’s evaluation. The comment period on the ICR ends on August 23, 2010. The survey is anticipated to be released this fall, at which point Mills will have 60 days to complete it. Stay tuned for a more detailed description of the U.S. EPA evaluation in next month’s 4 The Record.