Super Bowl 50 and Boiler MACT Compliance Anxiety

A Super Bowl has just been added to the record books and here at ALL4 we are already planning ahead to Super Bowl week in 2016.  And perhaps not for the reasons that you would expect.  Super Bowl Sunday 2016 is slated for February 7, 2016, which is one (1) week to the day after your major source Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters must be in compliance with the maximum achievable control technology (MACT) requirements at 40 CFR Part 63 Subpart DDDDD.  Football fans of two (2) cities will be dealing with their own anxiety in the week leading up to Super Bowl 50.  With a little planning over the next few months, you should be able to reduce your own Boiler MACT anxiety and enjoy Super Bowl week festivities.  Here are a few tips for you to consider for planning for Boiler MACT compliance.

• Review the proposed major source Boiler MACT reconsideration topics. The reconsideration was published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2015. Although the reconsideration is draft, that should not prevent you from strategizing about how to accommodate the proposed changes or even submitting comments on the reconsideration before March 9, 2015. Specifically, have you considered the following:
• Whether your qualifying boiler will be impacted by an alternate carbon monoxide (CO) emission limit.
• Aspects of the use of particulate matter (PM) continuous parameter monitoring system (CPMS), specifically around how excursions to parametric limits will be evaluated.
• Current and revised definitions that affect the startup and shutdown provisions and institute more detailed recordkeeping practices and impact operating procedures.
• Vacatur of the affirmative defense provision, which means that protection from civil suits is eliminated if emission excursions result during malfunction periods.
• Whether your facility would benefit from becoming a synthetic minor for HAPs, thereby avoiding major source Boiler MACT and become subject to the potentially less stringent area source Boiler MACT? If so, this option is running short on time, since the minor HAP status for your facility must be in place (i.e., permitted and enforceable) by January 31, 2016. 
• Confirm you have addressed your environmental permitting requirements.
• How does your Boiler MACT strategy impact New Source Review (NSR)?
• Any chance that a Standard of Performance for New Stationary Sources (NSPS) gets triggered by your Boiler MACT compliance strategy?
• Are you combusting and plan to continue combusting a non-hazardous secondary material (NHSM)? Does the NHSM have a non-waste determination?
• Are there any wastewater issues with a new emissions control strategy?
• If you will be installing continuous emission monitors (CEMs) for Boiler MACT, think about other implications.
• Will the new continuous data give you any surprises?
• Do you have the data management portion of CEM monitoring covered?

If any of the items above give you pause, do not hesitate to reach out to an ALL4 Boiler MACT team member for guidance and counsel.  After all, everyone gets over a Super Bowl loss (unless you live in Philadelphia), but getting over a Boiler MACT loss will have much more serious consequences.