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.