4 The record articles

U.S. EPA’s Area Source Boiler MACT Tool

Posted: November 4th, 2014

Author: All4 Staff 

On October 14, 2014, U.S. EPA released an Area Source Boiler MACT Regulation Navigation Tool to help guide owners and operators of area source boilers through their regulatory requirements under 40 CFR Part 63, Subpart JJJJJJ (National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Area Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers). The interactive tool leads the user through a series of questions that ultimately direct the user to a PDF of the boiler’s regulatory requirements.  

As a member of the 4 Rules/Boiler MACT team at ALL4, I gave the tool a try to see if U.S. EPA simplified the process of determining a boiler’s Area Source Boiler MACT regulatory requirements. 

The tool begins by defining important terms [i.e., boiler, categories (oil, gas, biomass, limited-use, seasonal), hot water heater, and residential] and then questions the user on their facility and boiler. Next, the tool tries to decipher if the boiler falls into one of the many Area Source Boiler MACT exemptions. At any step, if the user’s boiler is determined to be exempt from Area Source Boiler MACT, the program will inform the user that the boiler is exempt from Area Source Boiler MACT requirements and prompt the user to exit the tool. If there are no exemptions that apply to the user’s boiler, the tool will request additional information regarding the boiler’s size, construction date, and category. After the user has made it through all of the questions, the user is directed to a webpage that contains a PDF of the boiler’s Area Source Boiler MACT requirements. 

I thought the tool was extremely easy to use and helpful. Unfortunately, the resulting PDF was very lengthy, which could make it difficult for a user to easily interpret their results. 

ALL4’s thoughts? Give the tool a try! Feel free to give us a call if you need help using the tool or deciphering your results.

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