August 24-30, 2019
In this week's issue:
- EPA Releases Proposed Changes to New Source Performance Standards for Oil and Natural Gas Sector Sources (August 20, 2019)
- EPA Proposes Risk and Technology Review Standards for Three Source Categories (August 22 and 28, 2019)
- US Chamber Of Commerce Urges One National Program for Light Duty Vehicles (August 30, 2019)
- Tier 4 Compliance Extension Proposed for Some Marine Diesel Engines (August 26, 2019)
- EPA Issues Integrated Review Plan for Ozone NAAQS Review (August 28, 2019)
- EPA Releases New Version of CMAQ Modeling System (August 27, 2019)
This Week in Review
EPA released a pre-publication version of a proposed rule to amend the agency’s new source performance standards (NSPS) for methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the oil and natural gas sector. The proposal targets two Obama Administration rules, finalized in 2012 and 2016, which expanded EPA’s oil and natural gas sector NSPS from production and processing to include sources in the sector’s transmission and storage segments and to directly address methane emissions. The new proposal would rescind federal limits on methane from new production and processing activities while retaining standards for VOC sources in those sector segments. EPA argues that separate requirements for methane are redundant because the limitations applicable to VOCs also reduce methane emissions. The proposal would additionally eliminate all performance standards for methane and VOC sources in sector’s transportation and storage segments. According to EPA, transportation and storage sources are functionally distinguishable from production and processing sources and should not have been grouped together in a single NSPS. As an alternative, EPA is also seeking comment on an approach that would rescind the performance standards for methane across the oil and natural gas sector but leave in effect standards for VOC emission sources in the sector’s production, processing, transportation and storage segments. In addition to the proposed performance standard changes, EPA is also seeking comment on its legal interpretation of Clean Air Act Section 111’s endangerment finding requirement. When EPA expanded the NSPS to address methane emissions in 2016, it argued that a separate endangerment finding for methane was unnecessary because oil and natural gas sector sources had previously been listed under Section 111 based on their emission of other air pollutants. EPA found that a separate 2009 endangerment finding for CO2, methane and a mix of other greenhouse gasses coupled with an assessment of methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector provided a legally sufficient “rational basis” for the regulatory expansion. EPA is seeking comment on an alternative interpretation that would instead require a “significant contribution” finding before regulating new air pollutants from a regulated source category. EPA is further seeking comment on whether EPA’s 2016 analysis of the endangerment finding and the oil and natural gas sector’s methane emissions could qualify as a finding of significant contribution. The proposal will be open to public comment for 60 days once it is published in the Federal Register.
For further information: http://www.4cleanair.org/sites/default/files/Documents/frn_oil_and_gas_review_2060-at90_nprm_20190828revised_d.pdf
EPA has proposed Risk and Technology Review (RTR) standards for three source categories: Paper and Other Web Coating and Plywood and other Composite Wood Products (both on August 22) and Taconite Iron Ore Processing (on August 28). For all three categories, EPA is proposing to determine that the risks remaining after the installation of Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) are acceptable and that there are no new developments in control technologies or practices that would warrant additional requirements. The agency is proposing minor amendments that include the elimination of the startup, shutdown and malfunction exemption, requirements for periodic air emissions performance testing and requirements that facilities submit electronic copies of compliance reports. With respect to the Taconite Iron Ore facilities, EPA also is proposing to determine that a type of amphibole cleavage fragment, emitted by only one facility, does not fit the definition of any listed hazardous air pollutant and should not be directly regulated by the standard. RTR standards are intended to address the risks remaining eight years after the implementation of MACT and to consider new controls or technologies that have been developed since MACT was established. The measures are among a spate of recent proposals intended to comply with court-ordered deadlines that require EPA to issue final standards by March or June of 2020 (depending on the source category). The proposals will be subject to a 45-day public comment period that will begin when they are published in the Federal Register.
For further information: https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/paper-and-other-web-coating-national-emission-standards-hazardous-0, https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/plywood-and-composite-wood-products-manufacture-national-emission and https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/taconite-iron-ore-processing-national-emission-standards-hazardous
The Global Energy Institute, a research arm of the US Chamber of Commerce, has issued a report opposing the EPA and US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule, which proposes to hold federal light-duty vehicle fuel economy standards flat from model year 2021 through 2026 and to revoke California’s Clean Air Act waiver to set its own fuel economy standards. In response, California and four automobile manufacturers have announced their intention to develop and issue a separate set of higher fuel economy standards. While the report, entitled Divided Highway: The Importance of Uniform, Achievable Nationwide Automobile Standards, agrees with EPA”s April 2018 determination that the federal light duty vehicle emission standards should be revisited to account for, among other things, lower than predicted fuel prices and an unanticipated fleet composition, it finds that the SAFE rule could result in uncertainty for automakers, environmental tradeoffs, emissions leakage, opportunity costs, and broader economic harms. The report advocates for a single national framework that continues to improve vehicle fuel economy, stating that “it is clear that continued progress on fuel economy and emissions reductions can be achieved without undue harm to the economy,” and concluding that “continuous and predictable year-over-year efficiency improvements are key to enabling the U.S. to maintain environmental and manufacturing leadership.” In an accompanying letter to the EPA, DOT, and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the Chamber “…urges you to redouble efforts to identify a workable path forward on light duty vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards that provides regulatory certainty, continues progress on mileage and emissions reductions, and preserves a unified national program for vehicle sales.”
For further information: https://www.globalenergyinstitute.org/us-chamber-letter-dot-epa-and-carb-achievable-nationwide-fuel-economy-standards and https://www.globalenergyinstitute.org/divided-highway
EPA announced a proposed amendment to the national marine diesel engine program to additional 3 years’ compliance time in order to address concerns associated with finding and installing certified Tier 4 engines. In 2017, EPA Tier 4 emissions rules for commercial marine vessels with engine power above 803 horsepower (hp) went into effect. Tier 4 refers to standards set by the EPA to reduce emissions of particulate matter (PM), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other pollutants from new, non-road diesel engines. EPA notes that delaying compliance in line with the proposal will result in an annual increase of 108 tons of NOx and 2.3 tons of PM10 emissions in 2019, declining over time. EPA is also proposing to streamline certification requirements to facilitate or accelerate certification of Tier 4 marine engines with high power density. Prompted by a concern that no Tier 4 engines are available in the market that meet the needs of offshore lobster fleet ships, the Maine congressional and senate delegations requested that EPA provide waivers for commercial fishing boats – particularly the lobster fleet – to extend the deadline to meet Tier 4 standards for certain vessels. The Maine lawmakers had noted that when the standards were adopted in 2008 most of the Northeast lobster fleet was equipped with engines below the 804-hp threshold for the emissions rule, and operated for fewer hours and closer to shore, and that more time would allow for high-density Tier 4 compliant engines to reach the marketplace. Public comments on this proposal are being accepted until October 21, 2019 under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0638 and a public hearing is currently planned for 9:30 a.m. on September 20, 2019, at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, ME.
For further information: https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/amendments-related-marine-diesel-engine-emission
EPA has released the Integrated Review Plan (IRP) for the agency’s review of the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The document articulates the current review plan, the projected timeline and the process for conducting the review. It also identifies policy-related issues and questions that are intended to guide the review. According to EPA, “[t]he review will provide an integrative assessment of relevant scientific information and will focus on key aspects of the O3 [ozone] NAAQS, including the basic elements of the standards: the indicator, averaging time, form, and level.” EPA issued a draft of the IRP for public comment in October 2018 and the Clean Air Act Scientific Advisory Committee reviewed it in November 2018.
For further information: at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-standards-planning-documents-current-review
The EPA Office of Research and Development has released the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system version 5.3. CMAQ, which is used by air quality managers and researchers, is an open-source tool that includes a suite of programs for conducting air quality model simulations. According to EPA, the updated version includes enhancements such as a more detailed representation of the characteristics of particulate matter (PM), expanded chemistry for ozone and PM formation from global-to-local scales, more complex land and atmosphere interactions to support air quality and ecosystems applications, increased emphasis on pollutants originating outside the country, increased scientific consistency between meteorology and chemistry models and greater flexibility to support increasingly diverse uses of CMAQ.
For further information: https://www.epa.gov/cmaq and https://www.epa.gov/cmaq/cmaq-fact-sheet