by Jbs122908 b3 — December 31, 2008—The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken three actions in recent weeks concerning the environmental performance of industrial facilities.
1. EPA issued a final amendment to the leak detection and repair requirements allowing the use of optical gas imaging technology to locate emission leaks. The leaks are displayed on a video screen similar to the way night vision goggles are used to show the heat signature of objects. This amendment provides requirements for using the new technology; however, facilities may continue to use existing approved work practices to detect leaks. This amendment modifies about 40 national rules requiring facilities to find and repair leaks from equipment, including pumps, valves, and connectors, from refineries, chemical production plants, and bulk liquid storage facilities. For more information on this and related rules visit the EPA’s Hazardous Air Pollutants Web site.
2. EPA has finalized the expansion to the Comparable Fuel Exclusion rule, which allows certain secondary material, called emission-comparable fuel (ECF), to be safely burned for energy recovery in industrial boilers. ECF generates emissions when burned in an industrial boiler that are reportedly comparable to those from burning fuel oil. Under the final regulation, ECF is subject to the same requirements that currently apply under the Comparable Fuels Exclusion, with an allowance for ECF’s higher hydrocarbon and oxygenate content. Higher hydrocarbons and oxygenates levels are allowed as they contribute energy value to the fuel, notes EPA. The new regulation also requires certain storage and burner conditions for ECF.
3. EPA issued a final New Source Review (NSR) rule that requires consistent accounting for air emissions that are not released through a stack, vent, or other confined air stream. For example, these “fugitive emissions” can escape from equipment leaks or evaporation. The revision requires facilities to account for fugitive emissions from major modifications to existing facilities the same way they account for fugitive emissions from major newly constructed facilities under the NSR program. Fugitive emissions would be included in determining whether a physical or operational change is a major modification only for industries designated through previous Clean Air Act rulemakings. Affected industries include electric services, petroleum refining, industrial chemical products, and pulp and paper mills.
