Energy and Environment MonitorThe US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated its final Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting Rule on September 22, 2009, at 40 CFR Part 98 “Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting”. The intent of the GHG Mandatory Reporting Rule (MRR), per EPA, was to provide a better understanding of where GHGs are coming from and to guide development of the policies and programs to reduce GHG emissions. The final Part 98 rule, published on October 30, 2009 (74 FR 56260), required reporting of GHGs from large emissions sources and suppliers in the US.
On May 27, 2010, EPA signed a proposed rulemaking and request for public comment on proposed amendments to the GHG Mandatory Reporting Rule. Through EPA’s discussions with owners and operators of subject facilities, EPA has identified specific provisions of, or cross references in, the final rule that “were either wrong, would benefit from clarification, or did not have the intended effect.”
Note that Subpart C (General Stationary Combustion) is not included in this proposed rule amendment package. Subpart C, which affects more sources than any other specific source category Subpart in the MRR, is still being considered by EPA for future revisions.
EPA says that they plan to publish the final MRR amendments before the end of 2010.
Once promulgated, owners and operators of subject facilities would be mandated to follow the requirements in this proposed rulemaking in the calendar year 2010 emissions reports, due to be submitted to EPA by March 31, 2011.
40 CFR Part 98 Proposed Revisions
A. Types of Changes – The proposed amendments consist of the following types of changes:
· Changes to correct cross references within and between subparts.
· Additional information to better or more fully understand compliance obligations in a specific provision.
· Amendments to certain equations to better reflect actual operating conditions, such as the fact that some processes use a single abatement technology and some use multiple abatement technologies.
· Corrections to the terms and definitions in certain equations.
· Corrections to data reporting requirements so that they more closely conform to the information used to perform emission calculations.
B. List of Subparts to be Revised – EPA is proposing amendments to the following Part 98 subparts:
· Subpart A – General Provisions
· Subpart E – Adipic Acid Production
· Subpart H – Cement Production
· Subpart K – Ferroalloy Production
· Subpart N – Glass Production
· Subpart O – HCFC-22 Production and HFC-23 Destruction
· Subpart P – Hydrogen Production
· Subpart Q – Iron and Steel Production
· Subpart S – Lime Manufacturing
· Subpart V – Nitric Acid Production
· Subpart Z – Phosphoric Acid Production
· Subpart CC – Soda Ash Manufacturing
· Subpart EE – Titanium Dioxide Production
· Subpart GG – Zinc Production
· Subpart HH – Municipal Solid Waste Landfills
· Subpart LL – Suppliers of Coal-based Liquid Fuels
· Subpart MM – Suppliers of Petroleum Products
· Subpart NN – Suppliers of Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids
C. Specific Subpart Revisions – The EPA proposes to make the following specific revisions by subpart:
· Subpart A (General Provisions)
o Amend existing definitions of “carbonate-based mineral,” “carbonate-based mineral fraction,” “carbonate-based raw material,” “crude oil,” “gas collection system or landfill gas collection system,” “Mscf (thousand standard cubic feet)” and “non-crude feedstocks.”
o Remove definition of argon-oxygen decarburization vessel and replace with a definition for decarburization vessel.
o Introduce an additional standard for incorporation by reference for Glass Manufacturing.
· Subpart E (Adipic Acid Production)
o Amend equation to account for facilities that use only one nitrous oxide abatement technology and add an equation to account for facilities that have no abatement technologies.
o Amend language to clarify that the Administrator approved alternative method is for determining N2O emissions rather than N2O concentration.
o Clarify that the location of the test (sampling) point used for the performance test can occur before or after N2O abatement technology as long as the destruction efficiency of the N2O abatement technology is properly accounted for.
· Subpart H (Cement Production)
o Allow facilities, in determining the clinker weight fraction of MgO and CaO, the option to determine a monthly value based on the arithmetic average of daily samples.
o Allow additional options for measuring clinker production.
o Allow an additional option for determining the organic carbon content of raw materials.
· Subpart K (Ferroalloy Production)
o Clarify requirements for calculating methane emissions from electric arc furnaces.
· Subpart N (Glass Production)
o Add CO2 emission factors in Table N-1 to account for consumption of barium carbonate and potassium carbonate at glass facilities.
o Provide an additional ASTM method for determining the carbonate mineral mass fraction of raw materials.
o Clarify in the data reporting requirements that glass production must be reported both by furnace and from all furnaces combined, to be consistent with the calculation methods.
· Subpart O (HCFC-22 Production and HFC-23 Destruction)
o Amend the language in §98.154(l) to use the term “destruction device” rather than the narrower term “thermal oxidizer.”
o Clarify which facilities are required to report data associated with flow rate of HFC-23 fed into the destruction device, at the outlet of the destruction device, and the emission rate at the device. Propose that owners or operators reporting this information also report the calculated destruction efficiency of the device.
o Amend the due date of the one-time report for HFC-23 destruction facilities to March 31, 2011 or within 60 days of commencing HFC-23 destruction.
· Subpart P (Hydrogen Production)
o Amend the definition of this source category to clarify that hydrogen production processes located within facilities that are not petroleum refineries are also included within the definition.
o Remove the requirement in §98.162(b) for owners or operators to report CO2, CH4 and N2O combustion emissions from each hydrogen production process unit using the emissions calculation methods in subpart C.
o Clarify that each gaseous, liquid or solid fuel and feedstock must be calculated based on its respective equations detailed in the rule language.
o Remove term “quarterly” and “kg” from §98.166 (c) to make reporting requirements consistent with the language in subpart PP (Suppliers of CO2).
· Subpart Q (Iron and Steel Production)
o Amend the language in §98.172(b) to clarify that for subpart Q facilities, flare emissions must be estimated only for flares burning blast furnace gas or coke oven gas. The missing data procedures in subpart Y (Petroleum Refineries) at §98.255(b) would be required to be followed for flares burning coke oven gas or blast furnace gas.
o Amend the reporting requirements in §98.176(e)(3) to clarify that fuel consumption must be reported separately for each type of fuel and other process input and output material.
o Add reporting requirements for the annual amount of coal charged to coke ovens.
o Clarify the units and processes for which annual operating hours need to be recorded per the recordkeeping requirements.
o Clarify that the requirements to estimate GHG emissions from argon-oxygen decarburization vessels also applies to any other type of vessel used to remove carbon from molten steel (decarburization) and result in the venting of similar GHG.
· Subpart S (Lime Production)
o Amend terminology throughout the subpart to (1) clarify whether the calculation and reporting requirements are referring to calcined byproducts and waste materials and (2) clarify where the calculation and reporting requirements apply to lime products that are produced at the facility.
· Subpart V (Nitric Acid Production)
o Clarify that the location of the test (sampling) point used for the performance test can occur before or after N2O abatement technology as long as the destruction efficiency of the N2O abatement technology is properly accounted for.
o Provide a new equation for facilities that do not have N2O abatement technology located after the test (sampling) point.
· Subpart Z (Phosphoric Acid Production)
o Amend monitoring calculations to allow facilities to use the appropriate industry consensus standards available, in addition to the methods in the Association of Fertilizer and Phosphate Chemists Analytical Methods Manual.
o Clarify that the grab sample must be collected prior to entering the mill for accurate analysis of inorganic carbon contents.
o Clarify that the annual arithmetic average percent inorganic carbon in phosphate rock is to be reported as the percent by weight, expressed as a decimal fraction.
o Specify that facilities need to report the total annual process CO2 emissions from the phosphoric acid production facility, in metric tons.
· Subpart CC (Soda Ash Manufacturing)
o Clarify that soda ash production is reported for each line.
o Clarify that the information for producers using the liquid alkaline feedstock process is reported for each manufacturing line or stack, when using a site specific emission factor, and clarify that the elements required are for the periods during the performance test.
· Subpart EE (Titanium Dioxide Production)
o Clarify that monitoring requirements for the quantity of carbon-containing waste generated from each titanium dioxide production line is determined on a monthly basis, consistent with the calculation procedures in §98.313(b)(3).
o Amend the data reporting requirements for determining monthly carbon content to be consistent with the calculation and monitoring methods.
o Clarify that the data reporting requirements for determining carbon content for carbon-containing waste are applied to each process line, consistent with calculation and monitoring requirements.
· Subpart GG (Zinc Production)
o Amend definitions of the terms for (Electrode)k and (C_Electrode)k in Equation GG-1 to remove the references to kilns.
o Clarify that identification numbers need to be reported for both Waelz kilns and electrothermic furnaces.
o Clarify that the carbon content of each input to a kiln or furnace would be required to be reported as a calculation parameter regardless of whether the data are collected from the supplier or by self measurement.
· Subpart HH (Municipal Solid Waste Landfills)
o Amend the source category definition to clarify that it does not include certain hazardous waste landfills, dedicated construction and demolition waste landfills, or industrial waste landfills.
o Amend Equation HH-1 and the definition of the terms in that equation to clarify the method for calculating the methane generation rate and the meaning of the terms in the equation.
o Amend the methods for measuring the waste quantity brought to a landfill to provide alternative methods for landfills that do not have truck scales and to not require the use of scales for measuring waste brought in passenger vehicles or light-duty pick-up trucks.
o Make technical corrections to Equations HH-2, HH-3, and HH-4, and to make them consistent with Equation HH-1.
o Amend the moisture content measurement requirements in Equation HH-4 to correctly allow for daily or weekly measurements, and to allow for gas volume and CH4 concentration to be measured differently from each other on a dry or wet basis.
o Amend the definition of “gas collection system or landfill gas collection system” in §98.6 of subpart A to differentiate between active and passive systems and to clarify in subpart HH that monitoring with flow meters is only required for active systems.
o Amend the monitoring and QA/QC requirements, recordkeeping and reporting requirements to clarify those requirements and to make them consistent with the calculation procedures.
· Subpart LL (Suppliers of Coal-based Liquid Fuels)
o Clarify that fossil-fuel products that enter the facility would not be reported when exiting the facility if they are not further refined or otherwise used on site (e.g. products stored in a tank).
· Subpart MM (Suppliers of Petroleum Products)
o Add a new definition for “batch”.
o Clarify crude oil reporting requirements and provide flexibility for associated recordkeeping requirements.
o Clarify that GHG emissions should not be calculated for products leaving the refinery if those products had entered the refinery but were not further refined or otherwise used on site (e.g. products stored in a tank).
o Provide an optional method for reporters to calculate CO2 emissions resulting from complete oxidation or combustion of a blended product or blended non-crude feedstock.
o Amend the calculation procedures for biomass-based fuels under §98.393(h) to exclude denaturant in ethanol.
· Subpart NN (Suppliers of Natural Gas and Natural Gas Liquids)
o Clarify throughout that “mscf” refers to “thousand standard cubic feet”.
o Clarify several terms in the equations of subpart NN.
o Update the HHVs and default CO2 emission factors in Table NN-1 and NN-2 to be consistent with the emission factors in Tables C-1 and MM-1.
Recommendations
The author recommends that affected sources closely review EPA’s future final amendments to Part 98 for any GHG reporting impacts to your subject facilities.
For further details on EPA’s GHG Reporting Rule, see the following web site:
EPA Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html
This article was partially excerpted from publically available information, and was authored by Rick Wilson, Acacia Environmental Group LLC. Any opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author, and are not intended as legal or professional guidance to any specific readers. For more information on the author see here.
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