On May 22, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection
Agency ("EPA") took a final action on a petition filed by the Sierra
Club that will require revision of existing air regulations
governing emissions during periods of startup, shutdown, and
malfunction ("SSM") in 36 states and the District of Columbia.[1]
Those states are required to submit revisions to their state
implementation plans ("SIPs") that meet the requirements
of a newly restated EPA SSM policy included in the final action no
later than November 22, 2016.
Although specific SSM regulations vary by state, they are intended
to address the practical reality that meeting emission limitations
applicable during periods of normal operation can be difficult or
impossible while starting up or shutting down an emission unit or
during periods when the unit is malfunctioning. The provisions
generally provide the owner or operator of the emission unit with
an affirmative defense to enforcement actions for violations of
emission limitation during periods of SSM, although some state
provisions exempt excess emissions caused by SSM events, provided
certain continuously applied work practice standards to minimize
emissions are followed. Through both guidance and approval of
relevant state regulations, EPA permitted the use of such
affirmative defenses during SSM for more than 30 years.
The Sierra Club filed a petition asking EPA to address SSM
provisions in various state regulations in 2011. In response to
that petition, EPA published a proposed rule on February 22, 2013, that
would have required revision of regulations in 35 states and the
District of Columbia to remove affirmative defenses to emission
limit violations during periods of startup and shutdown, although
limited affirmative defenses meeting specified requirements would
still have been permissible during periods of malfunctions under
this proposal. In September 2014, EPA issued a supplemental finding reversing its position
that affirmative defenses for malfunctions may be permissible in
response to a subsequent court decision (holding that such
a defense was impermissible in an unrelated regulation for cement
plants).
In its SSM policy, EPA starts from the requirement of Section 302(k) of the Clean Air Act that an
emission limitation must limit the quantity, rate, or concentration
of emissions of air pollutants on a continuous basis. EPA believes
that any SIP provision, such as an SSM affirmative defense, that
specifies a period of time when the source is not subject to any
requirement that limits emissions means that there is effectively
no emission limit because there is no continuous compliance.
Applying this reasoning, EPA concludes that any SIP provision that
includes an automatic exemption from emission limits during
specified periods, such as startup, shutdown, or malfunction, are
impermissible because they do not meet the definition of an
appropriate emission limit.
EPA clearly states that emission limits do not need to be in
numerical format and that the same limitation (such as a numerical
limit) does not have to apply at all times, although EPA admits
that numerical limits may be the easiest way to meet the
requirement that an emission limit be legally and practically
enforceable. Alternatives to numerical limits suggested by EPA
include specific technological control requirements and/or work
practice requirements.
For SIP revisions addressing startup, shutdown, or malfunction[2]
emission limits, EPA recommends that the following criteria be
considered:
- The revisions are limited to specific, narrowly defined source categories using specific control strategies;
- Use of the control strategy for this source category is technically infeasible during startup or shutdown periods;
- The alternative emission limitation requires that the frequency and duration of operation in startup or shutdown mode are minimized to the greatest extent practicable;
- As part of its justification of the SIP revision, the state analyzes the potential worst-case emissions that could occur during startup and shutdown based on the applicable alternative emission limitation;
- The alternative emission limitation requires that all possible steps are taken to minimize the impact of emissions during startup and shutdown on ambient air quality;
- The alternative emission limitation requires that, at all times, the facility is operated in a manner consistent with good practice for minimizing emissions and the source uses best efforts regarding planning, design, and operating procedures; and
- The alternative emission limitation requires that the owner's or operator's actions during startup and shutdown periods are documented by properly signed, contemporaneous operating logs or other relevant evidence.
EPA states that a numerical emission limit that is so
inappropriately high as to constitute unlimited or uncontrolled
levels of emissions would constitute an impermissible exemption for
emissions during the designated modes of operation.
Another way that EPA identifies to address SSM emissions is either
state regulations or policies that outline enforcement discretion
that the state will exercise in seeking penalties for violation of
emission limits during startup, shutdown, or malfunction. According
to the SSM policy, these enforcement discretion provisions cannot
limit the enforcement authority of either EPA or a private citizen
through the Clean Air Act citizen suit provisions. In addition, EPA
does not believe that this enforcement discretion can unduly limit
even a state's enforcement authority. Finally, EPA indicates
that affirmative defense provisions cannot be approved as part of a
SIP if it functions to alter the jurisdiction or discretion of
federal courts to enforce the Clean Air Act.
As noted above, the affected jurisdictions have 18 months to
submit revised SIP provisions. Failure to submit the SIP revisions
could allow EPA to impose a federal implementation plan in that
jurisdiction. Until such time that the SIP revisions are approved,
the existing SSM provisions remain effective in the affected
jurisdictions, although state regulations may need to be
preemptively revised as part of a state's SIP revision
submittal package. EPA recognizes that certain existing EPA new
source performance standards ("NSPS") and national
emission standards for hazardous air pollutants
("NESHAP") regulations contain SSM provisions that are
inconsistent with the revised SSM policy. EPA claims that it is
working to revise these existing regulations and ensure that new
standards are consistent with the SSM policy. EPA states that it
will not approve any SIP revisions adopting existing NSPS or NESHAP
provisions unless the offending SSM provision is removed.
Sources that rely on or use SSM provisions as part of their
approach to compliance should review EPA's final action to
determine whether their state(s) are affected by the final action.
If sources have operations in affected states, they should consider
conferring with their state regulators to determine how the
state(s) will respond to EPA's action and how states will
address facilities in the future that cannot always meet
operational limits during periods of SSM. Sources may also want to
consider whether challenges to EPA's action are
appropriate.
Footnotes
[1] The jurisdictions required to revise their regulations include the District of Columbia and all or portions of the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.
[2] EPA believes that alternative emission limitations for malfunctions are "problematic" since malfunctions generally, by definition, are unpredictable. In "rare instances," EPA indicates that malfunctions are foreseeable and thus can be an expected mode of operation subject to an alternative emission limitation.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.