US Regulations
Current Air Regulatory Drivers
Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) at levels that are protective of public health with an adequate margin of safety. The six pollutants specified include: ozone (O3), Particulate Matter (PM), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), Lead, and Carbon Monoxide (CO).
The NAAQS provisions require that states comply with ozone and particulate emissions standards. NOx emissions are a precursor to ozone formation and also contribute to fine particulate emissions (PM2.5), which has been the recent regulatory driver through the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). NOx emissions were targeted as contributors to PM and ozone emissions. As a result, over the past fifteen years, several programs have been established by EPA at the regional and federal level to help states in their mission to define and meet their State Implementation Plans (SIPs) for attainment. The NAAQS ozone and PM2.5 standards issued in 1997 were made more stringent in 2008. The 2008 NAAQS ozone standard has a final rule due by May 31, 2012.
Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR)
On July 7, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency passed the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) under the “good neighbor” provision of the Clean Air Act to reduce emissions of SO2 and NOX from power plants in the eastern half of the United States. This rule replaces the Clean Air Transport Rule (CATR) and focuses on reducing air emissions contributing to fine particle (PM2.5) and ozone nonattainment that often travel across state lines; including sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) which contribute to PM2.5 transport. By 2014, EPA expects that this rule will result in a 73% reduction in SO2 and a 54% reduction in NOX emissions from power plants as compared to the 2005 levels in affected states.
CSAPR was stayed by the DC Circuit Court on December 30, 2011, and review of the case is expected by April 2012. The CAIR rule requirements will apply in the interm period. For more information click here.
Industrial Boiler MACT
Industrial Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) In December 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency re-proposed its new emissions rule for industrial, commercial and institutional boilers and process heaters, known as the Industrial Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standard. The Reconsidered Rule is scheduled to be finalized in April 2012, with compliance scheduled for March 2014. Click here to review status or visit the Council of Industrial Boiler Owners for more information.
Clean Air Visibility Rule (CAVR)
The Clean Air Visibility Rule (CAVR), also known as the Regional Haze rule, also part of the Clean Air Act, was finalized in 2005. Under CAVR, Federal Class 1 protected from areas of impairment. While this has many ramifications the practical effect of Fuel Tech is that many large sources west of the CSAPR affected states now have NOx reduction requirements. The overall obligation of CAVR is to return the US scenic areas to “active” visibility by 2064. Sources in CSAPR states that comply with CSAPR requirements will be compliment with CAVR.
Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR)
In 2005 EPA promulgated the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to continue to deal with interstate transport of ozone. CAIR also helps states in their efforts to attain compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM2.5 by reducing emissions of its precursors, NOx and SO2. CAIR was designed to accomplish its goals by creating three separate trading programs: an annual NOx program, an ozone season NOx program and annual SO2 program. CAIR’s emission reduction requirements begin in 2009 for the NOx ozone season and annual programs, and 2010 for the SO2 annual program. The CAIR rule was vacated in July 2009, and reinstated in December 2009. The US Court of Appeals instructed the EPA to fix several flaws in the CAIR rule. The root of the problem stems from the regional effect of transported NOx. The Court said EPA did not adequately account for contribution to non-attainment by the CAIR rule trading program. The original CAIR plan was reinstated in December 2008, and remained in place until July 2011, when it was replaced with the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). CAIR was re-instated in December 2011 and will remain in effect until the CSAPR stay is resolved.
Past Regulatory Drivers
Clean Air Transport Rule (CATR)
In July 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the Clean Air Transport Rule (CATR). This rule specifically targets sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions which cross state lines. Compliance reductions are expected to begin in 2012 with a 71% reduction of SO2 targeted by 2014. Once approved, CATR would replace the current CAIR regulation in place. In July 2011, CATR was re-named as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR).
NOx SIP Call
In 1998, the U.S. EPA finalized the NOx SIP Call which concluded that NOx emissions in twenty-two states and the District of Columbia contributed to ozone nonattainment in other states due to transport. EPA's SIP call directed those states to reduce their emissions and offered the states the opportunity to participate in a trading program that reduced NOx to the aggregate equivalent of 0.15 lb/MMBtu. The size of the trading region increased to cover 20 states and the District of Columbia. Compliance dates varied by state with the last states joining the NBP in 2007.
Ozone Transport Commission
The movement of ozone and other pollutants by wind currents - a phenomenon known as interstate transport - can cause pollution levels to be elevated even in areas that do not have emission sources. In 1990 Congress created the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) directing the states in the Northeastern U.S. to collaboratively find a solution to the persistent summertime ozone. The OTC set out to accomplish this goal in part by implementing a regional trading program for NOx (an ozone precursor) that covered 10 states. The OTC remains in effect as a regional entity to assist the states in the Northeast as they move towards compliance with future NAAQS standards. On a regional basis the Ozone Transport Commission is considering deeper seasonal NOx reductions overlaid on the CAIR rule, including controls on all boilers > 100 MMBtu/hr. Since the NOx SIP requirements were generally on units >250 MMBtu/hr, there are additional industrial boilers in this heat input range with a roughly equivalent range of 10-25MW that will be required to reduce NOx emissions.