Update on the Proposed MACT Standards for Boiler Combustion, 2001 Environmental Conference Proceedings

Lawrence P. E. Otwell, Sr.--The Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT)Rule, to be romulgated under requirements contained in Section 112 of the 1990 Clean Air Amendments (CAAA), will impose technology-based hazardous air pollutant (HAP) control requirements on regulated boilers. All fuel types will be addressed under the rule however, solid fuels (coal, wood baggasse, etc.) are anticipated to receive the most regulatory attention. Solid fuel-fired units are anticipated to be required to control inorganic HAP emissions to the level attained by advanced particulate matter (PM) controls such as electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) and/or scrubbers. Control requirements for organic HAP emissions from solid fuel-fired units are anticipated to be some form of good combustion practice (GCP). Clarification of waste/fuel definition issues under the recently promulgated Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerator (CISWI) MACT Rule are positive developments for regulatory treatment of forest products industry residual fuels under the pending Boiler MACT. EPA staff have been uncharacteristically reluctant to

share details of the pending rule prior to formal proposal. As of the writing of this paper, the draft rule has yet to

be submitted by EPA to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for their required pre-proposal review.

Best available information suggests that formal proposal before mid-summer 2001 is unlikely and that formal promulgation prior to the May 15, 2002 MACT "hammer" date is doubtful.