Displaying items by tag: EPA

US: Washington-based news agency InsideEPA has reported that environmentalists may be preparing to sue the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its revised emissions limits for the cement sector because the rules largely adopt weaker limits and extended compliance deadlines that had been sought by the industry. The agency says that critics warn that the ruling will create more toxic air emissions and criteria pollutant emissions that pose significant risks to public health.

"By the EPA's own numbers, that delay will cause between 1920 and 5000 Americans to die prematurely from exposure to cement plants' soot pollution. The rules will also allow cement plants to pump an additional 15,000kg of mercury into the environment," said one environmentalist quoted by Inside EPA, citing the EPA's data.

The EPA had faced a 20 December 2012 consent decree deadline to issue the rules, which revise its national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) air toxics limits and new source performance standards (NSPS) criteria pollutant controls for the sector. The rules address a cement sector push for reconsideration of the NESHAP and NSPS as set in 2010, in addition to a federal appeals court ruling partly remanding the 2010 rulemaking to EPA.

In June 2012 the EPA proposed to revise the rules by weakening the particulate matter (PM) limit for new and existing kilns. It also proposed to extend the compliance deadline for the air toxics standards from 2013 to 9 September 2015. Both measures were sought by the cement sector, which argued that the 2010 rules were too stringent.

Environmental groups, including Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council, filed comments criticising the proposal as unlawfully weak under the Clean Air Act, and opposing the changes.

It now looks likely that the revised cement rules will prompt a lawsuit from these and other environmental groups given their warnings in written comments that the proposed version was unlawful under the Clean Air Act.

In contrast, the Portland Cement Association (PCA) President Greg Scott has welcomed the rules, saying that they, "Will provide PCA members and the cement industry the additional time needed for compliance with the revised standards. Such time is essential to properly complete the planning, engineering, permitting, testing and construction of the various new technologies that will be necessary to implement the revised standards."

He added that the rules, while now achievable, were still 'extremely challenging.' mitigating fears that the industry could sue over their implementation.

US: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent final revisions to its Portland cement sector air toxics and criteria pollutant emissions rulemaking for White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pre-publication review, according to industry sources. This could indicate that the agency might meet a looming 20 December 2012 consent decree deadline for issuing the proposal.

Industry sources say that the rule, which will revise EPA's 2010 maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards for air toxics emissions and a related new source performance standard to cut criteria pollutants, was received at OMB either on 4 or 5 December 2012, although an EPA spokeswoman declined to say whether the rule has been sent for OMB review. She only said that the agency was, "Working on the rule and (plans) to finalise by 20 December 2012."

The 20 December 2012 deadline stems from a settlement with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and others in the industry to propose a revision to the rules, a response in part to industry petitions for reconsideration. Cement manufacturers claimed that the 2010 rules' particulate matter (PM) limits were not achievable, among other concerns.

In addition to addressing the reconsideration petitions and other aspects of the settlement, the rule will also respond to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's December 2011 ruling in PCA v EPA remanding the rule to the agency. The court found that EPA had failed to reconsider how a related incinerator air rule may potentially alter the cement rule's emission limits and that the agency failed to give 'sufficient notice' of its final standards for open clinker storage piles.

In the 22 June 2012 proposed revisions to the rule, the EPA proposed to weaken the particulate matter (PM) limit for existing kilns from 18.14g/t (0.04lb/t) of clinker to 31.75g/t (0.07lb/t) of clinker and the limit for new kilns from 4.5g/t (0.01lb/t) of clinker to 9.0g/t (0.02lb/t) of clinker. The EPA also proposed to extend the MACT's compliance deadline to 9 September 2015, saying, "We believe that this date would require compliance 'as expeditiously as practicable'" as required by the Clean Air Act.

Several environmental groups have argued that the revisions are unlawful, both exceeding the changes required by the DC Circuit's narrow ruling and watering down the cement standards for 'unknown reasons.' In comments made on 17 August 2012 regarding the proposed reconsideration the Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice and other environmental groups said that the compliance delay is arbitrary and capricious given that EPA failed to adequately justify it. They added that the delay, "Will greatly exacerbate the harm that EPA already has caused and the suffering that ordinary Americans have had to endure," given that the EPA was supposed to update the cement MACT in 1997.

Update: The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website shows that the OMB received the revised EPA MACT standards on 6 December 2012.

US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a new measure meant to help approve US state Montana's levels of haze pollution. The signing follows widespread criticism by industry, conservationists and even other federal agencies.

The proposal aims to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that cause haze. It details US$85m in upgrades needed at the state's major contributors of small particles that contribute to park haze, mainly at the Colstrip coal power plant. Holcim's cement plant near Three Forks requires selective non-catalytic reductions totalling US$1.32m to achieve annual NOx emissions reductions of 556t/yr. Ash Grove cement plant near Montana City requires selective non-catalytic reductions and low NOx burners totalling US$1.19 to achieve annual NOx emissions reductions of 1088t/yr.

Many of the commenters, including Holcim and Pennsylvania Power and Light, questioned the computer models used to calculate the effect of various technologies on emissions. Companies also complained that the EPA underestimated the costs required to retrofit their plants with new equipment. In response to a Holcim comment, the EPA decided that Holcim did not have to install lime injection and scrubbers because the reduction in emissions didn't justify the cost. The total price tag for Holcim was originally estimated at US$6.2m.

Under the Clean Air Act, the air in national parks and wilderness areas in the US is supposed to be as clean as possible. To achieve that goal, regional haze programmes in several states set pollution limits on industries. The goal is to restore visibility to natural conditions in national parks and wilderness areas from Idaho to North Dakota by 2064.

US: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appears poised to soften particulate matter (PM) limits in its pending revised air toxics rule for cement plants, while separately pursuing an extended compliance deadline for the rule. Both moves would represent major concessions to industry groups that sought a weaker rule but have the potential to rile environmentalists who say such changes would be unlawful.

According to an industry source, EPA will propose to soften the rule's PM limits on smokestacks for existing cement plants. New data submitted to EPA by the industry shows that the limit of 0.02kg/t of clinker set by the final rule prior to reconsideration is not realistically attainable. Instead, the EPA will probably revert to a higher number, closer to the 0.043kg/t that it offered in its original proposal.

Environmentalists oppose softening the air toxics rule and recently warned the agency in written comments that, "any changes diminishing or replacing the existing standards would be flatly unlawful." The likely changes to the rule follow a series of 11th-hour meetings that industry officials and others have held with EPA and White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) staff seeking to shape the proposal.

The Portland Cement Association previously presented a paper to the EPA arguing for an increase in the emissions limit for PM. "The current PM limit of 0.02kg/t of clinker is very stringent," reported the paper. "Very few facilities can comply with the clinker limit without major investments in new and upgraded PM controls."

Given the legal scuffles over the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) emissions timetable it was nice to see this week how Ash Grove Cement is responding at its Midlothian plant in Texas. The plant is seeking tax breaks on potential upgrade work that it is planning to implement before the current 2013 deadline for the EPA legislation.

For those following the fight between the EPA and the US cement industry here is a recap on the story so far:

The EPA issued a national emission standard for hazardous air pollutants rule to reduce the sector's air toxics in September 2010, alongside a new source performance standard to cut criteria pollutant emissions. In May 2011 the EPA both partly granted and denied petitions from cement industry representatives and environmentalists. In December 2012 the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia remanded the cement air toxic rule back to the EPA, delaying the deadline for the cement industry to seek a rehearing or review. Then in April 2012 the cement industry agreed not to seek a rehearing if the EPA extended its deadline until September 2015. The EPA has now sent for the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) to review its proposed revisions to its emissions rules, ahead of a tentative 15 June 2012 deadline.

While the EPA and the cement sector continue to battle it out plants like Ash Grove can do little except keep an eye on the bottom line until the dust settles... in whatever legally mandated fashioned is eventually approved. The Global Cement Directory 2012 lists 22 wet and semi-wet kilns in the US. While some are mothballed, others are likely to be affected by the rules. While the arguments continue the upgrade timetables of these plants hangs in the balance.

US: Ash Grove Cement is seeking tax abatement for upgrade projects on its Midlothian plant in Texas. Plant manager Kevin Blankenship presented plans to the Ellis County Commissioner's Court on 14 May 2012.

Ash Grove needs to upgrade its plant in line with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that will go into effect September 2013. The company is considering two options that will put the plant in compliance with the new regulations. The first option is to upgrade the plant enough so that it will comply with the new emissions standards. The second option is to fully modernise the plant by upgrading to a single dry kiln and shutting the other two existing wet kilns, a project that would cost US$130m. Since the presentation was not an agenda item at the meeting the court took no action.

The Midlothian plant has been in operation since 1966. Ash Grove currently intend to continue running the plant until 2050, but filed a request to shut the wet kilns in April 2012.

US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review its proposed revisions to its emissions rules for the Portland cement sector, ahead of a tentative 15 June 2012 deadline for issuing the revisions in line with a proposed consent decree with the industry.

The pending proposed revised rules undergoing OMB review will address not only the remand but also the EPA's May 2011 partial reconsideration of the cement rules - including standards for open clinker storage piles and start-up and shutdown monitoring requirements - as those provisions included in the recent proposed consent decree with industry.

In the Register notice on the consent decree, the EPA says that it "would also agree to propose to extend the existing source compliance date of 10 September 2013, or in any case to discuss the possibility of extending that date, and to take final action by 20 December 2012 regarding the date of compliance," if such provisions are 'supported by the administrative record.'

While stalling the compliance deadline would be a 'win' for the cement industry, it would likely draw protests from environmentalists supportive of the current air toxics rule. The deadline for comments on the proposed consent decree is 7 June 2012.

US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has agreed to delay maximum achievable control technology (MACT) air compliance for cement plants by two years. As part of on-going negotiations with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) if the EPA doesn't issues a proposal to this effect by 15 June 2012 then the PCA and other cement producers will be able to resume legal action against the pollution rulings.

Under the terms of a 16 April 2012 proposed consent decree, the EPA will have to issue by 15 June 2012 a proposal addressing a ruling on 9 December 2011 from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The EPA's revisions will also have to cover separate pending industry administrative petitions. The EPA has been negotiating with the PCA over the terms of the proposed consent decree, following a ruling finding that the EPA failed to reconsider how a related incinerator emissions rule could potentially alter the cement rule's emission limits.

The EPA has also agreed under the proposed consent decree to finalise a revised MACT by 20 December 2012, but the settlement does not require that the agency finalise a two-year delay. Rather, the decree states that EPA must only include its 'final decision on whether to extend the compliance deadlines for existing sources' in the revised MACT.

The EPA and PCA also acknowledge that EPA must subject the agreement to public comment and review. The settlement further notes that, "if the federal government elects to withdraw or withhold consent to this Agreement" after considering public comments on it, "PCA shall have the right to withdraw from this Agreement and file a request to lift the abeyance requested by the Parties."

As environmentalists and states were not party to the settlement, this public comment would provide them with the first opportunity to challenge the possibility of a two-year delay for the rule's compliance deadline and changes to meet the other provisions in the settlement.

US: A proposed clean-up of Montana's air pollution by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could cost nearby cement plants up to US$10m. Plans to improve visibility in public land, including Yellowstone and Theodore Roosevelt National Parks, would require upgrades within five years at the Ash Grove cement plant near Montana City and Holcim cement plant near Three Forks.

The EPA's action has been prompted partly by a legal challenge from environmentalists who sued the agency to set deadlines to follow through on haze rules adopted in 1999. Two of the groups involved, WildEarth Guardians and the Montana Environmental Information Center, said that the agency's proposal does not go far enough. Representatives of the groups criticised the EPA's rejection of even stricter pollution limits that would have required tens of millions of dollars in additional spending by the plants.

"People might gasp a little bit and say that's a lot of money but you have to look at how much these companies are profiting off these facilities. It dwarfs these costs," said Anne Hedges with the Montana Environmental Information Center.

The first phase of the EPA's program is aimed at plants built between 1962 and 1977 that churn out at least 250t/yr of pollutants. The goal is to eliminate haze in parks and wilderness areas by 2064. The cost of reducing haze across the US has been estimated at US$1.5bn/yr. Spin-off benefits from reduced health care spending on pollution-related illnesses were estimated at US$8.4bn/yr or more.

The proposal could become final after a 60-day public comment period. Public hearings in Montana hosted by the EPA are scheduled for 15 May 2012 in Helena and 16 May 2012 in Billings.

US: Officials from Carolinas Cement Company have announced that the Division of Air Quality of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has issued an air quality permit to parent company Titan America LLC to construct a cement plant in Castle Hayne. The issuance comes after four years of technical review of the proposed facility to ensure it will comply with North Carolina's air quality regulations and standards.

The permit was issued after extensive evaluation by DENR, including using air models that incorporate government-approved local meteorological, topographic and site-specific information. The models calculate the concentrations of regulated emissions at the boundaries of the plant property and ambient concentrations throughout the local region and other designated locations to assure they are below legal limits.

"These laws and regulations governing industrial emissions are among the strictest in the world," said Dan Crowley, Titan America's VP of Corporate Engineering. "The issuance of our air quality permit is only a first step. After the plant begins operating we will be subject to unannounced audits by State and Federal regulators as well as internal compliance audits to ensure our emissions are consistently within permitted limits." Carolinas Cement will meet all the new Environmental Protection Agency federal regulations for Portland cement plants that were finalised in 2010, and these regulations are fully represented in the Department of Air Quality permit.

Now that the air quality permit has been issued, Carolinas Cement plans to proceed with completing the federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) needed to obtain necessary wetlands permits. The EIS is an 18-24 month process led by the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and it requires Carolinas Cement to hire an independent third party to conduct studies of potential impact to numerous ecological and social factors, such as water, aquifers, traffic and flora and fauna.

Parallel to the COE permitting process, Titan America will begin a two-year process to design and engineer the new plant. The design process could not begin prior to the issuance of the air permit, as the design must correspond to the exact standards outlined by the air permit. The new plant will pioneer the industry's most advanced emission control technologies to ensure that public health, the aquifers, Cape Fear River and Island Creek are protected throughout every step of this process.

When it clears all of the regulatory hurdles, Carolinas Cement will create 161 permanent, full-time jobs. During construction it will create 1000 temporary jobs over two-years.