DEP’s Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee Friday voted 11 to 5 to recommend a final rulemaking to impose more stringent requirements Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) air quality standards on power plants be forwarded to the Environmental Quality Board for consideration, but only allowed members of the Committee two days to review the 24 page proposal and did not include key information used to calculate compliance with the standard.
The Committee members only received the proposal late on Tuesday (November 4) and handed out a new version at the beginning of Friday’s meeting. The agency did not have the comment/response document available for the Committee to review either.
DEP also pointed out the rulemaking may have to be redone when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issues additional guidance on complying with federal ozone standards in December.
At the end of the meeting Friday, DEP canceled the December 11 meeting of the advisory committee.
The current schedule of upcoming Environmental Quality Board meetings will also not allow the regulation to be finalized before the new Wolf Administration takes office in January.
The rulemaking establishes additional requirements for existing major stationary sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as electric generating units (EGUs) and combustion units.
As defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RACT is the lowest emissions limitation that a particular source is capable of meeting by the application of control technology that is reasonably available, considering technological and economic feasibility.
"When implemented, this plan will result in considerable emissions reductions of ozone precursor emissions," DEP Deputy Secretary for Waste, Air, Radiation and Remediation Vince Brisini said.
In April, the Environmental Quality Board published the proposed RACT rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin for public comment. As originally proposed, allowable emissions rates were lower than the current allowable rates, and certain EGU owners and operators would have needed to optimize existing control technology to meet reduction requirements.
The final proposed rulemaking requires all EGUs to operate emission control equipment. If operating conditions do not allow for the operation of control technology, EGUs must meet reduced NOx and VOC emission levels.
A 30-day emission averaging period will provide operational flexibility and protect the reliability of the electric grid system. As revised, emission limits apply during all conditions, including start-ups, shut-downs and malfunctions.
DEP, however, did not provide the Committee with its formula for calculating the 30-day emission averaging period saying it would be put in the preamble to the rulemaking.
With the implementation of this RACT final rulemaking as proposed by DEP, and other previous regulations, NOx emissions from coal-fired EGUs will be reduced by over 85 percent from 1990 levels.
The federal Clean Air Act requires the re-evaluation of state RACT requirements for major stationary sources following the creation of new national ambient air quality standards. RACT is required for non-attainment areas, and because Pennsylvania is located in the Ozone Transport Region, all major sources in the state are treated as being located in at least a moderate ozone non-attainment area.
Based on monitoring data for 2012 through 2014 ozone season, all ozone monitors in the Commonwealth, except one, are measuring attainment of the 2008 ozone NAAQS.
A copy of the revised final RACT regulation is available on DEP’s Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee webpage.