# Presentation: 077679

## Comparable Fuels Exclusion

- Revisions under Consideration
*(v3)*
- Stakeholder Meeting
-  12-15-05

## Overview

- Background
- Schedule
- Overview of the Current Exclusion
- ACC Survey Results
- Options under Consideration
- Additional Discussion

## Background

- Effort is part of the energy conservation component of the Resource Conservation Challenge
- Examine the effectiveness of the current comparable fuel program and consider whether other industrial wastes could be appropriately excluded as comparable fuel
- Contacted ACC in Fall 2002 to determine if there were additional opportunities
- Provided comments on ACC’s draft survey of members
- ACC distributed the survey in Spring 2003 and provided the results to EPA in late 2003.
- Periodic discussions in the interim when time permitted
- Resources now available to pursue rulemaking, if warranted

## Thompson Report Schedule:  Major Milestones for a Proposed Rule

- Stakeholder Meeting:  12-15-05
- Agency Options Selection:  February 06
- Senior Management Review:  June 06
- OMB Review:  October 06
- Administrator’s Signature:  November 06

## Overview of Comparable Fuel Exclusion:  40 CFR 261.38

- HW fuels are excluded from the definition of HW if they have levels of toxic constituents and physical properties similar to commercial (benchmark) fuels:  gasoline and fuel oils
- Constituent groups
- Metals
- Hydrocarbons (13)
- Oxygenates (24)
- Sulfonated organics (9)
- Nitrogenated organics (61)
- Halogenated organics (80)
- Only 3 organics were detected:  3 hydrocarbons– benzene, naphthalene, and toluene
- For nondetects, specification is nondetect at a minimum detection limit—the quantitation limit for the benchmark fuels analyses, except:
- For hydrocarbons and oxygenates, specification is the quantitation limit because these compounds could be expected to be found in benchmark fuels

## Overview of 261.38 (Cont’d)

- Implementation
- Generator
- One-time notice to RCRA and CAA permit authority
- Generator ID, HW codes, Burner ID
- Obtain certification from burner
- Industrial furnace, industrial or utility boiler, HW INC
- Waste analysis plan
- Recordkeeping
- Dilution prohibition
- Burner
- Public notice in local newspaper:  ID generator, ID burner, estimates of quantities to be burned

## ACC Survey Results

- 52 surveys returned from 14 companies
- Identified waste streams w/ a heating value >5,000 Btu/lb
- Many exceed the specification for only 1 or 2 constituents
- Most problematic compounds: isobutyl alcohol, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, acrolein
- 96 waste streams totaling 380 million lb/yr do not qualify for the exclusion
- These wastes have a weighted average heating value of 11,000 Btu/lb (14,000 Btu/lb unweighted)
- 88 million lb/yr are incinerated
- Weighted heating value of >11,000 Btu/lb
- Currently, 46 million lb/yr of waste fuels qualify for the exclusion, and 26 million lb/yr are actually excluded
- Administrative burden and costs of complying with the exclusion outweigh the savings
- An expanded exclusion could provide substantial cost savings associated with fossil fuel savings, transportation and disposal savings, and permitting and administrative savings.

## ACC Survey Results (Cont’d)

- ACC and EPA have winnowed respondents’ suggestions down to 3 potential revisions:
- A. _Nondetect-Based Specs for Volatile Hydrocarbons and Oxygenates_:  Correct the Specifications to Base Them on Gasoline Quantitation Limits rather than Fuel Oil Quantitation Limits
- B.  _Comparable Emissions_:  Conditional Exclusion of Fuels that Are Off-Spec for Hydrocarbons and Oxygenates where the Conditions Ensure Emissions Are Comparable to Benchmark Fuels
- C.  _Blending to Meet the Specifications for Hydrocarbons and Oxygenates_

## Option A:  ND-Based Specs for Volatile HC and Oxygenates

- Issue:  Due to matrix interferences, ND-based specs for volatiles are unachievable in a large number of candidate fuels
- Background:  Although volatile HC and oxygenates could be expected to be found in gasoline, only 3 were detected
- Quantitation limit was relatively high because of matrix effects
- Multiple volatile organics cause interferences which requires iterative sample dilutions, which raises the quantitation limit
- Specs for ND HC and oxygenates currently based on quantitation limit for volatiles in fuel oil
- Quantitation limits for volatiles much higher in gasoline than fuel oil (e.g., 3300 mg/kg vs. 40 mg/kg) due to matrix effects
- _Note_:  Spec for 25 ND semivolatile HC and oxygenates is 2400 mg/kg based on quantitation limits in fuel oil.
- Because many candidate fuels have the same matrix problems as gasoline, it could be argued that the specs for ND HC and oxygenates should have been based on gasoline quantitation limits

## Option A (Cont’d)

- Revision under Consideration
- Correct specs for ND volatile HC and oxygenates to base them on quantitation limits in gasoline rather than fuel oil
- Do not revise specs for other ND volatiles (e.g., halogenated) because they are not expected to be found in gasoline

## Option B: Comparable Emissions

- Conditional Exclusion of Fuels that Are Off-Spec for HC and Oxygenates to Ensure Emissions Are Comparable to Benchmark Fuels
- Emissions would be comparable to comp fuel that meets the spec if the burner operates under good combustion practices (GCP) as evidenced by carbon monoxide (CO) <100 ppmv or hydrocarbons (HC) <10
- GCP is the primary control for organic compounds under the hazardous waste combustor MACT rule
- Limited to HC and oxygenates because other organics (e.g., halogenated) not expected to be in benchmark fuels and emissions of acid gases, SOx, and NOx would be higher than from benchmark fuels

## Option B:  Comparable Emissions (Cont’d)

- Conditions to Ensure GCP and Facilitate Regulatory Oversight
- CO or HC Monitoring
- The burner must monitor CO or HC w/ a CEMS
- Candidate fuel may not be burned if CO >100 or HC >10
- CO or HC limits must be interlocked with an automatic feed cutoff system for the candidate fuel.
- _Issue_:  Should periodic monitoring of CO or HC be allowed in lieu of a CEMS, and should monitoring of other process parameters (e.g., excess oxygen) be allowed?

## Option B:  Comparable Emissions-- Conditions (Cont’d)

- 2. Minimum Heating Value
- Candidate fuel must have an as-fired heating value of 8,000 Btu/lb or greater.
- 3. Maximum Firing Rate
- Candidate fuel that is off-spec for a HC or oxygenate that is present at a concentration greater than 1% must be fired at a firing rate not to exceed 30% (as-fired heat input basis).

## Option B:  Comparable Emissions-- Conditions (Cont’d)

- 4. On-site or limited off-site burning
- Off-site burner must be at an affiliated facility
- 261.38(c) already requires the generator to provide in a notification to the permitting authority the name and address of the burner, and to certify that the burner is an industrial furnace, industrial or utility boiler, or hazardous waste incinerator
- _Issue_:  Should burning in an off-site nonaffiliated facility be allowed under the condition that the generator and burner provide annual reports to the permitting authority of the comparable fuel quantity shipped or received and combusted?

## Option C:  Blending

- Blending to Meet the Spec for HC and Oxygenates
- Blending of candidate fuel w/ comp fuel or fuel oil to meet the specs for HC and oxygenates would not constitute dilution to avoid treatment
- The organics would be treated by combustion
- Special conditions to ensure GCP not needed because these organics would be present at the same levels as in benchmark fuels and would be destroyed comparably
- Blending to meet the spec for other organics (e.g., halogenated) not appropriate because they are not expected to be found in benchmark fuels

## Option C:  Blending--Conditions

- On-site blending
- The original generator would be required to perform the blending and claim the exclusion to facilitate regulatory oversight
- App VII Compounds without a Spec
- The comp fuel could not be listed for an App. VII compound that is not a HC or oxygenate for which we do not have a spec  because there is no analytical method.
- The compound would not likely be found in benchmark fuels
- The generator would be allowed to use testing or knowledge to document that the subject Appendix VII constituent is not expected to be present.
- This would be consistent w/ the current provisions of §261.38(c)(8) which waive testing for spec compounds if the generator uses testing or knowledge to determine that the compound would not be present