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JOSEPH CARLE

From: KEVIN J. WILLIAMS

Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 3:24 PM

To: JOSEPH CARLE; ALETA KENNARD

Subject: FW: EPA Comments on Sacramento Rule 414

From: Steckel.Andrew@epamail.epa.gov [mailto:Steckel.Andrew@epamail.epa.gov]

Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 2:59 PM

To: KEVIN J. WILLIAMS; mguzzett@arb.ca.gov

Cc: Perez.Idalia@epamail.epa.gov

Subject: EPA Comments on Sacramento Rule 414

United States Environmental Protection Agency

Region IX

75 Hawthorne Street

San Francisco, CA 94105-3901

December 07, 2009

Transmittal of EPA Rule Review Comments

To: Kevin Williams, Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District

kjwilliams@airquality.org

Mike Guzzetta, California Air Resources Board

mguzzett@arb.ca.gov

From: Andrew Steckel, Rulemaking Office Chief

steckel.andrew@epa.gov

Re: Rule 414, Water Heaters (Draft provided to EPA 10/25/09)

We are providing comments based on our preliminary review of the draft rule identified above. Please direct any questions

in this regard to me at (415) 947-4115 or to Idalia Perez at (415) 972-3248.

1. We recommend that the exemption for Pool/Spa Heaters with a heat input less than 75,000 Btu/hr found in Section

111 be eliminated. For example, SJV Rule 4902 eliminates this exemption effective 1/1/2010.

2. The District should consider changing the compliance deadline of 1/1/2013 to an earlier date similar to SJV Proposed

Rule 4308 (November 5, 2009) which has a compliance deadline of 1/1/2011. The extended compliance deadline for

Sacramento seems unnecessary since compliant equipment should be available sooner nearby to adhere with SJV 4308.


STATE OF CALIFORNIA

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

AIR RESOURCES BOARD

P. O. Box 2815

Sacramento, California 95812

December 15, 2009

ARB Staff Rule Review Results

To: Mr. Kevin Williams, Associate Air Quality Engineer

Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District

Telephone Number: (916) 874-4851

e-mail: kjwilliams@airquality.org

From: Alex Krichevsky, (916) 324-6222

e-mail: akrichev@arb.ca.gov

The following rule, which is scheduled for workshop to be held by your District staff on

December 16, 2009, was received by us on November 20, 2009, for our review:

Rule 414 Natural Gas-Fired Water Heaters

The Air Resources Board staff has reviewed the rule and, based on the information

available to us at this time, we have no comments.

The rule was examined by the following ARB divisions: Stationary Source and

Monitoring and Laboratory.

If you have any questions, please contact me by e-mail or at the telephone number

above.
December 15, 2009 

Mr. Joe Carle 

Sacramento Metropolitan AQMD 

777 12th St., 3rd Floor

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Dear Mr. Carle: 

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is a national trade 

association representing manufacturers of space heating, water heating, air conditioning and 

refrigeration equipment and components. AHRI’s 300 member companies include nearly all 

the manufacturers of gas water heaters, boilers and other equipment proposed to be covered 

by the amendments to Rule 414 (Water Heaters, Boilers and Process Heaters Rated Less 

Than 1,000,000 Btu per Hour). We have reviewed the proposed amendments to Rule 414 

along with the accompanying staff report and have the following comments. 

Section 102

We are concerned that the expansion of this rule to include equipment fired by nongaseous 

fuels has not been adequately analyzed or justified. The staff report expresses the belief that 

there are currently no units fired by wood, coal or fuel oil operating in the district. If that is 

correct then what is the need to regulate products not being used in the district. There are no 

emission reductions to be achieved by such a regulation. Conversely, if the staff report is in 

error and, for example, there are some oil-fired water heaters or boilers operating in the 

district then applying a rule developed for gas-fired products without further analysis of the 

differences between oil-fired and gas-fired products is inappropriate. 

Section 301

The proposed 6 month delay in the effective date of the revised NOx emission limits is too 

short for the expanded scope of this amended rule. While it is more likely that residential gas 

storage waters can clear through the distribution chain and clear inventory in six months, the 

other types of water heaters and boilers proposed to be added to this rule are not sold and 

installed at anywhere near the frequency as that of residential storage water heaters. The 

staff report estimates that less than 2% of the units affected by this rule will be those with 

inputs in the range of 75,000 to 1,000,000 Btu/h. Distributors and wholesalers will still have 

to stock some of these units but with significantly less demand some of these units will sit in 

inventory for more than 6 months. If this rule continues to be implemented at “point of sale,” 
we recommend a 12 month sell through period. The better solution would be to apply the 

rule to the date of manufacture and then make the revised rule effective six months after it is 

adopted. This is the implementation process that has been successfully used in the 

SCAQMD. 

We appreciate this opportunity to provide comments on the proposed amended Rule 414. If 

you have any questions or need additional information regarding any of these comments 

please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Sincerely, 

Frank A. Stanonik 

Chief Technical Advisor 



Robert Glass, Raypak, Inc. Written Comments (February 18, 2010) 

Comment #1: We applaud the decision to allow product manufactured before the 

effective dates to be distributed, offered for sale or sold for 6 

months after the effective date of the new standards in order to 

allow distributor inventory to be sold. 

Response: Thank you. 

 

Comment #2: We understand the desire of the Sacramento Metropolitan AQMD 

to address currently "unregulated" water heaters, boilers and 

process heaters rated between 75,000 Btu/hr and 1,000,000 

Btu/hr. We also applaud the decision to exclude units fueled by 

liquid petroleum gas (ie. propane). However, we question why the 

proposal extends to units fueled by gaseous and nongaseous 

fuels other than natural gas. The SCAQMD and the other 3 

districts referenced only have requirements for product fueled by 

natural gas. When local, state and federal agencies are offering 

incentives for use of bio-fuels and other alternative fuel sources, 

we wonder what test protocol can be used to qualify the proposed 

NOx levels for these fuels (other than natural gas)? 

If the Sacramento Metropolitan AQMD continues with the 

proposed revisions to include gaseous and nongaseous fuels 

other than natural gas in these changes, the proposed 

implementation date of 1/1/2011 is not appropriate. 

Manufacturers of products which would fall into this coverage 

would need much more time to make the necessary modifications 

to meet these very stringent requirements. Since they are NOT 

forced to meet these requirements in any other AQMD in 

California, this implementation period is totally insufficient. 

Response: The test procedure for certifying units fired by fuels other than 

natural gas is in Section 501.2 of the proposed rule amendments. 

Units fired by nongaseous fuels like oil, wood and coal produce 

much higher levels of particulate matter than gaseous fuels as 

well as several toxic air contaminants. Our research indicates that 

there are very few, if any, currently used in Sacramento County. 

Converting from gaseous fuels to use of these more polluting fuels 

will exacerbate our air quality problems. Because other fuels are 

not widely used, many districts may have chosen not to establish 

emissions standards for these devices. In the absence of 

emissions standards, in parts of the eastern United States these 

devices have gained popularity in recent years. These devices 

caused significant neighborhood health complaints, and eventually 

resulted in some communities banning installation1

. Staff 

recommends these emissions standard provisions as a proactive 

 

1

 See EPA website for some community listings 

http://www.generalcode.com/samples/06Spr_1.html 
step to avoid these problems. Applying the proposed emissions 

standards to these fuels will likely prevent boilers and water 

heaters using existing technologies from being installed in the 

District. Staff notes that Rapak Inc. currently only sells units fired 

on natural gas and propane. 

 

Comment #3: Are the proposed changes for the water heaters rated less than 

75,000 Btu per hour (excluding those used in mobile homes) 

limited to tank type water heaters? Raypak also makes water 

heaters in this input range that are not tank type heaters and this 

needs to be clarified. 

Response: The proposed changes apply to water heaters of any type, 

including tank type and instantaneous/tankless. Language has 

been added to Section 102 of the proposed rule to clarify the 

applicability. The proposed limits in SMAQMD Rule 414 for all 

types of water heaters rated less than 75,000 Btu/hr have been in 

effect in the South Coast AQMD (Rule 1121) since 1/1/2006 and 

in the Yolo-Solano AQMD (Rule 2.37) since 1/1/2010. The same 

standards will take effect in the Ventura County APCD (Rule 

74.11) on 7/1/2010. 

 

Comment #4: For units rated greater than or equal to 75,000 Btu/hr and less 

than 400,000 Btu/hr - why is the NOx level set at 40 ng/J (55 

ppmv at 3% O2) until 1/1/2013? The previous SCAQMD levels 

(prior to 1/1/2010) were 20 ng/J (30 ppmv at 3% O2). Whereas 

the current SCAQMD levels for units in this rated capacity are 14 

ng/J (20 ppmv at 3% O2) - effective 1/1/2010. We see that the 

proposal looks to make the new levels of 14ng/J (20 ppmv at 3% 

O2) effective 1/1/2013. 

Response: The SCAQMD emission standards and effective dates stated in 

the comment actually apply to units greater than or equal to 

400,000 Btu/hour but less than 2,000,000 Btu/hr. For this size 

range in proposed Rule 414 new units need to meet a 14 ng/J 

standard by the first effective date of 1/1/2011. Units greater than 

or equal to 75,000 Btu/hr but less than 400,000 will have to meet a 

standard of 40 ng/J on 1/1/2011, which is the standard currently 

effect in the SCAQMD. On 1/1/2012 this size range of units will 

need to meet a 14 ng/J standard in the SCAQMD. Staff decided 

to set a 14 ng/J standard in the SMAQMD a year later than the 

SCAQMD so that we can evaluate whether there are any early 

problems with manufacture, certification, or availability of units 

meeting this standard in the South Coast district. 

 

Comment #5: Are pool/spa heaters rated greater than or equal to 400,000 Btu/hr 

and less than 1,000,000 Btu/hr excluded from revisions like the 

exclusion for pool/spa heaters less than 400,000 Btu/hr listed in 

the proposal? 
Response: No. New pool/spa heaters greater than or equal to 400,000 Btu/hr 

and less than 1,000,000 Btu/hr must meet a standard of 14 ng/J 

by 1/1/2011. Please note that not all pool/spa heaters are exempt 

from Rule 414. New pool/spa heaters less than 75,000 Btu/hr are 

exempt from Rule 414 but new units greater than or equal to 

75,000 Btu/hr and less than 400,000 Btu/hr must meet an 

emission standard of 40 ng/J by 1/1/2011. The emissions 

standards for new units greater than or equal to 75,000 Btu/hr are 

equivalent to SCAQMD Rule 1146.2. 

 

Comment #6: Since propane is excluded from NOx requirements under Rule 

414 (both current and proposed amendments), would it be correct 

to state that a dual fuel product (fueled by natural gas or propane 

gas) would ONLY have to show compliance with the stated NOx 

levels on natural gas? 

Response: Yes. A unit that is capable of firing either natural gas or propane 

must demonstrate compliance only for firing on natural gas.