October 15, 2012

Sent via E lectronic M ail and Fedex

Ms. Andrea Siefers Environmental Engineer , Refining and Chemicals Group U.S. EPA

- Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards 109 T.W. Alexander Drive Mail Code: E143

- 01 Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 Siefers.Andrea @ epa.gov

RE: Polyvinyl Chloride and Copolymers Process Wastewater Section 114 Sampling and Analysis, and Information Request

Dear Ms

. Siefers :

This letter responds on behalf of the Vinyl Institute PVC MACT Working Group 1 to
EPA’s request for comments on its draft Clean Air Act S ection 114 Request sent via
electronic mail on Octo ber 3, 201 2

. The request seeks sampling and analysis of process wastewater from U.S. producers of p olyvinyl c hloride resins and c op olymers

. We address t he following documents, collectively referred to hereinafter as “draft 114 Request” :

• “ Summary of Test Procedures, Methods, And Reporting Requirements For Process Wastewater Sampling and Analysis at Polyvinyl Ch loride and Copolymer Fa cilities ” , Draft October 3, 2012;

• Excel file named “ CAASection114_PVC_ProcessWW_DRAFT_10

- 03

- 12.xlsx ”

The 114 request will be issued following the Agency’s granting to several petition er s ’ requests to reconsider certain aspects of the National Emission Sta ndards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Polyvinyl Chloride and Copolymers Production; Final Rule

, 77 Fed. Reg. 22

, 848 (April 17, 2012). Pe titions to review this rule were filed by VI and

some individual Working G roup members, among others. These suits ar e in abeyance

1 The PVC M ACT Working Group includes Vinyl Institute members (Shintech Inc. , Formosa Plastics Corporation, U.S.A.

, Occidental Chemical Company / O xy Vinyls, LP , Westlake Chemical Corporation, and PolyOne Corporation ) and other PVC and Copolymer producers including G eorgia Gulf Corporation and The Dow Chemical Company

.Page 2 of 4 The Vinyl Institute, 1737 King Street, Suite 390, Alexandria, VA 22314 (571) 970

- 3392 Fax (571) 970

- 3271 www.vinylinfo.org www.vinylindesign.co m pending the outcome of the Agency’s reconsideration. Accordingly, the Working Group is pleased to submit these comment s on the draft 114 Request as discussed herein and
in more detail in Attachments A, B, & C , which are listed at the bottom of this letter.

1. Industry Proposes to Submit the Sampling and Analysis Report by May 1, 2013

As you know, the PVC MACT rule was subjected to a very tight schedule, which
rushed efforts in data collection, sampling, and analysis that led to a number of
cri tical inconsistencies and mistakes . Accordingly, the proposed schedule is intended to provide adequate time for project planning

, Q u ality A ss u ra n ce P ro j ect
P la n s (QAPP) preparation

, and sampling/analysis plan (SAP) development . This will
allow the indust ry to follow a uniform methodology, resulting in a consistent, more comparable data set. The schedule also accommodates the inevitable holiday period with low production rates, reduced staff, and shutdowns. To that end, the Working Group reviewed the crit ical steps necessary to complete the Section 114 Request in a timely yet comprehensive approach to assure a quality data set for the Agency to use in its rulemaking.

As detailed in the timeline presented in Attachment B , the Working Group has
identified that a number of steps must be completed before moving into the sampling and analysis phase. First, it is critical for industry to ensure that local laboratories
will complete the sample analysis in as uniform manner as is possible. C ertain analytes and their methods for analysis may not have been routinely performed at some commercial labs which necessitates that adequate screening and assessment be done to ensure that repeatable results are obtained from each laboratory

. Industry projects some 8 wee ks to complete these preliminary tasks, which would put the onset of sample collection into the new year . Industry also projects the ensuing 8 week period to complete the requested sample collection and another 8 weeks for data and results analysis in a m anner that produces a sound data base for EPA to use in its rulemaking.

Additional considerations for our approach are discussed in the next section

.

2. The 114 Request Must Distinguish Between Batch Wastewater Stripping and Continuous Wastewater Stripping

Th e draft 114 Request would require 30 consecutive days of process wastewater (WW) sampling. Although such an approach may be appropriate for PVC producers that operate their process wastewater stripper/s continuously, it presents problems for those PVC pro ducers that operate their process wastewater stripper/s in a batchPage 3 of 4 The Vinyl Institute, 1737 King Street, Suite 390, Alexandria, VA 22314 (571) 970

- 3392 Fax (571) 970

- 3271 www.vinylinfo.org www.vinylindesign.co m manner

. For batch WW stripper operations, process wastewater is collected and retained in holding tanks until certain volumes are reached, at which time the WW stripper is placed into serv ice. Once the batch of process WW is stripped, the unit is taken out of service, which helps conserve utilities and other operating expenses. In some production scenarios at one PVC producer, their WW stripper may only operate once per week. It is not f easible for these producers to sample daily or to obtain 30 days of sampling in 30 consecutive days. The industry believes that the May 1, 2013 submission date is needed from a practical standpoint in order to account for those producers with intermittent batch WW stripper operations , in addition to other factors presented

.

3. The 114 Request Must Provide for Dealing with Unexpected Delays and Other
Unforeseen Even t s that may Occur on a Case

- by

- Case Basis

Due to the complexity of the industry and the vario us methods for treating process wastewater, industry requests that EPA be aware of and give full consideration to

case

- by

- case exceptions to completing the 114 Request by May 1, 2013. In addition to intermittent operations of WW strippers explained in the preceding paragraph, an unplanned outage may cause a temporary delay in the sample collection effort. Similarly, certain resin recipes are run according to product demand, and as such, that producer may want to provide data that is as representative as p ossible of normal operations (as required by the 114 Request instructions), which may require

an extended period of time for sampling

.

4. Confidential Business Information (CBI) Should be Submitted in a Separate
Workbook

Working Group members were dismayed to learn during the prior PVC MACT
S ection 114 data colle ction effort that some confidential business information reported on the EPA derived spreadsheet request form would be publicly disclosed

. B ecause of the manner in which the spreadsheet was develop ed , emissions
information normally considered as publicly available was request ed on the same spreadsheet as CBI production rates

, capacities , and operating costs . EPA subsequent ly modified the forms for the EDC/VCM 114 survey request to allow CBI product ion rates, capacity information , and operating costs to be repor ted separately from publicly available emissions information . The Working Group requests that EPA continue its practice of requesting CBI in a separate workbook or form.

The Vinyl Institute a nd its PVC MACT Working Group appreciate the opportunity to comment on EPA’s draft Section 114 Process Wastewater Sampling and Analysis Request. More detailed comments are included in the Attachments listed below.Page 4 of 4 The Vinyl Institute, 1737 King Street, Suite 390, Alexandria, VA 22314 (571) 970

- 3392 Fax (571) 970

- 3271 www.vinylinfo.org www.vinylindesign.co m Please do not hesitate to contact me wi th any questions.

S incerely,

Richard P. Krock Technical Director

e

- mail: rkrock@vinylinfo.org phone: 571

- 970

- 3392 cell: 571

- 216

- 4474

CC: Ms. Penny Lassiter , EPA

- RTP Mr. Mark Kataoka , EPA

- OCG JC Walker, Keller and Heckman Vinyl Institute PVC MACT W orking Group

Attachments:

Attachment A: “ PVC MACT Working Group Comments on CAA Section 114 Request Memo for Summary of Test Procedures, Metho ds, and Reporting Requirements F or Process Wastewater Sampling and Analysis at Polyvinyl Chloride and Copolymer Facili ties
, Draft October 3, 2012”

Attachment B: “ PVC MACT Working Group Proposed Sampling and Analysis
Schedule”

Attachment C: “ PVC MACT Working Group Comments on Draft CAA Section 114 Request Excel Workbook for Process Wastewater Sampling Report ”