UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENT A L PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION IX AIR DIVISION

Technical Support Document

For

EPA’s Notice of Direct Final Rulemaking

For the

California State Implementation Plan

Feather River Air Quality Management District

Rule 3.17

– Wood Heating Devices

Christine Vineyard

September 16 , 20142

Agency: Feather River Air Quality Management District (FRAQMD or the

District )

Rule 3.17: Wood Heating Devices

SIP

- approved version: None

Adopted by FRAQMD: June 1996 Amended by FRAQMD: October 5, 2009

Submitted by CARB: July 25, 2014

Ba ckground

FRAQMD Rule 3.17 was adopted in June of 1996 and amended in October 2009 to reduce emissions from residential wood heating devices. When the Rule revision was adopted by the FRAQMD Board in October 2009, the resolution did not specifically

direct the District to submit it to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) as a revision to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP)

. The District adopted

Resolu tion 2014

- 02 o n February 3, 2014, directing staff to send the Rule to EPA as a

SIP revision with minor changes discussed below

.

Based on prior discussions with EPA and the California Air Resources Board ( ARB ) , the District excluded portions of Rule 3.17 from the SIP submittal because they provide for improper director’s discretion or voluntary measures that would interfere with their enforceability under the federal Clea n Air Act (CAA)

. Specific provisions of t he following sections of the Rule would still be in effect locally, but would not be included in the federally enforceable SIP: 1

1. E. 8

. “....or other method approved by the Air Pollution Control Officer ”

- unseasoned wood definition allows the Air Pollution Control Officer ( APCO ) discretion to approve test methods other than the recommended ASTM method

D4442

- 92 to determine percent moisture in unseasoned wood. Exclusion of this portion of the definition is not expected to affect emissions or enforcement of the rule because the District has never used this compliance option

. 2. F.2. e. (Requirements)

– provides a compliance option when selling, supplying, installing, or transferring a new or used wood heating device, but does not list a

test method to determine emission standards. The District request ed exclusion of this provision until such time as Rule 3.17 is revised and can provide a list of approved test methods. Exclusion of this section is not expected to affect emissions or enforcement of the rule because the District has never implemented this compliance option.

1 Please refer to the SIP submittal, available in the docket for this action, for the exact rule provisions being

excluded from th e SIP.3

F.4 (Requirements )

– This is a voluntary program and emission reductions from this measure are not relied on for attainment purposes, but will remain in the rule. The requirement in this section allows the APCO to issue an advisory recommending actions for the use of wood heating de vices whenever conditions within the District are projected to cause an exceedance o f a State o r n ational ambient air quality standard.

All portions of the Rule would still be in effect as a local rule, but the three specific provisions listed above would not be federally enforceable.

Rule Summary

A. The purpose of Rule 3.17 is to reduce inhalable particle emissions from residential wood heating devices, to achieve the same emission limits as other wood appliances, and to increase public awareness reg arding air pollution from residential wood burning in Yuba and Sutter Counties.

B. The rule defines key terms such a s “unseasoned wood”

.

C. T he rule contains requirements for new and used wood heating devices used for the first time in existing buildings and new buildings constructed after the rule adoption

date. It further requires that any new or used wood heating device be an EPA

certified wood heating device.

D. The rules prohibits burning of unseasoned wood

, any other material not intended by

the manufactu rer for use as a solid fuel in a wood heating device and prohibited material as described in District Rule 2.0, Open Burning. 2

EVALUATION CRITERIA

–

1. Enforceability

- The Bluebook ( Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations

, EPA, May 25, 1988) and the Little Bluebook ( Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies, EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001) were used to help evaluate compliance with the CAA §110(a)(2)(A) requirement for enforceability.

2. SIP Relaxation

- CAA § 110(l) prohibits EPA from approving any SIP revision that would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress (RFP) or any other applicable requirement of the CAA. In addition, CAA § 19 3 prohibits the modification of any SIP

- approved control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in a nonattainment area.

3. Stringency

– Wood burning emits PM10 and PM2.5 directly, as well as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which are precursors to

ozone and PM2.5.

2 ARB submitted Rule 2.0 to EPA for inclusion into the California SIP o n August 7, 2014

.4

FRAQMD regulates a portion of the Sacramento Metro ozone nonattainment area

, which is classified a s Severe

- 15 under the 1997 and 2008 National Ambient Air Quality Standard s (NAAQS) for ozone (40 CFR § 81 .305 ). CAA § 172(c)(1) requires nonattainment areas to implement all reasonably available control measures (RACM) as expeditiously as practicable. The refore, FRAQMD must implement RACM for residential wood heating devices if those measures will advance attainment of the NAAQS for ozone, when considered collectively with other reasonable measures. Additional control measures may be required pursuant to C AA §172(c)(1) if both: (1) additional measures are reasonably available; and (2) these additional reasonably available measures will advance attainment in the area when considered collectively. EPA acts on the State’s RACM demonstrations separately based o n an evaluation of the control measures submitted as a whole and their overall potential to advance the applicable attainment date s

. Below, we identify additional control options that may be reasonably available (see “Additional Recommendations for the Nex t Rule Revision”).

FRAQMD is currently designated attainment for PM10 (40 CFR § 81.305). Accordingly, FRAQMD is not subject to the requirement to implement RACM or Best Available Control Measures (BACM) for PM10 and PM10 precursors in CAA § 189(b)

and (e). Therefore, we are not evaluating Rule 2.0 for compliance with RACM or BACM requirements with respect to PM10.

Effective December 14, 2009, EPA designated the Yuba City

- Marysville area, which is under FRAQMD jurisdiction, as nonattainment for the 2006 24

- hour PM2.5 NAAQS (74 FR 58688, November 13, 2009). As a result, the area was required to implement RACM for PM2.5. On January 10, 2013 (78 FR 2211), EPA issued a determination

that the area had attained the 2006 24

- hour PM2.5 standard based on comple te, quality

- assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data for the 2009

– 2011 monitoring period. Under EPA's Clean Data Policy and the regulations that embody
it, 40 CFR § 51.1004(c) (for PM2.5), an EPA determination that an area is attaining

the releva nt standard suspends the area's obligations to submit RACM for as long as the area continues to attain. As a result, we are not evaluating Rule 2.0 for compliance with RACM requirements for PM2.5 at this time. In addition, o n May 23, 2013, CARB requested that EPA redesignate the Yuba City

- Marysville PM2.5

nonattainment area to attainment for the 2006 24

- hour PM2.5 NAAQS. If the Yuba City

- Marysville area is redesignated to attainment, RACM requirements for PM2.5 will no longer apply.

EPA EVALUATION : A summary of our evaluatio n of the three criteria:

1. Enforceability

- The rule requirements and their applicabil ity are clear and sufficiently e nsure that affected sources and regulators can evaluate and determine compliance with Rule 3.17 consistently.5

2. SIP Relaxation

- We propose to determine that our approval of the submitted rule would comply with CAA § 110(l) because the FRAQMD portion of the California SIP does not contain any control requirement for wood

- burning devices, and our approval of Rule 3.17 into the SIP only adds new SIP requirement s and does not

interfere with the on

- going process for ensuring that requirements for RFP and
attainment of the NAAQS are met. Section 193 of the Act does not apply to our proposed action because this is a new ru le to the SIP and does not modify any SIP

approved control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in a

nonattainment area.

3. Stringency

– This rule largely implements reasonably available control requirements because it is generally as stringent as other California District rules for this category. However, some areas are implementing more stringent requirements that may be technologically and economically feasible for implementation in Yuba

and Sutter Counties (see “Additional Recommendations for the Next Rule Revision”). EPA will act on the State’s RACM demonstration s separately based on

an evaluation of the control measures submitted as a whole and their overall potential to advance the applica ble attainment date s

.

Additional Recommendations for the Next Rule Revision

a) Add an opacity or visible emission limit; b) Add m andatory winter burning curtailment; and c) Add a provision to require the r eplacement of non

- EPA certified wood burning devices upon home sale.

EPA Action

We propose to determine that FRAQMD Rule 3.17 fulfils all the applicable CAA requirements. Therefore, under § 110(k) of the CAA

, EPA staff recommends fu ll approval of FRAQMD Rule 3.17 as submitted by CARB on July 25, 2014 without paragraphs E.8 “..or other method approved by the Air Pollution Control Officer” and

F.2 .e

.

Attachments

1. FRAQMD Rule 3.17

– Wood Heating Devices

, October 5, 2009.

2. “Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,”

U SEPA, May 28, 1988 (cover only).