United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 

Air Division 

Technical Support Document 

for 

EPA’s Notice of Rulemaking 

for the 

Arizona State Implementation Plan 

Maricopa County Air Quality Department’s 

Rule 313, Incinerators, Burn-Off Ovens and Crematories 

Prepared by: Idalia Pérez 

May 2014 
Maricopa County Air Quality Department (MCAQD) 

Submitted Rule 

MCAQD Rule 313, Incinerators, Burn-Off Ovens and Crematories 

ß Adopted: May 9, 2012 

ß Submitted: August 27, 2012 

ß Determined complete: February 27, 2013, by operation of law 

Previous Rule Submittals 

A previous version of Rule 313 was adopted on July 13, 1988 and submitted on January 4, 1990. 

We can only act on the most recent submission of the rule. 

SIP-Approved Rules 

There is no SIP-Approved version of Rule 313. 

Rule Summary 

Rule 313 limits particulate matter (PM) emissions from incinerators, burn-off ovens and 

crematories. 

Section 100 of the rule specifies the applicability and exemptions of the rule. Among other 

exemptions, the rule exempts commercial and industrial solid waste incineration (CISWI) units 

as well as hospital, medical and infectious waste incinerators. Section 200 includes definitions 

applicable to the rule. 

Section 300 of Rule 313 stipulates the emission standards and work practices used to control 

emissions, which include but are not limited to the following: 

· Incinerators must have multiple-chambers, a minimum temperature of 1600°F in the 

secondary chamber or afterburner and a residence time of at least 1 second in the 

secondary chamber. 

· Burn-off ovens shall employ an oven with at least two chambers, with the secondary 

compartment operating at a minimum temperature of at least 1400°F with a residence 

time of at least 1/2 second. 

· A crematory shall consist of an incinerator comprised of at least two chambers. For units 

existing before September 22, 2004, the secondary compartment or afterburner shall 

operate at a minimum temperature of at least 1400°F with a residence time of at least 1 

second. For newer units, the secondary compartment or afterburner shall operate at a 

minimum temperature of at least 1600°F with a residence time of at least 1 second. 

Alternate time times and temperatures may be followed when cremating large bodies or if 

manufacturer’s specifications are different provided that the owner or operator 

demonstrates compliance with the limits using the required test methods. 

· Incinerators, burn-off ovens, or crematories shall not emit any air contaminant that 

exceeds 20 percent opacity for an aggregate of more than 30 seconds in any 60 minutes. 

· Emissions from incinerators, burn-off ovens, or crematories shall not exceed 0.080 grain 

per cubic foot of dry flue gas at standard conditions adjusted to 7% oxygen. 
· Incinerator, crematories or burn-off oven other than parts reclamation units shall operate 

a Continuous Opacity Monitoring System (COMS) at all times during nighttime 

combustion. 

· Parts reclamation units with an inside stack diameter less than 10 inches that conduct 

nighttime combustion operations without the installation and operation of a COMS shall 

not cause visible emissions during combustion during the nighttime and conduct visible 

emissions observations at least once per hour during each nighttime combustion cycle. 

Additional monitoring and recordkeeping requirements are included in Section 500. 

Effects on Emissions 

The District has indicated there are 27 facilities with permits for crematories, one facility with a 

permit for an incinerator of the type subject to this rule, and less than 20 facilities with burn off 

ovens. The District does not expect emission reductions from this rule since all existing facilities 

already meet the requirements of the rule. The total emissions from this source category are 0.06 

tons of PM per year. 

Rule Evaluation Criteria 

We have evaluated Rule 313 in accordance with the following criteria: 

1. Rule Stringency – MCAQD is designated as serious nonattainment for the PM10 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). 40 CFR 81.303. Therefore, 

the area is subject to the requirement to implement Best Available Control 

Measures (BACM), including Best Available Control Technology (BACT) (see 

CAA section 189(b)(1)). 

2. Enforceability – CAA section 110(a)(2)(A) requires that regulations submitted to 

EPA for approval into a State Implementation Plan (SIP) be clear and legally 

enforceable. 

3. SIP Revisions – CAA section 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 section 193 prohibits the modification 

of any SIP-approved control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in a 

nonattainment area unless the modification insures equivalent or greater emission 

reductions.

Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate Rule 313 include the following: 

· Issues Relating to VOC Regulation, Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations (the “Blue 

Book”), US EPA, OAQPS (May 25, 1988). 

· Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC and Other Rule Deficiencies, EPA 

Region IX (August 21, 2001, the “Little Bluebook”). 

· State Implementation Plans for Serious PM-10 Nonattainment Areas, and Attainment 

Date Waivers for PM-10 Nonattainment Areas Generally; Addendum to the General 
Preamble for the Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, 59 

FR 41998 (August 16, 1994). 

· PM-10 Guideline Document, EPA 452/R-93-008, April 1993. 

· Permit Handbook , Bay Area Air Quality Management District Section 11.6 of the 

Source-Specific Guidance. 

http://hank.baaqmd.gov/pmt/handbook/rev02/PH_00_05_11_06.pdf

Evaluation of Rule Stringency 

For serious nonattainment areas, major sources are those that have a potential to emit (PTE) of at 

least 70 tons per year of PM-10. See CAA § 189 (b)(3). Although the MCAQD does not provide 

information regarding the PTE of the sources regulated by Rule 313, they state that the total 

emissions from this source category are 0.06 tons of PM per year indicating that the sources 

regulated are likely not major sources. As a point of reference, the total emissions of PM10 in 

Maricopa County are 68,091 tons/year, 48,148 tons/year in the nonattainment area, according to 

the emissions inventory revised in 2011 and available in the 2012 Five Percent Plan for the PM10 Maricopa County Nonattainment Area (http://www.azmag.gov/Documents/EP_2012-06-

06_FINAL-MAG-2012-Five-Percent-Plan-Appendices_Volume-1.pdf). Although the sources 

subject to Rule 313 appear to have a de minimis impact on ambient PM-10 concentrations, we 

have nonetheless evaluated the control provisions in the rule and find that they represent a 

BACM level of control, as explained further below. 

A search for emission and emission control information from permits was done in the 

RACT/BACT/LAER clearinghouse (http://cfpub.epa.gov/RBLC/) for permits with dates 

between January 1, 2000 and May 13, 2014 with process types “19.100 – Crematoriums” and 

“19.200 – Emission Control Afterburners & Incinerators (combustion gasses only)”. No 

information regarding PM emissions from these sources was found for process type “19.100” 

and the following was found for process type “19.200”: 

RBLC ID Equipment Type Year Pollutant Limit 

LA-0204 Gas Thermal 

Oxidizers 

2009 Filterable PM10 0.0075 lb/MMBTU (average of three 1-

hour tests) 

LA-0229 Thermal Oxidizer 2008 Total PM10 0.0077 lb/MMBTU 

LA-0240 Thermal Oxidizer 2010 Total PM10 0.0080 lb/MMBTU 

LA-0255 Process Off-Gas 

Incinerator 

2010 Filterable PM10 10.8700 lb/hour 

31.8600 T/year 

MT-0030 Thermal Oxidizer 2008 Filterable PM10 0.0110 lb/hour 

OH-0288 Thermal Incinerator 2004 PM 0.1500 lb/hour 

0.6400 T/year (rolling 12 month) 

OH-0288 Thermal Incinerator 2004 PM 0.1700 lb/huor 

0.7600 T/year (rolling 12 month) 

These permit limits cannot be easily converted to the emission limits found in Rule 313 without 

additional information. Emission factors for crematoriums were obtained from EPA’s Factor 

Information Retrieval System (http://cfpub.epa.gov/webfire/). The uncontrolled PM from 

crematoriums is 0.085lb/body burned. The approximate time for complete cremation is 2 hours, 
which may vary depending on charge weight. Without additional information on facility 

operations, this cannot easily be converted to the emission units found in Rule 313. 

The New Source Performance Standards for Solid Waste Incinerators (40 CFR Part 60, subpart 

CCCC and DDDD) do not regulate the emissions from burn-off ovens but they can be used as 

guidance for achievable levels of emission control from incinerators. 

Unit PM Emission limit Citation 

New waste burning kilns 2.2 mg/dscm, 30 day average Table 7 to Subpart CCCC of 

Part 60 

New small, remote incinerators 270 mg/dscm (minimum of 1 

dscm) 

Table 8 to Subpart CCCC of 

Part 60 

Existing waste burning kilns 4.6 mg/dscm Table 8 to Subpart DDDD of 

Part 60 

Existing small, remote 

incinerators. 

270 mg/dscm (minimum of 1 

dscm) 

Table 9 to Subpart DDDD of 

Part 60 

Although boilers serve a different purpose than the combustion sources that are regulated by 

Rule 313, emission limits for boilers can also be used to compare to the emission limits in Rule 

313. Since the units regulated by this rule are smaller units, such as parts reclamation ovens, we 

are using the area source rule for comparison (40 CFR Part 63, subpart JJJJJJ). The limits range 

between 3.0x10-2 lb/MMBtu (e.g. for new units > 30 MMBtu fired on coal) to 4.2x10-1

lb/MMBtu (e.g. for new units 10-30 MMBtu fired on coal) depending on age, size and fuel. See

§63.11201. Additionally, boilers < 10MMBtu/hour are only required to follow work practices 

instead of have emission limits, including conducting tune-ups. See §63.11201. 

The emission limit in Rule 313, 0.080 grain per cubic foot of dry flue (approximately 183 

mg/dscm) is lower than the emission limit for small remote incinerators in 40 CFR 60 subparts 

CCCC and DDDD. The use of work practices as controls included in Rule 313 is in agreement 

with the use of work practices to control emissions in 40 CFR Part 63, subpart JJJJJJ. We are not 

aware of other more stringent requirements for this source category. 

Evaluation of Enforceability and SIP Revision Criteria 

Recordkeeping and other compliance provisions in the Rule 313 ensure that the requirements are 

adequately enforceable. 

Since there is no previous version of the submitted rule in the SIP, its inclusion will strengthen 

the requirements of the SIP. Rule 313 does not modify or interfere with any requirement in the 

applicable SIP. Therefore, we propose to determine that our approval of the submittal would 

comply with CAA sections 110(l) because the proposed SIP revision would not interfere with the 

on-going process for ensuring that requirements for RFP and attainment of the NAAQS are met. 

Section 193 does not apply to this action because it does not modify any SIP-approved control 

requirement in effect before November 15, 1990. 

Suggested Rule Improvements 
The District should consider the economic and technical feasibility of additional control 

requirements for NOx from this source category. See, for example, San Joaquin Valley Unified 

APCD Rule 4309. 

Recommendation 

EPA staff recommends a full approval of MCAQD Rule 313 under CAA section 110(k)(3). 

Other References 

1. Submitted Rule 313 

2. Staff Report for Rule 313 

3. Email from Johanna M. Kuspert at MCAQD to Idalia Perez at EPA on 12/20/2012 

4. RBLC information 
Idalia:

An estimate of other units that are subject to Rule 313 in Maricopa County:

 i There are 27 facilities with permits for crematories

 i There is one facility with a permit for an incinerator

If you have any more questions or concerns, please let me know.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

Johanna M. Kuspert

Planner

Maricopa County Air Quality Department

1001 North Central Avenue, Suite 125

Phoenix, Arizona 85004

Located at the Central Ave & Roosevelt METRO stop

602-506-6710

www.CleanAirMakeMore.com

www.CleanAirMakeMore.com

RE: brief question on Rule 313 

Johanna Kuspert - AQDX 

to: 

Idalia Perez 

12/20/2012 01:41 PM 

Cc: 

Corky Martinkovic - AQDX 

Hide Details 

From: Johanna Kuspert - AQDX <JKuspert@mail.maricopa.gov>

To: Idalia Perez/R9/USEPA/US@EPA, 

Cc: Corky Martinkovic - AQDX <CorkyMartinkovic@mail.maricopa.gov>

History: This message has been replied to. 

file://C:\Users\iperez\AppData\Local\Temp\notes5524D1\~web2161.htm 12/21/2012