Final Staff Report with Appendices for 

Proposed Amendments to Rule 4354

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY UNIFIED AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT 

FINAL STAFF REPORT

June 20, 2011 

Amendments to Rule 4354 (Glass Melting Furnaces) 

Prepared by: Sandra Lowe-Leseth, Air Quality Engineer, Rules 

Reviewed by: Stanley Tom, Senior Air Quality Engineer, Permit Services 

Clay Bishop, Supervising Air Quality Inspector, Compliance 

George Heinen, Supervising Air Quality Engineer, Rules 

Errol Villegas, Manager, Strategies and Incentives 

Samir Sheikh, Director, Strategies and Incentives 

I. SUMMARY 

A. Reasons for Rule Development and Implementation 

Industrial glass making is a continuous process with raw materials supplied to the 

furnace at the front end, and product taken off the line at the back end of the process. 

The raw materials for making glass are silica sand and soda ash. Melting these basic 

materials and forming them into the desired product geometry creates the final glass 

product. Beyond that, the different end products vary widely in raw material additives, 

processing equipment and conditions, and product quality requirements. 

During a rule amendment in 2002, the District imposed requirements to limit the amount of 

excess oxygen (O2) to less than 5% to minimize emissions from glass melting furnaces 

during a start-up, since the typical add-on controls are not operational. At the time of rule 

development, oxy-fuel firing was a new technology, and District staff was unaware that the 

5% oxygen requirement was incompatible with this new technology. Based on new 

information, District staff has determined that oxy-fuel firing technology, by design, 

operates in an oxygen-rich environment in excess of the existing requirement, but still has 

inherently low NOx emissions during start-up. The proposed amendments incorporate the 

new information and prevent oxy-fuel fired glass melting furnaces from having to comply 

with an unnecessary start-up requirement. 

The San Joaquin Valley is home to seven glass- making facilities and a total of 13 glass 

melting furnaces subject to Rule 4354 and the proposed amendments will allow these 

facilities to utilize this distinctive low-NOx firing technology and continue meeting the 

District’s stringent emission limits. There will be no emissions impact associated with this 

rule action given the low emissions inherent to oxy-fuel technology. 
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B. Description of the Project 

The purpose of this rule project is to modify a furnace start-up provision to 

accommodate a particular firing technology. Oxy-fuel firing, meaning replacing the air 

for burning fuel with an air stream that is mostly or completely O2, is a firing technology 

that has inherently low NOx emissions because the nitrogen has been removed from 

the air stream. 

C. Rule Development Process 

District staff held a public workshop on January 13, 2011 in order to present and receive 

comments on the proposed amendments to Rule 4354. Comments received from 

affected source operators, consultants, vendors and manufacturers of control 

technologies, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) and the United States 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would be evaluated and, if appropriate, 

incorporated into proposed rule provisions. 

The proposed rule and final draft staff report were published and mailed to affected 

sources and interested parties prior to a public hearing to consider the adoption of 

proposed amendments to Rule 4354 by the District Governing Board on May 19, 2011. 

II. CLIMATE CHANGE 

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) created a comprehensive, 

multi-year program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California, with the 

overall goal of restoring emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020. In the coming 

years, ARB and the Legislature will be developing policies and programs to implement 

AB 32. The District believes that the evidence and the rationale that climate change is 

occurring is compelling and convincing. In addition to the long-term consequences of 

climate change, the District is concerned with the potential ramifications of more 

moderate but imminent changes in weather patterns. The Valley depends heavily on 

agriculture for its economy and has developed agricultural practices based on the last 

several decades of weather patterns. Unanticipated and large fluctuations in these 

patterns could have a devastating effect on the Valley’s economy. 

While there are many win-win strategies that can reduce both GHG and criteria/toxic 

pollutant emissions, when faced with situations that involve tradeoffs between the two, 

District staff believes that the more immediate public health concerns that may arise 

from an increase in criteria or toxic pollutant emissions should take precedence. 
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III. BACKGROUND 

In addition to being the most stringent rule limiting criteria pollutant emissions during 

normal furnace operation; Rule 4354 outlines the specific requirements to minimize 

emissions during a furnace start-up. For example, the current rule limits the maximum 

number of days for start-up based upon the type of glass produced. There is also a 

direct requirement to bring the emission control systems on-line as soon as 

technologically feasible. 

In addition, operators are required to minimize the amount of excess oxygen in the 

combustion air during start-up. Minimizing the amount of excess oxygen minimizes the 

amount of oxygen that would be available to form NOx from a normal combustion airfuel mixture. However, with oxy-fuel fired furnaces, the combustion air stream in these 

types of furnaces is essentially pure oxygen (greater than 50% O2). The amount of 

nitrogen available for conversion to NOx is much lower in an oxy-fuel furnace because 

nothing except pure oxygen comes in with the combustion air. Therefore, the oxy-fuel 

firing technology achieves a similar effect in limiting NOx formation during the start-up of 

a furnace. 

As discussed above, oxy-fuel firing was a new technology for glass furnaces and there 

was no industry experience to draw from when District staff was formulating its 

emission-minimizing regimen for furnace start-up. PPG Industries was one of the first 

facilities to install this new technology and, at that time, expressed a concern that oxyfueled furnaces would be unable to comply with the start-up requirements, but had no 

supporting data. There have been several other glass melting furnaces that have also 

installed oxy-fuel firing technology for their glass melting furnaces and have expressed 

similar concern. Therefore, based on the recent information and the broad applicability 

of the start-up requirement; District staff is proposing to remove the requirement to meet 

an excess oxygen limit for oxy-fuel fired glass melting furnaces. 

IV. CURRENT RULE 4354 AND PROPOSED AMENDMENTS 

A. Current Rule 4354 

Rule 4354 was adopted in September 1994, and it was last amended in September 2010. 

The rule applies to any glass melting furnace, but the rule exempts electric glass 

furnaces, glass furnaces that are located at a stationary source with a total potential to 

emit, for all processes, of less than ten tons per year of NOx or less than ten tons per 

year of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The current rule limits emission of NOx, 

VOC, carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of sulfur (SOx) and particulate matter with 

aerodynamic diameter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10). The emission limits depend 

on type of glass produced, furnace firing technology and emission averaging period. 

Table 1 shows the range of emission limits for various pollutants. 
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Table 1 – Current Rule 4354 Selected Emission Limits 

 NOx lb/ton glass SOx lb/ton glass PM10 lb/ton glass 

Glass Type Current Future Current Future Current Future 

Container 4.0 1.5 Fire on 

natural 

gas 

0.9 - 1.1 By 

permit 

condition 

0.5 

Fiberglass 4.0 1.3 - 3.0 0.9 0.5 

Flat (Float) 7.0 - 9.2 2.9 - 3.7 1.2 - 1.7 0.7 

For detailed requirements, please refer to current Rule 4354, which is available on the 

District’s website at www.valleyair.org. 

B. Proposed Amendments to Rule 4354 

1. Section 3.0 – Definitions 

Language has been removed from the definition of furnace rebuild that only applied to a 

compliance schedule in the 2002 version of the rule. Definitions for acronyms have 

been modified to have the name spelled out before the acronym, except for PM10, 

which was left as is. Two definitions have been added to improve reader clarity: 

“oxidant stream” and “standard conditions”. 

The definition of “furnace rebuild” has been modified to remove language associated 

with an obsolete compliance schedule. 

2. Section 5.5.4 – Length of Start-up 

One word, “actual,” would be removed from the provision and replaced by “approved.” 

The change clarifies the intent of the provision. 

3. Section 5.5.5 – Excess Oxygen Limit during Start-up 

Section 5.5 specifies the necessary steps to minimize emissions during furnace startup. The current rule already has a maximum number of days for start-up. The 

maximum start-up period depends on the type of glass produced. During start-up, there 

is a direct requirement to bring the emission control systems on-line as soon as 

technologically feasible. Indirectly, operators are required to minimize the amount of 

excess O2 in the combustion air during start-up. Minimizing the amount of excess O2

minimizes the amount of O2 that would be available to form NOx from a normal 

combustion air-fuel mixture. At the very beginning of the start-up, when the emission 

control systems cannot provide adequate emission control, operators have much more 

control over how much air is fed into the burners compared to operation of an add-on 

emission control system. 

District staff is proposing that language be added to Section 5.5.5 of the rule to exempt 

oxy-fuel fired furnaces from the excess oxygen requirement when the furnace’s 
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combustion air is greater than 50% oxygen. The 50% oxygen level was chosen 

because oxy-fuel fired is defined in the rule as “an operation of a glass melting furnace 

where greater than 50% of the oxidant for the fuel is provided from enriched oxygen 

streams.” In the situation where the operator of an oxy-fuel furnace uses a gas stream 

that is less than 50% oxygen, the operator would be subject to the limit of 5% excess 

O2. As previously stated, oxy-fuel firing a control device and reduces NOx by reducing 

available nitrogen in the combustion air, independent of the amount of excess oxygen. 

V. STATE IMPLEMEMTATION PLAN (SIP) IMPLICATIONS 

EPA has a policy for SIPs regarding excess emissions during malfunctions, start-up, 

shutdown, and maintenance. While the current rule’s start-up, shutdown, and idling 

provisions are already approved into the California SIP, because the proposed 

amendments make changes to the SIP-approved procedures, the start-up section is 

being re-evaluated in light of the changes. The EPA policy on start-up and shutdown 

contains seven specific requirements in order for a rule to have an exemption from 

emission limits during start-up/shutdown. The following paragraphs discuss how the 

proposed amendments would affect the policy for start-up exemptions set out by EPA. 

A. Narrowly-Defined Source Category and Control Technology 

- The revision must be limited to specific, narrowly-defined source categories using 

specific control strategies. 

Current Rule 4354 applies to a specific source category – glass melting furnaces. In 

order to be exempt from the emission limits, the furnaces must be undergoing start-up. 

The scope of the proposed amendment is limited to glass melting furnaces that are oxyfuel fired. Further, the proposed amendments cap the exception to the excess-oxygen 

limit by allowing the exception only when the combustion air meets the definition of oxyfuel firing. 

B. Minimize Impact of Uncontrolled Emissions during Start-up 

The EPA policy has four criteria that can be grouped together as aspects of minimizing 

emissions during start-up. Section 5.5 of the current rule addresses all of these issues. 

- Use of the control strategy for this source category must be technically infeasible 

during start-up or shutdown periods. 

In the general sense, add-on emission control systems are not operating during start-up 

because the furnace exhaust is not hot enough for the control system(s) to work 

effectively, and therefore, controlling emissions to a specific limit is technically 

infeasible. Oxy-fuel fired furnaces, however, are inherently controlled during start-up 

since this process reduces NOx formation in the combustion process. 
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- The frequency and duration of operation in the start-up or shutdown mode must 

be minimized to the maximum extent practicable.

- All possible steps must be taken to minimize the impact of emissions during startup and shutdown on ambient air quality.

- At all times, the facility must be operated in a manner consistent with good 

practice for minimizing emissions, and the source must have used best efforts 

regarding planning, design, and operating procedures to meet the otherwise 

applicable emission limitation.

Operators are required to file a request for start-up detailing how they plan to bring the 

furnaces from ambient temperature to glass-melting temperature as well as listing all of 

the interim steps. Additionally the plan must include how the operator intends to 

minimize emissions during the start-up process. The plan must be approved by the 

District and EPA prior to beginning the shutdown of the furnace for the repair. In 

approving the start-up plan, both the District and EPA can evaluate whether the 

operator has met the requirement to minimize emissions and set the maximum time that 

the start-up can take. Starting up a glass furnace takes weeks since glass furnaces 

must heat tons of sand without heating the furnace so quickly that the insulating 

refractory cracks or breaks from thermal shock. The EPA criteria listed above are 

satisfied by Section 5.5 and would not be affected by the proposed amendments. 

C. Records for Start-Up 

- The owner or operator’s actions during start-up and shutdown periods must be 

documented by properly signed, contemporaneous operating logs, or other 

relevant evidence.

The current rule requires that an operator notify the District when they are beginning 

start-up and to keep appropriate documentation to support the claim. Since each facility 

subject to the rule is different, the exact required records are determined as part of the 

approval of the start-up plan. The proposed amendment will not change the records 

required for start-up. 

D. Potential Emissions during Start-up 

- As part of its justification of the SIP revision, the state should analyze the 

potential worst-case emissions that could occur during start-up and shutdown.

Oxy-fuel furnaces have NOx control as an inherent part of the combustion system, so 

the exemption from the 5% excess O2 requirement will not increase NOx emission. 

Oxy-fuel oxidant streams can contain up to 50% N2 but are more likely to contain less 

than 5% N2, especially during start-up. Burner manufacturers recommend 100% O2 (or, 

equivalently, 0% N2) to be used during these times. Using this logic, there is less N2

available for conversion to NOx than an oxidant stream of ambient air, which contains 
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about 79% N2. The proposed amendment to Section 5.5.5 does impose the limit of 

excess O2 for those unusual times during start-up when the oxidant stream is not an 

oxy-fuel stream, thereby protecting the environments as much as is technologically 

feasible. 

Within the District, the oxy-fuel furnaces control SOx and PM10 through the use of an 

add-on control system. The proposed amendment does not affect other provisions of 

Section 5.5 to use best efforts regarding planning, design and operating procedures 

during the start-up period to minimize emissions. Compared to the current SIPapproved start-up provisions, the proposed amendments are not expected to change 

the level of SOx and PM10 emissions from start-up. 

VI. IMPACT OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS ON OTHER DISTRICT 

COMMITMENTS 

A. Impact of Proposed Amendments on District Attainment Strategies 

This rule project is not a control measure in any attainment plan and is not expected to 

reduce or increase emissions from glass melting furnaces. For these reasons, District 

staff has concluded that attainment of any ambient air quality standard will not be affected 

by this rule project. The proposed amendments will not affect either the District’s 2007 

Ozone Plan or the District’s 2008 PM2.5 Plan (particulate matter with aerodynamic 

diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less) because no emission limits have been changed, nor 

are the amendments expected to affect emissions from this source category. 

The federal Clean Air Act (Act) requires that attainment plans meet reasonable further 

progress (RFP) by achieving incremental emission reductions to ensure attainment of 

the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) by the attainment date. The Act 

does not identify specific emission reduction benchmarks that must be met for 

particulate matter attainment plans. EPA has interpreted the Act’s RFP requirement 

using the concept of achieving (generally) linear progress toward the standard. The 

District’s 2008 PM2.5 Plan contains an RFP demonstration. However, the proposed 

amendments do not have emission reductions or increases associated with them, so it 

is not expected that the RFP will be affected. 

B. Consideration for the Condensable Fraction of PM2.5 

Certain high-temperature processes emit gaseous pollutants that rapidly condense into 

particle form in the ambient air. After January 1, 2011, areas that are nonattainment for 

the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5 are to consider the 

condensable fraction of directly emitted PM2.5 for purposes of establishing the 

emissions limits for:
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 Reasonable Further Progress (RFP), in which an area shows continuous 

reductions of directly emitted PM2.5 and precursors, with sufficient emissions 

reductions to demonstrate attainment by the applicable deadline

 Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) and Reasonably Available 

Control Measures (RACM), in which a nonattainment area shows that it is 

adopting technologies and measures reasonably available, considering technical 

and economic feasibility; sufficient to demonstrate expeditious attainment; and 

meet RFP. 

(Code of Federal Regulations Title 40 Section 51.1002(c))

The District established emissions limits for its attainment, RFP, and RACT/RACM 

demonstrations in the 2008 PM2.5 Plan for the PM2.5 NAAQS as set by EPA in 1997. 

The District continues to evaluate condensable particulates and other directly emitted 

PM2.5 to improve its PM2.5 emissions inventory for future attainment plan efforts. 

This rule project for Rule 4354 was neither included in, nor does it impede, the 

emissions limits set in the 2008 PM2.5 Plan. The District is not currently aware of 

significant uncontrolled condensable PM2.5 emissions or related condensable PM2.5 

emissions control technologies for the sources affected by this amendment. Therefore, 

the District has satisfied any applicable requirement to consider condensable 

particulates from this source at this time. 

VII. EMISSION REDUCTIONS 

The proposed amendments only affect operations of oxy-fuel fired furnaces during startup and these operations have inherently low NOx emissions due to the enriched oxygen 

stream in the combustion air. Therefore, no impact on emissions is anticipated for this 

rule amendment project. 

VIII. COSTS AND COST EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS 

The California Health and Safety Code 40920.6(a) requires District staff to conduct a 

cost effectiveness analysis of available emission control options prior to adopting each 

Best Available Retrofit Control Technology (BARCT) rule. The proposed amendments 

do not implement a new emission limit or other requirement that would change the 

current emission requirements; therefore, a cost effectiveness analysis was not carried 

out. 
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IX. SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS 

Pursuant to state law, District staff is required to perform a socioeconomic impact 

analysis prior to adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule that has significant impacts 

on air quality or that will strengthen emission limitations. The proposed amendments to 

Rule 4354 would have not have a significant impact on air quality nor would it 

strengthen emission limitations, but are only intended to provide operators of oxy-fuel 

fired furnaces relief from a requirement that does not apply to these furnaces. For this 

reason, a socioeconomic impact analysis was not performed. 

X. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT 

Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), District staff has reviewed 

the project for potential environmental impacts resulting from the implementation of the 

project, specifically Section 5.5.5 which exempts oxy-fuel fired furnaces from the excess 

oxygen requirement when the furnace combustion air exceeds 50% oxygen. Rule 4354 

currently contains management practices that would limit excess emission to the extent 

feasible. The proposed amendments exclude oxy-fuel fired furnaces from a practice 

that does not apply to firing technologies that do not result in the release of NOx 

emissions or NOx-forming compounds. Due to the nature of oxy-fuel firing (see Section 

V for details), NOx emissions from oxy-fuel furnaces will be no greater than if they do 

not meet current excess oxygen limits. Further, glass furnace start-up is a rare event. 

For a given furnace, start-up would occur only once every seven to twelve years 

depending on the type of glass produced and other variables. As such, implementation 

of the project would not result in an increase in NOx emissions and environmental 

impacts are negligible. 

Greenhouse gas emissions are not expected to increase with the proposed 

amendments to Rule 4354. The amount of fuel burned during startup will not change if 

the amendments are adopted, meaning that the amount of carbon dioxide emitted 

during start-up will not change. 

District staff concludes that there is no substantial evidence in the whole record before 

the District that the proposed amendments to Rule 4354 would cause any adverse 

effects on the environment. The District finds that the project is exempt per the general 

rule that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant 

effect on the environment (CCR §15061(b)(3)). For these reasons, staff is proposing to 

file a Notice of Exemption upon Board adoption of the proposed amendments to Rule 

4354. 
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XI. RULE CONSISTENCY ANALYSIS 

Prior to adopting, amending, or repealing a rule or regulation, California Health and 

Safety Code § 40727.2 requires a written analysis that identifies and compares 

requirements of the proposed rule with corresponding, existing and proposed District 

rules and corresponding United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules, 

regulations, and guidelines. Based on the analysis, District staff concludes that the 

proposed amendments to Rule 4354 are consistent with other District rules and are not in 

conflict with these rules. Further, the proposed rule amendments are consistent with EPA 

rules, regulations, and guidelines that apply to the same source category. The analysis is 

presented in Appendix B of the Final Draft Staff Report. 

XII. REFERENCES 

1. Ray C. Yee, “PPG Industries, Inc. – Comments on Proposed Amendments to 

Rule 4354 for Glass Melting Furnaces, June 26, 2008 Draft” – Correspondence 

dated July 10, 2008 

2. Ray C. Yee, “PPG Industries, Inc. – Rule 4354 5.5.5 – Excess O2 on Start-up” – 

Correspondence dated August 17, 2010 

3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Sate Implementation Plans (SIPs): 

Policy Regarding Excess Emissions during Malfunctions, Startup, and Shutdown” 

Memorandum from Steven A. Herman and Robert Perciasepe to Regional 

Administrators, Regions I – X. 

4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “Clean Air Fine Particulate 

Implementation Rule” Federal Register Volume 72 pages 20586 – 20667.