William C. Herz

Vice President,

Scientific Programs

Capitol View 202.962.0490 425 Third Street, S.W., Suite 950 202.962.0577 fax Washington, DC 20024 www.tfi.org July 15, 2011

VIA ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Research Triangle Park North Carolina, 27711 Mr. Brian Shrager Shrager.brian@epa.gov Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0058

RE: TFI Comments on EPA’s Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters Final Rule; Delay of Effective Dates

Dear Sir or Madam:

The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), on behalf of its member companies, submits these comments in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) May 18 Federal Register notice
entitled Industrial, Commercial, and Institutiona l Boilers and Process Heaters and Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units; Final Rules, Delay of Effective Dates (the “Notice”) (76 Fed. Reg. 28662). This Notice delays th e effective date of tw o EPA final rules: (1) National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters (“ Boiler MACT” ); and (2) Standards of Performance for New Sources and Emission Gu idelines for Existing Sources; Commercial and
Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units. 1 Further, the Notice, as pa rt of EPA’s reconsideration of these two final rules, seeks “any additional data and information” to “inform the EPA’s proposed reconsideration.” 76 Fed. Reg. at 28663. To that end, TFI submits these comments in response to the Notice.

Statement of Interest

TFI represents the nation’s fertilizer industr y including producers, importers, retailers, wholesalers and companies that pr ovide services to the fertilizer industry. Its membership is

1 While the Notice pertains to two EPA final rules, TFI’s comments only address the final Boiler MACT rule.EPA’s Docket Center Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0058 July 14, 2011 Page 2

served by a full-time Washington, D.C., staff in va rious legislative, educ ational and technical
areas as well as with informati on and public relations programs.

Many TFI members own and/or opera te industrial boilers and proce ss heaters subject to the final
Boiler MACT rule. Further, TFI submitted comments on EPA’s proposal Boiler MACT rule (75 Fed. Reg. 32006 (June 4, 2010)). As such, TFI ha s an interest in the Notice and EPA’s
reconsideration of the final Boiler MACT rule.

TFI Comments

TFI offers the following comments on four elements of the final Boiler MACT rule for EPA’s
reconsideration

.

A. EPA Fails to Explain Why it Modified the Definition of “Units Designed to Burn Ga s 1 Subcategory” to Delete the “At Least 90 Percent Natural Gas and/or Refinery Gas on a Heat Input Basis on an Annual Average” Language as Proposed

In the proposed Boiler MACT rule, EPA recognized that the de signation of subcategories for boilers and process heaters should be based on th e “primary fuel” that the boiler or process heater is designed to burn. 75 Fed. Reg. at 3201 7. To this end, the Agency recognized when defining a number of the subcategories that a bo iler or process heater may burn fuels other than the primary fuel, so long as the other-than-primary fuels are burned at no more than 10 percent of the heat input to the unit.

As examples:

 Blast furnace gas fuel-fired boiler or process heater means an industrial/commercial/institutional boiler or process heater that receives 90 percent or more of its total heat input (based on an annual average) from blast furnace gas.

 Liquid fuel subcategory includes any boiler or process heater of any design that burns more than 10 percent liquid fuel a nd less than 10 percent solid fuel, on an annual heat input basis.

 Unit designed to burn biomass subcategory includes any boiler or process heater that burns at least 10 percent biomass, but less than 10 percent coal, on a heat input basis on an annual average, either alone or in combination with liquid fuels or gaseous fuels.EPA’s Docket Center Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0058 July 14, 2011 Page 3

 Unit designed to burn coal subcategory includes any boiler or process heater that burns coal alone or at least 10 percent coal on a heat input basis on an annual average in combination with biomass, liquid fuels, or gaseous fuels.

- and relevant to TFI members -

 Unit designed to burn gas 1 (NG/RG) subcategory includes any boiler or process heater that burns at least 90 percent natura l gas and/or refinery gas on a heat input basis on an annual average.

75 Fed. Reg. at 32063 – 32065 (proposed for codifi cation at 40 C.F.R. § 63.7575) (emphasis added).

In the final Boiler MACT rule, EPA retains the flexibility for units to remain within a subcategory while also burning other fuels, so lo ng as the other-than-primary fuels are burned at no more than 10 percent of th e heat input to the unit.

As examples:

 Blast furnace gas fuel-fired boiler or process heater means an industrial/commercial/institutional boiler or process heater that receives 90 percent or more of its total annua l gas volume from blast furnace gas.

 Liquid fuel subcategory includes any boiler or process heater of any design that burns more than 10 percent liquid fuel a nd less than 10 percent solid fuel, based
on an total annual heat input to the unit.

 Unit designed to burn biomass/ bio-based solid subcategory includes any boiler or process heater that burns at least 10 pe rcent biomass or bio-based solids on an annual heat input basis in combination w ith solid fossil fuels, liquid fuels, or gaseous fuels.

 Unit designed to burn coa l/solid fossil subcategory includes any boiler or process
heater that burns coal or other solid fossil fuel alone or at least 10 percent coal or
other solid fossil fuel on an annual heat input basis in combination with liquid fuels, gaseous fuels, or less than 10 pe rcent biomass and bio-based solids on an annual heat input basis.

76 Fed. Reg. at 15682 – 15686 (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 63.7575) (emphasis added).

However, relevant to TFI members, in the final Boiler MACT rule EPA deletes the no more than 10 percent other-than-primary fuels flexibility fo r units to remain within the “Unit designed to burn gas 1 subcategory”:EPA’s Docket Center Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0058 July 14, 2011 Page 4

 Unit designed to burn gas 1 subcategory includes any boiler or process heater that burns only natural gas, refinery gas, and/or other gas 1 fu els; with the exception of liquid fuels burned for periodic testing not to exceed a combined total of 48 hours during any calendar year, or during periods of gas curtailment and gas supply emergencies.

Id. at 15686 (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 63.7575) (emphasis added). Notably, in the preamble to the
final Boiler MACT rule discussing changes to the definitions section of the rule, EPA does not discuss why it removed the flexibility for gas 1 subcategory units to burn no more than 10 percent of fuels other than natural gas or refine ry gas and still remain in this subcategory. See Id.
at 15620.

The change in the definition of a “Unit designe d to burn gas 1 subcateg ory” unfairly prejudices TFI’s members because instead of relying on the “at least 90 percent natura l gas and/or refinery gas” threshold to remain in the “Unit designed to burn gas 1 subcategory, ” owners and operators must now prepare and submit to EPA a site-specifi c fuel analysis plan and demonstrate that the mercury and hydrogen sulfide concentrations meet th e “other gas 1 fuel” limits. Further, based on conversations with laboratories, TFI member s are having difficulties locating laboratories to run the designated mercury analysis and hydroge n sulfide analyses specified in Table 6.

Because this change was made w ithout discussion in the final Boiler MACT rule, or providing the public with the ability to comment on it, TFI requests that EPA revert to its proposed definition of this subcategory, namely:

 Unit designed to burn gas 1 (NG/RG) subcategory includes any boiler or process heater that burns at least 90 percent natura l gas and/or refinery gas on a heat input basis on an annual average.

B. EPA Fails to Recognize Industry-Specific Turn-Around Periods and ASME Standards For Inspections of Boilers (Including Reformers) in the Ammonia Industry

Both the proposed and final Boiler MACT rules contain an annual insp ection program for units in the Gas 1 subcategory. 75 Fed. Reg. at 32059 (proposed for codification at 40 C.F.R. § 63.7540); 76 Fed. Reg. at 15677-78 (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 63.7540). Unlike the proposal rule, the final Boiler MACT rule allows the annual burner inspection to be delayed until the next scheduled shutdown of the unit, provided the inspection occurs at least once every 36 months. Cf proposed 40 C.F.R. § 63.7540(a)(10)(i) with final 40 C.F.R. § 63.7540(a)(10)(i).

In its comments on the proposed Boiler MACT , TFI urged EPA to recognize limitations associated with inspecting the burners in a reformer on an annual basis. Letter from Bill Herz to
EPA Docket Center (Aug. 23, 2010). As noted by TFI, bur ner adjustments or pulling burners while units or associated process equipment ar e operating may present worker and/or safetyEPA’s Docket Center Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0058 July 14, 2011 Page 5

hazards. Further, not all boilers and a few proce ss heaters cannot be readily shut-down, which is required for reformers, and the reformer cannot be spared or shut-down without shutting down the entire ammonia manufacturing process.

As such, TFI requested that EPA specify tune -up frequencies based upon standard industry practice regarding scheduled turn-a rounds or on a frequency consiste nt with state-specific boiler inspection requirements. For example, ASME S ection 1 boilers are required to be inspected within five years from the date of the last inspec tion. This boiler inspection interval is consistent with preventative maintenance inspec tions of other equipment and cata lyst life in a process unit.

In its response to TFI’s comments on this issu e, EPA stated “[a]s long as owners/operators complete the parts of the t une-up that can be completed, they can postpone impractical requirements until the next scheduled outage.” EPA, Responses to Comments, Comment EPAHQ-OAR-2002-0058-1910.1, Excerpt 6. This suggests th at the time period between outages is determined by the owner/operator of the unit, or based on industry-recognized standards such as ASME Section 1. However, the regulatory la nguage in 40 C.F.R. § 63.7540(a)(10)(i) provides
that the shutdown must occur at least every 36 months.

TFI suggests that EPA adopt the ASME Section 1 standard of a shut-down and inspection of the boiler (including the reformer) burners every five y ears. As an alternative, TFI suggests that the Agency define the burner inspection requirement in such a way that doe s not require the shutdown of the unit, if the “at le ast every 36 months” language is retained. To that end, TFI suggests that the burner inspection requirement be defined to require only inspection of the flame and, as necessary, adjust ment of the air.

C. TFI Supports the Ability to Classify Certain Gases, Such as Purge Gas Associated with Ammonia Production, as “Other Gas 1 Fuel”; however, EPA’s Required Demonstration Does Not Make Sense for the Purge Gas Stream

In the final Boiler MACT rule, EPA allows entities to dem onstrate that process gases are comparable to natural gas and refinery gas and, therefore, that units co mbusting these gases are subject to the standards for Gas 1 units (referred to as “other gas 1 fuel”). 76 Fed. Reg. at 15669 (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 63.7521(f) – (i)), 15685 (codified at 40 C.F.R. § 63.7575). TFI supports this flexibility.

As EPA may be aware, a typical ammonia plant uses desulfurized natural gas as both a process gas and a fuel gas (see enclosure). Some of the process gas containing unreacted methane is purged from the ammonia loop section and routed back to the primary reformer where it is burned with incoming desulfurized natural gas as fuel. This purge gas does not contain sulfur
because the feed to the reformer is desulfurized natural gas, therefore, there is no need to perform testing to determine the hydroge n sulfide concentration. Furt her, the purge gas should notEPA’s Docket Center Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0058 July 14, 2011 Page 6

require testing to determine the mercury concentration and a comparison to the 40 micrograms/cubic meters limit in the regulations si nce the purge gas stream is merely unreacted natural gas purges from the ammonia loop section.

As such, TFI suggests that EPA revise the Boiler MACT rule to explicitly recognize purge gas from an ammonia plant as an “other gas 1 fuel ” in EPA’s regulations without the need for the preparation and submission to EPA of a site-s pecific fuel analysis plan and sampling and analysis of the purge gas stream to dem onstrate that the mercury and hydrogen sulfide concentrations meet the “other gas 1 fuel” limits. There is no bene fit to developing and implementing a sampling plan for this purge gas st ream when it is just unreacted natural gas in
the first instance.

D. EPA Should Exempt Ammonia Plan t Start Up Fired Heaters
from the Limited-Use Process Heater Definition

Most ammonia plants have a < 50 mmBtu/hr fired heater which is only us ed during the initial cold start up of an ammonia converter. These he aters are rarely used, a nd usually have federally enforceable permit limits of less than 100 hrs/year . The heaters are usually only required to be fired every turnaround, which could be only once in five years. It is not uncommon for these heaters to run three years or more before being fired.

As defined in the final rule, they would meet the definition of a “limited-use process heater” since they are over 10 mmBtu/hr and are limited in hours of operation below the threshold of 876 hours of operation. The regulation would subject these heaters to a one time energy assessment, and a tune up every two years. The tune up re quired would include all of the elements of 40 CFR 63.7540(a)(10)(i) thr ough 40 CFR 63.7540(a)(10)(vi).

TFI requests that EPA provide a categorical ex emption from the regulation for any boiler or process heater that operates less than 100 hrs/yr and that has a federally enforceable limit for hours of operation. This could be done either wi thin the definition of limited-use boiler or process heater (section 63.7575) or this could be added to the exemptions listed in 63.7491, which is titled "Are there any boilers or process h eaters that are not subject to this subpart?"EPA’s Docket Center Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0058 July 14, 2011 Page 7

Conclusion

TFI is pleased to submit these comments in response to EPA’s Notice regarding reconsideration
of the final Boiler MACT rule. Should you have any questions regarding our comments, please call me at (202) 515-2706, or email me at wcherz@tfi.org

.

Sincerely yours,

William C. Herz Vice President, Scientific Programs

Enclosure