Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Call for Information: Information Related to the Development of Emission-Estimating Methodologies for Animal Feeding Operations
Posted Date: 2011-01-19T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 19, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3060-3062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1011]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 60

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960; FRL-9254-9]

Call for Information: Information Related to the Development of 
Emission-Estimating Methodologies for Animal Feeding Operations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Call for information.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is publishing this Call 
for Information to solicit quality-assured emissions and process data 
that are relevant to developing emissions-estimating methodologies for 
animal feeding operations. EPA may use the data to supplement the 
emissions and process data collected under the National Air Emission 
Monitoring Study for animal feeding operations.

DATES: Information must be received on or before March 7, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your information, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
HQ-OAR-2010-0960, by one of the following methods:
    http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting data.
    E-mail: Send your information via electronic mail to a-and-r-docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960.
    Facsimile: Fax your comments to (202) 566-1741, Attention Docket ID 
Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960.
    Mail: Send your information to: EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-
2010-0960. Please include two copies. We request that a separate copy 
also be sent to the contact person identified below (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT).
    Hand Delivery: Deliver your information to: EPA Docket Center (EPA/
DC), EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the normal hours of operation 
(8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays) and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your data and information to Docket ID Number 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960. EPA's policy is that all information received 
will be included in the public docket and may be made available on-line 
at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the submission includes information claimed to be CBI 
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not 
submit information that you consider to be CBI, or otherwise protected, 
through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you 
provide it in the body of your information. If you send an e-mail 
directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your 
e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of 
the information that is placed in the public docket and made available 
on the Internet. If you submit the electronic data and information, EPA 
recommends that you include your name and other contact information in 
the body of your information and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If 
EPA cannot read your information due to technical difficulties and 
cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider 
your information. Electronic files should avoid the use of special 
characters or any form of encryption, and should be free of any defects 
or viruses.
    Docket: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960. All documents in the docket are listed 
in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, 
some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other 
material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only 
in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available 
either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 
EPA's Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 
566-1744, and the telephone number for EPA's Docket Center is (202) 
566-1742.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Larry Elmore, Natural Resources 
and Commerce Group, Sector Policies and Programs Division, (E143-03),

[[Page 3061]]

Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; 
telephone number: (919) 541-5433; Facsimile number: (919) 541-3470; e-
mail address: elmore.larry@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Acronyms and Abbreviations. The following terms and acronyms are 
used in this document:

AFOs Animal Feeding Operations
CAA Clean Air Act
CBI Confidential Business Information
CD ROM Compact Disc-Read Only Memory
CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and 
Liability Act
EEM Emissions-Estimating Methodology
EPCRA Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act
H2S Hydrogen Sulfide
lb/hr Pounds per Hour
NAEMS National Air Emission Monitoring Study
NH3 Ammonia
PM Particulate Matter
PM10 PM less than 10 micrometers in diameter
PM2.5 PM less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter
ppmv Parts per Million by Volume
TSP Total Suspended Particulate
VOC Volatile Organic Compounds

    Organization of This Document. The following outline is provided to 
aid in locating information in this preamble.

Table of Contents

I. General Information
    A. What is the purpose of this action?
    B. What specific information is EPA seeking?
    C. Submitting Confidential Business Information

I. General Information

A. What is the purpose of this action?

    In 2005, EPA offered AFOs an opportunity to participate in a 
voluntary consent agreement (70 FR 4958) referred to as the Air 
Compliance Agreement. Under the Air Compliance Agreement, participating 
AFOs provided, among other things, the funding for the NAEMS, a two-
year, nationwide industry-run emissions monitoring study of the 
broiler, egg-layer, swine, and dairy industries. The NAEMS began in the 
summer of 2007 and consisted of 25 monitoring sites located in 10 
states. The study collected process and emissions data for 
PM10, PM2.5, TSP, H2S, NH3, 
and VOC from a representative sample of animal housing structures and 
manure storage and treatment units across the country. EPA plans to use 
these data to develop EEMs for AFOs, which will help AFOs determine and 
comply with their regulatory responsibilities under the CAA, CERCLA, 
and EPCRA. Additional information regarding the NAEMS can be found at: 
http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/airmonitoringstudy.html.
    EPA committed in the January 2005 Federal Register notice that it 
will use data generated from the NAEMS and all other available, 
relevant data to develop EEMs. Through this Call for Information, EPA 
is requesting that interested parties submit data that are relevant to 
EPA's effort to develop EEMs.

B. What specific information is EPA seeking?

    EPA is requesting emissions and process data for broiler, egg-
layer, swine, dairy, beef, and turkey AFOs. While EPA is interested in 
all air pollutants emissions data from AFOs, we are specifically 
seeking PM10, PM2.5, TSP, H2S, 
NH3, and VOC emissions data and related process information 
for animal confinement and manure storage and treatment processes.
    Consistent with the Air Compliance Agreement, EPA is focusing in 
the near term on developing EEMs for AFOs. However, we acknowledge the 
recommendation made by the National Academy of Sciences in its December 
2002 final report (``Air Emissions from Animal Feeding Operations: 
Current Knowledge, Future Needs'') that EPA develop a process-based 
modeling approach that incorporates ``mass balance'' constraints to 
determine emissions from AFOs. Unfortunately, manure land application 
sites, which are a necessary component for developing a process-based 
approach, were not part of the NAEMS. Although our current focus is on 
developing the EEMs, we envision developing a process-based modeling 
approach at a later date. Thus, EPA is also requesting process and 
emissions data for land application of manure.
    We will review all of the information available to us. To ensure 
compatibility with the NAEMS data, the emissions and related process 
data provided to EPA should be accompanied, to the extent possible, by 
documentation that contains detailed descriptions of the following 
parameters, as applicable.

General information:

     Description of AFO process measured (e.g., animal 
confinement structure; manure storage and treatment unit; land 
application site).
     Location of AFO process measured (e.g., physical address, 
latitude/longitude coordinates of facility).
     Beginning and ending dates of the monitoring period.

Monitoring data:

     Quality assurance and quality control plan.
     Site monitoring plan.
     Test methods, instrumentation, and standard operating 
procedures used to collect emissions and process data measurements.
     Results of audits conducted on instruments and procedures.
     Field notes and associated documentation collected during 
the study.
     Emissions data (unanalyzed or analyzed) and associated 
process data.
     Meteorological data, including average ambient 
temperature, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed, wind direction, 
and insolation (solar radiation), for each day that the study was 
conducted.
     Production data (e.g., number of eggs produced per day or 
quantity of milk produced per day).
     Calculations and assumptions used to convert concentration 
data (e.g., ppmv) into mass emissions (e.g., lb/hr).

Animal confinement structures:

     Dimensions of structures monitored.
     Designed and permitted animal capacity.
     Type, age, number, and weight of animals contained in the 
confinement structure over the duration of the monitoring period.
     Manure management system (e.g., pull-plug pit, scrape).
     Manure removal activities over the duration of the 
monitoring period.
     Ventilation method (i.e., natural or mechanical).
     Calculations and assumptions used to estimate the 
ventilation rate of the monitored confinement structure.
     Calibration procedures for instruments (e.g., flow meters, 
fan relays) used to collect data for calculating ventilation rate of 
the monitored confinement structure.
     Nitrogen content of process inputs and outputs (e.g., 
feed, water, bedding, eggs, milk).
     Nitrogen content of manure excreted.
     Description of any control device or work practice used in 
the monitored structure to reduce emissions.
    Manure storage and treatment processes:
     Type, age, number, and weight of animals contributing 
manure to the storage and treatment process over the monitoring period.
     Dimensions of storage/treatment unit monitored (e.g., 
storage pile, tank, lagoon).

[[Page 3062]]

     Depth of settled solids in storage/treatment unit.
     Temperature, pH, and reduction/oxidation potential of 
manure contained in the storage/treatment unit.
     Moisture, total solids, volatile solids, total Kjeldahl 
nitrogen, and ammoniacal nitrogen content and pH of manure entering 
storage and treatment process over the monitoring period.
    Manure land application sites:
     Type, age, number, and weight of animals contributing 
manure to the land application site.
     Method used to apply manure (e.g., direct injection, 
broadcast spreading and frequency of application.
     Area (e.g., acres, square feet) used for manure 
application over the monitoring period.
     Quantity and moisture content of manure applied.
    With regard to the format of the information, we request that 
emissions, process, and production data be submitted to EPA in 
Microsoft[supreg] Excel[supreg] spreadsheet or Access[supreg] database 
format. In cases where the emissions, process, and production data 
correspond to time increments shorter than one hour, please provide 
sufficient information and supporting documentation with the data to 
allow EPA to develop emission estimates on a per-hour and per-day 
basis. For all formats, please clearly label the units of measure of 
emissions, process, and production data submitted.

C. Submitting Confidential Business Information

    Do not submit information you consider to be CBI electronically 
through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Send or deliver 
information identified as CBI to only the following address: Mr. Larry 
Elmore, c/o Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) 
Document Control Officer (Room C404-02), U.S. EPA, Research Triangle 
Park, NC 27711, Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0960. 
Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be 
CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark 
the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI and then identify 
electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific information that 
is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the 
information claimed as CBI, a copy of the information that does not 
contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion 
in the public docket. Information marked as CBI will not be disclosed 
except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    If you have any questions about CBI or the procedures for claiming 
CBI, please consult the person identified in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section.

    Dated: December 14, 2010.
Gina McCarthy,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2011-1011 Filed 1-18-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P