ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
June 10,
1987
IN THE MATTER OF:
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO PART 211,
)
R86—34
DEFINITIONS APPLICABLE TO
)
NEW MUNICIPAL INCINERATORS
)
ADOPTED RULE.
FINAL ORDER.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by R.C. Flemal):
This matter comes before
the Board upon the mandate of
Section 9.4(d) of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act
(“Act”)
and an attendant regulatory proposal filed
by the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency”)
on August
?,
1986.
Merit hearings on the Agency’s proposal were held
in
Springfield on December
8,
1986,
and in Chicago on December
15,
1986.
First notice was proposed
on January 22,
1987,
and
published at
11
Ill. Reg.
3434, February 20,
1987.
No comments
were received
by the Board during
the
first notice comment
period.
Second notice was proposed on April
16, 1987.
On June
3,
1987,
the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules issued
a
certificate of no objection
to the proposed rule.
The Board
accordingly adopts as final
the rule as
set forth
in the Order
herein.
BACKGROUND
Section 9.4
of the Act
(Ill. Rev.
Stat.
1985,
ch.
111 1/2,
par. 1009.4)
was added by PA.
84-957 and became effective July
1,
1986.
It consists of seven subsections,
9.4(a)
through 9.4
(g).
In subsection
9.4(a)
the General Assembly finds that
(1)
air
pollution from municipal waste incineration may constitute
a
threat to public health, welfare, and
the environment,
and that
(2) proper design,
operation, and maintenance of combustion
and
flue—gas control systems can substantially reduce the emissions
of acid gases, metallic compounds, and organic materials from
municipal waste incineration.
Subsection 9.4(b)
identifies that “the purpose of this
Section
is to insure that emissions from new municipal waste
incineration facilities which burn
a total
of
25 tons or more of
municipal waste per day are adequately controlled”.
Subsection
9.4(b)
further
specifies that such new municipal waste
incineration facilites shall be subject to emissions limits and
78-439
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operating standards based
on the application of Best Available
Control Technology (“BACT”), as determined by the Agency,
for
four categories of pollutants:
1.
particulate matter,
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides;
2.
acid gases;
3.
heavy metals; and
4.
organic materials.
Subsections
9.4(e)
and 9.4(f) define BACT,
municipal waste
incineration, and new municipal waste incineration
for purposes
of Section
9.4.
Subsection 9.4(g)
specifically excludes
industrial
incineration facilities that burn waste generated at
the same site from the provisions
of Section 9.4.
Subsection 9.4(d)
identifies the roles of the Board and the
Department of Energy and Natural Resources (“Department”)
in
implementing Section 9.4.
In its entirety, Subsection 9.4(d)
specifies that:
d.
within one year
after
the effective date
of this
amendatory Act of
1985, the Board shall adopt
regulations pursuant
to Title
7
of this Act,
which define the terms
in items
(2),
(3)
and
(4)
of subsection
(b)
of this Section, which are
to
be used by the Agency
in making
its determination
pursuant to this Section.
The provisions of
Section 27b of this Act shall not apply to this
rulemaking.
Such regulations shall
be written so
that the
categories of pollutants include, but need not be
limited
to,
the
following specific pollutants:
1.
hydrogen chloride
in the definition of acid
gases;
2.
arsenic, cadmium, mercury,
chromium, nickel
and lead
in the definition of heavy metals;
and
3.
polych.orinated
dibenzo—p—dioxins,
polychiorinated dibenzofurans and polynuclear
aromatic hydrocarbons
in the definition of
organic materials.
The
role of the Board
is thereby identified at the minimum
as the promulgation of definitions
for the terms
“acid gases”,
78-440
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“heavy metals”, and “organic materials”,
as these terms are to
apply to the provisions of Section 9.4.
Moreover, such
definitions are
to include as
a minimum the chemical constituents
specified by Subsection 9.4(d) within each of the three
categories.
The Board notes
that the fourth category of pollutants
to
which the emission limits and operating standards are
to be
applied according
to 9.4(b),
i.e., particulate matter, sulfur
dioxide,
and nitrogen oxides,
are excluded from this mandate
to
promulgate definitions.
The term “particulate matter”
is already
defined within 35
Ill. Adm. Code 211 and this definition is
apparently intended
to apply to the provisions of Section 9.4.
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides
are specific chemical species
with conventionally accepted definitions.
Subsection 9.4(d)
also specifies that the provisions of
Section 27(b)
of the Act shall not apply to this rulemaking.
Section 27(b)
directs the Board
to conduct hearings on the
economic impact of proposed regulations, and
to receive
comments
from the public regarding economic impact studies as prepared by
the Department.
The Board interprets the nonapplicability of
27(b)
in the instant matter
to mean that the normal process of
economic impact study preparation and review are mandated
to be
inapplicable.
The Department by letter dated January
6, 1987,
has concurred
in this evaluation.
Accordingly,
no economic
analysis has been or will be undertaken by the Department.
PROPOSED DEFINITIONS
The Agency has proposed the definition of the three terms in
question as follows:
Acid Gases:
for the purposes
of
Ill. Rev.
Stat.
1985,
ch.
111 1/2,
par. 1009.4, “acid gases” shall be
defined
as hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride and
hydrogen bromide, which exist as gases,
liquid mist,
or
any combination thereof.
Heavy Metals:
for the purposes of Ill. Rev. Stat.
1985,
ch. 111 1/2,
par. 1009.4,
“heavy metals” shall
be defined as compounds of arsenic, cadmium, mercury,
chromium, nickel
and lead.
Organic Materials:
for
the purposes of Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1985,
ch.
ill 1/2, par.
1009.4, any chemical
compound of carbon including diluents and thinners
which are liquids at standard
conditions and which
are used as dissolvers, viscosity reducers or
cleaning agents, and polychlorinated* dibenzo—p—
dioxins, polychiorinated dibenzofurans and
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polynuclear
aromatic hydrocarbons shall be considered
to be organic materials.
Methane, carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, metallic carbonic
acid, metallic carbide, metallic carbonates and
ammonium carbonate shall not be considered
to
be
organic materials
for the purposes of Ill. Rev.
Stat.
1985,
ch.
111 1/2, par.
1009.4.
For
the definition of acid gases,
the Agency proposed that
the two compounds hydrogen fluoride
(HF) and hydrogen bromide
(HBr) be added
to the legislatively mandated hydrogen chloride
(HC1).
The rationale for inclusion of HF and HBr
is that
these
compounds are likely to be produced by municipal waste
incineration and both are environmentally harmful.
Fluorine and
bromine, like their chemical relative chlorine, are constituents
of commonly incinerated materials,
including papers, plastics,
insulations and pesticides
(Ex.
5;
Ex.
12, Tables
1 and 2).
Moreover, in the same manner that many chlorine compounds produce
HC1 upon combustion, many fluorine and bromine compounds produce
HF and HBr
(R.
at 8).
The Agency further proposed that the definition of acid
gases include both gaseous and liquid mist forms for the purposes
of Section 9.4.
The Agency’s rationale
is that:
It is expected that at the high temperatures of the
incinerator, any moisture present will be in the
vapor
state.
However,
there may be subsequent
cooling of the exit gases from the incinerator which
would cause moisture
to condense.
In addition, the
sampling
train contains condensors that will cause
the moisture
to condense.
Since the acid gases
(are
very soluble in water, any liquid water present would
result in an acid mist.
To correctly determine the
acid gas emissions,
it
is necessary to consider not
only the gases themselves but also any liquid mist
that has been formed
from these gases.
R.
at
9.
In its proposed definition for heavy metals the Agency
included
only those metals specifically mandated
for inclusion
by
the General Assembly.
In the Agency’s judgement there are no
other heavy metals typically found
in municipal wastes which need
to be addressed
for
the purposes of BACT determinations (Agency
Proposal, p.
3).
Moreover, the Agency believes that
specification of the six mandated metals would
be sufficient to
allow control not only of the six mandated metals, but of other
*
The
term “polychlorinated”,
as presented
at this point
in the
definition, was inadvertantly excluded from the text of the
original Agency proposal.
It was added at hearing
(R.
at 26).
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metals
as well.
The rationale
is that any additional metals of
possible environmental concern are unlikely to occur
in municipal
waste other
than in combination with the six,
and that the
systems necessary to control the six would also effectively
control these additional metals
(R. at 27—29).
The proposed definition of organic materials combines the
existing definition of organic materials as presently found
at
35
Ill. Adm. Code 211.122 with the three compounds required for
inclusion by 9.4(d).
Adoption of this recommendation would
thereby produce two definitions of organic materials within
Section 211.122,
one definition of general applicability and one
definition specific
to the new municipal incinerator provisions
of Section 9.4.
CONCLUSION
Application of BACT to new municipal incinerators lacks most
of the decision elements normally encountered
in rulemaking
matters before the Board,
in
that all of the major elements have
been prescribed by the General Assembly
in Section 9.4.
Therefore, many of the tests
the Board
is mandated
to apply in
rulemakings are not present in the instant matter.
In fact,
the
only issue before the Board
is that of the rationale for the
discretionary additions proposed by the Agency to the three
definitions mandated
by the General Assembly.
To the extent
that
such tests might be applicable,
the Board does determine that the
Agency’s proposed definitions do not raise major issues related
to either technical feasibility or economic reasonableness.
The
Board also determines
that the Agency’s proposed definitions are
consistent with Section 9.4 of the Act.
For
these reasons the Board today adopts the definitions
as
proposed for first notice.
These consist of the definitions as
originally proposed
by the Agency, with minor modification.
The
modifications consist of alterations to the form of the
definitions for acid gases and heavy metals to conform them more
closely to the existing definitions of Part 211, and
specification within the definition of heavy metals of the
“elemental,
ionic,
or combined” forms of the metals.
The latter
alteration is believed
to allow the Agency a broader latitude
in
testing for the existence of the metals than would
be the case
if
only the “compounds”
of the metals were specified.
ORDER
The Clerk of the Pollution Control Board
is directed to
cause
the filing of the following adopted rule with the Secretary
of State:
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—6—
TITLE
35:
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
SUBTITLE B:
AIR POLLUTION
CHAPTER
I:
POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
SUBCHAPTER
C:
EMISSION STANDARDS AND LIMITATIONS
FOR STATIONARY SOURCES
PART 211
DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS
SUBPART
B:
DEFINITIONS
Section 211.122
Definitions
“Acid Gases”:
for the purposes of Ill. Rev.
Stat.
1985,
ch. 111
1/2, par.
1009.4,
h~ydrogenchloride, hydrogen fluoride and
hydrogen bromide, which exist
as gases, liquid mist,
or any
combination
thereof.
“Heavy Metals”:
for the purposes of Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1985,
ch.
111
1/2, par.
1009.4,
elemental,
ionic,
or
combined
forms of arsenic,
cadmium, mercury,
chromium, nickel and lead.
“Organic Materials”:
for
the purposes of Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1985,
ch.
111 1/2,
par.
1009.4, any chemical compound
of carbon
including diluents and
thinners which are liquids at standard
conditions and which are used as dissolvers, viscosity reducers
or cleaning agents,
and polychlorinated dibenzo—p—dioxiris,
polychlorinated dibenzofurans and polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons shall
be considered
to be organic materials.
Methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, metallic
carbonic acid, metallic carbide, metallic carbonates and ammonium
carbonate shall not be considered
to be organic materials for the
purposes of
Ill. Rev.
Stat.
1985,
ch.
111
1/2, par.
1009.4.
IT
IS
SO ORDERED.
I,
Dorothy
M.
Gunn,
Clerk
of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,
hereby certify that the ab
e Opinion and Order was
adopted on the
/i2t1~~day of
______________,
1987,
by a vote
of
~
.
Dorothy M.7Gunn,
Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
78~44~