ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
BOARD
October 19,
1978
DEPARTMENT
OF
THE
ARMY,
)
Petitioner,
)
v.
)
PCB 78—24
)
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
CAPTAIN
WARREN
D.
HALL,
APPEARED
ON
BEHALF
OF
THE
DEPARTMENT
OF
THE
ARMY.
JILL
L.
DRELL,
ASSISTANT
ATTORNEY
GENERAL,
APPEARED
ON
BEHALF
OF
THE
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY.
OPINION
AND
ORDER
OF
THE
BOARD
(by
Mr.
Goodman):
On February
3,
1978,
the
Department
of
the
Army
filed this
Petition for Variance before the Board requesting relief from Rules
102,
103(b) (2),
203(g) (1) (B), 303 and 307 of Chapter
2, Air Pollu-
tion Control Regulations, for its boiler plant facility located at
the Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island, Illinois.
A hearing was
held in this matter on August 14, l978~ the Board has received no
written public comment concerning this petition.
Rock Island Arsenal
is
a U.S.
Government arsenal producing
various types of armament exclusively for the use of the United
States Army.
The arsenal
is located on Rock Island,
an island in
the Mississippi River in the center
of
an area known as
the Quad-
Cities area, surrounded by the cities
of Moline, East Noline,
and
Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf,
Iowa.
The
arsenal employs 2700 people directly and provides employment for
4300 additional personnel in tenant activities
of the Federal
government who share the installation grounds or the arsenal.
The approximate annual payroll
is
$130,000,000, and approximately
$7,000,000
is channelled into these surrounding communities through
local purchases by the various government activities located at
the arsenal.
Heating at the arsenal is provided
by
the Rock Island
arsenal boiler plant which contains four coal fired boilers which
are the subject of this petition.
The boilers burn approximately
42,000
tons of coal per year, generating approximately 690,000,000
pounds of process and heating steam during that period.
During the
last quarter of 1977,
tests performed on the boilers indicated that
31—647
—2—
they were not in compliance with the Pollution Control Board Rules
and Regulations with respect to particulate emissions.
The Corps of Engineers recently completed a $5OO,O00~project
to bring the boiler plant into compliance by utilizing upgraded
controls on all boilers and by installing mechanical collectors
on boilers
3 and
4.
When tests indicated the project had failed
to bring the boiler plant into compliance, the Corps made further
investigations and decided that the mechanical collectors could
not be sufficiently improved to meet the standards.
It there-
fore proposes that all boilers be brought into compliance by the
use of baghouses at an estimated cost of $5,627,000 and an estimated
completion date of November,
1981.
In addition, the
Army
proposes
to operate the boilers in such
a manner as to minimize particulate
emissions and to minimize the duration of time that the plant will
be out of compliance.
Due to the demand characteristics of the
facility, it is possible to rely on boilers
1 and
2
(which are
approximately 5
and 20
above the allowed emissions,
respectively)
for approximately eight months of the year.
A proposed boiler
usage schedule
is contained in the amended petition on page
5.
Citing the adverse economic affect on the Quad—Cities
area,
the affect on national defense, and the hardship that would accrue
to the numerous tenants of the facility, the Army alleges arbitrary
and unreasonable hardship should the request for variance be denied.
Details of the Army’s activities at the arsenal are contained in
the petition for variance and the record.
The Army also points
out that,
although the original equipment installed on the boilers
was not approved by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency), at the time of installation the facility was not under
the authority of the Board’s Regulations.
The Army alleges that
it has made a good faith effort to correct the emissions problem
and defends the lengthy construction schedule by citing the various
congressional constraints upon such expenditures.
The Agency does
not seriously contest the allegations in the variance petition, with
the exception of the length of time requested for compliance.
It
is the Agency’s opinion that a more reasonable construction schedule
would extend for no more than
a year and
a half, rather than the
more than three years requested by the Army.
It
is the Board’s
opinion, however, after reviewing the testimony
in the record con-
cerning the subject, that the constraints imposed by the United
States Congress on the Army concerning expenditures for the equipment
make the longer time period reasonable.
Nevertheless, we note that
the Federal Clean Air Act as amended in 1977 precludes the Board
from granting variances beyond July 1,
1979.
~31-64&
—3—
Rock Island Arsenal is located in a designated nonattainment
area for total suspended particulates.
The Agency has estimated
total particulate emissions from the four boilers in 1977 to be
113 tons in excess of allowable emissions.
The Agency alleges and
the
Army
acknowledges that the particulate emissions in question
are in part responsible for continuing ambient air violations
in
the area.
Against this emission situation,
the Board must balance
the hardship to the Army and,
in addition,
the potential injury
to the populace should the variance be denied.
Local civic
leaders
testified
here
in
person
and
by
letters
at
the
hearing.
All
were
in
favor
of
granting the variance and indicated that
hardship
would
result
from
a
denial
of
the
petition.
In
addition,
the
record
indicated
a
complete
lack
of
complaints
about
the
emis-
sions since
1972.
On balance, the Board finds that denial of the
requested variance would result in an arbitrary and unreasonable
hardship.
We will grant the variance,
subject to conditions listed
in our Order, until July 1,
1979.
We note that,
should the Army
fail to comply by that date,
it will be subject to noncompliance
penalties pursuant to Section 113(d)
of the Federal Clean Air Act
(42 U.S.C., Section 7401 et~a.).
The Army has requested variance from Rules
102,
103(b) (2),
203(g) (l)(B),
303 and 307.
Because Rule 103(b) (6) allows sources
operating under a variance to obtain a permit, no variance from
the permit requirement of Rule 103(b) (2)
is necessary.
Furthermore,
Rule
303 does not apply in a nonattainment area,
and Rule
07 merely
recites the ambient air quality standard but does not itself
prohibit a violation of the standard.
The prohibition is contained
in Rule 102.
Variance from Rule 303 is, therefore, not appropriate
in this situation, and Rule 307
is not a rule from which variances
are granted.
The Board will grant the variance request as to
Rules
102 and 203(g) (1) (B) but will dismiss the request as
to
Rules
103(b) (2)
,
303 and 307.
This Opinion consitutes the findings of fact and conclusions
of law of the Board in this matter.
ORDER
It is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that:
1)
The Department of the Army’s request for variance from
Rules
10 3(b) (2),
303 and 307 of Chapter
2 for its Rock Island
Arsenal
is hereby dismissed;
31-649
—4—
2)
The Department of the
Army
is hereby granted variance
from
Rules
102
and
203(g)
(1)
(B)
of
Chapter
2
until
July
1,
1979,
for particulate emissions from its Rock Island Arsenal, subject
to the following conditions:
a)
During the term of this variance, the Depart-
ment of the
Army
shall not allow particulate emissions
at its Rock Island Arsenal to exceed, during any one
hour
period,
the
following
limitations:
Boiler
lbs./hr.
lbs./MBTU
21.38
.207
2
26.66
.245
3
66.67
.57
4
26.85
.32
b)
During
the term of this variance, the Depart-
ment of the Army shall operate its boilers
in such
a manner as to minimize particulate emissions and
shall adhere to the schedule of boiler operations
outlined in paragraph 10 of its Amended Recommenda-
tion;
c)
The Department of the Army shall,
within
45
days
of the date of this Order,
apply
to the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency for all necessary
construction permits for the baghouses it intends to
install on its boilers;
d)
The Department of the Army
is hereby notified
that it will be subject to noncompliance penalties
under Section 120 of the Clean Air Act
(42 U.S.C.
7401 et ~
if it fails to achieve final compliance
with Rules 102 and 203(g) (1) (B) by July
1,
1979;
e)
Within
45 days of the adoption of this Order the
Department of the Army shall execute and forward to
the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, 2200
Churchill Road, Springfield, Illinois
62706 a Certi-
fication of Acceptance and Agreement to be bound to
all terms and conditions of this Order.
The
45
day
period shall be held in abeyance during any period
this matter is being appealed.
The form of said
certification shall be as follows:
31—650
—5—
CERTIFICATION
I
(We), _____________________________, having read and
fully
understanding
the
Order
of
the
Illinois
Pollution
Control
Board
in
PCB
78-24,
hereby
accept
said
Order
and agree to be
bound by all of the terms and conditions thereof.
SIGNED
_________________________
TITLE ____________________________
DATE ______________________________
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, here~certify the ab v
Opinion and Order were
adopted on 1the
~‘
day of
________________,
1978
by
a
vote of
LI...~()
Christan L. Moffett,~’ç’~erk
Illinois Pollution ~o’h~rolBoard