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