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EPA Signs New Area Source Rule for Iron, Steel Casters |
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On Dec. 15, 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed the final iron and steel foundry area source rule. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on Jan. 2. EPA issued the standard based on generally available control technology (GACT) for the control of the following urban hazardous air pollutants (HAPs): chromium, lead, manganese and nickel. The final rule sets emission limits for large area source metalcasting facilities, and requires all facilities to comply with pollution prevention management practices and notification and record keeping requirements. Originally, EPA had considered a production threshold level of 500 tons of metal melted, but this would have impacted a very large number of small area source facilities. EPA proposed a production threshold level of 10,000 tons, and then ultimately settled on a production threshold level of 20,000 tons in the final rule, to minimize the number of area source facilities that would have to comply with the applicable emissions limit. EPA estimated that the final rule would result in the following emissions reductions for iron and steel facilities nationwide: 380 tons per year of particulate matter (PM), 13.7 tons per year of metal HAPs, and 32 tons per year of organic HAPs. The total capital cost for the industry would be approximately $17 million and the total annualized compliance cost would be approximately $4.8 million. EPA also estimated that metalcasting facilities would generate 440 tons of hazardous waste and would consume 4,440 megawatts per hour of electrical energy each year as a result of the final rule.
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