Best Available Control Technology Research Articles

Current Regulations Impacting Exhaust Emissions From Stationary Internal Combustion Engines

The San Francisco Bay Area is in a nonattainment area for both ozone and carbon monoxide. A significant amount of air pollution emanates from the combustion of fuels in stationary internal combustion engines. The NOx emissions output from stationary I.C. engines in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) is around 14.2 Mg/day (15.6 tons / day). The contributions from other pollutant factors are not nearly as large; nonetheless, they are still noteworthy. BAAQMD has imposed New Source Review (NSR) requirements and Best Available Control Technology (BACT) levels for new stationary I.C. engines. The purpose of BACT is to achieve the lowest level of engine exhaust emissions using today’s proven control technology. The BACT level for NOx is presently set at 0.00056 mg/J (1.5 g/bhp-hr) or less for stationary I.C. engines. The BACT level for each of the other exhaust pollutants has not been set since they seldom require a BACT determination. In the event BACT is triggered, a case-by-case BACT evaluation will be performed. The placement of BACT and NSR standards on stationay I.C. engines has aided the BAAQMD in achieving better local air quality. More stringent standards may be imposed as long as the need for better air quality exists.

Environmental management costs using a best available control technology bact in the electrical generating industry

AbstractAs pollution control programs become an increasingly important part of government regulatory activities there also arises the question of the economic impacts of these activites. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of a computable general equilibrium model for measuring the economic impacts of imposing a Best Available Control Technology (BACT) on the Electric Utilities industry. This application is intended only to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach—and is not designed for immediate policy purposes. The particular model used in this study is structured after a recently developed mathematical programming system which is designed to compute a general equilibrium solution. This system combines activity analysis with downward‐sloping demand curves, and solutions are obtained with a ‘single‐pass’ linear programming algorithm. The model's objective function plays the central role of driving the model to market‐clearing values.

Experience of the forest products industry in obtaining air quality permits for new and modified sources

A detailed study of the air quality permitting process for 65 different forest products industry projects requiring preconstruction permit approvals from EPA, state, and local air pollution control agencies was conducted. The projects included a wide array of sources including kraft recovery furnaces, lime kilns, fossil fuel and wood residue fired boilers, solid wood products manufacturing facilities, paper coaters, and printing presses. Information concerning the time involved in the permitting process, costs associated with obtaining the permits, use of air quality models and ambient monitoring data, emission control technology determinations, problem areas encountered during the permitting process, perceived benefits and drawbacks of the permitting process, and the effect of permitting requirements on project planning was obtained. The results indicate that certain permitting requirements such as Best Available Control Technology (BACT) determinations, dispersion modeling results, and use of ambient air quality monitoring data seldom influence the emission limitations ultimately imposed in the final approved permit, with 87% of the final emission limits equivalent to the applicable New Source Performance Standard (NSPS). The 65 permitting case histories also show that obtaining permits for projects subject to Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements takes approximately twice as long and costs twice as much as obtaining permits for projects not subject to PSD requirements.

EPA Bends to Industry Pressure on Coal NSPS - and Breaks

The 1977 amendments to the Clean Air Act oblige utilities building new coal-fired power plants to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO/sub 2/) emissions from coal combustion to that level achievable through application of the best available control technology (BACT). Since the passage of the 1977 amendments, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been embroiled in a hotly contested argument between the coal industry, utilities, and other coal advocates on the one hand, and environmentalists on the other, concerning the extent of emission control that utilities should be required to achieve. This article examines whether one of EPA's actions pursuant to the 1977 amendments can be justified in light of Congress' twin concerns of reduced emissions and increased citizen involvement in air pollution regulation. The article begins with a discussion of the Clean Air Act strategy for new stationary sources. Second, congressional concern over deleterious health and other environmental impacts of coal's principal air pollutants is treated. A third section chronicles the events leading to EPA's promulgation of the final standard, relating the growing national concern with energy regulations to the rulemaking outcome. Fourth, the article analyzes EPA's setting of the revised standard, including the Agency's denial of the request for reconsiderationmore » of the revised standard. The final section relates the defects in the Agency's procedures to the substantive defects in the revised standard.« less