Air Regulatory Update: Mercury and PM2.5

Presentation to the 18th Annual Surface Mined Land and Reclamation Technology Transfer Seminar

December 7, 2004

Janet McCabeIDEM/OAQ

Mercury and Health Effects

• Mercury in Indiana’s environment is a public health and environmental concern. Mercury—especially in its organic form, methylmercury—can affect the central nervous system of adults and children.

• The primary route of human exposure to methylmercury is dietary, and unborn children are as much as 10 times more susceptible than adults to methylmercury’s detrimental effects.

• Mercury has been detected in nearly all fish-tissue samples collected in Indiana since 1983, often prompting health officials to issue advisories that warn about human consumption of these fish.

Mercury and Air Emissions

• Precipitation (wet deposition) is the primary mechanism for transporting airborne gaseous or particulate mercury from the atmosphere to surface water and land.

• Mercury in the atmosphere can be from manmade sources (coal-fired power plants, municipal incinerators, industrial boilers) or from natural sources (forest fires, geologic formations, volcanoes).

• Manmade sources of mercury emissions to the atmosphere have been implicated for causing the increased concentrations of methylmercury found in fish.

Global Context

• Much of the mercury circulating through today's environment is mercury that was released years ago, when mercury was commonly used in many industrial, commercial, and residential products and processes.

• Mercury is naturally occurring as well as human-caused• Land and water surfaces can repeatedly re-emit mercury

into the atmosphere after its initial release into the environment.

• Anthropogenic emissions are roughly split between these re-emitted emissions from previous human activity, and direct emissions from current human activity.

Worldwide Distribution of Emissions

Recent estimates, which are highly uncertain, of annual total global mercury emissions from

all sources, natural and anthropogenic, are about 4,400 to 7,500 metric tons emitted per year.

Source: USEPA

The U.S. in the Global Context

• U.S. anthropogenic mercury emissions are estimated to be roughly 3% of the global total; emissions from the U.S. power sector are estimated to account for about 1% of total global emissions.

• EPA has estimated that about 1/3 of U.S. emissions are deposited within the contiguous U.S. and the remainder enters the global cycle.

• Current estimates are that about 1/2 of all mercury deposition within the U.S. comes from U.S. sources. However there are regional differences in these numbers. For example, U.S. sources represent a greater fraction of the total deposition in the Northeast because of the direction of the prevailing winds.

Mercury Emissions in Indiana

• 2002 emissions: 10,565 lbs (5.25 tpy)

• Breakdown by source category– Coal utilities 4903 lbs– Other sources 5662 lbs

Note: Other sources include electric arc furnaces, industrial boilers, foundries, cement kilns, mobile and area sources

EPA’s Proposed Mercury Rule

• Clean Air Act requires EPA to consider regulating hazardous air pollutants, including mercury, from power plants.

• After extensive study, EPA proposed a rule for public comment on January 30, 2004.

• Comment period ended June 29, and generated 540,000 comments, including 4000 unique comments

• EPA must issue a final rule by March 15, 2005, per court order.

EPA’s Proposed Rule

The proposed rule applies to plants > 25 MW and has two options

Option 1: • Applies technology-based emission limits applicable to all

affected plants

• Would reduce emissions nationally by 14 tons (29%) by 2007, from 48 to 34 tpy

• No cap on emissions

• Higher emission limits for subbituminous than for bituminous coal

EPA’s Proposed Rule

Option 2• Market-based cap and trade program

• Caps applied in two phases:

– 2010 - amount of cap to be decided

– 2018 - 15 tpy cap (70% reduction)

• States would allocate allowances from a state “budget” to plants on a lbs/year basis

• Plants may install controls or purchase allowances

• Adjusts credit allocation based on coal rank

Indiana’s Comments

• Indiana submitted comments on EPA’s proposed rule June 29, 2004

• Indiana supports federal rules to control mercury emissions from power plants

• Federal rule should be fuel-neutral• Emission targets and timing appear to fall short of

what is technologically feasible• EPA should conduct more investigation of local

impacts of a cap and trade approach

Hoosier Environmental Council Petition

• Presented to the Air Pollution Control Board June 2, 2004

• Petitions the board to adopt rules to control mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants

• Proposes a reduction of 90% by July 1, 2008

• Requests public hearings to receive citizen input

Public Hearing and Workgroup Process

• Air Board held a public hearing on October 6, 2004, in Indianapolis to consider the rulemaking petition

• Air Board directed IDEM to establish a workgroup, open to the public, to gather and consider information relevant to a state mercury rule

• Workgroup meetings have been held monthly; next meeting December 8 in Vincennes

Mercury Workgroup Schedule

• September 29: mercury contamination in IN, programs to reduce, how utilities produce mercury

• October 27: US EPA’s proposed rule• November: other states’ efforts; technology

options; control options• December: control options; mercury deposition

issues• January 2005: report to Air Board• Other developments: EPA issued NODA 12/1

Allen

Jay

Lake

Knox

Vigo

White Cass

Jasper

Clay

Pike

Parke

Rush

LaPorte

Greene

Grant

Perry

Clark

Noble

Ripley

Gibson

Porter

Owen

Wells

Henry

Posey

Elkhart

Boone

Miami

Putnam

Dubois

Jackson

Shelby

Wayne

Pulaski

Marion

Fulton

Harrison

Benton

Sullivan

Clinton

Orange

Carroll

Daviess Martin

Morgan

Monroe

Newton

Madison

Marshall

Wabash

Kosciusko

Warrick

Warren

DeKalb

Spencer

Adams

Starke

Brown

Franklin

Decatur

Lawrence

Randolph

Whitley

FountainHamilton

St. Joseph

Tippecanoe

Delaware

Washington

Jennings

Tipton

Montgomery

Hendricks

LaGrange Steuben

Jefferson

Howard

Scott

Johnson

Hancock

Huntington

Crawford

DearbornBartholomew

Fayette Union

Floyd

Vermillion

Switzerland

Lk Michigan

Ohio

Vanderburgh

Blackford

¯Legend

Attainment County

Proposed Nonattainment Areas

Proposed Unclassifiable Area

EPA's Proposed Designations for Fine Particles(PM 2.5)

0 30 6015 Miles

LawrenceburgTownship

EPA’s Proposed Fine Particle Designations

in Indiana

June 29, 2004

Fine Particle Monitor Values

•PM 2.5 standard :

15.0 ug/m3 Annual

65.0 ug/m3 Daily

• No Indiana counties violate daily standard.

•6 Indiana counties violate annual standard.

Fine Particle Designation Process

• Governor’s recommendation made on Feb 15, 2004. 6 nonattainment counties: Lake, Elkhart, Marion,

Clark, Vanderburgh and Dubois

• Governor’s letter raising concerns about designation process, June 23, 2004

• EPA proposed designations on June 29, 2004 (18 counties and 1 township) The Clean Air Act provides 120 day consultation period IDEM responded on September 1; discussions ongoing

• EPA’s draft implementation rule expected Winter 2004

• EPA’s final designations expected by December 31, 2004, effective 60 days later

• EPA to publish final implementation rule early 2005

• State attainment plans (SIPs) due early 2008

• Areas must attain the standard by early 2010

Likely Implementation Milestones for Fine Particles

Requirement Basic/Subpart 1

Final Designations No later than December 31, 2004

Effective Date for Designations To be determined.

Attainment Deadline Five years from effective date

Attainment SIP Deadline Three years from effective date

Transportation Conformity Required-finding in place one-year from effective date

NSR-Source Permit TriggerPrecursors and thresholds to be

determined

NSR Offset Ratio To be determined

Emission Credit Registry

• Sources can voluntarily register their reductions as emission credits if they are permanent, quantifiable, enforceable and surplus.

• The registry provides a public database in a central location for sources to view available emission credits.

• This could be a useful tool for sources in nonattainment counties that wish to construct or modify and are unable to limit or control emissions below the nonattainment NSR thresholds.

• The new Emission Credit Registry became available on June 15, 2004 and is accessible at:

www.emissionscredit.in.gov

What Measures Will Improve Air Quality?

Measures in Place to be Implemented Prior to 2007

• NOx SIP Call (Indiana’s NOx Reduction Rule)

• Tier II motor vehicle engine standards

• Low Sulfur Gasoline Standards

• Heavy Duty Diesel Engine Standards

• Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel Standards

• Non-road Diesel Engine and Low Sulfur Fuel Rule

NOTE: These measures are predicted to bring all areas of Indiana into attainment of the 8-hour ozone standard, with the exception Central and Northwest Indiana. Impact of theses measures on the reduction of PM 2.5 is yet to be quantified.

Federal Measures Currently Under Consideration

• Multi-pollutant legislation / Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR)

Additional Clean Air Measures

• Diesel reductions (retrofits, idle reduction programs, electrification)

• Energy Efficiency Projects (credit available under Indiana’s NOx Rule)

• Local Open Burning Programs

• Mobile source programs

Outreach Efforts Underway

• IDEM and IDOC will meet with local officials, businesses and other stakeholders in all affected counties once designations are final

• Stakeholder groups established and meeting in Central Indiana, Southwest Indiana and Northwest Indiana to consider local clean air measures; will be established in other areas as needed

• IDEM can provide informational sessions on Emissions Credit Registry on request

Key Websites

• IDEM Mercury Workgroup:www.in.gov/idem/air/workgroups/mercury/

• IDEM PM2.5 Information:www.in.gov/idem/air/pm25standard/

• IDEM Emission Credit Registry:www.emissioncredit.in.gov

How Do I Find Out More?

FINE PARTICLES MERCURY NEW SOURCE

REVIEW

EMISSION

CREDIT

REGISTRY

Shawn Seals Susan Bem Stacey Pfeffer Kim Cottrell

317-233-0425 317-233-5697 317-233-2628 317-233-0870

sseals@dem.state.in.us sbem@dem.state.in.us spfeffer@dem.state.in.us kcottrel@dem.state.in.us

IDEM Website: www.in.gov/idem/air