EPA Air Actions

1. EPA Air Actions Jennifer Meints Agriculture Advisor, EPA Region 8

2. EPA Air Actions National Air Emissions Monitoring Study Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule PSD Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule Renewable Fuel Standard #2 PM Standards HAP Regulations for Small Boilers

3. National Air Emissions Monitoring Study

4. EPA & USDA Looked to the National Academy of Sciences • EPA & USDA asked the NAS to conduct a review AFO air emissions. • Review industry characterization and model farms • Evaluate emission factors, measurement methods and modeling approaches • Recommend fate and transport methodology • Identify mitigation technologies and mgt practices • Identify critical research needs • NAS Recommendations: • Additional data needed to develop estimating methodologies • Use process-based approach

5. Agreement Overview • Consent agreement developed in response to: • Public concerns • NAS report • Consent agreement developed by: • EPA • Industry representatives • Proposed agreement coordinated with: • Agricultural industry representatives • State & local government officials • Environmental organizations • Citizen groups

6. Monitoring Study - Signups • EPA received approximately 2,700 agreements representing over 13,000 farms.

7. Monitoring Study - Overview • Purpose: gather data for developing emission estimating methodologies • Monitor for: • Particulate matter • Hydrogen sulfide • Volatile organic compounds • Ammonia • Data made available to the public

8. Timeline

9. Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule In response to the FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act Suppliers of fossil fuels or industrial GHGs, manufacturers of vehicles and engines, and facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more per year of GHGs Facilities report all information directly to EPA annually starting in 2011 (~14K facilities) Will enable EPA to track emissions trends over time, determine response to policies and potential regulations Raise awareness of emissions among reporters and other stakeholders, and contribute to efforts to identify reduction opportunities

10. PSD Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule The rule proposes new thresholds for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that define when Clean Air Act (CAA) permits under the New Source Review (NSR) and Title V operating permits programs would be required for new or existing facilities Under the Title V operating permits program, EPA is proposing a major source applicability threshold of 25,000 tpy CO2e for existing facilities  Under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) portion of NSR—EPA is proposing a major stationary source threshold of 25,000 tpy CO2e, and a significance level between 10,000 and 25,000 tpy CO2e.

11. Renewable Fuel Standard #2 EPA developed a new Renewable Fuels Standards (RFS2) per the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 Directed to revise and implement regulations to ensure that gasoline sold in the United States contains a minimum volume of renewable fuel RFS2 will increase the volume of renewable fuel required to be blended into gasoline from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons by 2022 (increase is mostly cellulostic/advanced biofuels) Sets mandatory lifecycle GHG reduction thresholds for renewable fuel categories, as compared to petroleum fuels used in 2005

12. EPA’s PM Standards: Old and New

13. PM Components: Fine and Coarse Inhalable Coarse Particles – PM10 Crushing, grinding, dust Resuspended dusts (soil, street dust) Coal/oil fly ash Aluminum, silica, iron-oxides Tire and brake wear Inhalable Biological Materials (e.g., from soils, plant fragments) Sources: Resuspension of dust tracked onto roads Suspension from disturbed soil (farms, mines, unpaved roads) Construction/demolition Industrial fugitives Biological sources Fine Particles – PM2.5 Combustion, gases to particles Sulfates/acids Nitrate Ammonium Organics Carbon Metals Water Sources: Coal, oil, gasoline, diesel, Wood Combustion Transformation of SOx, NOx, organic gases including biogenics High temperature industrial processes (smelters, steel mills)

14. Particulate Matter • Larger particles (> PM10) deposit in the upper respiratory tract • Smaller, inhalable particles (≤ PM10) penetrate deep into the lungs • Both coarse particulate matterand fine particulate matter can penetrate to lower regions of the lung • Deposited particles may accumulate, react, be cleared or absorbed

15. Regulatory Framework Clean Air Act Requirements • Attainment - Rules for areas that meet or attain the NAAQS. • Nonattainment- Rules for areas that do not meet or attain the NAAQS. • EPA designated new areas in Utah as Nonattainment for PM2.5 in December of 2009. • A State Implementation Plan (SIP) must be developed for areas designated as Nonattainment for meeting the standard. • The SIP contains federally enforceable regulations such as controls for sources of air pollution.

16. Upcoming HAP Regulations for Small Boilers • EPA is developing rules that will set limits on the amount of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs or air toxics) for smaller institutional/commercial boilers including those that: • Burn wood/biomass to provide heat/energy for: • Schools • Hospitals • Prisons • Manufacturing facilities • Farms