State Air Quality Officials to Assist Operators of Small Boilers with New Federal Air Requirements

RALEIGH - The N.C. Division of Air Quality, or DAQ, is alerting owners and operators of facilities such as factories, hospitals and municipal buildings to potential impacts they could face with new federal air quality requirements for industrial, commercial and institutional boilers.

DAQ is sending informational letters and postcards to owners and operators of facilities that may be required to comply with new federal requirements for hazardous air pollutants from boilers that burn coal, oil, wood and other biomass fuels. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, issued the new rules in March, and facilities subject to the regulations are required to complete and submit notification forms to DAQ detailing the types of boilers in use at their facilities by Sept. 17, 2011.

The entire rule is in effect for small boilers, though EPA has delayed the effective date for large boilers. The EPA is reconsidering some aspects of the rule and could make further changes, but the DAQ does not anticipate these actions to substantially change the rule for most small boilers.

Links to the rules, notification forms and other information can be found on the DAQ website at, http://www.ncair.org/toxics/areasources/subpart6j/.

Boilers typically burn coal, oil and other solid or liquid fuels to produce steam or hot water for energy or heat. Facilities with boilers that could be covered by the rules range from factories to schools, churches, hospitals and municipal buildings. The rules do not apply to: any gas-fired boilers; hot water heaters less than 120 gallons; waste heat boilers; solid waste incinerators; and research and development boilers.

After submitting initial notification forms, facilities subject to the federal rules could face varying requirements depending on their size, fuel type and date of construction. Smaller facilities could comply simply by tuning-up their boilers every other year, while larger sources may need control devices to limit their emissions of mercury, carbon monoxide and particle pollution.

More information about air quality in North Carolina can be found at the DAQ website, www.ncair.org

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