Kentucky Regulatory Amendments

On September 15, 2017, the Division for Air Quality submitted amendments to 401 KAR 59:015 for new indirect heat exchangers and 401 KAR 61:015 for existing indirect heat exchangers. The Division stated the amendments were necessary to provide clarity for regulated entities and to remove duplicative requirements covered by federal regulations. In addition, the Division made changes to the regulations to establish work practice standards for startup and shutdown periods.

Under the proposed rules, the Division defined “startup periods” as beginning with either a combustion of any fuel in an affected facility for the purpose of supplying useful thermal energy for heating, cooling, progress purposes, or generation of electricity; or, the combustion of fuel in an affected facility for any purpose after a shutdown event; and beginning after the longest manufacturer-recommended time required to engage all control devices utilized by the affected facility applicable to the pollutant, not to exceed four hours after any of the useful thermal energy from the affected facility is supplied for any purpose. The proposed rule defines “shutdown period” as the period beginning when, whichever occurs first, the affected facility no longer supplies useful thermal energy for heating, cooling, process purposes, or generation of electricity; or fuel is not being combusted in the affected facility; and when the affected facility no longer supplies useful thermal energy for heating, cooling, process purposes, or generation of electricity; and fuel is not being combusted in the affected facility.

The work practice standard that the Division proposes to utilize during startup or shutdown periods includes operating the affected facility and all applicable control devices in a manner consistent with good air pollution control practices for minimizing emissions; minimization of the frequency and duration of startup periods or shutdown periods; taking all possible steps to minimize the impact of emissions on ambient air quality during startup and shutdown periods; documentation with signed contemporaneous logs or other relevant evidence of actions during startup and shutdown periods, including duration of the startup period; and conducting startup and shutdown according to the manufacturer’s recommended procedures or recommended procedures for a unit of similar design for which manufacturers recommended procedures are available as approved by the Energy and Environment Cabinet based on documentation provided by the owner or operator of the affected facility. Further, facilities subject to 40 CFR Pare 63, Subpart DDDDD, 46 CFR 63, Subpart UUUUU, or 40 CFR Part 63, Subpart JJJJJJ must meet the work practice standards in the applicable federal requirements. The Division received comments on the proposed regulations and the amended regulations will be published in the January 1, 2018 Kentucky Administrative Register.

The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board has also proposed numerous provisions to its air rules. Included in the revisions are updates to the current rules, reorganization of the fee structure to provide for annual fee adjustments with current fee schedules to be made available prior to the beginning of each Metro fiscal year, and updating the provisions for existing and new indirect heat exchangers. The various changes can be seen here. According to the Louisville APCB website, a hearing is scheduled for January 17, 2018.

Kentucky Federal Updates

September 18, 2017

EPA approved a SIP revision removing Stage II vapor control requirements for new and upgraded gasoline dispensing facilities and allowing for the decommissioning of existing Stage II equipment in Jefferson County, Kentucky. See 82 Fed.Reg. 43489 (Sept. 18, 2017).

October 12, 2017

EPA approved the Kentucky 2014 Progress Report detailing the state’s progress regarding goals for regional haze. The approval also included Kentucky’s determination that the regional haze plan is adequate to meet the reasonable progress goals for the first implementation period covering through 2018 and that no substantive revision is required at this time. See 82 Fed. Reg. 47378 (October 12, 2017).

November 3, 2017

In a final rule, EPA denied a petition by the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont requesting that EPA add nine states, including Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia, to expand the ozone transport region to include those states. EPA had issued a proposal to deny the petition in January 2017. In this final action, EPA stated it had reassessed the technical information submitted in support of the petition, both by petitioners and commenters on the proposed denial, but still found a sufficient basis to justify the denial action. EPA stated its belief that other Clean Air Act provisions, including Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I), provide a better pathway to develop a tailored remedy most effective for addressing any air quality problems for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS which the petitioner states identified as problematic. See 82 Fed. Reg. 51238 (November 3, 2017).