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On October 14, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed standards under Section 129 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) that will have a major impact on sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs).  EPA’s proposed new source performance standards could effectively eliminate the construction of new SSIs, and the standards for existing SSIs could force many communities to abandon incineration as early as 2016.

NACWA is convening a conference call on Friday, October 22, at 2:00 pm Eastern to discuss the rule further with its member agencies that incinerate.  NACWA is working to review the proposal and develop comprehensive comments by the November 29, 2010 comment period deadline.  NACWA will be presenting preliminary comments to EPA during a public hearing on October 29 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.  EPA is working under a court-ordered deadline of January 16, 2011, to finalize the standards.

NACWA Member Agencies That Incinerate Are Urged to Participate in Tomorrow’s Conference Call on Proposed Rule

NACWA is convening a conference call of its members who incinerate on Friday, October 22, at 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern to discuss the proposal.  While NACWA’s review of the rule continues, we want to provide members with our initial reactions and give you an update on our efforts over the last few months to influence EPA’s proposal.  We also plan to discuss strategy for submitting comments on the rule and get any initial input you may have on the proposal.  NACWA is planning to have at least one or two additional calls between now and the close of the comment period on the rule.  Please contact Thea Graybill at NACWA, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for the dial-in number for Friday’s call.

Proposed Rule Will Have Major Impact on Existing, New Incinerators

Based on NACWA’s initial review, EPA has made several erroneous assumptions regarding the level of emissions from operating incinerators.  These errors result in an overstatement of the benefit received from the new standards.  While EPA did develop separate maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards for multiple hearth and fluidized bed incinerators, which will help many of the current multiple hearth units remain in operation, the standards proposed for fluidized bed units may be very challenging to meet for existing units.  The new source performance standards, however, are very stringent and are identical for multiple hearth and fluidized bed units – effectively eliminating the construction and use of multiple hearth incinerators in the future.  Under the proposal, multiple hearth owners looking to upgrade or rehab their units in the future would trip these new source performance standards and would be forced to replace those units with fluidized bed incinerators should they wish to continue incinerating their sludge.

The new standards will require the vast majority of existing SSIs to install additional pollution control devices at a capital cost of over $200 million dollars and an annual increase in costs of approximately $100 million, according to EPA.  EPA asserts that some of these costs will be avoided – lowering the total cost of the rule – since some utilities will choose to abandon incineration and send their sludge to a landfill instead.  NACWA, however, believes that EPA’s analysis has understated the total cost impacts for the rule and does not reflect the true cost utilities will incur to enable them to send their sludge to a landfill.  NACWA plans to provide the Agency with a more realistic cost estimate for installing the required pollution control devices and more complete and accurate information on the cost to switch to landfilling.

The proposed standards are based on a MACT level of performance.  For mercury, however, EPA has gone a step further and has proposed a control level that goes ‘beyond the MACT floor’ at an estimated cost of $12 million per ton of mercury removed.  NACWA believes, however, that EPA has overestimated the contribution of mercury from SSIs.  The proposed rule’s estimate of mercury emissions each year from 218 SSIs is more than three times the estimate the Agency provided to Congress in its 1997 Mercury Study Report to Congress, which was released prior to many communities taking action to further control mercury levels in their sludge.  NACWA estimates that additional mercury reductions from current levels will cost well over $40 million per ton, and that the cost per ton may double when EPA-mandated controls for dental clinics are fully implemented in the coming years.  The issue of mercury, including the total contribution of SSIs nationally and the true cost and benefit of going ‘beyond the MACT Floor’, will be a major focus of NACWA’s comment effort.

A presentation used during an October 20 EPA webinar on the proposal provides an overview of the rule’s requirements, the emission limits, and a comparison to the existing Part 503 requirements.

NACWA Intensifies Advocacy Efforts

While working to develop comments on the SSI MACT proposal, NACWA is also intensifying its advocacy efforts with EPA policymakers, underscoring the impacts the rule will have on the limited management options clean water agencies have for managing their sludge.  NACWA is working to secure a meeting with the EPA Administrator and will continue to meet with other senior EPA officials until a final rule is published.

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NACWA is planning to reach out to all its incinerator members over the coming weeks.  If you are interested in participating on the October 22 call but are unable to do so, or if you would like to discuss the issue further, please contact Chris Hornback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202/833-9106.