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EPA released a pre-publication version of a proposed rule on March 10 to establish a massive new reporting regime for greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. The proposal excludes emissions from the wastewater treatment process at public clean water agencies, but will have implications for sewage sludge incinerators and potentially some stationary combustion sources used by NACWA members.

This Regulatory Alert provides a brief summary of the provisions in the proposal and how they may apply to activities at your utility. NACWA is continuing its analysis of the rule and will provide more details in the coming weeks. EPA plans to accept comments on the proposal for 60 days once it is published in the Federal Register, which is expected in the next few days.

Summary of GHG Reporting Rule

The rule, if finalized, will establish a new reporting program to estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually from a wide array of industrial and commercial sources in the U.S. The rule will likely provide the basis for any regulatory or cap and trade program that EPA or Congress establishes. With over 800 pages of preamble and 500 pages of regulatory text, EPA has outlined in detail its rationale for the rule, what sectors must report, and how each facility should calculate whether it trips the reporting thresholds.

While the rule specifically excludes publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) from the wastewater treatment category, the rule does require estimation and reporting from “stationary fuel combustion sources” that produce electricity or heat, or that reduce waste volume, by burning, among other things, fossil fuels, biogas, and sewage sludge. The key to whether these specific practices may be subject to reporting is the threshold of 25,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents annually. The rule provides a series of equations and assumptions that must be used to determine whether emissions need to be reported. This combustion category specifically references sewage sludge combustion, so it appears that sewage sludge incinerators would need to determine whether they trip the reporting threshold. In addition, combustion units used for power generation (not emergency units) or heating would need to evaluate whether they are subject to reporting, though emissions from the burning of biogas would not count toward the threshold.

More details are provided below and in the proposal. NACWA continues to evaluate the applicability of the rule to determine its scope and impact on the clean water community and will be working with its Air Quality and Climate Change Committee and Biosolids Management Committee to provide members with more information. EPA is providing a 60-day comment period from the time of the proposal’s upcoming publication in the Federal Register, as well as a public hearing in Arlington, Virginia April 6-7, and one in Sacramento on April 16.

Who Is Subject?

Stationary Fuel Combustion Sources
Any facility that emits 25,000 metric tons of CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalents) or more annually in combined emissions from stationary fuel combustion units in any calendar year starting in 2010 is subject to the reporting rule. Stationary fuel combustion sources are “devices that combust solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel generally for the purposes of producing electricity, generating steam, or providing useful heat or energy for industrial, commercial, or institutional use, or reducing the volume of waste by removing combustible matter. Stationary fuel combustion sources include, but are not limited to, boilers, combustion turbines, engines, incinerators, and process heaters.”

Sewage Sludge Incinerators
The applicability of the reporting requirements to sewage sludge incinerators (SSIs) depends on several factors, including the heating value of the sludge and the quantity of sludge combusted annually. Emissions of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O would be reported by stationary fuel combustion sources under the proposal. Equations for calculating the CO₂e threshold and for estimating emissions of these gases are provided in the regulations. For sewage sludge incinerators, it is still unclear exactly what equation they would use. Based on NACWA’s initial reading, incinerators would use the Tier 2 Calculation Methodology, which would require measurement of heating values. The proposal provides no default heating value for sewage sludge and includes no emission factor for CH₄ and N₂O, so it is unclear how those emissions would be estimated. NACWA will seek clarification on each of these points in its comments.

Other Combustion Units
Other combustion units at a POTW are potentially subject to reporting, but NACWA believes that most will be too small to trip the reporting threshold of 25,000 metric tons of CO₂e. Potentially subject units include electricity generation units, microturbines, boilers, or other combustion units burning fossil fuels and/or biogas. However, in calculating emissions for comparison to the threshold, only CO₂ from the combustion of fossil fuels, in combination with all CH₄ and N₂O emissions from a combustion unit, are considered. CO₂ emissions from biomass (NACWA believes this includes biomass derived fuel like biogas) are not considered as part of the determination of the threshold level. GHG emissions from biomass fuel combustion are to be excluded when evaluating a facility’s status with respect to the 25,000 metric tons CO₂e reporting threshold.

EPA is proposing to not require reporting of emissions from portable equipment or generating units designated as emergency generators in a permit issued by a state or local air pollution control agency, and is requesting comment on whether or not a permit should be required for these emergency generators to be excluded.

Wastewater Treatment
EPA states that POTWS “are not included in this proposal because...emissions from POTWs do not exceed the thresholds considered under this rule.” NACWA’s work via the Targeted Action fund (TAF) and Critical Issues Action Initiative (CIAI) to encourage EPA to refine its emissions estimates for the wastewater treatment process helped to keep the bulk of POTW operations outside the scope of the reporting rule. The proposal indicates that additional information supporting EPA’s exclusion of POTW treatment operations will be provided in a technical support document that will be posted when the rule is published.

Indirect Electricity Usage
EPA is not proposing to require facilities to report information regarding their electricity purchases or indirect emissions from electricity consumption. However, EPA notes that it did consider proposing that all facilities that otherwise must report their emissions of GHGs also report their total purchases of electricity. This is significant given that POTWs are major purchasers of electricity.

Reporting Requirements

Entities subject to reporting would begin collecting data on January 1, 2010 under the proposal. The first emissions report would be due on March 31, 2011, for emissions during 2010. Reports would be submitted annually. All reporting would be electronic and designated representatives would be required to sign using an electronic signature device. The report would include total annual GHG emissions in metric tons of CO₂e and separately present annual mass GHG emissions for each source category by gas.

NACWA Next Steps

NACWA continues to evaluate the applicability of the rule to determine its scope and impact on the clean water community and will be working with its Air Quality and Climate Change Committee and Biosolids Management Committee to provide members with more information. NACWA will also work to develop comments on the proposal during the 60-day comment period that will begin upon publication in the Federal Register and will participate in the public hearing scheduled for April 6-7 in Arlington, Virginia.

NACWA welcomes input from the membership on the proposed rule and how it may affect your utility. Please contact Chris Hornback at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have comments or would like to discuss how this may impact your utility.