National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Proposed Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Hazardous Waste Combustors (Phase I Final Replacement Standards and Phase II)

This action proposes national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for hazardous waste combustors. These combustors include hazardous waste burning incinerators, cement kilns, lightweight aggregate kilns, industrial/commercial/institutional boilers and process heaters, and hydrochloric acid production furnaces, known collectively as hazardous waste combustors (HWCs). EPA has identified these HWCs as major sources of hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions. These proposed standards will, when final, implement section 112(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) by requiring hazardous waste combustors to meet HAP emission standards reflecting the application of the maximum achievable control technology (MACT). The HAP emitted by facilities in the incinerator, cement kiln, lightweight aggregate kiln, industrial/commercial/institutional boiler, process heater, and hydrochloric acid production furnace source categories include arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, dioxins and furans, hydrogen chloride and chlorine gas, lead, manganese, and mercury. Exposure to these substances has been demonstrated to cause adverse health effects such as irritation on the lung, skin, and mucus membranes, effects on the central nervous system, kidney damage, and cancer. The adverse health effects associated with the exposure to these specific HAP are further described in the preamble. In general, these findings have only been shown with concentrations higher than those typically in the ambient air. This action also presents our tentative decision regarding the February 28, 2002, petition for rulemaking submitted by the Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition to the Administrator, relating to EPA's implementation of the so-called omnibus permitting authority under section 3005(c) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which requires that each permit issued under RCRA contain such terms and conditions as are determined necessary to protect human health and the environment. In that petition, the Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition requests that we repeal the existing site-specific risk assessment policy and technical guidance for hazardous waste combustors and that we promulgate the policy and guidance as rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act if we continue to believe that site- specific risk assessments may be necessary.