Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for Small Businesses and Local Governments 6 NYCRR Parts 219 and 200
Effects on Small Business and Local Governments:
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (Department) proposes to add a new Subpart 219-9 to Part 219 of Title 6 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York. Revisions are also being proposed to Part 200, General Provisions, and Subpart 219-1, Incineration - General. Proposed Subpart 219-9 is being added to address recently promulgated federal requirements entitled: Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Existing Sewage Sludge Incineration Units (Guidelines) found at 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart MMMM. Revisions are also being made to the reference tables found in Part 200. Specifically, Subpart 200.9 Table 1 and Subpart 200.10 Table 2 are being amended to add and formally incorporate by reference the Federal requirements of 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart MMMM. Subpart 219-1, which provides definitions and outlines the applicability requirements of the various Part 219 Subparts, is also being amended to include the proposed requirements of Subpart 219-9.
The proposed revisions to Parts 219 and 200 are not expected to have an effect on small business but will have an effect on local governments. Subpart 219-9 will regulate the emission of air contaminants from New York State's 12 existing wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF) that operate sewage sludge incineration (SSI) units, constructed on or before October 14, 2010, which are dedicated to the incineration of dewatered sewage sludge. These WWTFs are all owned by local municipalities.
The SSI units are owned and operated primarily by larger municipalities who often take dewatered sludge from surrounding communities (e.g., Albany County Sewer District accepts and incinerates dewatered sludge from 25 nearby, smaller municipal WWTFs). It is expected that the impact of proposed Subpart 219-9 on the 12 municipal WWTFs will have a far reaching affect. Both the existing WWTFs that operate SSI units and the smaller municipal WWTFs they provide service to will need to examine their sewage sludge disposal options.
Compliance Requirements:
The Department expects that small businesses will not be subject to the proposed requirements. Local governments with SSI units will be subject to these proposed added requirements. Affected SSI units will have added performance testing, operator training, monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements and will be subject to emission limitation requirements for nine (9) pollutants (particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen chloride (HCl), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and dioxins/furans).
Professional Services:
Local governments may face additional costs related to professional services for cost analysis, emission testing, and the design of additional control equipment if necessary.
Compliance Costs:
The Department expects that small businesses will not be subject to the proposed requirements and accordingly, there should not be compliance costs for small businesses. There are, however, compliance costs expected for local governments with existing SSI units. An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study included a cost analysis of 10 of New York State's 12 WWTF's that operate SSI units. According to this study, these 10 WWTFs operate a total of 18 SSI units. Of the 18 units, EPA projects that 11 would not need any additional control equipment to comply with the Guidelines. The added costs for these 11 units would only include monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements at an estimated total capital investment of $61,250 per SSI unit, and an annual cost of $31,000 per SSI unit.
EPA projects that the remaining seven SSI units (located at four facilities: Poughkeepsie (T) Arlington WWTP, Southtowns Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), Bird Island STP and the Town of Tonawanda Sewer District #2 STP) are expected to need packed bed scrubbers as added air emission controls to comply with the Guidelines requirements for sulfur dioxide (SO2) and/or hydrogen chloride (HCL) requirements. EPA estimates that the cost for adding the packed bed scrubbers ranges from approximately $375,000 to $4,700,000 per SSI unit, based primarily on the unit's capacity, with annual costs ranging from $89,000 to $1,000,000 per SSI unit. Specific costs for the 12 municipalities with existing SSI units cannot be established until these municipalities complete a detailed evaluation of their WWTFs' SSI unit(s) and perform an individual cost analysis.
Minimizing Adverse Impact:
The expected adverse effect of this regulation is the increased cost of compliance with the regulations, or added cost for alternative sewage sludge disposal. Development of Subpart 219-9 is a direct mandate of the federal Clean Air Act (Act). Compliance costs will accrue irrespective of whether this regulation is promulgated or not, since the Act mandates that EPA impose the requirements on affected SSI units if New York State fails to do so.
Small Business and Local Government Participation:
A letter discussing the Department's proposed amendments to Parts 219 and 200, a Notice of Operational Intent Form, and a copy of an EPA Fact Sheet for the Guidelines were sent to the 12 directly affected WWTF owners. In addition, the Department responded to inquiries regarding these mailings by telephone and e-mail, and held a meeting with a local municipality. EPA, in the development of its Guidelines, held public hearings on a national level. Public hearings will be held to obtain comments on the Departments proposed amendments to Parts 219 and 200 and participation by affected parties will be sought through these hearings.
Economic and Technological Feasibility:
The Department expects that small businesses will not be affected by new Subpart 219-9. For local governments needing to upgrade their controls, technological feasibility is not an issue. Control technologies for the limits imposed are well established and readily available. There are economic issues that local governments will need to address. Before they can decide whether to close down or comply with the added requirements, engineering studies will need to be conducted which were not in their budgets. If the compliance requirements are too costly, the economics may be such that other disposal options become more cost-effective. In either case, costs to local governments will increase and need to be addressed.
Cure Period:
In accordance with NYS State Administrative Procedures Act (SAPA) Section 202-b, this rulemaking does not include a cure period because the Department is undertaking this rulemaking to comply with federal Clean Air Act requirements, requiring the incorporation and implementation of federal emission guidelines for existing Sewage Sludge Incineration (SSI) units. The proposed rule provides increments of progress (construction milestones) to assist facilities in meeting the federal compliance schedule.
