H. B. 2457
(By Delegates Boggs, Compton, Mahan and Givens)
[Introduced February 22, 2001; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article three, chapter sixty-four of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
one-a, relating to amending the division of environmental
protection, office of air quality, legislative rules; relating
to the prevention and control of the discharge of air
pollutants into the open air which causes or contributes to an
objectionable odor or odors; definitions relevant to air
pollution testing; and monitoring, evaluating and controlling
air pollution created by commercial sewage sludge composting
facilities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter sixty-four of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section one-a,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR BUREAU OF ENVIRONMENT TO PROMULGATE
LEGISLATIVE RULES.
§64-3-1a. Division of environmental protection office of air
quality.
(a) The legislative rule of the division of environmental
protection, office of air quality, contained in title forty-five,
series four, relating to preventing and controlling the discharge
of air pollutants into the open air which causes or contributes to
an objectionable odor or odors; definitions of air pollutants,
including objectionable odors; prohibition of objectionable odors;
reporting accidental and other infrequent emissions; notices of
violations; variances; and exemptions is reauthorized with
amendments, as follows:
On page one of the published code of state rules, section
five, by adding two subsections, to read as follows:
"2.8.
Best Available Control Technology (BACT) means an emission limit based on the maximum degree of reduction of an air
contaminant emitted from a facility which the director, on a
case-by-case basis taking into account energy, environmental,
economic impacts and other costs determines is achievable through
application of production processes and available methods, systems
and techniques for control of those contaminants.
2.9.
Dilutions to Threshold (D/T) means the number of dilutions of
clean, odor-free air (plus the one volume of odorous air) necessary
to reduce the odor to a level at which fifty percent (50%) of a
particular odor panel can detect any odor."
On page two of the published code of state rules, section
five, by adding section eight, to read as follows:
"§45-4-8.
This section applies to all commercial sewage sludge
composting facilities which includes all existing commercial sewage
sludge composting facilities that have been temporarily or
permanently shut down or their operations limited in any way by a
court order of record or determination by a court of record or by
any division of environmental protection order, action,
determination, consent order, agreement or consent order and agreement.
8.1. Commercial sewage sludge composting facilities shall:
8.1.a. Include air pollution control for all emissions from
active composting operations and analyze whether other sources
(general building ventilation air, mixing area, curing piles, etc.)
need controls. The level of control, BACT, shall include all
reasonable practices to reduce/minimize odors and add-on controls
as determined by a BACT analysis;
8.1.b. Demonstrate through air dispersion modeling approved
by the director that any odors emitted will not result in a
predicted off-site nuisance odor condition. All composting odors,
all odors from noncomposting operations at the site (i.e.
wastewater treatment unit processes) that are generated at
sufficient levels to cause off-site nuisance conditions and all
residual odors remaining after control treatment should be included
as inputs to the model; and
8.1.c. Prepare and submit to the director for review and
approval an odor management plan that incorporates Best Management
Practices (BMPs). The odor management plan shall include at a
minimum the following:
8.1.c.i. A plan that details specific operational procedures that shall be used to minimize odor generation;
8.1.c.ii. A contingency plan for facility upset and/or
nuisance conditions; and
8.1.c.iii. A complaint response program and a proposal for a
community outreach/involvement program for odor management.
8.2. All existing commercial sewage sludge composting
facilities that have been temporarily or permanently shut down or
their operations limited in any way by a court order of record or
determination by a Court of Record or by a Division of
Environmental Protection order, action, determination, Consent
Order, Agreement, or Consent Order and Agreement shall:
8.2.a. Identify and quantify all sources of odor at the site,
including odors from noncomposting activities;
8.2.b. Prepare and submit to the Director, within the time
frame determined by the Director, a compliance plan to remedy the
existing odor problems that includes a schedule for initiation of
control measures, including, but not limited to:
8.2.b.i. Optimization of operating and maintenance procedures
to reduce the generation of odors;
8.2.b.ii. An air pollution control/treatment system for, at
a minimum, all emissions from active composting operations;
8.2.b.iii. An evaluation of the need for an odor
treatment/control system for all other areas such as mixing,
curing, and storage areas;
8.2.b.iv. An evaluation of all other odor control options and
their effectiveness/applicability to the source; and
8.2.b.v. A demonstration of the compliance plan effectiveness
through the director approved air dispersion modeling referred to
in section 8.1.b. of this rule.
8.2.c. Upon approval by the Director of the compliance plan,
implement all steps of the plan.
8.3. A BACT analysis (determining BACT) shall be conducted in
a "top-down" manner. All odor control methods and devices possible
must be considered; elimination of specific strategies must be
documented on technical, economic or other considerations. Odor
Control methods currently and successfully in long-term use at
other similar facilities will automatically be considered
technically feasible unless substantial documentation to the
contrary is provided.
8.3.a. The minimum level of air pollution control that will
be considered BACT is that level which will not result in a
condition of nuisance odors off-site. This criterion must be met regardless of the cost such control would entail.
8.4. Exemptions.
8.4.a. The director will consider, on a case by case basis,
exemptions from the add-on control requirement for new facilities
in section 8.1.a., but not for existing facilities with odor
problems, if the proponent can demonstrate a condition of odor will
not occur due to the size and location of the facility.
8.4.b. Such exemptions will not be considered for facilities
in urban areas or very close to residential areas in rural areas.
8.4.c. A detailed dispersion modeling analysis and other
supporting documentation must be submitted to the director as part
of any such exemption request.
8.4.d. Facilities that receive such an exemption must submit
to the director, for review and approval, a detailed contingency
plan. The contingency plan shall include, but not be limited to:
8.4.d.i. A written agreement adequate to ensure that an
available alternative disposal, handling or composting facility
exists should odorous conditions necessitate the routing of the
compostable material to an alternate facility; and
8.4.d.ii. Detailed operation and maintenance steps that will
be taken to minimize odors at the facility applying for the exemption should nuisance conditions occur.
8.4.e. The division encourages innovative technology and
will, on a case-by-case basis, consider applications for pilot or
demonstration projects. Such applications shall be subject to the
terms of subsections (a) through (d) above.
8.5. Criteria for approval.
8.5.a. The design of proposed sources, as well as proposed
modifications to a source, should be evaluated for an impact of
five (5) Dilutions to Threshold (D/T) or less, as predicted by the
director approval air dispersion modeling.
8.5.a.i. Impacts should be evaluated at the property boundary
or at the point of maximum impact beyond the property boundary,
whichever results in a higher predicted impact, unless otherwise
approved in writing by the director.
8.5.a.ii. On a case-by-case basis, the director may agree to
allow use of the most sensitive receptor as the design point, even
though this may result in a less stringent requirement that use of
the property boundary, if requested by the applicant and if
adequate justification is submitted to indicate that both the
existing and future land use in between the receptor and facility
property line supports such a request.
8.5.b. The director may require that an applicant demonstrate
compliance with a design standard (as predicted at the property
boundary or at the point of maximum impact beyond the property
boundary, whichever results in a higher predicted impact) of less
than five (5) Dilutions to Threshold (D/T) at sites which the
Director determines are appropriate due to local meteorology and
topography, previous history of chronic odors, or intensity/density
of local development.
8.5.c. Use of five (5) Dilutions to Threshold (D/T) as a
minimum design standard in no case exempts a facility from having
to operate in such a way as to prevent nuisance conditions from
occurring off-site. The facility operator is responsible for
ensuring that nuisance conditions do not occur off-site regardless
of the D/T level designed for and regardless of the results of
compliance testing.
8.5.d. For existing sources, as well as proposed and modified
sources after they are in operation, a condition of odor will be
determined by the director during actual site visits and other
pertinent information (such as complaints) as well as by compliance
testing results. Modeling results which represent conditions at a
particular point in time are not in and of themselves sufficient to prove that an odor does not exist at an operating facility.
8.6. Air modeling procedures.
8.6.a. The acceptable limit, for purposes of design and
compliance testing, is a modeled impact not greater than five (5)
Dilutions to Threshold at the more stringent of either (a) the
property boundary, or (b) the maximum ground-level impact off-site,
under stability Class E, as established by generally accepted
professional engineering practices, for ground level sources or the
most conservative stability class for discharges from stacks,
unless otherwise approved in writing by the director.
8.6.b. Modeling protocols must be submitted to the Department
for approval. The protocol shall at a minimum:
8.6.b.i. Use the most recent EPA approved ISCST model and
instruction manual;
8.6.ii. Use generic worst-case meteorological data. Site
specific meteorology can be used for refined analysis if the limit
is exceeded in screening. Site specific data must first be
approved by the director;
8.6.b.iii. Incorporate downwash and terrain factors in the
model;
8.6.iv. Model all odor sources, including on-site sources of fugitive odor emissions, for simultaneous total impact; and
8.6.v. Model using worst-case, short term, peak odor emission
rates.
8.6.c. For purposes of dispersion modeling of property
line/receptor impacts, emission from biofilters or scrubbers should
be assumed to be not less than approximately 50 D/T on average
unless adequate information is submitted otherwise.
8.7. Process operation and maintenance.
8.7.a. New facilities must be designed to ensure that the
facility will employ procedures and equipment effective to minimize
odors.
8.7.b. All existing commercial sewage sludge composting
facilities that have been temporarily or permanently shut down or
their operations limited in any way by a court order of record or
determination by a court of record or by any division of
environmental protection order, action, determination, consent
order, agreement, or consent order and agreement must first
optimize their operating and maintenance procedures so that odor
generation is minimized as much as possible prior to the addition
of any odor control equipment.
8.7.c. Plans submitted for approval regarding optimization of operating and maintenance procedures shall include, but not be
limited to:
8.7.c.i. An evaluation of materials handling practices prior
to mixing with bulking agents, including, but not limited to; size
of bulking agent, storage time and chemical addition prior to
dewatering;
8.7.c.ii. Mixing systems designed to produce an initial
homogenous mix without large clumps of raw compost material, or
excessive moisture;
8.7.c.iii. Aeration systems designed to ensure that adequate
and timely aeration is provided to all parts of the piles during
active composting;
8.7.iv. Temperature feedback controlled systems such that the
internal pile temperature is controlled within the optimum
range-not greater than 60-65 degrees centigrade (140-149 degrees
Fahrenheit), preferably below 60 degrees centigrade;
8.7.c.v. Procedures for maintaining proper pile height,
aeration rate, temperature control and cycle times for composting,
curing and storage; and
8.7.c.vi. Air dispersion modeling showing whether curing
piles should be located in an enclosed building.
8.7.d. All curing piles shall be under roof and facilities
should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine whether
storage piles need to be under roof to prevent re-establishment of
biological conditions conducive to odor generation.
8.7.e. All facilities should have, at a minimum, access to an
available portable aeration system available for use on curing
and/or storage piles.
8.7.f. Biofilters.
8.7.f.i. Biofilters should be designed at a loading rate not
to exceed three cubic feet per minute per square foot (3CFM/SF);
8.7.f.ii. Biofilters should include an irrigation system and
a humidification system that is adequate to prevent drying out of
the unit;
8.7.f.iii. The biofilter design should contain an evaluation
of whether prescrubbing is necessary to prevent excessive ammonia
and particulate loading;
8.7.f.iv. Biofilters should be designed with an empty bed
detention time of 45-60 seconds and should be three to four feet in
depth;
8.7.f.v. The facility shall provide for short-term
contingency in the event of catastrophic failure or for routine replacement of the biofiltration system bed media. The duration of
each contingency event shall be for a period necessary to
reestablish a population of organisms within the bed for optimum
pollutant removal.
8.7.g. Wet chemical scrubbers.
8.7.g.i. A three-stage system for wet chemical scrubbers is
required. Stage one for ammonia removal, stage two for oxidation
of reduced sulfur compounds (methyl disulfide, etc.), stage three
for removal of chlorine carry-over from the second stage.
8.7.g.ii. Ammonia removal efficiency in the first stage must
be monitored to assure that ammonia does not carry over into the
second stage where it may interfere with the oxidation of reduced
sulfur and other compounds in the second stage.
8.7.g.iii. The pH of the second stage must be continuously
monitored to assure that any sulfuric or other acid carry-over from
the first stage does not lower the pH of the second stage
excessively.
8.8. Emission limitations.
8.8.a. The emission rates resulting from the BACT analysis
and used in the modeling to demonstrate compliance with the design
criteria of five dilutions to threshold, will become the facility's allowable emission rate.
8.8.b. A facility may have more than one emission limit if
more than one odor source exists at the facility. Potential
sources include, but are not limited to:
8.8.b.i. Emissions from treatment systems such as biofilters
and chemical scrubbers;
8.8.b.ii. Areas that are vented without treatment, such as
through fans, doors, windows, stacks or through building
ventilation systems; and
8.8.b.iii. Outside operations, such as piles and storage
areas and lagoons; and
8.8.b.iv. Sources of fugitive emissions.
8.9. Testing.
8.9.a. All new commercial sewage sludge composting sources
and associated air pollution/odor control equipment shall undergo
compliance testing twice per year, or at a frequency that the
director determines is sufficient to demonstrate compliance with
odor emission limits and/or control efficiencies as contained in
any director approval for the source.
8.9.b. All existing commercial sewage sludge composting
facilities that have been temporarily or permanently shut down or their operations limited in any way by a court order of record or
determination by a court of record or by any division of
environmental protection order, action, determination, consent
order, agreement or consent order and agreement shall also be
required to undergo compliance testing.
8.9.c. Compliance testing shall consist of odor panel
analysis of samples taken at the points of generation and the
analysis should be conducted in accordance with ASTM Method 679-91
unless otherwise approved by the director. The director may also
require samples to be taken at other on-site or off-site locations.
8.9.c.i. Samples shall be taken from the point(s) of
generation, or other sites as required;
8.9.c.ii. In no case shall sample storage time exceed
twenty-four hours prior to odor analysis;
8.9.c.iii. Odor samples shall be collected into gas sampling
bags made of Tedlar unless otherwise approved by the director;
8.9.c.iv. Odor samples shall be collected using a sampling
line made of an odor-free, chemically inert and nonreactive
material;
8.9.c.v. The sampling bag shall be purged with the sample at
least once prior to collecting the sample.
8.9.c.vi. The gas shall be transferred directly into the
sampling bag without going through any potential sources of
contamination such as pumps;
8.9.c.vii. Samples should be maintained at ambient
temperature and contact with direct sunlight should be avoided;
8.9.c.viii. Air flow shall be regulated at a minimum of three
liters per minute per sniff port unless otherwise approved in
writing by the director;
8.9.c.ix. During odor panel testing each diluted sample must
be presented to the sample with two odor-free blanks, for
statistical validation purposes, by using three sniff ports;
8.9.c.x. Odor panels shall consist of a minimum of six to
eight individuals preferably comprised of non-smokers and of both
genders. Panelists shall be screened and trained;
8.9.c.xi. All olfactometer parts that come into direct
contact with the sample in any way must be chemically inert and
nonreactive and must be able to be purged or cleaned quickly.
8.9.d. All olfactometer parts that come into direct contact
with the sample in any way must be chemically inert and nonreactive
and must be able to be purged or cleaned quickly.
8.9.d.i. If the compliance testing indicates an exceedance of the "back-calculated" emissions limit, the composting facility
shall at a minimum:
8.9.d.ii. Initiate a preliminary investigation into the
reasons for the exceedances. The preliminary investigation shall
include at a minimum an evaluation of whether odor control system
and aeration system components are operating correctly; and
8.9.d.ii. Submit, along with the preliminary investigation,
a scope of work for tasks related to a more detailed and
comprehensive evaluation of the reasons for the exceedances.
8.9.e. The scope of work shall include an evaluation of
whether operating and maintenance can be modified to minimize odor
generation rates at the facility.
8.9.f. The preliminary investigation and scope of work shall
be submitted to the director for review and approval as soon as
possible but in no case later than thirty days from the facility's
receipt of the compliance testing results, which results shall not
be unreasonably withheld.
8.10. Determination of nuisance.
8.10.a. The determination of a nuisance condition resulting
from composting odors should not be based on specific chemical
thresholds. Because of synergistic effects, different levels of sensitivity to odors, and limitations on analytical methods and
other factors, a nuisance may exist even when specific compounds
are found to be below any established thresholds.
8.10.b. The overall method of odor analysis, most commonly
performed by an odor panel, uses a total of all odor detected.
Thus synergistic effects and odors from compounds too obscure or
dilute to analytically measure are accounted for in the analysis.
8.10.c. Specific chemicals measured by existing analytical
procedures can help evaluate the performance of pollution control
equipment and should be considered as a tool to evaluate design
performance as appropriate. However, the overall method of odor
analysis is to be used for total off-site impacts.
8.10.d. Limited testing cannot cover all operating conditions
and odor level testing includes inherent variability. Therefore,
the director will also use site visits and will consider other
pertinent information, such as complaints, when determining whether
odor/nuisance conditions exist off-site regardless of emissions
compliance test results. The operator shall complete a standard
form, prepared by the director, for all odor complaints received by
the facility. Copies of the completed form shall be sent to the
director, the local board of health, and the complainant.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to amend the legislative
rules of the division of environmental protection relative to
preventing and controlling the discharge of air pollutants into the
open air which causes or contributes to objectionable odors; to
establish, for commercial sewage sludge facilities, definitions for
certain odor emission tests; air pollution controls; modeling
procedures; operational procedures; contingency plans for nuisance;
odor reporting; exemption procedures for new facilities;
allowed pilot and demonstration projects; new facilities
operation and maintenance; emission limitations; compliance
testing; determination of nuisance; and other related matters.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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