EPA Releases Revised NHSM Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as part of its suite of rules on the use of industrial materials as fuels in the nation’s boilers (also known as Boiler MACT), released a revised Non Hazardous Secondary Materials rule that includes even more opinion on C&D wood used as biomass.

While the rule is not yet officially printed in the Federal Register, it will strongly resemble the version EPA released at this website: yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/1e5ab1124055f3b28525781f0042ed40/30c5402413cbae038525795a004f5979!OpenDocument

For C&D biomass, it is obvious the EPA wants to see the material used as a fuel. In fact, much of the language the CMRA Issued & Education Fund provided to the White House Office of Management & Budget (see next article) is in the new version: “construction and demolition wood that has been processed (e.g., sorted) to remove contaminants (such as lead-painted wood, treated wood containing contaminants such as arsenic and chromium, metals and other non-wood materials), and is size-reduced prior to burning likely meets the processing and legitimacy criteria for contaminants, and thus can be combusted as a non-waste fuel. Such construction and demolition wood may contain de minimis amounts of contaminants and other materials provided it meets the legitimacy criteria for contaminant levels.”

All is what the CMRA I&E told OMB, except for the last sentence, which may mean that C&D biomass will still be subject to the regulatory onerous petition process. The CMRA I&E is working to get a clarification from EPA on what it means for C&D recyclers.

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