U.S. EPA Proposes Electronic Reporting Requirements for RICE

On June 26, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) proposed revisions to the following 40 CFR Part 60 [Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources, also referred to as New Source Performance Standards (NSPS)] and 40 CFR Part 63 [National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP)] regulations applicable to Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE):

• 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart IIII (NSPS for Stationary Compression Ignition Internal Combustion Engines)
• 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart JJJJ (NSPS for Stationary Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engines)
• 40 CFR Part 63, Subpart ZZZZ (NESHAP for Stationary Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines)

The proposed revisions would add electronic reporting requirements to several notifications and reports that are already required to be submitted by the respective regulations. Specifically, initial notifications of compliance, performance test reports, continuous monitoring system (CMS) performance evaluations, and periodic compliance reports will be required to be submitted through U.S. EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX) using the Compliance and Emissions Data Reporting Interface (CEDRI).

Initial compliance notifications required by 40 CFR Part 60, Subparts IIII and JJJJ, and Notification of Compliance Status (NOCS) documents required by 40 CFR Part 63, Subpart ZZZZ will be available for portable document format (PDF) upload in CEDRI. Results of performance tests or CMS performance evaluations will either be uploaded using U.S. EPA’s Electronic Reporting Tool (ERT), if the test/evaluation method is supported by the ERT, or submitted using the attachment module of the ERT. Report templates for periodic compliance reports (i.e., semiannual and annual reports) in CEDRI will be made available and eventually required. In conjunction with the new electronic reporting requirements, U.S. EPA also proposes to revise the rules to include exemptions for CDX system outages and force majeure events that prevent timely electronic submission.

The proposed rules also contain a few clarifications and changes that facilities should note. Table 4 to 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart IIII, which outlines the emissions standards for affected stationary diesel-fired fire pump engines, is being clarified to show that the carbon monoxide (CO) emissions standards that are currently listed on the row for earlier model years for each maximum engine power range, applies to newer model years as well. In the Federal Register notice, U.S. EPA states that the table was not intended to be displayed in this manner and is a mismatch between what was submitted by the U.S. EPA and what was shown in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

That said, this clarification means that facilities that may have interpreted Table 4 differently may potentially have not addressed the CO emissions standard for model year 2011 and later fire pump engines in permitting actions. Compliance with the CO emissions standard will likely be demonstrated with the same Certificate of Conformity obtained by the manufacturer, but facilities with affected diesel-fired fire pumps should confirm they meet applicable emissions standards in the revised table.

In addition to correcting a consistency error in 40 CFR Part 63, Subpart ZZZZ related to the oil analysis program and Table 2d to Subpart ZZZZ, U.S. EPA is revising Subpart ZZZZ across the board to revise the frequency of all required air cleaner inspections, hose and belt inspections, spark plug inspections, oil changes, etc. that are required to be completed after a certain number of operating hours or “annually,” whichever comes first, to be completed “every 12 months.” U.S. EPA is making this proposed revision to prevent facilities from interpreting “annually” to mean once per calendar year, which could hypothetically result in an engine’s oil being changed once every 24 months (e.g., in January 2023 and December 2024). However, the proposed requirement of “every 12 months” may result in facilities completing two oil changes in a single calendar year (e.g., in January 2024 and December 2024) to accommodate maintenance schedules and avoid missing the deadline.

U.S. EPA is also proposing to remove a change made to the RICE rules in 2013 that allowed the operation of emergency engines for up to 50 hours per year to supply power for local system reliability. The 50-hour provision is proposed for removal as a result of petitions for review the U.S. EPA received on the provision. Comments are requested on whether the 50-hour provision should be removed or revised.

The electronic reporting requirements for all three rules would take effect 180 days after the final rule is published in the Federal Register or 1 year from the date the applicable report template is made available on CEDRI, whichever is later. The other clarifications and revisions for all three rules are proposed to take effect immediately after the final rule is published.

Comments on the proposed rule revisions and the draft CEDRI templates are due August 25, 2023. ALL4 is reviewing the proposed rule and its potential impacts on the wide range of industries that utilize RICE at their facilities. Feel free to reach out to Caleb Fetner at cfetner@all4inc.com with questions on how the proposed rule would impact you or for assistance submitting comments on the proposed rule.

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