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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Tier II emission testing in the Dallas/Fort Worth ozone non-attainment area

Conference ·
OSTI ID:381815

The 1990 Amendments to the Federal Clean Air Act mandates that Texas reduce and maintain volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in ozone non-attainment areas by 15% of the 1990 base year emissions by 1996. As required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Texas developed and adopted a Rate-of-Progress (ROP) State Implementation Plan (SIP) to facilitate this rule. The lack of industrial emission sources in the Dallas/Fort Worth ozone non-attainment area resulted in the inclusion of municipal solid waste landfills as a significant emission source within the SIP. Because the intent of the proposed New Source Performance Standards and Emission Guidelines (NSPS and EG) to control landfill emissions paralleled the State`s desire to meet the CAA requirements, much of the proposed federal rule was directly referenced in the SIP (The State considered VOC`s synonymous with non-methane organic compounds (NMOC`s) for this rule). The resulting SIP, effective in December of 1993, included revisions to Chapter 30 {section} 115 of the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) which requires the calculation and possible control of landfill emissions within the Dallas/Fort Worth and El Paso ozone non-attainment areas. Landfills located within the Houston/Galveston ozone non-attainment area were included in the SIP only as a contingency, due to the presence of significant numbers of petroleum based industries that accounted for a majority of the emissions. Deadlines established by the state rule require compliance by May 31, 1996 through either the submittal of calculations showing emissions below the cut-off level, or the installation of an active landfill gas control system. Methods for calculating the emissions along with prescriptive installation requirements are referenced directly from the initial version of the NSPS and EG (published in the Federal Register on May 31, 1991).

OSTI ID:
381815
Report Number(s):
CONF-9603165--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English