Regulations

U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Proposed Rule on Combustible Dust
The U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) requesting comments, including data and other information on issues related to the hazards of combustible dust in the workplace. OSHA is developing this standard that will comprehensively address the fire and explosion hazards of combustible dust. OSHA plans to use the information it receives to develop a proposed standard for combustible dust. This WILL include the pellet industry. PFI has submitted comments on this proposed rule. PFI is strongly in favor of practical standards that will make our workplaces safer and be reasonably implemented by the industry. However, standards which are applied in a generic, one-size fits-all fashion from other industries such as the pharmaceutical and textile industries could add unnecessary levels of expense as well as hazard and still not achieve maximum levels of safety in the industry. PFI will continue to monitor and work on this proposed rule.

Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP)
This program provides financial assistance to producers or entities that deliver eligible biomass material to designated biomass conversion facilities (such as pellet mills) for use as heat, power, bio-based products or biofuels. Initial assistance will be for the collection, harvest, storage and transportation costs associated with the delivery of eligible materials. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed a rule to implement the new BCAP. PFI filed comments with USDA on this proposed rule.

Boiler MACT (Area Source Boiler Rule) and RCRA Solid Waste Definition
On June 4, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued three significant proposed regulations under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and one rule under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) that will affect emissions of hazardous air pollutants from solid waste incinerators and from institutional, commercial, and industrial boilers and process heaters (indirect-fired) burning various fuels including coal, oil, natural gas, landfill gas, BIOMASS, and biodiesel. EPA’s proposed rules for boilers also will apply to certain fossil fuel-fired utility boilers that are under 25 megawatts and to all utility boilers firing a non-fossil fuel that is not a solid waste. The recently published rules include:

1. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters (Major Source Boiler MACT), 75 Fed. Reg. 32,006 (June 4, 2010);
2. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Area Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers (Area Source Boiler Rule), 75 Fed. Reg. 31,896 (June 4, 2010);
3. Identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials That Are Solid Waste (RCRA Solid Waste Definition), 75 Fed. Reg. 31,844 (June 4, 2010); and
4. Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units (CISWI Rule), 75 Fed. Reg. 31,938 (June 4, 2010).

While the stringent hazardous air pollutant limits in these proposed regulations will have significant cost impacts on owners of coal-fired and oil-fired boilers and process heaters, they also COULD HAVE THE EFFECT OF DISCOURAGING THE FUTURE USE OF BIOMASS, landfill gas, and other biomass-derived fuels in boilers. PFI filed comments with EPA on the Area Source Boiler Rule and the RCRA Solid Wast Definition Rule.