National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Polyvinyl Chloride and Copolymers Production Reconsideration

On April 17, 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Polyvinyl Chloride and Copolymers (PVC) Production at major and area sources. Subsequently, the Administrator received and granted petitions for reconsideration of the emission limits in the 2012 final rules for process vents, process wastewater, and stripped resin for major and area sources. In response to the petitions and after gathering additional information from PVC companies, the EPA is proposing revisions to emission limits in the 2012 major source rule for process vents and process wastewater. Although the EPA is not proposing revisions to emission limits in the 2012 area source rule, the EPA is proposing other amendments that affect both rules, including technical corrections and clarifications related to the standards for stripped resin, storage vessels (including the use of vapor balancing), equipment leaks, and closed vent systems. The EPA is also proposing to clarify text and correct typographical errors, grammatical errors, and cross-reference errors in both rules. In addition, the EPA is proposing to remove the affirmative defense provisions. We estimate that, if finalized, these proposed amendments would result in hazardous air pollutants (HAP) emissions reductions of 34 tons per year (tpy) with an annualized cost of $0.39 million.