What definitions must I know?

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§ 62.15410 What definitions must I know?

Terms used but not defined in this section are defined in the Clean Air Act and in subparts A and B of 40 CFR part 60.

Administrator means the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or his/her authorized representative or the Administrator of a State Air Pollution Control Agency.

Air curtain incinerator means an incinerator that operates by forcefully projecting a curtain of air across an open chamber or pit in which combustion occurs. Incinerators of this type can be constructed above or below ground and with or without refractory walls and floor.

Batch municipal waste combustion unit means a municipal waste combustion unit designed so it cannot combust municipal solid waste continuously 24 hours per day because the design does not allow waste to be fed to the unit or ash to be removed during combustion.

Calendar quarter means three consecutive months (nonoverlapping) beginning on: January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1.

Calendar year means 365 consecutive days (or 366 consecutive days in leap years) starting on January 1 and ending on December 31.

Chief facility operator means the person in direct charge and control of the operation of a municipal waste combustion unit. This person is responsible for daily onsite supervision, technical direction, management, and overall performance of the municipal waste combustion unit.

Class I units mean small municipal waste combustion units subject to this subpart that are located at municipal waste combustion plants with an aggregate plant combustion capacity greater than 250 tons per day of municipal solid waste. See the definition of “municipal waste combustion plant capacity” for specification of which units at a plant site are included in the aggregate capacity calculation.

Class II units mean small municipal combustion units subject to this subpart that are located at municipal waste combustion plants with aggregate plant combustion capacity less than or equal to 250 tons per day of municipal solid waste. See the definition of “municipal waste combustion plant capacity” for specification of which units at a plant site are included in the aggregate capacity calculation.

Clean wood means untreated wood or untreated wood products including clean untreated lumber, tree stumps (whole or chipped), and tree limbs (whole or chipped). Clean wood does not include two items:

(1) “Yard waste”, which is defined in this section.

(2) Construction, renovation, or demolition wastes (for example, railroad ties and telephone poles) that are exempt from the definition of municipal solid waste in this section.

Cofired combustion unit means a unit that combusts municipal solid waste with nonmunicipal solid waste fuel (for example, coal, industrial process waste). To be considered a cofired combustion unit, the unit must be subject to a federally enforceable permit that limits it to combusting a fuel feed stream which is 30 percent or less (by weight) municipal solid waste as measured each calendar quarter.

Continuous burning means the continuous, semicontinuous, or batch feeding of municipal solid waste to dispose of the waste, produce energy, or provide heat to the combustion system in preparation for waste disposal or energy production. Continuous burning does not mean the use of municipal solid waste solely to thermally protect the grate or hearth during the startup period when municipal solid waste is not fed to the grate or hearth.

Continuous emission monitoring system means a monitoring system that continuously measures the emissions of a pollutant from a municipal waste combustion unit.

Contract means a legally binding agreement or obligation that cannot be canceled or modified without substantial financial loss.

De-rate means to make a permanent physical change to the municipal waste combustor unit that reduces the maximum combustion capacity of the unit to less than or equal to 35 tons per day of municipal solid waste. A permit restriction or a change in the method of operation does not qualify as de-rating.

Dioxins/furans mean tetra- through octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans.

Effective date of State plan approval means the effective date that the EPA approves the State plan. The Federal Register specifies this date in the notice that announces EPA's approval of the State plan.

Eight-hour block average means the average of all hourly emission concentrations or parameter levels when the municipal waste combustion unit operates and combusts municipal solid waste measured over any of three 8-hour periods of time:

(1) 12 midnight to 8 a.m.

(2) 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

(3) 4 p.m. to 12 midnight.

EPA-approved State plan means a State plan that EPA has reviewed and approved based on the requirements in 40 CFR part 60 subpart B to implement and enforce 40 CFR part 60, subpart BBBB. An approved State plan becomes effective on the date specified in the notice published in the Federal Register announcing EPA's approval.

Federally enforceable means all limits and conditions the Administrator can enforce (including the requirements of 40 CFR parts 60, 61, and 63), requirements in a State's implementation plan, and any permit requirements established under 40 CFR 52.21 or under 40 CFR 51.18 and 40 CFR 51.24.

First calendar half means the period that starts on January 1 and ends on June 30 in any year.

Fluidized bed combustion unit means a unit where municipal waste is combusted in a fluidized bed of material. The fluidized bed material may remain in the primary combustion zone or may be carried out of the primary combustion zone and returned through a recirculation loop.

Four-hour block average or 4-hour block average means the average of all hourly emission concentrations or parameter levels when the municipal waste combustion unit operates and combusts municipal solid waste measured over any of six 4-hour periods:

(1) 12 midnight to 4 a.m.

(2) 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.

(3) 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

(4) 12 noon to 4 p.m.

(5) 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

(6) 8 p.m. to 12 midnight.

Mass burn refractory municipal waste combustion unit means a field-erected municipal waste combustion unit that combusts municipal solid waste in a refractory wall furnace. Unless otherwise specified, this includes municipal waste combustion units with a cylindrical rotary refractory wall furnace.

Mass burn rotary waterwall municipal waste combustion unit means a field-erected municipal waste combustion unit that combusts municipal solid waste in a cylindrical rotary waterwall furnace.

Mass burn waterwall municipal waste combustion unit means a field-erected municipal waste combustion unit that combusts municipal solid waste in a waterwall furnace.

Maximum demonstrated load of a municipal waste combustion unit means the highest 4-hour block arithmetic average municipal waste combustion unit load achieved during 4 consecutive hours in the course of the most recent dioxins/furans stack test that demonstrates compliance with the applicable emission limit for dioxins/furans specified in this subpart.

Maximum demonstrated temperature of the particulate matter control device means the highest 4-hour block arithmetic average flue gas temperature measured at the inlet of the particulate matter control device during 4 consecutive hours in the course of the most recent stack test for dioxins/furans emissions that demonstrates compliance with the limits specified in this subpart.

Medical/infectious waste means any waste meeting the definition of medical/infectious waste contained in 40 CFR 60.51c of subpart Ec.

Mixed fuel-fired (pulverized coal/refuse-derived fuel) combustion unit means a combustion unit that combusts coal and refuse-derived fuel simultaneously, in which pulverized coal is introduced into an air stream that carries the coal to the combustion chamber of the unit where it is combusted in suspension. This includes both conventional pulverized coal and micropulverized coal.

Modification or modified municipal waste combustion unit means a municipal waste combustion unit you have changed later than June 6, 2001, and that meets one of two criteria:

(1) The cumulative cost of the changes over the life of the unit exceeds 50 percent of the original cost of building and installing the unit (not including the cost of land) updated to current costs.

(2) Any physical change in the municipal waste combustion unit or change in the method of operating it that increases the emission level of any air pollutant for which standards have been established under section 129 or section 111 of the Clean Air Act. Increases in the emission level of any air pollutant are determined when the municipal waste combustion unit operates at 100 percent of its physical load capability and are measured downstream of all air pollution control devices. Load restrictions based on permits or other nonphysical operational restrictions cannot be considered in this determination.

Modular excess-air municipal waste combustion unit means a municipal waste combustion unit that combusts municipal solid waste, is not field-erected, and has multiple combustion chambers, all of which are designed to operate at conditions with combustion air amounts in excess of theoretical air requirements.

Modular starved-air municipal waste combustion unit means a municipal waste combustion unit that combusts municipal solid waste, is not field-erected, and has multiple combustion chambers in which the primary combustion chamber is designed to operate at substoichiometric conditions.

Municipal solid waste or municipal-type solid waste means household, commercial/retail, or institutional waste. Household waste includes material discarded by residential dwellings, hotels, motels, and other similar permanent or temporary housing. Commercial/retail waste includes material discarded by stores, offices, restaurants, warehouses, nonmanufacturing activities at industrial facilities, and other similar establishments or facilities. Institutional waste includes materials discarded by schools, by hospitals (nonmedical), by nonmanufacturing activities at prisons and government facilities, and other similar establishments or facilities. Household, commercial/retail, and institutional waste does include yard waste and refuse-derived fuel. Household, commercial/retail, and institutional waste does not include used oil; sewage sludge; wood pallets; construction, renovation, and demolition wastes (which include railroad ties and telephone poles); clean wood; industrial process or manufacturing wastes; medical waste; or motor vehicles (including motor vehicle parts or vehicle fluff).

Municipal waste combustion plant means one or more municipal waste combustion units at the same location as specified under “Applicability of State Plans” (§ 62.15010(a)).

Municipal waste combustion plant capacity means the aggregate municipal waste combustion capacity of all municipal waste combustion units at the plant that are not subject to subparts Ea, Eb, or AAAA of 40 CFR part 60.

Municipal waste combustion unit means any setting or equipment that combusts solid, liquid, or gasified municipal solid waste including, but not limited to, field-erected combustion units (with or without heat recovery), modular combustion units (starved-air or excess-air), boilers (for example, steam generating units), furnaces (whether suspension-fired, grate-fired, mass-fired, air curtain incinerators, or fluidized bed-fired), and pyrolysis/combustion units. Two criteria further define these municipal waste combustion units:

(1) Municipal waste combustion units do not include pyrolysis or combustion units located at a plastics or rubber recycling unit as specified under § 62.15020(h) and (i). Municipal waste combustion units do not include cement kilns that combust municipal solid waste as specified under § 62.15020(j). Municipal waste combustion units also do not include internal combustion engines, gas turbines, or other combustion devices that combust landfill gases collected by landfill gas collection systems.

(2) The boundaries of a municipal waste combustion unit are defined as follows. The municipal waste combustion unit includes, but is not limited to, the municipal solid waste fuel feed system, grate system, flue gas system, bottom ash system, and the combustion unit water system. The municipal waste combustion unit does not include air pollution control equipment, the stack, water treatment equipment, or the turbine-generator set. The municipal waste combustion unit boundary starts at the municipal solid waste pit or hopper and extends through three areas:

(i) The combustion unit flue gas system, which ends immediately after the heat recovery equipment or, if there is no heat recovery equipment, immediately after the combustion chamber.

(ii) The combustion unit bottom ash system, which ends at the truck loading station or similar equipment that transfers the ash to final disposal. It includes all ash handling systems connected to the bottom ash handling system.

(iii) The combustion unit water system, which starts at the feed water pump and ends at the piping that exits the steam drum or superheater.

Particulate matter means total particulate matter emitted from municipal waste combustion units as measured by EPA Reference Method 5 in appendix A of 40 CFR part 60 and the procedures specified in § 62.15245.

Plastics or rubber recycling unit means an integrated processing unit for which plastics, rubber, or rubber tires are the only feed materials (incidental contaminants may be in the feed materials). These materials are processed and marketed to become input feed stock for chemical plants or petroleum refineries. The following three criteria further define a plastics or rubber recycling unit:

(1) Each calendar quarter, the combined weight of the feed stock that a plastics or rubber recycling unit produces must be more than 70 percent of the combined weight of the plastics, rubber, and rubber tires that recycling unit processes.

(2) The plastics, rubber, or rubber tires fed to the recycling unit may originate from separating or diverting plastics, rubber, or rubber tires from municipal or industrial solid waste. These feed materials may include manufacturing scraps, trimmings, and off-specification plastics, rubber, and rubber tire discards.

(3) The plastics, rubber, and rubber tires fed to the recycling unit may contain incidental contaminants (for example, paper labels on plastic bottles or metal rings on plastic bottle caps).

Potential hydrogen chloride emissions means the level of emissions from a municipal waste combustion unit that would occur from combusting municipal solid waste without emission controls for acid gases.

Potential mercury emissions means the level of emissions from a municipal waste combustion unit that would occur from combusting municipal solid waste without controls for mercury emissions.

Potential sulfur dioxide emissions means the level of emissions from a municipal waste combustion unit that would occur from combusting municipal solid waste without emission controls for acid gases.

Protectorate means American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands.

Pyrolysis/combustion unit means a unit that produces gases, liquids, or solids by heating municipal solid waste. The gases, liquids, or solids produced are combusted and the emissions vented to the atmosphere.

Reconstruction means rebuilding a municipal waste combustion unit and meeting two criteria:

(1) The reconstruction begins on or after June 6, 2001.

(2) The cumulative cost of the construction over the life of the unit exceeds 50 percent of the original cost of building and installing the municipal waste combustion unit (not including land) updated to current costs (current dollars). To determine what systems are within the boundary of the municipal waste combustion unit used to calculate these costs, see the definition of “municipal waste combustion unit” in this section.

Refractory unit or refractory wall furnace means a municipal waste combustion unit that has no energy recovery (such as through a waterwall) in the furnace of the municipal waste combustion unit.

Refuse-derived fuel means a type of municipal solid waste produced by processing municipal solid waste through shredding and size classification. This includes all classes of refuse-derived fuel including two fuels:

(1) Low-density fluff refuse-derived fuel through densified refuse-derived fuel.

(2) Pelletized refuse-derived fuel.

Same location means the same or contiguous properties under common ownership or control, including those separated only by a street, road, highway, or other public right-of-way. Common ownership or control includes properties that are owned, leased, or operated by the same entity, parent entity, subsidiary, subdivision, or any combination thereof. Entities may include a municipality, other governmental unit, or any quasi-governmental authority (for example, a public utility district or regional authority for waste disposal).

Second calendar half means the period that starts on July 1 and ends on December 31 in any year.

Shift supervisor means the person who is in direct charge and control of operating a municipal waste combustion unit and who is responsible for onsite supervision, technical direction, management, and overall performance of the municipal waste combustion unit during an assigned shift.

Spreader stoker, mixed fuel-fired (coal/refuse-derived fuel) combustion unit means a municipal waste combustion unit that combusts coal and refuse-derived fuel simultaneously, in which coal is introduced to the combustion zone by a mechanism that throws the fuel onto a grate from above. Combustion takes place both in suspension and on the grate.

Standard conditions when referring to units of measure mean a temperature of 20 °C and a pressure of 101.3 kilopascals.

Startup period means the period when a municipal waste combustion unit begins the continuous combustion of municipal solid waste. It does not include any warmup period during which the municipal waste combustion unit combusts fossil fuel or other solid waste fuel but receives no municipal solid waste.

State means any of the 50 United States and the protectorates of the United States.

State plan means a plan submitted pursuant to section 111(d) and section 129(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act and 40 CFR part 60, subpart B, that implements and enforces 40 CFR part 60, subpart BBBB.

Stoker (refuse-derived fuel) combustion unit means a steam generating unit that combusts refuse-derived fuel in a semisuspension combusting mode, using air-fed distributors.

Total mass dioxins/furans or total mass means the total mass of tetra-through octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans as determined using EPA Reference Method 23 in appendix A of 40 CFR part 60 and the procedures specified in § 62.15245.

Tribal plan means a plan submitted by a tribal authority pursuant to 40 CFR parts 9, 35, 49, 50, and 81 that implements and enforces 40 CFR part 60 subpart BBBB.

Twenty-four hour daily average or 24-hour daily average means either the arithmetic mean or geometric mean (as specified) of all hourly emission concentrations when the municipal waste combustion unit operates and combusts municipal solid waste measured during the 24 hours between 12:00 midnight and the following midnight.

Untreated lumber means wood or wood products that have been cut or shaped and include wet, air-dried, and kiln-dried wood products. Untreated lumber does not include wood products that have been painted, pigment-stained, or pressure-treated by compounds such as chromate copper arsenate, pentachlorophenol, and creosote.

Waterwall furnace means a municipal waste combustion unit that has energy (heat) recovery in the furnace (for example, radiant heat transfer section) of the combustion unit.

Yard waste means grass, grass clippings, bushes, shrubs, and clippings from bushes and shrubs. They come from residential, commercial/retail, institutional, or industrial sources as part of maintaining yards or other private or public lands. Yard waste does not include two items:

(1) Construction, renovation, and demolition wastes that are exempt from the definition of “municipal solid waste” in this section.

(2) Clean wood that is exempt from the definition of “municipal solid waste” in this section.


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