Md. Code Regs. 26.11.10.03 - Visible Emissions
A. General.
(1) A person may not cause or permit the
discharge of emissions from any installation, other than water in an uncombined
form, which is visible to human observers.
(2) Exceptions. Section A(1) of this
regulation does not apply to the following:
(a) Fugitive emissions from iron and steel
production installations in compliance with §B of this regulation and listed in
Regulation .04B(2) of this chapter;
(b) Fugitive emissions from metallurgical
slot-type by-product coke ovens;
(c) Fugitive emissions from skull cracker
oxygen lancing to the extent addressed by Regulation .04C of this
chapter;
(d) Fugitive emissions
from batch-type hot dip galvanizing installations in compliance with COMAR
26.11.12;
(e) Confined emissions
resulting from start-ups, process modifications or adjustments, or occasional
cleaning of control equipment if:
(i) The
visible emissions are not greater than 40 percent opacity; and
(ii) The visible emissions do not occur for
more than 6 consecutive minutes in any 60 minute period; and
(f) Visible emissions from
sintering plant scrubbers that are in compliance with the conditions in §D of
this regulation.
B. Visible Emissions from Certain
Installations. After complying with the requirements of Regulation .04B of this
chapter, a person may not cause or permit the discharge of visible fugitive
emissions into the outdoor atmosphere, other than water in an uncombined form,
which is greater than the following specified visible emission standards:
(1) Blast furnaces constructed before January
1, 1977 (casthouse building): 50 percent opacity as averaged over any
consecutive 60-minute period;
(2)
Blast furnaces constructed on or after January 1, 1977 (casthouse building): 5
percent opacity as averaged over any consecutive 6-minute period, except for 20
percent opacity as averaged over any consecutive 6-minute period during
drilling, oxygen lancing, and plugging of the furnace tapholes;
(3) Electric arc furnace shop building: no
visible emissions, except for 20 percent opacity during charging and 40 percent
opacity during tapping;
(4) Sinter
plant building: 10 percent opacity as averaged over any consecutive 6-minute
period;
(5) Basic oxygen furnace
shop building: 15 percent opacity from the basic oxygen furnace shop roof
monitor based on a 3-observation rolling arithmetic average of the opacity
records recorded on each of 3 calendar days of observation.
C. 15 Percent Standard.
(1) The provision described in §B(5) of this
regulation is referred to as the 15 percent standard. The first exceedance of
the 15 percent standard during each calendar year, from January 1 through
December 31, does not constitute a violation of the 15 percent standard. The
second exceedance and all subsequent exceedances of the 15 percent standard
during the calendar year are prohibited.
(2) Any source subject to §B(5) of this
regulation shall, at a minimum, schedule one observation on each of three
different calendar days per calendar week, and perform the observations on the
days scheduled, unless weather or other conditions on one or more of those days
prevent observations to be made in accordance with Method 9.
(3) If weather or other conditions prevent
Method 9 observations from being made, a person shall perform the missing
observation or observations during that week or in the following 2 calendar
weeks in addition to the minimum three observations required for each calendar
week, unless prevented by weather or other conditions.
D. Sintering Plant.
(1) The owner or operator of a sintering
plant equipped with a two stack wet scrubber system and subject to the
particulate matter requirement in Regulation .04A of this chapter, shall assure
continuous compliance with the particulate matter requirement in Regulation
.04A of this chapter by maintaining the hourly average scrubber pressure drop
and water flow rate to each scrubber in accordance with the operating
conditions in §D(2) of this regulation.
(2) Scrubber1
Operating Conditions and Requirements.
Scrubber Pressure Drop (inches of water) | Water Flow Rate (gallons per minute) | |||
Operating Conditions | North | South | North | South |
(a) 2 scrubbers each with 2 fans | 33 | 39 | 3,796 | 3,718 |
(b) 2 scrubbers each with a windbox fan | 23 | 32 | 3,679 | 3,705 |
(c) North scrubber with 2 fans and south scrubber with a wind box fan | 33 | 32 | 3,710 | 3,818 |
(d) South scrubber with 2 fans and north scrubber with a wind box fan | 32 | 33 | 3,818 | 3,710 |
(e) North scrubber with 2 fans | 33 | - | 3,488 | - |
(f) South scrubber with 2 fans | - | 33 | - | 3,488 |
1 The one affected sintering plant is equipped with 2 scrubbers that are identified as north scrubber and south scrubber. |
(3) One or more of the scrubbers shall be in
operation whenever the sintering plant is in operation.
(4) Compliance with particulate matter
requirements is achieved if at any time the hourly block average of the
scrubber pressure drop and water flow rate are not less than the values in
§D(2) of this regulation.
(5) The
scrubber pressure drop and water flow rate shall be monitored by a continuous
monitoring system and the monitoring system data made available to the
Department upon request.
(6) Stack
Testing Requirements.
(a) The affected
sintering plant shall be stack tested for particulate matter at a frequency of
not less than once each 2.5 years. During a compliance stack test, the scrubber
pressure drop and water flow rate shall be recorded as hourly block
averages.
(b) If the scrubber
pressure drop and water flow rate determined during a compliance stack test
differ from the values in §D(2) of this regulation, the owner or operator may
request the Department to change the values in §D(2) of this regulation to
reflect the revised values.
(c)
Upon receiving a request, the Department may propose amending the regulation to
include the revised values. Any amendment shall be submitted to the EPA to be
included in the approved SIP.
Notes
Regulation .03A amended effective November 24, 2003 (30:23 Md. R. 1653); January 29, 2007 (34:2 Md. R. 138)
Regulation .03C amended effective October 2, 2000 (27:19 Md. R. 1731)
Regulation .03D adopted effective January 29, 2007 (34:2 Md. R. 138)
Regulation .03D amended effective June 29, 2009 (36:13 Md. R. 901)
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