New Source Performance Standards/Volatile Organic Liquid Storage Vessels: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Finalizes Revisions

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a Federal Register notice finalizing its revisions to the Clean Air Act New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) for volatile organic liquid (“VOL”) storage vessels. See 89 Fed. Reg. 83296.

The NSPS includes petroleum liquid storage vessels.

The 2022 North American Industry Classification System codes for this source category include:

• 325.
• 324.
• 422710.

Section 111 of the Clean Air Act addresses NSPS. These are applicable to new, modified, or reconstructed stationary sources for which EPA has promulgated NSPS regulations. This section of the Clean Air Act authorizes EPA to develop technology-based standards which apply to specific categories of stationary sources.

The standards establish the minimum control requirements known as “best demonstrated technology” for all facilities within the specified category. Each standard is aimed at a specific industry and/or emission unit. This includes emission limitations (may include requirements for control equipment), monitoring, testing, or reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

EPA is required by the Clean Air Act to review each NSPS subpart every eight years (five years for solid waste combustion units) to determine if the emission limits, controls, and other requirements need to be revised. It must consider the emission limitations and reductions that are currently achieved in practice when reviewing such requirements.

The NSPS standards that EPA is finalizing in this rule include:

• A new exemption for storage vessels that only store VOL with an MTVP less than 0.25 psia in response to the comments the agency received requesting it to eliminate recordkeeping requirements for storage vessels with vapor pressures well below the thresholds for which controls are required.
• Control requirements for:
  • (1) VOL storage vessels greater than or equal to 40,000 gallons with MTVPs greater than or equal to 0.5 psia; and,
  • (2) VOL storage vessels greater than or equal to 20,000 gallons and less than 40,000 gallons with MTVPS greater than or equal to 1.5 psia.
• Improve standards of performance for vessels that have IFRs, EFRs, and closed vent systems routed to a control device, fuel gas system, or process design to achieve an average 98% control efficiency.
• Performance standards for degassing of certain VOL storage vessels.
• Improved testing, monitoring, and inspection requirements.
• Provisions establishing that emission limitations apply at all times, including periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction.

A copy of the Federal Register notice containing the final rule can be downloaded here.