Massachusetts Regional Haze State Implementation Plan August 9, 2012 This information is available in alternate format. Call Michelle Waters-Ekanem, Diversity Director, at 617-292-5751. TDD# 1-866-539-7622 or 1-617-574-6868 MassDEP Website: www.mass.gov/dep Printed on Recycled Paper Executive Summary The federal Clean Air Act, in sections 169A and 169B, contains requirements for the protection of visibility in 156 national parks, forests and wilderness areas that have been federally designated as Class I areas and include some of our nation’s most treasured public lands. Unfortunately, enjoyment of the scenic vistas in these pristine areas is significantly impaired by regional haze. In the eastern U.S., the average visual range has decreased from 106 miles (under natural conditions) to 24 - 44 miles today. In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued regulations known as the Regional Haze Rule, which requires states to develop State Implementation Plans to reduce haze-causing pollution to improve visibility in Class I areas. The overall goal of the regional haze program is to restore natural visibility conditions at Class I areas by 2064. Regional haze is caused by fine particle pollution that impairs visibility over a large region by scattering or absorbing light. Fine particle pollution also adversely impacts human health, especially for children, the elderly, and people with heart or respiratory conditions. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has prepared this State Implementation Plan (SIP) to address Massachusetts sources that contribute to regional haze. Class I Areas Although Massachusetts has no Class I areas, emissions from Massachusetts sources contribute to visibility degradation in Class I areas in several other states. These include Lye Brook Wilderness Area (Vermont), Great Gulf Wilderness Area (New Hampshire), Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness Area (New Hampshire), Acadia National Park (Maine), Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge (Maine), and Roosevelt Campobello International Park (Maine/Canada). In the first round of SIPs, states with Class I areas must set reasonable progress goals for 2018 for improving visibility in their Class I areas. States affecting Class I areas (including Massachusetts) must submit SIPs with long-term strategies for meeting the 2018 reasonable progress goals. SIPs also must include control measures for certain existing sources placed into operation between 1962 and 1977 (known as Best Available Retrofit Technology or BART). States must update their SIPs in 2018 and every 10 years thereafter and must evaluate progress every 5 years. Regional Planning Efforts EPA established five regional planning organizations across the nation to coordinate regional haze efforts. Massachusetts is a member of one of these regional organizations, the Mid-Atlantic Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU), comprised of Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, tribes, and federal agencies. Massachusetts developed this SIP by participating in a regional planning process coordinated Page ii by MANE-VU. Together, the MANE-VU members established baseline and natural visibility conditions, determined the primary contributors to regional haze, identified reasonable progress goals and long-term strategies, and facilitated a consultation process with states, other regional planning organizations, and federal land managers. As a MANE-VU member state, Massachusetts adopted the “Statement of MANE-VU Concerning a Request for a Course of Action by States Within MANE-VU Toward Assuring Reasonable Progress” at the MANE-VU Board meeting on June 7, 2007. This Statement outlines a strategy for reducing regional haze at MANE-VU Class I areas for the first ten-year planning period and forms the basis for the actions Massachusetts has included in this SIP. Elements of Massachusetts’ SIP for Regional Haze In accordance with 40 CFR 51.308(b), Massachusetts submits this SIP to meet the requirements of EPA’s Regional Haze Rule. This SIP addresses the core requirements of 40 CFR 51.308(d). These actions include: Best Available Retrofit Technology - EPA’s Regional Haze Rule requires the control of emissions from certain stationary sources placed into operation between 1962 and 1977 through the implementation of Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) or an alternative to BART that achieves greater emission reductions. Massachusetts identified 5 electric generating unit (EGU) facilities, 1 municipal waste combustor, and 1 industrial boiler as BART-eligible facilities whose 2002 emissions (the baseline year for this SIP) contributed significantly to visibility impairment. For the EGUs, Massachusetts has adopted an Alternative to BART program that achieves greater emissions reductions than source-by- source BART. For the municipal waste combustor, Massachusetts has made a source-specific BART determination. For the industrial boiler, no BART determination is needed since the facility has accepted an emissions cap that makes it no longer BART-eligible. Targeted EGU strategy - MANE-VU identified 167 EGU stacks at power plants whose sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions significantly impaired visibility at one or more MANE-VU Class I areas, including stacks at 5 Massachusetts power plants. Massachusetts agreed to reduce SO2 emissions from these specific power plants stacks by 90 percent from 2002 levels by 2018, or to pursue equivalent, alternative measures. Each of these EGUs already has reduced SO2 emissions due to Massachusetts air quality regulations. Based on MassDEP’s existing regulations, and additional reductions that will result from MassDEP’s Alternative to BART, EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, and EGU closures, MassDEP estimates that SO2 emissions in 2018 will be up to 87% lower than 2002 emissions. Sulfur in Fuel Oil - MANE-VU determined that states could cost-effectively achieve significant reductions in SO2 emissions by requiring lower sulfur content fuel oils, including #2 distillate oil (home heating oil) and #4 and #6 residual oils (used in power plants and industrial and commercial boilers). Refineries already have made significant capital investments to produce low and ultra-low sulfur diesel, Page iii which is the same product as #2 distillate oil, and lower sulfur residual oils also are readily available. To implement the regional MANE-VU low sulfur fuel oil strategy, MassDEP has adopted regulations that lower allowable sulfur content in fuel oils, ultimately achieving 15 parts per million sulfur for #2 oil and 0.5 percent sulfur by weight for #4 and #6 residual oils by 2018. The regulatory and technical basis for this proposed SIP is found in Sections 1 – 7. The prescriptive elements of this proposed SIP – BART, reasonable progress goals, and long-term strategy – are found in Sections 8 – 10. Page iv Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ v List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ ix List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. xi List of Appendices .................................................................................................................... xii Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................................................................................. xiv 1. BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF THE FEDERAL REGIONAL HAZE REGULATION ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. The Basics of Haze ............................................................................................................. 1 1.3. Regulatory Framework ....................................................................................................... 1 History of Federal Regional Haze Rule .............................................................................. 3 State Implementation Plan .................................................................................................. 4 2. REGIONAL PLANNING AND STATE/TRIBE AND FEDERAL LAND MANAGER COORDINATION .................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Regional Planning ............................................................................................................... 6 2.3. Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU) ..................................................... 7 2.4. Class I Areas Within MANE-VU ....................................................................................... 8 2.5. Area of Influence for MANE-VU Class I Areas ................................................................ 8 2.6. Massachusetts Impact on MANE-VU Class I Areas .......................................................... 9 2.7. Regional Haze Planning after the Remand of CAIR ........................................................ 10 2.8. Regional Consultation and the “Ask” ............................................................................... 11 2.9. Meeting the “Ask” – MANE-VU States ..........................................................................