40 CFR § 75.72 - Determination of NOX mass emissions for common stack and multiple stack configurations.

§ 75.72 Determination of NOX mass emissions for common stack and multiple stack configurations.

The owner or operator of an affected unit shall either: calculate hourly NOX mass emissions (in lbs) by multiplying the hourly NOX emission rate (in lbs/mmBtu) by the hourly heat input rate (in mmBtu/hr) and the unit or stack operating time (as defined in § 72.2), or, as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, calculate hourly NOX mass emissions from the hourly NOX concentration (in ppm) and the hourly stack flow rate (in scfh). Only one methodology for determining NOX mass emissions shall be identified in the monitoring plan for each monitoring location at any given time. The owner or operator shall also calculate quarterly and cumulative year-to-date NOX mass emissions and cumulative NOX mass emissions for the ozone season (in tons) by summing the hourly NOX mass emissions according to the procedures in section 8 of appendix F to this part.

(a) Unit utilizing common stack with other affected unit(s). When an affected unit utilizes a common stack with one or more affected units, but no nonaffected units, the owner or operator shall either:

(1) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a NOX-diluent continuous emissions monitoring system and a flow monitoring system in the common stack, record the combined NOX mass emissions for the units exhausting to the common stack, and, for purposes of determining the hourly unit heat input rates, either:

(i) Apportion the common stack heat input rate to the individual units according to the procedures in § 75.16(e)(3); or

(ii) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a flow monitoring system and diluent monitor in the duct to the common stack from each unit; or

(iii) If any of the units using the common stack are eligible to use the procedures in appendix D to this part,

(A) Use the procedures in appendix D to this part to determine heat input rate for that unit; and

(B) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a flow monitoring system and a diluent monitor in the duct to the common stack for each remaining unit; or

(2) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a NOX-diluent continuous emissions monitoring system in the duct to the common stack from each unit and, for purposes of heat input determination, either:

(i) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a flow monitoring system in the duct to the common stack from each unit; or

(ii) For any unit using the common stack and eligible to use the procedures in appendix D to this part,

(A) Use the procedures in appendix D to determine heat input rate for that unit; and

(B) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a flow monitoring system in the duct to the common stack for each remaining unit.

(b) Unit utilizing common stack with nonaffected unit(s). When one or more affected units utilizes a common stack with one or more nonaffected units, the owner or operator shall either:

(1) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a NOX-diluent continuous emission monitoring system in the duct to the common stack from each affected unit and, for purposes of heat input determination,

(i) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a flow monitoring system in the duct to the common stack from each affected unit; or

(ii) For any affected unit using the common stack and eligible to use the procedures in appendix D to this part,

(A) Use the procedures in appendix D to determine heat input for that unit; however, for a common pipe configuration, the heat input apportionment provisions in section 2.1.2 of appendix D to this part shall not be used to meet the NOX mass reporting provisions of this subpart unless all of the units served by the common pipe are affected units and have similar efficiencies; and

(B) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a flow monitoring system in the duct to the common stack for each remaining affected unit that exhausts to the common stack; or

(2) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a NOX-diluent continuous emission monitoring system in the common stack; and

(i) Designate the nonaffected units as affected units in accordance with the applicable State or federal NOX mass emissions reduction program and meet the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section; or

(ii) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a flow monitoring system in the common stack and a NOX-diluent continuous emission monitoring system in the duct to the common stack from each nonaffected unit. The designated representative shall submit a petition to the permitting authority and the Administrator to allow a method of calculating and reporting the NOX mass emissions from the affected units as the difference between NOX mass emissions measured in the common stack and NOX mass emissions measured in the ducts of the nonaffected units, not to be reported as an hourly value less than zero. The permitting authority and the Administrator may approve such a method whenever the designated representative demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the permitting authority and the Administrator, that the method ensures that the NOX mass emissions from the affected units are not underestimated. In addition, the owner or operator shall also either:

(A) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a flow monitoring system in the duct from each nonaffected unit or,

(B) For any nonaffected unit exhausting to the common stack and otherwise eligible to use the procedures in appendix D to this part, determine heat input rate using the procedures in appendix D for that unit. However, for a common pipe serving both affected and non-affected units, the heat input rate apportionment provisions in section 2.1.2 of appendix D to this part shall not be used to meet the NOX mass reporting provisions of this subpart. For any remaining nonaffected unit that exhausts to the common stack, install, certify, operate, and maintain a flow monitoring system in the duct to the common stack; or

(iii) Install a flow monitoring system in the common stack and record the combined emissions from all units as the combined NOX mass emissions for the affected units for recordkeeping and compliance purposes, in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section; or

(iv) Submit a petition to the permitting authority and the Administrator to allow use of a method for apportioning NOX mass emissions measured in the common stack to each of the units using the common stack and for reporting the NOX mass emissions. The permitting authority and the Administrator may approve such a method whenever the designated representative demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the permitting authority and the Administrator, that the method ensures that the NOX mass emissions from the affected units are not underestimated.

(c) Unit with a main stack and a bypass stack. Whenever any portion of the flue gases from an affected unit can be routed through a bypass stack to avoid the installed NOX-diluent continuous emissions monitoring system or NOX concentration monitoring system, the owner and operator shall either:

(1) Install, certify, operate, and maintain separate NOX-diluent continuous emissions monitoring systems and flow monitoring systems on the main stack and the bypass stack and calculate NOX mass emissions for the unit as the sum of the NOX mass emissions measured at the two stacks;

(2) Monitor NOX mass emissions at the main stack using a NOX-diluent CEMS and a flow monitoring system and measure NOX mass emissions at the bypass stack using the reference methods in § 75.22(b) for NOX concentration, flow rate, and diluent gas concentration, or NOX concentration and flow rate, and calculate NOX mass emissions for the unit as the sum of the emissions recorded by the installed monitoring systems on the main stack and the emissions measured by the reference method monitoring systems; or

(3) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a NOX-diluent CEMS and a flow monitoring system only on the main stack. If this option is chosen, it is not necessary to designate the exhaust configuration as a multiple stack configuration in the monitoring plan required under § 75.53, since only the main stack is monitored. For each unit operating hour in which the bypass stack is used and the emissions are either uncontrolled (or the add-on controls are not documented to be operating properly), report NOX mass emissions as follows. If the unit heat input is determined using a flow monitor and a diluent monitor, report NOX mass emissions using the maximum potential NOX emission rate, the maximum potential flow rate, and either the maximum potential CO2 concentration or the minimum potential O2 concentration (as applicable). The maximum potential NOX emission rate may be specific to the type of fuel combusted in the unit during the bypass (see § 75.33(c)(8)). If the unit heat input is determined using a fuel flowmeter, in accordance with appendix D to this part, report NOX mass emissions as the product of the maximum potential NOX emission rate and the actual measured hourly heat input rate. Alternatively, for a unit with NOX add-on emission controls, for each unit operating hour in which the bypass stack is used but the add-on NOX emission controls are not bypassed, the owner or operator may report the maximum controlled NOX emission rate (MCR) instead of the maximum potential NOX emission rate provided that the add-on controls are documented to be operating properly, as described in the quality assurance/quality control program for the unit, required by section 1 in appendix B to this part. To provide the necessary documentation, the owner or operator shall record parametric data to verify the proper operation of the NOX add-on emission controls as described in § 75.34(d). Furthermore, the owner or operator shall calculate the MCR using the procedure described in section 2.1.2.1(b) of appendix A to this part by replacing the words “maximum potential NOX emission rate (MER)” with the words “maximum controlled NOX emission rate (MCR)” and by using the NOX MEC in the calculations instead of the NOX MPC.

(d) Unit with multiple stack or duct configuration. When the flue gases from an affected unit discharge to the atmosphere through more than one stack, or when the flue gases from an affected unit utilize two or more ducts feeding into a single stack and the owner or operator chooses to monitor in the ducts rather than in the stack, the owner or operator shall either:

(1) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a NOX-diluent continuous emission monitoring system and a flow monitoring system in each of the multiple stacks and determine NOX mass emissions from the affected unit as the sum of the NOX mass emissions recorded for each stack. If another unit also exhausts flue gases into one of the monitored stacks, the owner or operator shall comply with the applicable requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, in order to properly determine the NOX mass emissions from the units using that stack;

(2) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a NOX-diluent continuous emissions monitoring system and a flow monitoring system in each of the ducts that feed into the stack, and determine NOX mass emissions from the affected unit using the sum of the NOX mass emissions measured at each duct; or

(3) If the unit is eligible to use the procedures in appendix D to this part and if the conditions and restrictions of § 75.17(c)(2) are fully met, install, certify, operate, and maintain a NOX-diluent continuous emissions monitoring system in one of the ducts feeding into the stack or in one of the multiple stacks, (as applicable) in accordance with § 75.17(c)(2), and use the procedures in appendix D to this part to determine heat input rate for the unit.

(e) Units using a NOXconcentration monitoring system and a flow monitoring system to determine NOXmass. The owner or operator may use a NOX concentration monitoring system and a flow monitoring system to determine NOX mass emissions for the cases described in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section and in paragraph (d)(1) or paragraph (d)(2) of this section (in place of a NOX-diluent continuous emissions monitoring system and a flow monitoring system). However, this option may not be used for the case described in paragraph (d)(3) of this section. When using this approach, calculate NOX mass according to sections 8.2 and 8.3 in appendix F to this part. In addition, if an applicable State or federal NOX mass reduction program requires determination of a unit's heat input, the owner or operator must either:

(1) Install, certify, operate, and maintain a CO2 or O2 diluent monitor in the same location as each flow monitoring system. In addition, the owner or operator must provide heat input rate values for each unit utilizing a common stack. The owner or operator may either:

(i) Apportion heat input rate from the common stack to each unit according to § 75.16(e)(3), where all units utilizing the common stack are affected units, or

(ii) Measure heat input rate to each affected unit, using a flow monitor and a CO2 or O2 diluent monitor in the duct from each affected unit; or

(2) For units that are eligible to use appendix D to this part, use the procedures in appendix D to this part to determine heat input rate for the unit. However, the use of a fuel flowmeter in a common pipe header and the provisions of sections 2.1.2.1 and 2.1.2.2 of appendix D to this part are not applicable to any unit that is using the provisions of this subpart to monitor, record, and report NOX mass emissions under a State or federal NOX mass emission reduction program and that shares a common pipe with a nonaffected unit.

(f) Procedures for apportioning hourly NOXmass emission rate to the unit level. If the owner or operator of a unit determining hourly NOX mass emission rate at a common stack under this section is subject to a State or Federal NOX mass emissions reduction program under subpart GGGGG of part 97 of this chapter or under a state implementation plan approved pursuant to § 52.38(b)(12) of this chapter, then on and after January 1, 2024, the owner or operator shall apportion the hourly NOX mass emissions rate at the common stack to each unit using the common stack based on the ratio of the hourly heat input rate for each such unit to the total hourly heat input rate for all such units, in conjunction with the appropriate unit and stack operating times, according to the procedures in section 8.5.3 of appendix F to this part.

(g) Procedures for apportioning heat input to the unit level. If the owner or operator of a unit using the common stack monitoring provisions in paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section does not monitor and record heat input at the unit level and the owner or operator is required to do so under an applicable State or federal NOX mass emission reduction program, apportion heat input from the common stack to each unit according to § 75.16(e)(3).

[63 FR 57507, Oct. 27, 1998, as amended at 67 FR 40445, June 12, 2002; 73 FR 4358, Jan. 24, 2008; 88 FR 36895, June 5, 2023]