New Jersey Technical Assistance Program for Industrial Pollution Prevention
New Jersey Technical Assistance Program
for Industrial Pollution Prevention
New Jersey Institute of Technology · A Research University
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What's NEW in Air Emission Regulations | |||||||||
EPA's Chromium Emissions MACT StandardThe EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards established chromium emission limits in the National Emission Standards for Chromium Emissions from Hard and Decorative Electroplating and Anodizing Tanks, promulgated in 1995. The Standard includes two designations for hard chromium electroplating facilities, based on the maximum cumulative potential rectifier capacity and when the electroplating tanks were installed. A facility is desgnated as "large" if the rectifier capacity for all hard chromium electroplating tanks equals or is greater than 60 million ampere-hours per year. A "small" facility is one where the rectifier capacity is less than 60 million ampere-hours per year. The electroplating tanks in a facility can be "new" or "existing" . A "new" tank is one installed or reconstructed after December 16, 1993. An "existing" tank is one installed on or before December 16, 1993. The deadline for meeting the Standard is January 1997. Hard chrome electroplating shops must report their source outlet chromum emissions either on a total (hexavallent + trivalent) or hexavalent basis. The emission limits are:
Further Information Hexavalent chromium plating baths are the most widely used baths to deposit chromium on metal. Hexavalent chromium baths are composed of chromic acid, sulfuric acid, and water. The chromic acid is the source of the hexavalent chromium that reacts and deposits on the metal and is emitted to the atmosphere. The sulfuric acid in the bath catalyzes the chromium deposition reactions. The evolution of hydrogen gas form chemical reactions at the cathode consumes 80 to 90 percent of the power supplied to the plating bath, leaving the remaining 10 to 20 percent for the deposition reaction. When hydrogen gas evolves, it causes misting at the surface of the plating bath, which results in the loss of chromic acid to the atmosphere. For more detailed information on EPA's MACT Standard, check the Wednesday, 25 January 1995 Federal Register for the National Emission Standards for Chromium Emissions From Hard and Decorative Chromium Electroplating and Chromium Anodizing Tanks. You can view the Federal Register on-line at the US EPA's web site. In addition there is a document entitled "Hard Chrome Pollution Prevention Demonstration Project, Interim Report," prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in cooperation with The National Institute of Standards and Technology available at the National Metal Finishing Resource Center's Web Site The purpose of this document is to assist hard chrome metal finishing operators cost-efficiently comply with, or do better than, EPA's Chromium Emission MACT Standard. Of particular interest is the fact that it provides information regarding the efficiencies of pollution control/pollution prevention technologies including:
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EPA's Proposals on Ozone and Particulate MatterBackground The federal Clean Air Act of 1970 and the amendments added in 1977 and 1990 give the EPA authority to set national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for protecting public health and the environment from pollutants in the outside air. The EPA sets standards and national regulations for controlling air pollution and it is the state governments that manage most of the specific programs for achieving these standards. Proposals Two pollutants for which standards have been set include ground level ozone (or "smog") and particulate matter. The EPA is currently proposing to strengthen the NAAQS for both ozone and particulate matter. With regard to ozone, recent studies show health effects, inclusive of decreased lung function, respiratory symptoms, acute lung inflamation and impairment of lung defense mechanisms, occurring at ozone levels as low as 0.08 ppm. The current standard is 0.12 ppm and EPA is proposing to move from the current one-hour standard to an eight hour standard incorporating an allowable concentration range of 0.07 to 0.09 ppm. Although the proposed standard is more stringent, EPA proposes to allow for multiple exceedences. In addition, EPA is focussing on smaller "fine" particles below 2.5 micrometers in diameter. The proposed fine particle standard is defined in terms of PM2.5. It is proposed that the current annual PM10 standards be retained and that multiple exceedences be permitted. It is also proposed that the new PM2.5 standards of 15 µg/m3, on an annual basis, and 50 µg/m3, on a 24 hour basis, be established. Reference: Mary Nichols, EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation; Clearing the Air on Ozone and Particulate Matter; Environmental Manager, February 1997, pp. 19-21. | |||||||||
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Copyright © 1999 www.njit.edu/njtap All rights reserved. |
| New Jersey Technical Assistance
Program for Industrial Pollution Prevention · 138 Warren Street · Newark, NJ 07102-1982 · Phone: 973-596-5864 · Fax: 973-596-6367 · Email: njtap@megahertz.njit.edu |
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