40 C.F.R. § 63.542

Current through October 31, 2024
Section 63.542 - Definitions

Terms used in this subpart are defined in the Clean Air Act, in subpart A of this part, or in this section as follows:

Affected source means any of the following sources at a secondary lead smelter: Blast, reverberatory, rotary, and electric furnaces; refining kettles; agglomerating furnaces; dryers; process fugitive emissions sources; buildings containing lead bearing materials; and fugitive dust sources.

Affirmative defense means, in the context of an enforcement proceeding, a response or defense put forward by a defendant, regarding which the defendant has the burden of proof, and the merits of which are independently and objectively evaluated in a judicial or administrative proceeding.

Agglomerating furnace means a furnace used to melt into a solid mass flue dust that is collected from a baghouse.

Bag leak detection system means an instrument that is capable of monitoring particulate matter (dust) loadings in the exhaust of a baghouse in order to detect bag failures. A bag leak detection system includes, but is not limited to, an instrument that operates on triboelectric, light scattering, transmittance or other effect to monitor relative particulate matter loadings.

Battery breaking area means the plant location at which lead-acid batteries are broken, crushed, or disassembled and separated into components.

Blast furnace means a smelting furnace consisting of a vertical cylinder atop a crucible, into which lead-bearing charge materials are introduced at the top of the furnace and combustion air is introduced through tuyeres at the bottom of the cylinder, and that uses coke as a fuel source and that is operated at such a temperature in the combustion zone (greater than 980 Celsius) that lead compounds are chemically reduced to elemental lead metal.

Blast furnace charging location means the physical opening through which raw materials are introduced into a blast furnace.

Collocated blast furnace and reverberatory furnace means operation at the same location of a blast furnace and a reverberatory furnace where the vent streams of the furnaces are mixed before cooling, with the volumetric flow rate discharged from the blast furnace being equal to or less than that discharged from the reverberatory furnace.

Dryer means a chamber that is heated and that is used to remove moisture from lead-bearing materials before they are charged to a smelting furnace.

Dryer transition equipment means the junction between a dryer and the charge hopper or conveyor, or the junction between the dryer and the smelting furnace feed chute or hopper located at the ends of the dryer.

Electric furnace means a smelting furnace consisting of a vessel into which reverberatory furnace slag is introduced and that uses electrical energy to heat the reverberatory furnace slag to such a temperature (greater than 980 Celsius) that lead compounds are reduced to elemental lead metal.

Fugitive dust source means a stationary source of hazardous air pollutant emissions at a secondary lead smelter that is not associated with a specific process or process fugitive vent or stack. Fugitive dust sources include, but are not limited to, roadways, storage piles, lead bearing material handling transfer points, lead bearing material transport areas, lead bearing material storage areas, other lead bearing material process areas, and buildings.

Furnace and refining/casting area means any area of a secondary lead smelter in which:

(1) Smelting furnaces are located;
(2) Refining operations occur; or
(3) Casting operations occur.

Lead alloy means an alloy in which the predominant component is lead.

Lead bearing material means material with a lead content equal to or greater than 5 mg/l as measured by EPA Method 1311 (Under Method 1311, only materials with at least 100 ppm lead will be considered to be lead bearing).

Leeward wall means the furthest exterior wall of a total enclosure that is opposite the windward wall.

Maintenance activity means any of the following routine maintenance and repair activities that could generate fugitive lead dust:

(1) Replacement or repair of refractory, or any internal or external part of equipment used to process, handle or control lead-containing materials.
(2) Replacement of any duct section used to convey lead-containing exhaust.
(3) Metal cutting or welding that penetrates the metal structure of any equipment, and its associated components, used to process lead-containing material such that lead dust within the internal structure or its components can become fugitive lead dust.
(4) Resurfacing, repair or removal of ground, pavement, concrete, or asphalt.

Materials storage and handling area means any area of a secondary lead smelter in which lead-bearing materials (including, but not limited to, broken battery components, reverberatory furnace slag, flue dust, and dross) are stored or handled between process steps including, but not limited to, areas in which materials are stored in open piles, bins, or tubs, and areas in which material is prepared for charging to a smelting furnace.

Natural draft opening means any permanent opening in an enclosure that remains open during operation of the facility and is not connected to a duct in which a fan is installed.

New source means any affected source at a secondary lead smelting facility the construction or reconstruction of which is commenced after May 19, 2011. A building that is constructed for the purpose of controlling fugitive emissions from an existing source is not considered to be a new source.

Partial enclosure means a structure comprised of walls or partitions on at least three sides or three-quarters of the perimeter surrounding stored materials or process equipment to prevent the entrainment of particulate matter into the air.

Pavement cleaning means the use of vacuum equipment, water sprays, or a combination thereof to remove dust or other accumulated material from the paved areas of a secondary lead smelter.

Plant roadway means any area of a secondary lead smelter outside of a total enclosure that is subject to vehicle traffic, including traffic by forklifts, front-end loaders, or vehicles carrying whole batteries or cast lead ingots. Excluded from this definition are employee and visitor parking areas, provided they are not subject to traffic by vehicles carrying lead-bearing materials.

Pressurized dryer breaching seal means a seal system connecting the dryer transition pieces which is maintained at a higher pressure than the inside of the dryer.

Process fugitive emissions source means a source of hazardous air pollutant emissions at a secondary lead smelter that is associated with lead smelting or refining, but is not the primary exhaust stream from a smelting furnace, and is not a fugitive dust source. Process fugitive emissions sources include, but are not limited to, smelting furnace charging points, smelting furnace lead and slag taps, refining kettles, agglomerating furnaces, and drying kiln transition pieces.

Process vent means furnace vents, dryer vents, agglomeration furnace vents, vents from battery breakers, vents from buildings containing lead bearing material, and any ventilation system controlling lead emissions.

Refining kettle means an open-top vessel that is constructed of cast iron or steel and is indirectly heated from below and contains molten lead for the purpose of refining and alloying the lead. Included are pot furnaces, receiving kettles, and holding kettles.

Reverberatory furnace means a refractory-lined furnace that uses one or more flames to heat the walls and roof of the furnace and lead-bearing scrap to such a temperature (greater than 980 Celsius) that lead compounds are chemically reduced to elemental lead metal.

Rotary furnace (also known as a rotary reverberatory furnace) means a furnace consisting of a refractory-lined chamber that rotates about a horizontal axis and that uses one or more flames to heat the walls of the furnace and lead-bearing scrap to such a temperature (greater than 980 Celsius) that lead compounds are chemically reduced to elemental lead metal.

Secondary lead smelter means any facility at which lead-bearing scrap material, primarily, but not limited to, lead-acid batteries, is recycled into elemental lead or lead alloys by smelting.

Shutdown means the period when no lead bearing materials are being fed to the furnace and smelting operations have ceased during which the furnace is cooled from steady-state operating temperature to ambient temperature.

Smelting means the chemical reduction of lead compounds to elemental lead or lead alloys through processing in high-temperature (greater than 980 Celsius) furnaces including, but not limited to, blast furnaces, reverberatory furnaces, rotary furnaces, and electric furnaces.

Startup means the period when no led bearing materials have been fed to the furnace and smelting operations have not yet commenced during which the furnace is heated from ambient temperature to steady-state operating temperature.

Total enclosure means a containment building that is completely enclosed with a floor, walls, and a roof to prevent exposure to the elements and to assure containment of lead bearing material with limited openings to allow access and egress for people and vehicles. The total enclosure must provide an effective barrier against fugitive dust emissions such that the direction of air flow through any openings is inward and the enclosure is maintained under constant negative pressure.

Vehicle wash means a device for removing dust and other accumulated material from the wheels, body, and underside of a vehicle to prevent the inadvertent transfer of lead contaminated material to another area of a secondary lead smelter or to public roadways.

Wet suppression means the use of water, water combined with a chemical surfactant, or a chemical binding agent to prevent the entrainment of dust into the air from fugitive dust sources.

Windward wall means the exterior wall of a total enclosure that is most impacted by the wind in its most prevailing direction determined by a wind rose using available data from the closest representative meteorological station. When openings into enclosures are not impacted by ambient wind due to the enclosure being part of a larger structure, the owner or operator may designate which wall of the enclosure to define as the windward wall.

40 C.F.R. §63.542

77 FR 580 , Jan. 5, 2012, as amended at 79 FR 371 , Jan. 3, 2014