06- 096 C.M.R. ch. 418, § 8

Current through 2024-51, December 18, 2024

Section 096-418-8 - Fuel Substitution

Any person proposing to beneficially use secondary materials as a fuel in a boiler or cement kiln designed to combust conventional fuels, including fossil or biomass fuels, must obtain a license pursuant to the requirements of this section and the general standards of section 4 of this rule.

A.Standards. In addition to the General Standards for Beneficial Use in section 4 of this rule, the following standards apply to facilities beneficially using secondary materials as fuel:

(1) The substitution of secondary material(s) for conventional fuels used in a boiler or cement kiln shall not exceed 50% of total fuel by weight combusted on an average annual basis;

(2) A licensee may beneficially use as a fuel substitute only the type and quantity of secondary material specifically licensed or allowed under this rule;

(3) A licensee may not accept CDD wood as a fuel unless the facility's Quality Assurance / Quality Control Plan specifically provides that the source(s) of the CDD wood fuel has implemented a plan for the identification and removal of arsenic and pentachlorophenol treated wood (including but not limited to utility poles) prior to processing of the CDD wood into fuel. Acceptable methods for the removal of arsenic and pentachlorophenol wood are the use of PAN Indicator Stain, X-ray Fluorescence technology, personnel specifically trained to recognize treated wood, or other methods approved by the Department;

(4) In order to characterize secondary material proposed for fuel use, unless specifically waived by the Department, a trial burn of the secondary material blended with the existing fuels shall be conducted; and,

(5) A licensee shall not deliver ash that is hazardous by analysis to a non-hazardous solid waste facility for disposal.

B.Pre-Application Requirements. A person proposing to license fuel substitution under this section shall request a pre-application meeting with the Department. The pre-application meeting will include a discussion of the fuel substitution proposal, and provide an opportunity for the applicant to receive guidance on the trial burn procedure and characterization of the proposed substitute fuel.

At least 14 days prior to the pre-application meeting, the applicant shall submit the following information to the Department:

(1) A proposed trial burn procedure;

(2) The estimated maximum annual quantity of the secondary material proposed for combustion;

(3) Information outlining how the secondary material will be transported, stored, and otherwise managed; and,

(4) Information outlining how bypass and residues will be stored and otherwise managed, including how residues will be characterized and disposed.

C.Trial Burn Requirements.

(1) Prior to conducting a trial burn, the applicant shall notify the Department's Bureau of Air Quality of the proposed trial burn.

(2) The following information must be submitted to the Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management at the pre-application meeting, and a minimum of 10 working days prior to the planned start of the trial burn:

(a) Results of the characterization of secondary material to be used for the trial burn, including a minimum of 4 samples from a stockpile of at least 400 tons from each source for each proposed fuel, and 1 sample for each additional 400 tons acquired for the trial burn, if a trial burn of more than 400 tons is proposed. For CDD wood fuel, each sample must be a composite of 20 one quart samples representative of the trial period. Large particle size solid fuel must be pulverized and thoroughly mixed prior to sample reduction and analysis using a Department approved method. Enough fuel must be available to conduct a trial burn for each proposed fuel blend to allow sampling over an 8 hour period. The characterization results for secondary materials proposed to be used as fuel may be obtained from the source, provided the results are representative of the secondary material on an ongoing basis. Fuel blended from proposed secondary materials and the conventional fuel combusted at the facility must be characterized by the applicant, unless this requirement is waived by the Department, by analysis for the parameters below:

(i) TCLP metals;

(ii) Total Arsenic and Lead;

(iii) Physical characterization using Department approved methods; and,

(iv) Other parameters as required by the Department.

(b) Information outlining the objectives of the trial burn, how the secondary material for the trial burn will be transported, stored, and otherwise managed, the quantity of secondary material to be burned, the scheduled times and dates of the trial burn, a protocol for characterization of the fuel blend(s) to be used during the trial burn that includes collection of 1 sample per 400 tons of each different blend of fuel provided a minimum of 4 samples are taken, and an ash testing program needed to adequately characterize ash constituents and levels of pollutants.

(3) The trial burn will be conducted per the submitted trial burn procedure, and approvals obtained from both the Bureau of Air Quality and the Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management.

D.Application Requirements. The following information must be included in an application for fuel substitution submitted to the Department, on an application form provided by the Department:

(1) A description of the secondary material proposed for fuel use;

(2) The results of the trial burn, and any other appropriate information regarding the suitability of the secondary material for fuel use;

(3) An Operations Manual prepared in accordance with the requirements of this section;

(4) An U.S.G.S. 7.5 minute topographic map or equivalent map clearly showing the property boundary and location on that property of the boiler or cement kiln proposing the fuel substitution. GPS coordinates of the activity shall be provided in the project description; and,

(5) A signed contract or letter of intent from a facility(ies) licensed to accept all residues and bypass wastes.

E.Operating Requirements. All new and existing licensees must comply with the following operating requirements:

(1) The licensee shall ensure that activities associated with the combustion of secondary materials do not contaminate ground or surface water.

(2) The licensee shall prepare and maintain an operating manual of current policies and procedures related to the beneficial use of the secondary material as a fuel substitute. The operating manual shall include all information that would enable supervisory and operating personnel, and persons evaluating the beneficial use, to determine what sequence of operation, plans, diagrams, policies, procedures and legal requirements must be followed for orderly and successful operation on a daily and yearly basis. The manual must address all items contained in this section. The licensee shall take whatever measures are necessary to familiarize all personnel responsible for beneficial use with relevant sections of the operating manual, and shall provide and document regular training for personnel on the handling and management of secondary materials used as substitute fuels, and residues from the combustion of blended fuel.

(3) The licensee shall maintain a valid contract or agreement with a solid waste facility approved to accept bypassed waste and/or residues from the boiler or cement kiln. A waste characterization program for residues shall be included in the operating manual. All residues shall be characterized in accordance with the applicable provisions of 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 405, § 6.

(4) The licensee shall undertake suitable measures to control dust, litter (including fines from fuel and ash) and odors resulting from the use of secondary material as a fuel.

(5)Storage Requirements:

(a) All fuel substitution licensed under this section must occur at a facility designed and operated to collect, store and handle ash in enclosed buildings, or the equivalent (e.g., covered conveyors and transfer points, leak proof containers, tanks), to prevent fugitive dust emissions and to prevent direct exposure of the ash to the weather during collection, storage, handling and transport off site;

(b) Storage areas for secondary material for use as substitute fuel shall be clearly identified and public access excluded;

(c) Secondary material that cannot be used as substitute fuel by the boiler or cement kiln shall be removed and disposed at a facility licensed to accept it at least weekly unless other procedures have been reviewed and approved by the Department; and,

(d) Licensees shall manage fuel according to the fuel management plan.

(6) The licensee shall draft and implement a Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) Plan which will ensure that secondary materials used by the facility will remain consistent with the facility's fuel substitution license and applicable fuel quality standards in this rule. All sampling and analysis required in this section of the rule shall be done using Department approved methods, and in conformance with the requirements of the license(s) and applicable provisions of 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 405, § 6. If CDD wood fuel is licensed as a substitute fuel, the QA/QC Plan shall include the specific elements listed in sub-section F, below.

(7) Fuel Management Plan Requirements. The following shall be included in a plan for management of secondary materials used as fuel:

(a) A detailed description of the fuel storage area and its operation including: an asphalt or concrete base pad shown in plain view along with typical cross sections; provisions for leachate management, collection and disposal; and control of wind blown fines;

(b) A description of fuel flow through the facility that provides for consumption of oldest fuel first and a plan view of the storage pad at a minimum scale of 1"=50' that depicts the sequence of fuel flow, oldest to newest, throughout the pad area;

(c) Procedures for blending or metering in fuel;

(d) Procedures for minimizing fuel stockpile volume and fuel fire risk for the duration of planned shutdowns;

(e) For facilities that store fuel outside, an Environmental Monitoring Program designed and implemented in accordance with the applicable provisions of 06-09 6 C.M.R. ch. 405, unless the Department determines a program is not required; and,

(f) A storage pad inspection and maintenance program that provides for annual inspection and repair of the pad.

(8) A hazardous and special waste exclusion plan shall be developed and implemented in accordance with the requirements of 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 400, §9, using the template in Appendix A of 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 400.

F.Additional Operating Requirements When CDD Wood Fuel Is Used. All new and existing licensees that accept CDD wood fuel must comply with the following operating requirements:

(1) In addition to the specific elements listed in sub-section E (7), above, the fuel management plan shall include:

(a) A size limit on wood fuel pile(s) containing CDD wood fuel to no more than 8 weeks of fuel; and,

(b) A fire safety action plan that includes procedures for monitoring internal pile temperatures or the use of thermal imaging devices or other technology that provide for maintaining internal pile temperatures less than 185 degrees Fahrenheit. The fire safety action plan must describe procedures and equipment that will be used when internal pile temperatures meet or exceed 185 degrees Fahrenheit or in the event of a pile fire. The fire safety action plan shall be submitted to the local fire safety authority for its review. If that authority makes recommendations concerning the plan, those recommendations shall be included in the plan prior to submittal to the Department. The Department may waive the requirement for a fire safety action plan upon a showing that such a plan is not warranted due to small volumes of CDD wood fuel proposed to be stored and/or short residency times in storage.

(2)QA/QC Plan Elements. To ensure that CDD wood fuel and blended fuel used by the facility will remain consistent with the fuel quality standards of this section, the QA/QC Plan shall address the following elements:

(a) CDD wood fuel elements:

(i) Sampling for physical characterization of substitute fuel may be contracted by either the source or the licensee. All work involved in certifying that the fuel meets the standards for CDD wood fuel must be done by a qualified third party, independent from the fuel source and the licensee. For the purpose of this requirement, independent of the source and the licensee means personnel certifying the fuel are not in the direct employment of the source or the licensee. The third party must be employed by a company under a contractual relationship with the source or the licensee, and the company must offer the same services to multiple parties. Physical characterization results shall be provided to both the source and the licensee by the independent third party within 3 days of the date the laboratory analyses are reported;

(ii) Physical sampling and analysis must be done in conformance with procedures established in 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 405, § 6(C)(6), using laboratories certified for the required analyses, if applicable. Statistical analysis of characterization data shall be performed in accordance with 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 405, § 6(C)(6). Analytical results shall be submitted to the Department in EDD format;

(iii) Unless an alternative sampling program is approved by the Department, a minimum of 4 composite samples collected on 4 different days, over a period of no fewer than 15 and no more than 30 consecutive days is necessary to certify each new source;

(iv) Annually thereafter, each source must be recertified. For recertification, a minimum of 1 composite sample per 10,000 tons received in the last calendar year is required; however, annual recertification must be based on a minimum of 4 samples per source. Each sample must be a composite of a minimum of 20 one quart samples.

Facilities that process fewer than 4 times per year and produce a total of less than 10,000 tons per year may instead collect either:

a. a total of 3 samples during the year, where each of the 3 samples is a composite of a minimum of 20 one quart samples; or

b. a total of 2 replicate samples during each processing event, where each replicate sample is a composite of a minimum of 30 one quart samples taken from different horizontal and vertical locations in the stockpile.

(v) For each source, the following information must be documented:

a. the name, location and a detailed description of the fuel processing methodology;

b. the compliance history for the past 5 years;

c. the estimated tons per year of fuel the source generates;

d. the estimated tons per year of fuel that will be supplied to the licensee;

e. a determination that the source has a program equivalent to the licensee's Hazardous and Special Waste Exclusion Plan, and that the source has procedures for the removal of hazardous waste, arsenic and pentachlorophenol treated, charred or burned wood prior to processing fuel;

f. a description of the method by which the licensee will evaluate and accept or reject the fuel certification information provided by the independent third party fuel inspector;

g. documentation that the source supplies CDD wood fuel that meets or exceeds the CDD fuel quality standards in this section; and,

h. a description of the method to inspect and accept or reject each load of CDD wood fuel.

(b)Blended fuel elements:

(i) Physical sampling of the blended fuel may be done either by a qualified contractor, or by employees of the licensee who are trained in sampling techniques; and,

(ii) Unless an alternative plan is approved by the Department, on a monthly basis the designated sampler shall collect and properly store an 8-hour composite sample of the approved blended fuel from the conveyor feeding the boiler. Two subsequent monthly composites shall be combined for a quarterly composite, and the quarterly composite shall be analyzed for the chemical parameters arsenic and lead.

(3)Fuel Quality Standards for CDD Wood. Analytical data from a proposed source of processed CDD wood must be examined by the licensee and the source found to consistently produce a product that meets or exceeds the following CDD wood fuel quality standards prior to blending with other fuels at the licensee's facility. Analytical data that is available from the CDD wood fuel processor, provided it is representative of the CDD wood fuel generated by the CDD wood fuel processor at that time, the characterization meets the requirements below and an agreement that is acceptable to the person who contracted for the data has been reached, may be used to demonstrate compliance with the following CDD wood fuel quality standards:

(a) Non-combustible fraction exclusive of rocks, brick, and concrete < 1%

(b) Plastics < 1%

(c) CCA (chromated copper arsenate) treated wood < 2%

(d) #4 minus fines (for publicly owned sources regulated under the Maine Solid Waste Management Rules) < 20%

(e) #4 minus fines (for sources other than publicly owned) < 15%

(4)Fuel Quality Standards for Blended Fuel . The fuel quality standards below must be met by the fuel substitution licensee after any blending of secondary materials with conventional fuels and prior to combustion.

(a) Arsenic < 50 mg/kg

(b) Lead < 375 mg/kg

(5)Failure to Meet the Fuel Quality Standards. If sampling conducted under the provisions of the QA/QC Plan detects fuel that fails to meet the fuel quality standards, the licensee or source shall:

(a) Notify the Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management of the failed result(s) as soon as possible, but within 24 hours after the detection;

(b) Using the split sample collected at the same time as the sample that failed, retest within 3 days of receipt of notification of non-compliance with the standards. Conduct: a statistical analysis in conformance with the approved QA/QC Plan of the data from the sampling and testing program; identification of the sources which may have caused or contributed to the possible deterioration of the fuel quality; and an assessment of possible errors, such as errors in sampling, analysis or mathematical problems with the test data;

NOTE: When a source learns CDD wood fuel has failed to meet the physical fuel characterization standards, it will test the split sample required to be retained under 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 405, § 6(C)(6)(a) (vi).

(c) Within 24 hours of the detection, characterize ash onsite in accordance with the ash sampling and characterization plan, and notify the disposal facility that samples of fuel failed to meet the fuel quality standards;

NOTE: If hazardous waste ash is disposed, the licensee may be responsible for management of the ash under the applicable provisions of 38 M.R.S. §§1301 through 1319-Y; and the Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 06-096 C.M.R. ch. 850 through ch. 858.

(d) Within 24 hours of the detection, characterize stored CDD wood fuel from the same source as the failed test in accordance with the QA/QC Plan;

(e) Notify the Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management of the results/status of the evaluation conducted in accordance with (b) through (d), above, within 3 days of its completion;

(f) If the evaluation conducted by the licensee confirms that the fuel does not meet the "Fuel Quality Standards for CDD Wood" in sub-section F(3), above, notify the source(s) of the substandard fuel. If the evaluation is conducted by the source, notify the licensee of the substandard fuel. Combustion of CDD wood fuel from that source shall cease until its fuel is demonstrated to be compliant with the CDD fuel standards. Within 14 days of the notification, either the licensee or the source shall submit to the Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management for its review a report describing and documenting correction of the circumstances or conditions that caused the fuel to become non-compliant with the fuel quality standards; and,

(g) Acceptance of fuel from a source may commence only after the report required pursuant to sub-division (f), above, is approved by the Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management; or the Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management concludes after review of the sampling and analytical results or the evaluation conducted in accordance with (b) through (e), above, that continued acceptance of the fuel does not pose an unreasonable risk to public health or the environment.

06- 096 C.M.R. ch. 418, § 8