This document was developed for the Proposed Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule.
For the final document, please visit the final Mandatory Reporting of
Greenhouse Gases Rule.
Iron and Steel Production
- United Slates
Proposed Rule: Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Environmental Protection
Under the proposed Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) rule, owners or operators of
facilities that contain iron and steel production processes (as defined below) and that emit 25,000 metric
tons of GHGs per year or more (expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents) from stationary combustion,
miscellaneous use of carbonates, and other source categories (see information sheet on General
Provisions) would report emissions from all source categories located at the facility for which emission
calculation methods are defined in the rule. Owners or operators would collect emission data; calculate
GHG emissions; and follow the specified procedures for quality assurance, missing data, recordkeeping,
and reporting.
How Is This Source Category Defined?
Under the proposal, the iron and steel production source category consists of facilities with any of the following
processes:
• Taconite iron ore processing.
• Integrated iron and steel manufacturing.
• Coke making not co-located with an integrated iron and steel manufacturing process.
• Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking not co-located with an integrated iron and steel manufacturing
process.
Integrated iron and steel manufacturing means the production of steel from iron ore or iron ore pellets. At a
minimum, an integrated iron and steel manufacturing process has a basic oxygen furnace for refining molten iron
into steel. Each coke-making process and EAF process located at a facility with an integrated iron and steel
manufacturing process is part of the integrated iron and steel manufacturing facility.
What GHGs Would Be Reported?
The proposal calls for facilities to report the following emissions annually:
• Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from fuel combustion at each
stationary combustion unit according to the requirements in 40 CFR part 98, subpart C (General Stationary
Fuel Combustion Sources). Stationary combustion units include taconite furnaces, direct reduction
furnaces, sintering processes, byproduct recovery coke oven battery combustion stacks, blast furnace
stoves, boilers, process heaters, reheat furnaces, annealing furnaces, flares, flame suppression, ladle
reheaters, and any other miscellaneous combustion sources. The information sheet on general stationary
fuel combustion sources summarizes the proposal for calculating and reporting emissions from these units.
• CO2 process emissions from each taconite indurating furnace, basic oxygen furnace, nonrecovery coke
oven battery combustion stack, sinter process, EAF, argon-oxygen decarburization vessel, and direct
reduction furnace.
• CO2 emissions from each coke pushing process.
In addition, each facility would report GHG emissions for any other source categories for which calculation methods
are provided in other subparts of the rule.
March 2009 1 EPA-430-F-09-018
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This document was developed for the Proposed Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule.
For the final document, please visit the final Mandatory Reporting of
Greenhouse Gases Rule.
How Would GHG Emissions Be Calculated?
Facilities would calculate GHG emissions as follows:
• For CO2 process emissions at each taconite indurating furnace, basic oxygen furnace, nonrecovery coke
oven battery, sinter processes, EAF, argon-oxygen decarburization vessel, and direct reduction furnace;
owners and operators would calculate emissions using one of the three methods, as appropriate:
o Kilns with certain types of continuous emissions monitors (CEMS) in place would report using the
CEMS and follow the methodology of 40 CFR part 98, subpart C to report total CO2 emissions
from calcination and fuel combustion. At other kilns, the use of CEMS would be optional.
o Kilns without CEMS could choose either one of the two calculation methods below:
> Use a carbon balance method described in the rule to calculate the mass emissions rate of
CO2 in each calendar month for each process, based on the monthly mass of inputs and
outputs and the respective weight fraction of carbon in each process input or output that
contains carbon. Use separate procedures and equations for taconite indurating furnaces,
basic oxygen process furnaces, nonrecovery coke oven batteries, sinter processes, EAFs,
argon-oxygen decarburization vessels, and direct reduction furnaces.
> Use a site-specific emission factor determined from a performance test that measures CO2
emissions from all exhaust stacks for the process and also measures either the feed rate of
materials into the process or the production rate during the test in metric tons per hour.
• For coke oven pushing, use a CO2 emission factor provided in the rule.
What Information Would Be Reported?
In addition to the information required by the General Provisions at 40 CFR 98.3 (c), the proposal calls for each
annual report to contain the following information for process emissions from each taconite indurating furnace,
basic oxygen furnace, nonrecovery coke oven battery, sinter process, EAF, argon-oxygen decarburization vessel,
and direct reduction furnace, as applicable:
• Annual CO2 emissions by calendar quarter.
• Annual total for all process inputs and outputs when the carbon balance is used for specific processes by
calendar quarter (short tons).
• Annual production quantity (in metric tons) for taconite pellets, coke, sinter, iron, and raw steel by calendar
quarter.
• Production capacity (in tons per year) and number of operating hours for the production of taconite pellets,
coke, sinter, iron, and raw steel.
• Annual operating hours for taconite furnaces, coke oven batteries, sinter production, blast furnaces, direct
reduced iron furnaces, and electric arc furnaces.
• Site-specific emission factors for all process units for which the site-specific emission factor approach is
used.
Facilities that use CEMS would also report the data specified in 40 CFR 98.34(d) of subpart C (General Stationary
Fuel Combustion Sources).
For More Information
This series of information sheets is intended to assist reporting facilities/owners in understanding key provisions of
the proposed rule. However, these information sheets are not intended to be a substitution for the rule. Visit EPA's
Web site (www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgrulemaking.html) for more information, including the
proposed preamble and rule and additional information sheets on specific industries, or go to
March 2009 2 EPA-430-F-09-018
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This document was developed for the Proposed Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule.
For the final document, please visit the final Mandatory Reporting of
Greenhouse Gases Rule.
to access the rulemaking docket (EPA-HQ OAR-2008-0508). For questions that cannot be
answered through the Web site or docket, call 1-877-GHG-l 188.
March 2009 3 EPA-430-F-09-018
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