^      United States Environmental Protection      Office of Water          EPA-821-F-05-012
               *     Agency                            4303T                December 2005
             o^     'RON AN° STEEL MANUFACTURING
      4t pRQt^&      Final Amendments to the Effluent Limitations Guidelines for
                     the Iron and Steel Manufacturing Point Source Category


EPA published a final rule to change the effluent guidelines for the Iron and Steel Manufacturing Industry.
 The Agency restored the provision that allows the use of alternative oil and grease limitations in NPDES
permits and corrected errors in the effective dates of new source performance standards for this industry.

Background
In October 2002, EPA promulgated an amendment to the iron and steel regulation. This amendment,
among other things, changed the scope of the water bubble provision to exclude oil and grease trading. At
that time, the Agency was concerned about the differences in the types of oil and grease used among iron
and steel operations. The water bubble offers regulatory flexibility in allowing the iron and steel industry to
trade identical pollutants within a mill that discharges into surface waters at more than one location.  In
response to a petition from the regulated community and upon further review,  on August 10, 2005, the
Agency proposed several minor changes that allow oil and grease trading subject to the restriction
described below.

About the Final Rule
The final rule restores the provision authorizing alternative oil and grease limitations for iron and steel
mills that discharge into surface waters at more than one location.

The changes to the rule prohibit the trading of oil and grease discharged form  sintering operations unless
the alternative limitations are more stringent than the October 2002 rule.

This is in addition to the October 2002 regulation that already contains a restriction applying to the trading
of any pollutant, including oil and  grease. Cokemaking process  wastewater trading is prohibited unless the
alternative limitations are more stringent than the current rule.

Finally, the amendment corrects a  date for new source performance standards  that was incorrectly
transcribed from the version signed by the Administrator in 2002.

Environmental Benefits and Cost of the Final Rule
EPA anticipates no changes in environmental benefits and compliance costs as a result of this action.

Additional Information
For more information, please call Elwood Forsht at 202-566-1025 or  send an email to forsht.elwood@epa.gov. You
can also learn more about this amendment by visiting EPA's Internet  web site at
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/ironsteel/.

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