Final Amendments to Air Toxics Standards for the Surface Coating of Wood Building Products: Fact Sheet ACTION • On December 20, 2018 the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized amendments to the Surface Coating of Wood Building Products National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP). • EPA is finalizing these amendments to enhance the effectiveness of the rule by improving compliance with federal air emissions standards and increasing the efficiency of data submissions. • On May 28, 2003, EPA issued the Surface Coating of Wood Building Products air toxics emission standards. The rule applies to facilities that perform surface coating operations to produce a variety of products including flooring, interior paneling and exterior siding. • The emission units covered under the NESHAP include all coating operations; coatings conveyors and transfer equipment; and storage, mixing and waste containers. • Following a residual risk and technology review conducted under the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA is: o Eliminating the startup, shutdown and malfunction exemption, o Requiring facilities to submit electronic copies of compliance reports, including performance tests, semiannual reports and notices of compliance status, o Requiring all deviations to be reported in semiannual reports, o Adding an alternative compliance demonstration equation. o Requiring periodic performance testing for facilities demonstrating compliance with the standards using the new alternative compliance demonstration equation, o Providing a 6-month period to allow affected facilities sufficient time to understand the changes and achieve compliance. • EPA is issuing these amendments to improve the effectiveness of the rule. Because risks were found to be acceptable, EPA is not promulgating any specific amendment to reduce residual risk. RESIDUAL RISK ASSESSMENT • The CAA requires EPA to assess the risk remaining after application of the final air toxics standards. This is known as a residual risk assessment. • After assessing the risk from exposure to toxic air emissions from the surface coating wood building products, EPA is finalizing its determination that the emission standards provide an acceptable level of risk with an ample margin of safety to protect public health. • The maximum individual cancer risk for inhalation for the source category is estimated to be 1-in-l million. • The maximum individual chronic non-cancer Hazard Index for the source category is estimated to be below 1. 1 ------- • The maximum acute hazard quotient is below 1. • The risks are low and well within what is considered acceptable. TECHNOLOGY REVIEW • The CAA requires EPA to assess, review and revise air toxics standards as necessary, taking into account developments in practices, processes and control technologies since the standards were first issued. • The technology assessment for surface coating of wood building products did not identify any technological developments to reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants. BACKGROUND • The CAA requires EPA to regulate toxic air pollutants, also known as air toxics, from categories of industrial facilities in two phases. • The first phase is "technology-based," where EPA develops standards for controlling the emissions of air toxics from sources in an industry group (or "source category"). These maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards are based on emissions levels that are already being achieved by the best-controlled and lower-emitting sources in an industry. • Within 8 years of setting MACT standards, the CAA directs EPA to assess the remaining health risks from each source category to determine whether the MACT standards protect public health with an ample margin of safety and protect against adverse environmental effects. This second phase is a "risk-based" approach called residual risk. Here, EPA must determine whether more health-protective standards are necessary. • Also, every 8 years after setting MACT standards, the CAA requires that EPA review and revise the standards, if necessary, to account for improvements in air pollution controls and/or prevention. • The Surface Coating of Wood Building Products NESHAP is one of 96 air toxic standards that require 174 industry sectors to eliminate 1.7 million tons of 187 toxic air pollutants that are listed by Congress in the CAA. FOR MORE INFORMATION • To download a copy of the final rule notice, go to EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/surface-coating-wood-building- products-national-emission-standard-1. • Today's action notice and other background information are also available either electronically at http://www.regulations.gov. EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, or in hardcopy at the EPA Docket Center's Public Reading Room. o The Public Reading Room is located at EPA Headquarters library, room number 3334 in the EPA WJC West Building, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, 2 ------- DC. Hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. eastern standard time, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays, o Visitors are required to show photographic identification, pass through a metal detector and sign the EPA visitor log. All visitor materials will be processed through an X-ray machine as well. Visitors will be provided a badge that must be visible at all times. o Materials for this action can be accessed using Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2016- 0678. • For further technical information about the rule, contact John Bradfield at EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, at (919) 541-3062 or at bradfield.john@epa.gov. 3 ------- |