NCEE Working Paper

Ex Ante Costs vs. Ex Post Costs of
the Large Municipal Waste
Combustor Rule

Cynthia Morgan and Carl A. Pasurka, Jr.

Working Paper 21-01
April, 2021

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	Of

National Center for Environmental Economics	fw

https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics	environmental\conomics


-------
Ex Ante Costs vs. Ex Post Costs of the Large
Municipal Waste Combustor Rule

Cynthia Morgan
and

Carl A. Pasurka, Jr.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1809T)
Office of Policy
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460

Phone:(202)566-2275

E-Mail: PASURKA.CARL@EPA.GOV

April, 2021

We wish to thank Sofie Miller and Art Fraas for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper that was
presented at the 2018 conference of the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis in Washington, D.C. We also wish to
thank Nathalie Simon, Larry Sorrels, and Charlene Spells for helpful comments on a later draft of this paper. Any
errors, opinions, or conclusions are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.

1


-------
Abstract

This paper compares EPA's ex ante cost analysis of the large municipal waste combustor (MWC) rule to an ex
post assessment of its cost. For our analysis of the MWC rule, we use plant-level data from the U.S. Department
of Energy annual survey of pollution abatement expenditures by steam-electric power plants and from a survey
of municipal waste combustor plants compiled by Government Advisory Associates. We find the ex post capital
expenditures for nitrogen oxides control systems are typically lower than the EPA ex ante estimates, while ex
post capital expenditures for mercury control systems tend to be higher than the EPA ex ante estimates. Finally,
the comparison of ex post capital expenditures for particulate and sulfur dioxide control to ex ante capital costs
are mixed. While a few plants are outliers when comparing the ratio of ex post capital costs to ex ante capital,
the mean of the comparison across plants is near unity.

JEL Codes: Q52, Q53, Q58

Keywords: retrospective cost analysis, municipal waste combustor, air regulation, compliance costs

DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In addition, although the research described in this paper may have been funded
entirely or in part by the U.S. EPA, it has not been subjected to the Agency's required peer and policy review. No official
Agency endorsement should be inferred.

2


-------
I. INTRODUCTION

In 2014, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the results of an ex post evaluation of
the costs of five regulations (Simon and Blomquist, 2014; U.S. EPA, 2014). As had been done in previous
evaluations of federal regulations, these assessments used a case study approach that examined the
relationship between ex ante and ex post costs. What differentiated EPA's case studies from earlier studies is
the EPA developed a conceptual framework for their ex post assessments. This common framework provided a
systematic way to evaluate the general accuracy of ex ante estimates and identify factors that led to the
differences between ex ante and ex post costs. Reasons ex ante and ex post costs may differ include
unanticipated changes in costs of energy, markets, and the rate of technological innovation.

In this paper, we use this conceptual framework to compare ex ante costs to the ex post estimates of
costs incurred by large municipal waste combustor plants at the time of December 2000 compliance date of
EPA's Municipal Waste Combustor (MWC) rule. This exercise is not an evaluation of the accuracy of the EPA's ex
ante analysis at the time of the rulemaking. Instead, we gather information on the key drivers of compliance
costs to make an informed judgment as to whether ex post costs are higher or lower than the estimated ex ante
costs. This information allows us to observe whether actual costs diverged from ex ante costs and, if so, what
factors caused this divergence.

This case study is unique, because unlike many other case studies that evaluate aggregate ex ante and
ex post costs, we compare ex ante and ex post costs of individual MWC plants operating in 2000. Several
unanticipated changes occurred between 1995, when the rule was promulgated, and the 2000 compliance date
that prevented a comparison of the direct aggregate costs of compliance. First, a 1997 court vacatur of the 1995
MWC rule required the promulgation of separate rules for small and large MWC units. Because the separate
rules resulted in some plants being classified as small plants, the number of plants covered by the new large
MWC rule was a subset of the plants subject to the original 1995 MWC rule. And then, the number of plants
affected by the rule was smaller than predicted due to cancelled construction plans and plant closures. It

3


-------
follows that unless ex post costs per plant were substantially higher than ex ante costs per plant, the decline in
the number of MWC plants subject to the rule alone would result in aggregate ex post costs being dramatically
lower than the aggregate ex ante cost estimates.

This retrospective analysis of the MWC rule adds to the number of ex post cost evaluations conducted
by the EPA (Wolverton et al, 2018; Simon and Blomquist, 2014; U.S. EPA, 2014). The 1995 MWC rule was
randomly selected from 42 "economically significant" EPA rules promulgated between 1995 and 2005.1
Municipal waste combustors (U.S. EPA, 1994b) are waste-to-energy plants that generate energy from
combusting municipal solid waste. Combusting MSW generates pollutants such as particulate matter and
metals that are released into the air. The EPA is required to regulate non-hazardous emissions from MWCs
under Sections 111 and 129 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). As a result, the EPA proposed emission standards and
guidelines for the following categories of pollutants generated by new and existing MWC units: (1) organics
(including dioxins/furans), (2) metals (cadmium, lead, mercury, particulate matter (PM)), and (3) acid gases
(sulfur dioxide (S02) and hydrogen chloride (HCI)). The final rule, which plants had to comply with no later than
December 2000, sought to reduce emissions of these air pollutants by approximately 145,000 tons per year.

The remainder of this paper is organized in the following manner. Section II outlines the impetus and
timeline for regulatory action associated with the rule, and Section III discusses EPA ex ante cost estimates.
Section IV outlines information available for the ex post analysis, while Section V compares the ex ante and ex
post cost estimates for each MWC plant. Finally, Section VI summarizes the paper.

II. IMPETUS AND TIMELINE FOR REGULATORY ACTION

Using section 111 of the 1977 CAA Amendments, on December 20, 1989 the EPA (1989b, 1989e)
proposed new source performance standards (NSPS) - subpart Ea - for new MWC plants and emission guidelines
(EG) - subpart Ca - for existing MWC plants. These subparts were promulgated in 1991 and applied to large

1A regulation is economically significant if it has costs or benefits of $100 million or more in any single year. The costs and
benefits must be assessed for rules that are economically significant as required by Executive Order 12866.

4


-------
MWCs with capacities above 225 megagrams per day (Mg/day) (approximately 250 tons per day). However, the
CAA Amendments were enacted in 1990 and added Section 129. Section 129 required the EPA to develop NSPS
and emission guidelines for both large and small MWCs and included a schedule for revising the 1991 standards
and guidelines. When the EPA (1995) did not comply with the schedule in section 129, the Sierra Club, National
Resources Defense Council, and the Integrated Waste Services Association filed a complaint in the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of New York.

In December 1995, the EPA promulgated its final MWC rule, which was consistent with sections 111 and
129 of the Clean Air Act and extended the standards and guidelines to all units at plants with aggregate
capacities exceeding 35 Mg/day (about 40 tons per day). The emission standards and guidelines applied to the
following categories of pollutants generated by new and existing MWC units: (1) organics (including
dioxins/furans), (2) metals (cadmium, lead, mercury (Hg), particulate matter (PM)), and (3) acid gases (e.g.,
sulfur dioxide (S02), nitrogen oxide (NOx)) and hydrogen chloride (HCI)). The standards for new sources under
this rule were more stringent than the 1991 final rule. The final standards (subpart Eb) applied to new MWC
plants whose construction started after September 20, 1994 or existing plants that initiated modifications or
reconstruction after June 19, 1996. The 1991 subpart Ea standards remained in effect for new plants
constructed or existing plants modified or reconstructed between December 20, 1989 and September 20, 1994.

While subpart Ea remained in effect in the 1995 final rule, the EPA withdrew subpart Ca guidelines and,
in its place, promulgated subpart Cb. The guidelines under subpart Cb were more stringent in some cases than
the guidelines under subpart Ea. The control technologies needed to meet subpart Ea NSPS emission limits
would also achieve compliance with subpart Cb guidelines (U.S. EPA, 1995). However, subpart Cb now required
supplemental technology to reduce Hg and fugitive ash emissions. Subpart Cb guidelines were also more
stringent than subpart Ca guidelines (U.S. EPA, 1995) because they required MWC plants to install air pollution
control equipment based on Maximum Achievable Control Contrology (MACT) rather the Best Demonstrated
Technology (BDT) required by subpart Ca guidelines.

5


-------
However, in December 1996 the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Davis
County Solid Waste Management and Energy Recovery Special Service District v. US EPA vacated the entire
December 1995 rule. The court determined the 1990 CAA Amendments required the EPA to establish separate
regulations for large and small MWC units (see Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1998). As a result, the court
decided the EPA incorrectly assigned small MWC units located at plants with aggregate capacities exceeding 225
Mg/day to the large plant category. The EPA appealed the decision and requested the large MWC portion of the
rule remain in effect. In March 1997, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
accommodated EPA's request and revised its vacatur to cover only the NSPS and emission guidelines for small
MWC units.

In August 1997, the EPA responded to the court ruling by modifying its 1995 MWC rule so only large
MWC units were subject to subparts Cb and Eb.2 Despite the vacatur, the timeframes established for subparts
Cb, Ea, and Eb remained unchanged when the MWC rule was promulgated in December 1995 (US. EPA, 1995).
Hence, final compliance with subpart Cb was still mandated by December 19, 2000. Because the revised MACT
floors changed the regulated entity from plants to units, those units subject to subpart Cb also needed to
achieve compliance with supplemental emission limits for lead, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen chloride no later
than August 26, 2002, or three years after EPA approved the state plan, whichever was first (see U.S. EPA, 1997).

III. EPA EX ANTE COST ESTIMATES

Because the standards and guidelines in the 1995 final rule could be met using the control technologies
that were the basis for the standards and guidelines in the proposed rule published in 1994, EPA did not revise
the economic analysis (EA) conducted in support of the proposed rule (U.S. EPA, 1994a). In the EA, EPA used two
baselines to estimate the air emission and cost impacts of the guidelines and standards: (1) a pre-1989 baseline

2 In December 2000, the EPA (2000a, 2000b) issued its final rule for NSPS and existing small MWC plants with units whose
capacities ranged between 35 and 250 tpd.

6


-------
(control level prior to the 1991 subpart Ea standards) and (2) a 1991 baseline (control level under the 1991
subpart Ea standards).

The EPA estimated 72 MWC plants would be subject to the NSPS provisions of the proposed rule in
2000. Of these plants, 48 would be subject to subpart Ea and 24 would be subject to subpart Eb. The total
capital cost of complying with subparts Ea and Eb standards relative to the pre-1989 baseline was estimated to
be $769 million (in 1990 dollars). This cost consists of the capital cost of complying with the subpart Ea
standards (i.e, the 1991 standards), which was estimated to be $613 million (in 1990 dollars), plus the
incremental capital cost of complying with the subpart Eb standards (i.e, incremental to the 1991 standards),
which was estimated to be $156 million.

The EPA (1995) also projected a universe of 179 MWC plants would be subject to subpart Cb. The
capital cost of complying with subpart Cb relative to the pre-1989 baseline was estimated to be $2,100 million
(in 1990 dollars). This total capital cost consists of $888 million in capital costs associated with the subpart Ca
guidelines, which would be incurred by 158 plants, plus incremental capital costs of $1,212 million incurred by
21 plants from the impacts of the 1995 subpart Cb guidelines (based on a pre-1989 baseline)

Main Components of the Ex Ante Cost Estimates

Although the MACT was based on per unit capacity, the EPA did not develop cost estimates for actual
MWC plants or units. Instead, it developed a set of cost estimates based on model plants that reflected the
regulated plants. The EPA (1994a) created 16 model plant categories for existing MWC plants and 11 categories
for NSPS MWCs to represent regulated MWC plants. Model plants for existing MWC plants were based on
representative characteristics of existing plants, while the model plants for NSPS plants were based on
characteristics of recently built plants or plants under construction (UC) at the time the rule was written.

The model plants captured design characteristics such as combustion technologies, air pollution control
devices (APCD), and capacity. For existing MWCs, EPA assigned a combustion technology, capacity, and baseline

7


-------
APCD to each model plant category. New MWCs have no baseline APCDs. The standards and guidelines for new
and existing MWCs did not mandate specific technologies. However, the EPA (1994a) assumed various
technologies would be installed to meet emission limits. EPA predicted most new MWCs would use a spray
dryer (SD) and fabric filter (FF) configuration (i.e., SD/FF), while existing MWCs would retrofit either a SD/FF
configuration or a SD and electrostatic precipitator (ESP) configuration (i.e., SD/ESP) to reduce dioxin/furans,
acid gas, PM, and metals. EPA expected MWCs would use activated carbon injection (CI) for controlling Hg
emissions and selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR) to control NOx emissions (U.S. EPA 1995). Contingent on
the baseline APCD, the EPA assigned the model plant one or more of these potential control technologies to
meet the new standards then estimated incremental capital and annual operating costs of this APCD
configuration compared to the baseline APCD.

Main Sources of Uncertainty in Ex Ante Cost Estimates

For the final rule the EPA did not estimate the number of MWC construction plans that might be
cancelled or the number of existing plants that might shutdown due to the regulation. At the time the rule was
promulgated, EPA (1995) acknowledged new data suggested fewer new MWCs were being constructed, which
would reduce the aggregate costs of meeting the standards. EPA also recognized that if the regulation raised
tipping fees for MWCs then some MWCs might switch to less costly options for disposing municipal waste. In
either case, aggregate costs and emissions would be lower. The EPA recognized its estimates potentially over-
estimated the effect of the rule and the impacts of the final rule were characterized as the worst-case scenario
from implementation of the new standards.

IV. INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO CONDUCT EX POST EVALUATION

During the implementation of the large MWC rule, the evolution of the MWC industry was well-
documented, providing detailed information on plant closures and how the EPA reclassified plants between the

8


-------
large and small size categories. We used a combination of EPA inventories of MWCs and non-EPA sources to
identify the names and plant characteristics of the large MWC's subject to the 1995 final rule. These plants
make up the database used in our analysis. The various sources and the data collected from these sources are
described in this section.

To begin, we used the 1991 EPA inventory of all existing MWC plants that would be subject to the
proposed guidelines (see Fenn and Nebel, 1992) to identify the baseline universe of MWCs. Using a combination
of EPA inventories and non-EPA sources, we identified plants that were operating and those that shut down
during the 1990-1995 period leading up to the promulgation of the 1995 MWC rule. To identify the large MWC
plants from that universe we used two EPA inventories: (1) the revised 1995 inventory of large MWC units (see
Cone and Kane, 1997), which incorporated changes resulting from the 1997 court vacatur, identified the
universe of large MWCs at the time the 1995 rule was promulgated, and (2) the 2000 inventory of large MWC
units (see Huckaby, 2002a), which reported the universe of large MWCs when the revised large MWC rule came
into effect.3

Because some MWC units were reclassified between the large and small categories, inventories of small
MWC plants were used to clarify those changes. The inventories of small MWC plants used include: (1) the 1995
inventory (see Tucker, 1999 and 2000), (2) the 1998 inventory (see Tucker, 1998), (3) the 2001 inventory (see
Huckaby, 2001), and (4) the 2005 inventory (see Huckaby, 2006). Finally, the 2010 inventory of large and small
MWCs (see Rudzinski, 2012) was used to identify plants closures and plant reclassifications from large to small
during the decade after the rule came into effect.

We used several non-EPA sources to supplement the EPA inventories to identify plant characteristics
such as plant capacity and installed APCDs, but most importantly, these sources were used to obtain information
on the start-up year and operating status. The first source is Governmental Advisory Associates, Inc. (GAA),
which publishes directories of municipal waste facilities (see Berenyi and Gould 1988, 1991, 1993, and Berenyi

3 These inventories provide information on unit capacity, unit type, and installed APCDs.

9


-------
1997, 2006), that provide information on plant shutdowns and APCDs installed at each MWC.4 GAA also
prepared a U.S. DOE (2001) report, which listed 176 large and small MWC plants that operated at least one year
between 1980 and 1998. The information in this report included the MWC's name and location (by state),
capacity, technology, the year it opened, and the year it closed (if applicable).5 Another set of directories (Kiser,
1990, 1991, 1992) provided information on the (1) operating status, (2) capacity, and (3) installed APCDs of each
plant. We also used an inventory of plants compiled by Denison and Ruston (1990) that classified them based
on their status: (1) operating, (2) under construction, (3) planned, (4) blocked/cancelled/delayed, or (5) shut
down. Finally, the Energy Recovery Council (ERC), which was formerly known as the Integrated Waste Services
Association (IWSA), published directories of waste-to-energy plants which included information on the
combustor type, installed APCDs, and the year the plant started (ERC, various years; IWSA, 2007).

Several sources are used to identify MWC plants and units that were subject to subpart Ea or subpart
Eb. To identify the number of plants subject to subpart Ea, we use EPA's Office of Compliance and Enforcement
(OECA) Supporting Statements for information collection requests (ICRs), which collected data on units/plants
subject to the NSPS provisions of the MWC rule. In 1996, the OECA (U.S. EPA, 1996a) estimated 34 plants would
respond to its ICR. After discussions with the IWSA, the Supporting Statement for the 2001 ICR estimated seven
plants were subject to subpart Ea (U.S. EPA, 2001a, 2001b). Subsequent Supporting Statements for the 2007
and 2011 ICRs also estimated seven respondents were subject to subpart Ea (U.S. EPA, 2007 and 2011). These
ICR estimates match the estimate provided in a July 2000 EPA memo to the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (see Department of the Planet Earth et al., 2001) that reported 16 MWC units at 7 plants were
subject to subpart Ea. Finally, the Supporting Statement for the 2001 ICR estimated no plants were subject to
subpart Eb.

4	These inventories also provide information on the cancellations of planned MWCs. See Table A.4 in the Appendix for data
collected from GAA reports on MWCs. The Appendix is available from the authors upon request.

5	Prior to its 2001 inventory, in 1988 the U.S. DOE (1988) published an inventory of MWC plants.

10


-------
An important contribution of this study is identifying two independent surveys - one public and one
private - that collected air pollution abatement costs from MWCs. The public source of ex post cost estimates
for APCDs is the EIA-767 "Steam-Electric Plant Operation and Design Report" survey (see U.S. Department of
Energy, various years), and its successor EIA-860 "Annual Electric Generator Report." These annual surveys
request information on (1) the installed costs and operating costs for flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) units which
remove S02 emissions using spray dry scrubbing coupled with baghouses (fabric filters) and (2) the installed
costs of flue-gas particulate (FGP) collectors which remove particulate matter from the flue gas. Each survey
also asked respondents to report the year the FGD and FGP systems were installed. While the EIA-767 survey
also collected information on whether NOx or mercury abatement technologies are installed, it did not collect
information on their cost. However, the EIA-860 survey includes questions on capital costs of nitrogen oxide
and mercury control equipment.

We augment the EIA data with a private source of ex post APCD data. The data from GAA (Berenyi,
2006) includes the type of APCD(s) installed, the year of their installation, and costs of the device. Many MWC
plants provided data on the cost of pollution abatement control equipment under the heading of "Additional
Capital Cost" in the GAA, including the amount spent, the year the cost was incurred, and an explanation of the
purpose of the capital expenditure. Using this information, we can identify capital cost expenditures of FGD and
FGP units for some MWCs in addition to the cost of NOx or Hg control.6

V. EX POST ASSESSMENT OF COMPLIANCE COST
Regulated Universe

By mid-1989, there were approximately 161 MWC plants in operation, with construction projected to
start on another 120 MWCs prior to 1990. EPA (1989a) estimated all 161 existing MWC plants plus 39 of the
projected plants would be subject to its proposed regulations. By the time the 1991 rule was promulgated, the

6 The authors used their best judgement on whether to include some observations based on the description provided by
GAA on the APCD installed and the capital expenditure of those devices.

11


-------
EPA (1994b) anticipated 158 (large and small) MWC plants would be covered by subpart Ca. Of the 179 plants
(372 units) that existed when the rule was proposed in 1994 (U.S. EPA, 1994b),7 60 plants (137 units) with
aggregate capacities exceeding 35 Mg/day but not greater than 225 Mg/day were classified as small plants,
while 119 plants (235 units) with aggregate capacities exceeding 225 Mg per day were classified as large plants.
When subpart Cb was promulgated in late 1995, the EPA (1995) anticipated the 179 MWC plants would be
subject to the rule.

However, only 128 MWC plants with 307 units were operating when the rule was promulgated in 1995
(Cone and Kane, 1997). Of the 128 plants, 81 plants (209 units) were classified as large while 47 plants (98 units)
were classified as small. The 1997 court vacatur resulted in the reclassification of 18 plants (45 units) from the
large to small plant category. As a result, the revised 1995 inventory lists 63 large plants (164 units) and 65 small
plants (143 units) (see Cone and Kane, 1997). At the time of compliance with the rule, the 2000 inventory of
large MWCs (see Huckaby 2002a) lists 66 MWC plants (167 units) subject to subpart Cb. Four factors account for
the increase from 63 to 66 large MWC plants between 1995 and 2000: (1) four large MWC plants initiated
operations, (2) seven large MWC plants closed, (3) three plants were reclassified from the large MWC category
to the small MWC category, and (4) nine plants were reclassified from the small to large MWC category.8,9 The
name and location (by state) of the 66 large MWC plants operating in 2000 are listed in Table 1.

While most of the plants listed in Table 1 are existing MWC plants, some new plants were constructed
between 1995 and 2000 and subject to NSPS. When the rule was promulgated in 1995, EPA expected 48 newly
constructed plants would be subject to subpart Ea, while 24 plants would be subject to subpart Eb (U.S. EPA,
1995). However, we count only seven plants were subject to subpart Ea and one plant was subject to Eb. These

7	We were unable to identify the cause of the discrepancy between the 372 units at 179 plants reported by the U.S. EPA
(1994b) and the 436 units reported by the U.S. EPA (1994a).

8	See Table A.9 in Appendix for a description of plants whose change in status account for the differences between the 1995
(revised) and 2000 EPA inventories of large MWCs.

9	The nine MWC plants were initially classified as large MWCs, then reclassified as small MWCs in the revised 1995
Inventory (see Cone and Kane, 1997) due to the 1997 court vacatur, and then transferred back to the large MWC category
in the 2000 large MWC inventory.

12


-------
plants are identified by comparing the plants included in the 2000 EPA MWC inventory to the 1991 EPA MWC
inventory.

The seven plants subject to subpart Ea are identified in Table 1 by NSPS in parentheses next to the
facility name. The decision on whether to classify a plant as subject to subpart Ea or Eb was based on the best
available evidence. For example, one of the plants, Union County RRF (NJ), was included - with an SD/FF APCD
configuration - in the 1991 EPA inventory of existing MWC plants. However, we include it on our list of plants
subject to subpart Ea because both the 1995 and 2000 EPA inventories state that construction on the Union
County RRF started in 1992.10 Another plant, Hudson Falls (NY), is not listed in the 1991 EPA MWC inventory.
The 1995 EPA inventory does not provide a date when construction started at Hudson Falls, but lists its startup
date as 1992. Other sources (Kiser, 1990; Berenyi and Gould, 1988 and 1991) list its startup date as either 1990
or 1991. Therefore, we decided to classify the Hudson Fall plant as an existing MWC not subject to subpart Ea.
Finally, the SEMASS Resource Recovery Facility (MA) added a third boiler in 1993 that is subject to subpart Ea.
Using the subpart Eb criteria, only one new unit - unit 3 of the Central Wayne (Ml) plant - appears to be subject
to subpart Eb in 2000.11

Baseline Information

The Economic Analysis conducted in support of the rule developed the model plants using the May 1991
EPA inventory of MWC plants (Fenn and Nebel, 1992). Because we assume APCDs installed on or after
December 20, 1989 are undertaken to meet emission limits for the MWC rule, APCDs installed on MWCs
operating as of December 20, 1989 constitute baseline APCDs for our analysis. Approximately 30% of existing
MWC plants were under construction prior to December 20, 1989 and did not start operating until the early

10	Additional sources (Berenyi and Gould, 1993; Kiser,1992) corroborated the plant was under construction after 1991.
Since construction on Union County RFF appeared to start after 1991, we assume there was an error in the 1991 inventory
and include it as a new source and subject to subpart Ea.

11	In 1996, the U.S. EPA (1996b) determined that if the units of the Central Wayne (Ml) plant underwent a waste-to-energy
conversion, they would be subject to subpart Eb.

13


-------
1990's. These plants would have received permits from the state authorizing construction and operation of the
municipal waste combustor. The permits specified the pollution control equipment needed to meet emission
limits. At the time of construction, these plants would have needed to install ESP and DSI to comply with the
existing standards under the Clean Air Act for PM and S02. For our analysis, these plants are assigned ESP as
their baseline APCD configuration.12

Unlike the APCDs for new MWCs, which are set by NSPS, baseline APCDs for existing MWCs can vary. For
example, the incremental costs of APCDs for existing plants depend on whether they have minimal APCDs (i.e.,
ESP) in the baseline or more advanced APCDs to reduce gas emissions (i.e., SDs). The baseline APCDs for each
plant are reported in Table 1. According to Table 1, 15 plants installed SD/FF as their baseline APCDs to reduce
sulfur dioxide and particulate matter emissions.

Information on baseline APCDs to control NOx releases are from Berenyi and Gould (1988), Berenyi
(2006), and the U.S. EPA (1989d). Only a few plants had SNCR, the technology used to reduce NOx emissions,
installed as a baseline APCD. Commerce (CA), SERRF (CA), and Stanislaus (CA) installed SNCR prior to 1990. In
addition, New Hanover (NC) and Huntington (NY) installed SNCRs in 1991 (Berenyi, 2006). Except for New
Hanover, these early installations of de-NOx systems are corroborated by the EIA-860, which also reports the
early adoption of SNCR and CI systems by Babylon (NY). Although the 1991 inventory does not list APCD devices
to control Hg or NOx emissions, we view them as being part of the baseline. Therefore, in this paper the costs of
these devices are not counted as costs due to the EPA rules.

Methods of Compliance

The standards and guidelines for new and existing MWCs do not mandate specific technologies;
however, the EPA (1994a) assumed various technologies would be installed at MWC units to meet emission
limits. EPA expected most new MWCs would use a spray dryer (SD) and fabric filter (FF) configuration (i.e.,

12 The sources for the baseline APCDs of MWCs that were operating as of December 20,1989 are discussed in the endnotes
of Table 1.

14


-------
SD/FF) with activated carbon injection, while existing MWC's would retrofit either an SD/FF configuration or a
SD and electrostatic precipitator (ESP) configuration (i.e., SD/ESP) with activated carbon injection to reduce
dioxin/furans, acid gas, particulate matter, and metals. In addition, EPA assumed carbon injection (CI) would be
needed to attain Hg emission limits and selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR) would be used to control NOx
emissions (U.S. EPA 1995).

Assigning MWCs to model plant categories

For the ex post assessment, we use characteristics of the 66 large MWCs in the 2000 inventory (see
Table 1) to assign each large MWC plant to a model plant category based on four factors: (1) existing or NSPS
plant, (2) combustion technology, (3) capacity, and (4) baseline APCD. Capital and operating costs vary across
the 16 EG model plant categories and 11 NSPS model plants based on design characteristics, baseline control
and additional control technology. The characteristics and ex ante costs for each model plant category are
summarized in Tables 2 through 7. The combustion capacities for each size category are summarized in Table 2
and Table 3, respectively. Next, the ex ante cost estimates associated with reducing acid gas, particulate matter,
and metal emissions by existing MWCs and MWCs subject to NSPS are summarized in Table 4 and Table 5,
respectively. Finally, Table 6 provides ex ante cost estimates for Hg control and NOx control for existing plants,
while Table 7 provides ex ante cost estimates for Hg control and NOx control for new plants.

In the Economic Analysis (1994a), the EPA assigned MWCs to a model plant category using capacity
ranges for the combustion technology. For example, an existing MWCs using MB/WW to combust waste with a
combustion capacity greater than 1000 Mg/day would have been classified as a large MB/WW and assigned to
model plant 4 while a plant with combustion capacity between 225 Mg/day and 1000 Mg/day would have
classified as a mid-size MB/WW and assigned to model plant 5. Instead of assigning MWCs to size categories
based on the capacity ranges established in the Economic Analysis, we assign them to the model plant category
whose model plant capacity point estimate most closely corresponds to their actual combustion capacity (see


-------
Tables 2 and 3).13,14 Using capacity point estimates as opposed to ranges to assign MWCs to a capacity size will
results in some plants being assigned a different combustion size and respective model plant category, resulting
in lower ex ante cost estimates. For example, a MWC plant with a combustion capacity of 1100 Mg/day would
have been assigned to model plant 4 assuming a MB/WW (large) combustion technology using EPA's range.
However, using actual capacity, we would assume the plant has MB/WW (mid-size) technology and assigned it
to model plant 5.15

Using the assigned model plant category based on the combustion technology and combustion capacity,
and the APCD configuration in 2000, each of the existing MWCs are assigned an ex ante cost. From EIA and GAA,
we have information on the type of APCD installed and the year it was installed. Using this information, we
assume capital expenditures on APCDs installed between the baseline year and 2000 (note: we include some
observations from 2001 and 2002, plus one from 2004) are the ex post costs of complying with the MWC rule.
Consequently, for existing MWCs, we compare the ex ante capital costs associated with their assigned model
plant category to the ex post capital costs of their APCD configuration in 2000.16 Because there are no baseline
APCDs installed at NSPS MWCs, their ex ante costs are determined by the model plant category to which they
are assigned.

While scrubbers, precipitators and fabric filters remove some NOx and Hg, the reductions are
insufficient to meet the emission limits set by the rule. The technologies to control Hg and NOx emissions at
existing MWC plants are add-on technologies used by MWCs to reduce emissions of those pollutants. Hence,

13	For existing plants in Table 2, the MB/WW (large) model plant corresponds to the "very large" model plant size category
while the MB/WW (mid-size) model plant corresponds to the "large" model plant size category (U.S. EPA, 1990). In
addition, the RDF (large) model plant corresponds to the "very large" model plant size category, while the RDF (small)
model plant corresponds to the "large" model plant size category.

14	For NSPS plants, the MB/WW (large) model plant and the MB/WW (mid-size) model plant (see Table 3) both correspond
to the "large" model plant U.S. EPA (1990) size category. However, because Table 5 shows differences in ex ante costs for
the two size categories, we separate NSPS MWCs using the same size capacity categories as existing MWCs described in
footnote 13.

15	Table A.7 and Table A.8 in the Appendix summarize the distribution of MWCs across model plant size categories for the
capacity ranges and capacity point estimates strategies.

16	We have limited information on operating costs associated the APCDs. Consequently, we only compare ex ante and ex
post capital costs.

16


-------
the ex ante costs at new and existing MWC plants that install SNCR and CI are based on the model plant
category to which the MWC is assigned. The model plant categories for each of the 66 large MWC's are found in
Table 8.

Compliance Costs

S02 and PM Capital Expenditures (EIA)

For the purposes of this analysis, the costs of implementing good combustion practices (GCP) are
assumed to be imbedded in the ex post capital cost data collected by the EIA and GAA. As shown in Table 1, of
the 59 existing MWC plants, 15 plants using SD/FF as their baseline APCDs did not change their APCD
configuration between 1991 and 2000.17 While the 1991 inventory lists a SD/FF configuration for Union County
(NJ), because Union County is classified as new MWC, it is not included among the 15 plants. Another four
plants, which excludes SEMASS (units 1-2) due to its APCD configuration changing from SD/ESP to SD/ESP/FF,
installed SD/ESP as their baseline APCDs and maintained that configuration through December 2000. Therefore,
these 19 plants incur no incremental costs for reducing S02 and particulate emissions due to the large MWC
rule.

As shown in Table 8, of the remaining 48 MWC plants, 11 plants failed to submit FGD and/or FGP capital
cost data on their EIA survey form, 30 plants submitted both FGD and FGP data, two plants submitted only FGP
data, and five plants submitted only FGD data. Because the plants that submitted only FGD or FGP data had
already installed the other device, those seven plants are included in our analysis. As a result, we have sufficient
data to compare the model plant ex ante capital costs to the capital costs reported on the EIA surveys for the
technology used to reduce S02 and particulate emissions for 37 existing and NSPS MWC plants.18

17	For the purposes of the ex post analysis, SEMASS (MA) is treated as two MWCs. For SEMASS, units 1-2 are treated as an
existing MWC, while unit 3 is treated as an NSPS MWC. Hence, ex ante cost estimates are presented for 59 existing MWCs
and 8 NSPS MWCs.

18	As shown in Table 8, the following plants report identical or almost identical capital expenditures for FGD and FGP on
their EIA-860 survey: Hillsborough (FL), Union County (NJ), Wheelabrator Westchester (NY), and Alexandria/Arlington (VA).

17


-------
The comparisons of ex ante and ex posts capital costs for FGD and FGP systems are summarized in Table
9. Of the 37 MWCs reporting capital expenditures for FGD and/or FGP abatement systems, 17 have ex post to
ex ante ratios greater than unity (i.e., the ex post value for MWC exceeds its ex ante cost estimate). The MWCs
with the highest ratios of ex post to ex ante costs are Delaware Valley (PA) with a ratio of 3.43 and Lake County
(FL) with a ratio of 3.00. For the 20 MWCs that have ex post to ex ante ratios less than one, Greater Detroit (Ml)
and French Island (Wl) have the lowest ratios of 0.01 and 0.08, respectively.

Mercury and NOx Capital Expenditures (GAA and EIA)

The two sources for the year of installation and costs of NOx or Hg control systems are the EIA and GAA
(Berenyi, 2006). For some plants, capital expenditure cost data are reported by both sources. The ex post
capital cost for the Hg and NOx control systems and the ex ante predicted costs are presented in Table 10.19
From GAA (Berenyi, 2006), we have ex post capital costs of SNCR systems for 11 MWC plants and ex post capital
costs of CI systems for 19 MWC plants, where six of these plants reported ex post costs for both SNCR and CI
systems.20 Lastly, eight MWC plants that installed both SNCR and CI systems reported combined ex post capital
costs. In addition, EIA reports ex post capital costs of SNCR for 34 plants and CI systems for 33 plants, of which
28 plants reported costs for both SNCR and CI systems.

While the magnitude of the difference between the ex ante and ex post costs reported by GAA and EIA
differ, the direction of the difference is usually the same. Of the 9 plants reporting separate cost estimates for
SNCR and 16 plants reporting costs for CI systems on both the GAA and EIA surveys, there are only three MWCs
where the direction of the difference between ex post and ex ante costs diverge between the two sources are

It is possible these expenditures are misreported, and we are unable to validate them. Nevertheless, we accept these
values as reported for our analysis.

19	As shown in Table 10, Haverhill (MA) reports the same capital expenditures for CI and SNCR as reported in Table 8 for
FGP. In addition, Onondaga county (NY), Alexandria/Arlington (VA), and 1-95 (VA) report identical capital expenditures for
CI and SNCR in Table 10. It is possible these expenditures are misreported, and we are unable to validate them.
Nevertheless, we accept these values as reported for our analysis.

20	SEMASS is excluded because the ex ante cost estimates for model plant number 7 were nil (see Table 4 and Table 10).

18


-------
Bristol (CT), Lake County (FL), and Essex County (NJ). For Bristol, the ex post cost for NOx reported by GAA
(Berenyi, 2006) is lower than the ex ante cost, whereas the EIA ex post cost is higher than the ex ante costs. On
the other hand, Lake County exhibits the opposite relationships for its ex post cost estimate of SNCR. The ex
post cost for Hg reported by GAA (Berenyi, 2006) is lower than the ex ante cost, whereas the EIA ex post cost is
higher than the ex ante cost for Essex County. Finally, it should be noted that while both the EIA and GAA ex
post cost for Hg for the Alexandria/Arlington (VA) plant exceed its ante cost estimate, the EIA value exceeds the
GAA value by a factor of ten.

The comparison of ex ante and ex post capital costs for systems installed to reduce Hg and NOx
emissions using the data from GAA (Berenyi, 2006) is shown in Table 11. Of the 19 MWCs that report capital
expenditures for Hg abatement, 18 have ex post to ex ante ratios greater than unity (i.e., the ex post value
exceeds its ex ante cost estimate). The MWCs with the highest ratios of ex post to ex ante costs are Lake County
(FL) with a ratio of 19.55 and Gloucester (NJ) with a ratio of 7.81. Only Essex (NJ), with an ex post to ex ante ratio
of 0.60, has an ex post value that is less than its ex ante cost estimate, while Bridgeport (CT) has the second
lowest ratio of 1.02.

Ten of the 11 MWCs that report capital expenditures for NOx abatement, have ex post to ex ante ratios
less than unity (i.e., the ex post value is less than its ex ante cost estimate). Of these 11 MWCs, Hempstead (NY),
with a ratio Of 0.17, has the lowest ratio of ex post costs to its ex ante cost estimate. The MWCs with the next
two lowest ratios are Essex (NJ) with a value of 0.26 and North Broward (FL) and South Broward (FL) with values
of 0.34, respectively. Only Lake County (FL), with an ex post to ex ante ratio of 1.34, has an ex post value greater
than its ex ante estimate, while the second highest ratio of 0.87 belongs to the Greater Portland (ME) MWC.

Of the 8 MWCs that report a combined capital expenditure value for Hg and NOx abatement, Marion
County (OR), with a ratio of 1.28, has the highest ex post to ex ante cost ratio. Kent County (Ml) reports the
second highest ratio of 1.02. 1-95 (VA), with a ratio of 0.40, has the lowest ratio of ex post costs to its ex ante

19


-------
cost estimate. The MWCs with the next lowest ratios were Babylon (NY) with a value of 0.51 and Indianapolis
(IN) with a value of 0.57, respectively.

Of the 14 MWCs that report either a combined capital expenditure value for Hg and NOx abatement or
separate capital expenditure values for both Hg and NOx abatement, four have ratios of ex post costs to ex ante
costs greater than unity. Lake County (FL) wand Marion County (OR) have the highest values, with values of 2.26
and 1.28, respectively. Of the 10 MWCs reporting ratios less than unity, Essex County (NJ), with a ratio of 0.28,
has the lowest ratio of ex post costs to its ex ante cost estimate. The next lowest ratios are Bridgeport (CT), with
a value of 0.39 and 1-95 (VA), with a value of 0.40.

The comparison of ex ante and ex posts capital cost for systems to reduce Hg and NOx emissions using
data from the EIA are shown in Table 12. Of the 33 MWCs reporting capital expenditures for Hg abatement, all
33 have ex post to ex ante ratios greater than unity. The MWCs with the highest ratios of ex post to ex ante
costs are Haverhill (MA) with a ratio of 34.38 and Union County (NJ) with a ratio of 27.97, while Hennepin (MN)
has the lowest ratio of 1.57. Of the 34 MWCs reporting capital expenditures for NOx abatement, 29 have ex post
to ex ante ratios less than unity. Of these 29 MWCs, French Island (Wl) with a ratio Of 0.01 has the lowest ratio
of ex post costs to its ex ante cost estimate. The MWCs with the next two lowest ratios are Southeastern
Connecticut (CT) with a value of 0.10 and Niagara Falls (NY) with a value of 0.25, respectively. Five MWCs have
ex post to ex ante ratios greater than unity. The ratio for those five plants ranges from a low of 1.67 for
Alexandria/Arlington (VA) to the highest ratio of 2.19 for Pinellas County (FL).

As shown in Tables 11 and 12, the ex post capital costs are almost always greater than the ex ante
capital costs for Hg controls, whereas the ex post capital costs are almost always less than the ex ante capital
costs for NOx controls. At the time the rule was promulgated, EPA assumed plants would inject activated
carbon into the flue gas of their APCD to reduce mercury emissions. The carbon would capture the mercury,
which would be collected on a fabric filter and disposed. Because a plant would use existing capital equipment
to capture mercury, it was believed the associated capital cost would be low. One plant in British Columbia

20


-------
reported their preliminary capital cost estimates of installing a carbon absorption system was $200,000 (1990
dollars) (Nebel and White, 1991).

However, the use of activated carbon to remove mercury was new to the U.S., and the estimated costs
of using carbon absorption varied per ton of municipal waste combusted and the amount of mercury being
incinerated in the waste. And at the time, it was unclear if other factors would influence the overall costs. As
Shaub (1993) shows, the amounts of mercury in incinerated waste varied according to the consumer products
being disposed. Shaub (1993) states the costs of using carbon absorption appear to range from $0.50 - $1.00
per ton of MSW combusted so that if the mercury contamination combusted is in the range of 0.5 - 5.0 g/ton,
then the costs to control mercury emissions could range between $100,000 and $2,000,000 per ton of mercury
removed. However, Shaub (1993) indicates the cost of removing mercury using carbon injection was still
unknown and needed additional investigation. While Shaub provides a range of costs, we are unable to compare
our ex post data to his estimates because we do not have plant-level information on the tons of mercury
emitted. Furthermore, it is not clear if the estimates include both the operating and capital costs of carbon
absorption.

Selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) is an add-on post-combustion APCD (fabric filters and spray
dryers remove some NOx) that reduces NOx to N2 without the use of a catalyst. It requires the injection of a
reducing agent such as ammonia or urea into the furnace that reacts with the NOx to form N2. While the capital
costs associated with using ammonia tend to be lower, urea has advantages over ammonia. For example, urea
is less toxic and less volatile, which means it can be handled and stored more safely. The capital cost to install
or retrofit a combustor with the SNCR technology typically increases as the size of the plant increases (as
measured by combustion capacity) and varies based on the level of difficulty associated with retrofitting the
current APCD system. The cost of this technology is also affected by the cost of the catalyst replacement and
disposal. Like mercury control technology, there were still many uncertainties associated with cost of installing
a SNCR system at the time of the MWC rule.

21


-------
In late 1980's, three MM/WW California plants installed SNCR technology using ammonia as the
reducing agent (U.S. EPA, 1989d). Information from these California plants were used to develop algorithms to
estimate costs of SNCR devices for the model plants used by EPA in its Economic Analysis. The costs varied
across combustion technology and plant capacity (tpd). By the mid-1990's several additional MWCs installed
SNCR and a few used urea as opposed to ammonia as the reagent (White et al., 1994). For those using
ammonia, many used aqueous ammonia as opposed to anhydrous ammonia. Aqueous ammonia is less volatile
but requires a larger storage tank which leads to slightly higher capital costs. However, we could not find any
estimates on the difference in capital costs between the two reagents. Using the information from the MWCs
that had installed SNCR systems, White et al. (1994) developed cost estimates for three model combustors (100
tpd, 400 tpd, and 750 tpd) using mass burn/waterwall (MB/WW) combustion and injection as aqueous
ammonia. Comparing the capital cost per ton for these three model combustors to the capital costs of the same
modeled combustors from the report released in the late 1980's (EPA, 1989d), it appears the model plant costs
have decreased. However, it should be noted that at the time of the 1994 study, new technologies, such as
furnace temperature monitoring and ammonia monitoring, were being tested as ways to improve the
performance of SNCR and lower the costs of the technology.

Given the technologies EPA expected MWCs to use to control NOx and Hg emissions were just
beginning to be installed in the U.S., the assumptions used to develop the cost estimates for each model plant
may not have reflected actual costs as the technologies were adopted. The ex post cost data from GAA and EIA
show the costs associated with SNCR were lower than EPA estimated, while the costs associated with carbon
injection were higher than EPA estimated. Unfortunately, the data needed to evaluate the individual
components of the model plant cost equations are not available (US EPA, 1989c), therefore, we are unable to
quantitatively assess which component or components of capital costs were higher or lower than EPA predicted.

22


-------
Total Abatement Capital Expenditures (GAA)

Instead of reporting capital expenditures for the individual abatement components, GAA (Berenyi, 2006)
reports total capital expenditures for FGD and FGP for 10 MWC plants as well as combined expenditures for
FGD, FGP, SNCR and CI systems for another 10 MWCs. The ex post capital cost for the sum of FGD and FGP as
well as the ex post capital cost for the sum of FGD, FGP, SNCR and CI control systems, and the ex ante predicted
cost for these MWCs are presented in Table 13 with summary statistics reported in Table 14. Of the 10 MWC
plants that reported cost estimates for FGD and FGP systems, nine have ex post to ex ante ratios greater than
unity. For the 10 MWC plants that reported costs for their FGD, FGP, SNCR and CI systems, five have ex post to
ex ante ratios greater than one.

Of the 10 plants that reported capital expenditures for both FGD and FGP systems, seven reported
capital cost data on the EIA survey (shown in Table 8) as well. The sum of capital expenditures for FGD and FGP
reported by GAA for three plants - Hillsborough County (FL), Saugus (MA), and Wilmarth Plant (MN) - are lower
than the sum reported on the EIA survey, while expenditures reported by the other four plants - McKay Bay
(FL), Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Facility (Ml), Alexandria/Arlington Resource Recovery (VA), and
Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia (VA) - are higher than the sum reported on the EIA survey.
However, for three MWCs - McKay Bay (FL), Great Detroit Resource Recovery Facility (Ml), and Southeastern
Public Service Authority of Virginia (VA) - the ex post to ex ante ratios are less than one using capital
expenditure data reported to EIA, while the ratio is greater than one using data from GAA. While the total
capital expenditure data differ across the two sources, the ex post to ex ante ratios are greater than one using
data reported by both EIA and GAA for the other four plants. For SEMASS (units 1-2), which only installed a FGP
system because it had already had an FGD system, the ex post to ex ante ratio is greater than one using either
the EIA or GAA capital expenditure data.

Of the 10 plants in Table 13 that reported costs for their FGD, FGP, SNCR and CI systems, six also
reported ex post capital costs for these technologies on the EIA survey. Summing the EIA ex post capital costs in

23


-------
Tables 8 and 10, the totals reported on the EIA survey are higher than the totals reported by GAA (Berenyi,
2006) in Table 13 for Haverhill (MA), North Andover (MA), Concord (NH), and Westchester Company (NY). The
sum reported on the EIA survey for Pinellas County (FL) and Baltimore Refuse (MD) is less than the sum reported
by GAA (Berenyi, 2006) in Table 13.

Aggregate Compliance Costs

Publicly traded companies are required to submit reports on their financial status to the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC). Of the 66 MWC plants (treating SEMASS as a single MWC) with units subject to the
large MWC rule, Covanta Energy operated 32 plants and Wheelabrator operated 16 plants. The SEC 10-K form
submitted by Wheelabrator (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 1996) commented on the cost of the
MWC rule saying that even though expenditures for modifications to comply are estimated to be in the $190-
$230 million range, they did not expect these costs to have an adverse effect on the Company's liquidity. In
Wheelabrator's 1997 SEC 10-K (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 1997), they changed their estimated
cost of the MWC rule to the $180-$200 million range.

Covanta's 1997 SEC 10-K form (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 1997) estimated that the costs
to meet the MWC rule would be approximately $40 million between 1998 and 2000, with only moderate
additional costs between 2000 and 2002. In subsequent years, Covanta (U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, 1998) estimated its costs in 1999-2000 would be $54 million, while a year later it (U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, 1999) estimated its costs in 2000 would be $30 million. The Energy Recovery Council,
which is the industry group representing companies and local governments that operate MWC plants, estimated
aggregate ex post pollution abatement costs borne by existing plants to meet the provisions of the small and
large MWC rules.21 They concluded "America's waste-to-energy facilities spent $1 billion to retrofit pollution
control equipment to achieve the strictest federal standards."

21 http://energyrecovervcouncil.org/industrv-faqs/

24


-------
However, numerous planned MWCs were never constructed and many existing plants shutdown
between 1995 and 2000. These plant closings and cancellations of construction resulted in lower aggregate
compliance costs. The extent of plant cancellations between 1995 and 2000 is seen in nine MWCs listed as
"Inactive" in the revised 1995 MWC inventory (see Cone and Kane, 1997) that closed by 1995 (see Table A. 13 in
Appendix). Of the 6 MWC plants (comprising 6 large units) classified as "on hold/' none attained active status. In
addition, of the 20 MWC plants (comprising 24 large units) classified as "planned," only the Robbins (IL) plant (1
unit), which operated from 1997-1998, attained active status. We identified one instance of a statement
declaring that the MWC rule played a role in the closure of a MWC plant. According to the Energy Justice
Network, the Akron MWC closed in 1995 to avoid the $30 million price tag for installing equipment to meet
federal rules.22

VI. OVERALL IMPLICATIONS AND STUDY LIMITATIONS

In this paper, we compare the ex ante estimates of the costs to comply with EPA's Municipal Waste
Combustor rule to the ex post costs of individual large MWC plants operating in 2000. Three factors hampered
comparing aggregate ex ante and ex post costs of the large MWC rule. First, a 1997 court vacatur of the 1995
MWC rule required separate rules for small and large MWC units. As a result, the plants covered by the large
MWC rule was a subset of the plants subject to the 1995 MWC rule. Second, numerous facilities existing at the
time the rule was developed closed prior to the December 2000 compliance date for the large MWC rule. And
finally, in the late 1980s numerous MWC facilities were planned by communities; however, most of those plants
were never constructed. Unfortunately, we cannot determine the role the large MWC rule played in either the
closure of existing MWCs or the failure to construct new MWC facilities. Because we cannot determine how the
cost of APCDs installed at those plants would compare to the costs incurred by plants operating in December

22 http://www.energviustice.net/map/displavfacilitv-68095.htm

25


-------
2000, we restrict our analysis to individual plants for which we can obtain ex post data on the cost of complying
with the MWC rule.

However, the EPA did not develop cost estimates for actual MWC plants. Instead, it relied on cost
estimates for a set of model plants. Using characteristics of the 66 large MWCs operating in 2000, we assign
each plant to a model plant category developed by the EPA to estimate the ex ante costs of complying with the
rule. Our ex post cost data come from plant-level data from the U.S. Department of Energy EIA-767 and EIA-860
annual survey of pollution abatement expenditures by steam-electric power plants, and plant-level data on
capital expenditures from GAA (Berenyi, 2006). We then compare ex post capital costs from GAA and EIA
surveys to the predicted capital costs of the model plant category.

For those MWCs for which we have ex post APCD capital expenditure data, the results are mixed. We
found 19 of the 59 existing MWCs operating in 2000 undertook no changes in their FGD/FGP configurations
between the baseline and 2000, and thus incurred no costs related to the rule for reducing S02 and PM
emissions. For the 37 new and existing MWCs for which we have sufficient data from the EIA-860 survey to
undertake an ex ante - ex post analysis of the cost of their FGD and FGP systems, the ex posts capital costs are
higher than the ex ante costs for 17 plants and lower for 20 plants. While the results are mixed for MWCs that
installed FGD and FGP systems, the mean and median of the ratios of ex post to ex ante costs is near unity - 1.18
and 0.90, respectively. For the sample of plants that reported capital costs for FGD and FGP on the GAA survey,
nine of the 10 plants reported higher ex post costs.

For the 33 plants that installed systems for Hg abatement and 34 plants that installed NOx abatement
equipment and reported the associated costs on the EIA-860 survey, we find the ex post costs of NOx control
systems are typically lower than the ex ante cost estimates, while the ex post costs of Hg control systems tend
to be higher than the ex ante cost estimates. Similar results were reported with GAA. Eighteen out of 19 plants
reported higher ex post costs for Hg control on the GAA survey while 10 of the 11 plants reported lower ex post
costs for NOx control. As pointed out in the paper, both SNCR and carbon injection (CI) were new technologies

26


-------
being used in the U.S. Based on the reported data, it appears the costs of SNCR was not as costly to install as
EPA predicted while CI was costlier.

27


-------
References

Berenyi, Eileen B. (1997), The Municipal Waste Combustion Industry in the United States, 1997-98 Resource
Recovery Yearbook and Directory, 7th edition, Government Advisory Associates: Westport, CT.

Berenyi, Eileen B. (2006), 2005-2006 Municipal Waste Combustion in the United States, Yearbook and Directory,
8th edition, Government Advisory Associates: Westport, CT.

Berenyi, Eileen B. and Robert N. Gould (1988), 1988-89 Resource Recovery Yearbook, 4th edition, Directory &
Guide, Government Advisory Associates: Westport, CT.

Berenyi, Eileen B. and Robert N. Gould (1991), 1991 Resource Recovery Yearbook, Directory & Guide, 5th edition,
Government Advisory Associates: Westport, CT.

Berenyi, Eileen B. and Robert N. Gould (1993), 1993-94 Resource Recovery Yearbook, Directory & Guide, 6th
edition, Government Advisory Associates: Westport, CT.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Environmental Protection (1998), "Background Document"
(Part II) in Complete Regulation Package for Municipal Waste Combustor Regulation, Boston, MA.

Cone, Laurie and Colleen Kane (1997), "Large and Small MWC Units in the 1995 MWC Inventory Database," July
7 memo from Eastern Research Group, Inc. to Walt Stevenson, (Docket A-90-45, Item VI-B-2).

Davis, Craig F. (1992), "Annual Snapshot of Six Large Scale RDF Projects," Proceedings of the 1992 National
Waste Processing Conference (Fifteenth Biennial Conference)

https://gwcouncil.Org/publications/nawtec/proceedings-of-15th-biennial-conference/#

Denison, Richard and John Ruston (1990), Recycling and Incineration: Evaluating the Choices, Island Press:
Washington, DC.

Department of the Planet Earth, et al. (2001), "Secretariat Determination under Article 15(1) that Development
of a Factual Record is Not Warranted" for SEM-98-003 (Great Lakes), submitted to Commission for
Environmental Cooperation and Development.

"Economic Indicators," (2007) Chemical Engineering, 114, No. 13 (December), 76

Energy Recovery Council (2010), The 2010 ERC Directory of Waste-to-Energy Plants,

Energy Recovery Council (2014), The 2014 ERC Directory of Waste-to-Energy Facilities,
http://energyrecovervcouncil.org/

Energy Recovery Council (2016), The 2016 ERC Directory of Waste-to-Energy Facilities,
http://energyrecovervcouncil.org/

Energy Recovery Council (2018), The 2018 ERC Directory of Waste-to-Energy Facilities,
http://energyrecovervcouncil.org/

28


-------
Fenn, Denise and Kris Nebel (1992), "MWC Database/' March 9 memo from Radian Corporation to Walt
Stevenson, EPA (Docket A-90-45, Item ll-B-8).

Huckaby, Jason (2001), "2001 National Inventory of Small Municipal Waste Combustion (MWC) Units," October
19 memo from Eastern Research Group, Inc. to Walt Stevenson, EPA (Docket A-98-18, Item VI-B-1).

Huckaby, Jason (2002a), "2000 National Inventory of Large Municipal Waste Combustion (MWC) Units," June 12
memo from Eastern Research Group, Inc. to Walt Stevenson, EPA (Docket A-90-45, Item VIII-B-6).

Huckaby, Jason (2002b), "National Emissions Trends for Large Municipal Waste Combustion Units (Years 1990 to
2005)," June 17 memo from Eastern Research Group, Inc. to Walt Stevenson, EPA (Docket A-90-45, Item Vlll-B-
7).

Huckaby, Jason (2006), "National Inventory of Small Municipal Waste Combustion (MWC) Units at MACT
Compliance (Year 2005)," November 1 memo from Eastern Research Group, Inc. to Walt Stevenson, EPA (Docket
OAR-2004-0312-0008).

Integrated Waste Services Association (2007), The 2007IWSA Directory of Waste-to-Energy Plants,

Kiser, Jonathan (1990), "A Comprehensive Report on the Status of Municipal Waste Combustion," Waste Age,
21, No. 11 (November), 100-159.

Kiser, Jonathan (1991), "The 1991 Municipal Waste Combustion Guide," Waste Age, 22, No. 11 (November),
109-135.

Kiser, Jonathan (1992), "The 1992 Municipal Waste Combustion Guide," Waste Age, 23, No. 11 (November), 99-
117.

Nebel, Kristina L. and David M. White (1991), "A Summary of Mercury Emissions and Applicable Control
Technologies for Municipal Waste Combustors", Prepared for Walter Stevenson and Michael Johnston, EPA.

Radian Corporation (1988), Final Municipal Waste Combustion Industry Profile - Facilities Subject to Section 111
(d) Guidelines, prepared for Ronald E. Myers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Docket Number A-88-09,
Document ll-A-55.

Rudzinski, Suzanne (2012), "Recommendations on the Disposal of Household Pharmaceuticals Collected by Take-
Back Events, Mail-Back, and other Collection Programs," September 26 memo to RCRA Division Directors.

Shaub, Walter M. (1993), "Mercury Emissions from MSW Incinerators: An Assessment of the Current Situation
in the United States and Forecast of Future Emissions," Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 9, 31-59.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-3449(93)90032-B

Simon, Nathalie and Glenn Blomquist (Eds.) (2014), "Retrospective Analysis of the Costs of EPA

Regulations" [Special Issue], Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1017/S219458880000Q737

Tucker, Julie H. (1998), "Economic Impact Analysis -1998 National Inventory of Small Municipal Waste
Combustion (MWC) Units," July 22 memo from Eastern Research Group, Inc. to Walt Stevenson, EPA (Docket A-
98-18, Item ll-B-3).

29


-------
Tucker, Julie H. (1999), "Revised 1995 National Inventory of Small Municipal Waste Combustion (MWC) Units/'
March 31 memo from Eastern Research Group, Inc. to Walt Stevenson, EPA (Docket A-98-18, Item ll-B-4).

Tucker, Julie H. (2000), "Promulgation Version: Revised 1995 National Inventory of Small Municipal Waste
Combustion (MWC) Units," March 30 memo from Eastern Research Group, Inc. to Walt Stevenson, EPA (Docket
A-98-18, Item IV-B-1).

U.S. Department of Energy (1988), Waste-to-Energy Compendium: Revised 1988 Edition, DOE/CE/30844-H1.

U.S. Department of Energy (2001), "The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Capital Costs of Municipal
Waste Combustion Facilities: 1960-1998," pp. 41-72, in Renewable Energy 2000: Issues and Trends.
https://www.eia.gov/renewable/renewables/06282000.pdf

U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration (various years), "Steam-Electric Plant Operation
and Design Report," EIA Form 767

U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration (2013), "Annual Electric Generator Report," EIA
Form 860

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1989a), Economic Impact of Air Pollutant Emission Standards for New
Municipal Waste Combustors, EPA-450/3-89-006.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1989b), "Emission Guidelines: Municipal Waste Combustors," Federal
Register, 54, No. 243 (December 20), 52209-52251.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1989c), Municipal Waste Combustors - Background Information for
Proposed Standards: lll(b) Model Plant Description and Cost Report, EPA-450/3-89-27b.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1989d), Municipal Waste Combustors - Background Information for
Proposed Standards: Control of NOx Emissions, EPA-450/3-89-27d.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1989e), "Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources;
Municipal Waste Combustors," Federal Register, 54, No. 243 (December 20), 52251-52304.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1989f), Municipal Waste Combustion Assessment: Combustion Control at
Existing Facilities, EPA-450/8-89-058.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1990), Air Pollutant Emission Standards and Guidelines for Municipal
Waste Combustors: Revision and Update of Economic Impact Analysis and Regulatory Impact Analysis, EPA-
450/3-91-003.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1991a), "Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources;

Municipal Waste Combustors," Federal Register, 56, No. 28 (February 11), 5488-5514.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1991b), "Emission Guidelines; Municipal Waste Combustors," Federal
Register, 56, No. 28 (February 11), 5514-5525.

30


-------
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1994a), Economic Impact Analysis for Proposed Emission Standards and
Guidelines for Municipal Waste Combustors, EPA-450/3-91-029.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1994b), "Emission Guidelines: Municipal Waste Combustors/' Federal
Register, 59, No. 181 (September 20), 48228-48258.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1995), "Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and
Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources," Federal Register, 60, No. 243 (December 19), 65387-65436.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1996a), "Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review;
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Municipal Waste Combustors (Subpart Ea) Reporting and
Recordkeeping OMB No. 2060-0210 and EPA No. 1506.07," Federal Register, 61, No. 52 (March 15), 10753-
10754.

U.S Environmental Protection Agency (1996b), Correspondence of October 11, 1996 from George T. Czerniak, Jr.,
Chief, Air Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Branch, Air and Radiation Division, to Greg Aldrich, Wayne
County Department of Environment.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1997), "Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources and Standards of
Performance for New Stationary Sources: Large Municipal Waste Combustion Units," Federal Register, 62, No.
164 (August 25), 45116-45121.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2000a), "Emission Guidelines for Existing Small Municipal Waste
Combustion Units; Final Rule," Federal Register, 65, No. 235 (December 6), 76378-76405.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2000b), "New Source Performance Standards for New Small Municipal
Waste Combustion Units; Final Rule," Federal Register, 65, No. 235 (December 6), 76350-76375.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2001a), "Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments
on the Fourteen Proposed Information Collection Requests (ICRs) Listed Under Supplementary Information,
Section A," Federal Register, 66, No. 209 (October 29), 54514-54521.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2001b), SF-83 Supporting Statement for "NSPS for Municipal Waste
Combustors (Subparts Ea and Eb)," Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OECA-2003-0087-0005.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2007), Supporting Statement for "NSPS for Municipal Waste Combustors
(40 CFR Part 60, Subparts Ea and Eb) (Renewal)/' Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OECA-2007-0056-0004.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2011), Supporting Statement for "NSPS for Municipal Waste Combustors
(40 CFR Part 60, Subparts Ea and Eb) (Renewal)," Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OECA-2011-0210-0003.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2014), "Retrospective Study of the Costs of EPA Regulations: A Report of
Four Case Studies," Report 240-F-14-001.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2018), "Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2015 Fact Sheet"

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recvcling/advancing-sustainable-materials-

management

31


-------
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (various years and firms), "Form 10-K, Annual Report Pursuant to
Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934/' http://www.sec.gov/answers/formlOk.htm

Vatavuk, William (2002), "Updating the CE Plant Cost Index/' Chemical Engineering, 109, No. 1 (January), 62-70.

White, D., K. Nebel, M. Gundappa, and K. Ferry (1994), "A/Ox Control Technologies Applicable to Municipal
Waste Combustion," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-94/208 (NTIS PB95-
144358), 1994.

Wolverton, A., A. Ferris and N. Simon (2018), "Retrospective Evaluation of the Costs of Complying With Light-
Duty Vehicle Surface Coating Requirements," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, 10(1): 39-64.
https://doi.org/10.1017/bca.2Q18.25

Yaffe, Harold J. and Michael Brinker (1988), "The Development of the Greater Detroit Resource Recovery
Project," Proceedings of the 1992 National Waste Processing Conference (Thirteenth Biennial Conference)
https://gwcouncil.org/publications/nawtec/proceedings-of-the-13th-biennial-conference/

32


-------
Table 1

APCDs (Baseline and 2000) for 66 Large MWCs operating in 2000

State

Facility Name

Plant ID

Total Plant

Combustion











Capacity (tpd)

Technology

Baseline APCD

2000 APCD







(in 2000)

(in 2000)





AL

Huntsville Solid Waste-to-Energy Facility

N/A

690

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

CA

Commerce Refuse-to-Energy Facility

10090

360

MB/WW

SD/FF/SNCRae

SD/FF/SNCR

CA

Southeast Resource Recovery Facility (SERRF)

50837

1380

MB/WW

SD/FF/SNCRce

SD/FF/SNCR

CA

Stanislaus County Resource Recovery Facility

50632

800

MB/WW

SD/FF/SNCRbe

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

CT

Bristol Resource Recovery Facility

50648

650

MB/WW

SD/FFC

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

CT

Mid-Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility

54945

2025

RDF

SD/FFa

SD/FF/SNCR

CT

Riley Energy Systems of Lisbon Connecticut Corp. (NSPS)

54758

500

MB/WW

___*

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

CT

Southeastern Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility

10646

690

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI

CT

Wheelabrator Bridgeport Company, L.P.

50883

2250

MB/WW

SD/FFa

SD/FF/CI

FL

Hillsborough County Resource Recovery Facility

50858

1200

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

FL

Lake County Resource Recovery Facility

50629

528

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

FL

Lee County Resource Recovery Facility (NSPS)

52010

1200

MB/WW

... *

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

FL

McKay Bay Refuse-to-Energy Facility

50875

1000

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

FL

Miami-Dade County Resource Recovery Facility

10062

2688

RDF

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

FL

North County Resource Recovery Facility

50071

2000

RDF

SD/ESPC

SD/ESP

FL

Pasco County Resource Recovery Facility

50666

1050

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

FL

Pinellas County Resource Recovery Facility

50884

3000

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

FL

Wheelabrator North Broward, Inc.

54033

2250

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/SNCR

FL

Wheelabrator South Broward, Inc.

50887

2250

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/SNCR

GA

Montenay Savannah Operations, Inc.

N/A

500

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

HI

Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture - HPOWER

49846

2160

RDF

(ESP)

SD/ESP

IN

Indianapolis Resource Recovery Facility

50647

2361

MB/WW

SD/FFd

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

MA

Haverhill Resource Recovery Facility

50661

1650

MB/WW

SD/ESPd

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

MA

SEMASS Resource Recovery Facility (unit 3 NSPS)

50290

2000 (units 1-2)

RDF

SD/ESP (units l-2)d

Units 1-2:







1000 (unit 3)





SD/ESP/FF/CI













(COHPAC)













Unit 3:











— (unit 3)*

SD/FF/SNCR

MA

Wheelabrator Millbury Inc.

50878

1500

MB/WW

SD/ESP3

SD/ESP/CI/SNCR

MA

Wheelabrator North Andover Inc.

50877

1500

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

33


-------
MA

Wheelabrator Saugus, J.V.

50880

1500

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

MD

Baltimore Refuse Energy Systems Company (BRESCO)

10629

2250

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/ESP/CI/SNCR

MD

Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility (NSPS)

50657

1800

MB/WW

... *

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

ME

Greater Portland Resource Recovery Facility

50225

500

MB/WW

SD/ESPC

SD/ESP/CI/SNCR

ME

Maine Energy Recovery Company

10338

600

RDF

SD/FFa

SD/FF/SNCR

ME

Penobscot Energy Recovery Corp.

50051

720

RDF

SD/FFa

SD/FF

Ml

Central Wayne Energy (unit 3 is large MWC) (NSPS)

54804

300

MB/WW

... **

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

Ml

Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Facility

10033

3300

RDF

ESP

SD/FF

Ml

Kent County Waste-to-Energy Facility

50860

625

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

MN

Great River Energy - Elk River Station

2039

750

RDF

SD/FFC

SD/FF

MN

Hennepin Energy Resource Co.

10013

1200

MB/WW

SD/FFb

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

MN

Xcel Energy - Red Wing Steam Plant

1926

720

RDF

ESPa

DSI/FF

MN

Xcel Energy-Wilmarth Plant (Mankato)

1934

720

RDF

ESPa

SD/FF/SNCR

NC

New Hanover County-Wastec (unit 3 is large MWC)

50271

301

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

NH

Wheelabrator Concord Company, L.P.

50873

500

MB/WW

DSI/FF

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

NJ

Camden Resource Recovery Facility

10435

1050

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/ESP/CI/SNCR

NJ

Essex County Resource Recovery Facility

10643

2700

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/ESP/CI/SNCR

NJ

Union County Resource Recovery Facility (NSPS)

50960

1440

MB/WW

___*

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

NJ

Wheelabrator Gloucester Company, L.P.

50885

576

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

NY

Babylon Resource Recovery Facility

50649

750

MB/WW

SD/FFC

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

NY

Hempstead Resource Recovery Facility

10642

2505

MB/WW

SD/FFb

SD/FF/SNCR

NY

Huntington Resource Recovery Facility

50656

750

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

NY

Niagara Falls Resource Recovery Facility

50472

2200

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

NY

Onondaga County Resource Recovery Facility (NSPS)

50662

990

MB/WW

___*

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

NY

Wheelabrator Hudson Falls Inc.

10503

500

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/ESP/CI

NY

Wheelabrator Westchester Company, L.P.

50882

2250

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

OK

Walter B. Hall RDD (Tulsa)

50660

1125

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

OR

Marion County Solid Waste-to-Energy Facility

50630

550

MB/WW

SD/FFa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

PA

Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility

10746

2688

MB/RC

(ESP)

SD/FF

PA

Lancaster County Resource Recovery Facility

50859

1200

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

PA

Montenay Energy Resources of Montgomery County, Inc.

54625

1200

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

PA

Wheelabrator Falls Inc. (NSPS)

54746

1500

MB/WW

___*

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

PA

York Resource Recovery Center/Montenay York

50215

1344

MB/RC

SD/FFb

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

SC

Montenay Charleston Resource Recovery Inc.

10344

600

MB/WW

SD/ESPd

SD/ESP/CI

TN

Nashville Thermal Transfer Corp

50209

990

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

VA

Alexandria/Arlington Resource Recovery Facility

50663

975

MB/WW

ESPa

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

VA

1-95 Energy-Resource Recovery Facility

50658

3000

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

34


-------
VA

Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia

54998

2000

RDF

ESPa

SD/FF |

WA

Spokane Regional Solid Waste Disposal Facility

50886

800

MB/WW

(ESP)

SD/FF/CI/SNCR

Wl

Xcel Energy French Island Generating Plant

4005

576

RDF

EGBa

***SD/FF

Note: Plant ID refers to DOE/EIA ORIS Plant Code

Sources: Huckaby (2002a,b) for Total Plant Capacity, Combustion Technology, and 2000 APCDs. McKay Bay and SEMASS 2000 APCDs are from
Huckaby (2002b). Cone and Kane (1995) is used to identify the start date for MWCs,

*NSPS (subject to subpart Ea)

**NSPS (subject to subpart Eb)

*** According to the EIA-860, French Island (Wl) installed SD/FF APCDs in 2002. When calculating ex ante and ex post costs for French Island
(Wl), we use the SD/FF configuration reported by GAA and EIA-860 as its 2000 APCD configuration instead of the 2000 APCD configuration of
DSI/EGB reported by Huckaby (2002a,b).

Determining baseline APCDs for the 59 existing MWCs requires identifying APCDs for MWCs that initiated operations prior to 1990. For 19 of the
59 existing MWCs whose construction started prior to December 20, 1989, but did not start operating until 1990 or later, we assume their
baseline APCD FGD/FGP configuration is ESP (denoted in parentheses).

For the remaining 40 existing MWCs, the preferred sources for baseline FGD/FGP APCD configurations are Radian Corporation (1988) - 24 MWCs
noted by superscript a, or U.S. EPA (1989c) - 4 MWCs noted by superscript b. Radian Corporation (1988) does includes not information about
APCD configuration for the other 12 MWCs - except for Lake County (FL) and New Hanover County (NC) unit 3, which were not included as
planned MWCs.

For six of the 12 MWCs, the EIA-860 is the source of baseline FGP/FGD configurations. The six plants, noted by superscript c, are SERRF (CA),
Bristol (CT), North County (FL), Greater Portland (ME), Elk River (MN), and Babylon (NY). Except for Elk River, the baseline APCD configurations
obtained from the EIA-860 for these MWCs match their December 1991 APCD configurations reported by Fenn and Nebel (1992). While EIA-
860 reports a SD/FF configuration for Elk River by 1990, Fenn and Nebel (1992) report the APCD configuration of Elk River as DSI/FF.

Confirmation of the Elk River (MN) baseline as SD/FF was obtained by checking additional sources from Minnesota (see
https://www.pca.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/14100003-001-aqpermit.pdf).

For the remaining 6 MWCs, the APCD configurations reported by Berenyi and Gould (1988) and Kiser (1990) are compared. If the APCD
configurations match, we assume these APCD configurations are the December 1989 baseline APCD configurations for those MWCs - noted by
superscript d. This strategy was used for the following 4 MWCs: Indianapolis (IN), Haverhill (MA), SEMASS (MA), and Charleston (SC) plants. The
baseline APCD configurations for these 4 MWCs also match their December 1991 APCD configurations reported by Fenn and Nebel (1992).

For the final two MWCs - Concord (MA), Greater Detroit (Ml) - Berenyi and Gould (1988) and Kiser (1990) report Concord (MA) installed a dry
scrubber system (DSI) - most likely prior to 1990. Fenn and Nebel (1992) report Concord installed DSI systems by the early 1990s, The EIA-860
survey reports Concord incurred expenditures for a SD system in 2000. Hence, we assign DSI/FF as the baseline APCD configuration for Concord.

35


-------
Berenyi and Gould (1988) and Kiser (1990) report that Greater Detroit installed a dry scrubber system - most likely prior to 1990. Fenn and
Nebel (1992) report Greater Detroit installed a SD system by the early 1990s, while the EIA-860 survey reports Greater Detroit incurred
expenditures for SD systems in 1993-1995. However, in their technical descriptions of the planning and construction of Greater Detroit, Yaffe
and Brinker (1988) and Davis (1992) have ESP listed as the baseline APCD configuration. We opted to use the ESP configuration.

The source of baseline SNCR/CI configurations is U.A. DOE, EIA Form 860 (2013) - noted by superscript e.

36


-------
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

io

ii

12

14

15

16

17

Table 2

Model plants - Existing MWCs

Abbreviation Description of Combustion Technology	Combustion

Capacity

	(Mg MSW/day)

_ MB/REF/TG	_ Mass burn refractory wall traveling gate	680

_ MB/REF/RG	_ Mass burn refractory wall rocking gate	218

_ MB/REF/RK	_ Mass burn refractory wall rotary kiln	816

_ MB/WW (large)	_ Mass burn waterwall, large	2;041

_ MB/WW (mid-size)	_ Mass burn waterwall, mid-size	980

_ MB/WW (small)	_ Mass burn waterwall, small	181

RDF (large) Refuse-derived fuel, large	1,814

RDF (small) Refuse-derived fuel, small	544

MOD/SA/TR Modular starved air, transfer rams	136

MOD/SA/G Modular starved air, grates	45

MOD/EA Modular excess air	181

MB/RWW Mass burn rotary waterwall	454

MB/WW (UC) Transitional mass burn waterwall	181

RDF (large) (UC) Transitional refuse-derived fuel, large	1,814

RDF (small) (UC) Transitional refuse-derived fuel, small	544

MB/RWW (UC) Transitional mass burn rotary waterwall	454
Source: U.S. EPA (1994a)

Note: EPA dropped model plant #13 from its 1994 Economic Analysis (U.S. EPA, 1994a).

37


-------
Table 3

Model plants - NSPS MWCs

Model Plant

Abbreviation

Description of Combustion Technology

Combustion

Capacity

(Mg MSW/day)

1

MB/WW (small)

Mass burn waterwall, small

181

2

MB/WW (mid-size)

Mass burn waterwall, mid-size

726

3

MB/WW (large)

Mass burn waterwall, large

2,041

4

MB/REF

Mass burn refractory wall

454

5

MB/REF

Mass burn refractory wall

952

6

RDF

Refuse-derived fuel

1,814

8

MOD/EA

Modular excess air

218

9

MOD/SA (small)

Modular starved air, small

45

10

MOD/SA (mid-size)

Modular starved air, mid-size

91

11

FBC/BB

Fluidized bed combustion, bubbling bed

816

12

FBC/CB

Fluidized bed combustion, circulating bed

816

Source: U.S. EPA (1994a)

Note: EPA dropped model plant #7 from its 1994 Economic Analysis (U.S. EPA, 1994a).

38


-------
Table 4

Ex Ante Costs for Model Existing MWCs: Acid Gas, Particulate Matter, and Metals Control

(thousands of 1990 dollars)





GCP+ESP

GCP+DSI/ESP or FF

GCP+SD/ESP

GCP+SD/ESP

(m)

GCP+SD/FF

Model



Installed

Annual

Installed

Annual

Installed

Annual

Installed
Capital Costs

Annual

Installed
Capital Costs

Annual

Plant

Baseline

Capital

Operating

Capital

Operating

Capital

Operating

Operating

Operating

Number

APCD

Costs

Costs

Costs

Costs

Costs

Costs

Costs

Costs

1

ESP

18,968

-211

21,754

644

36,075

1,712

36,075

1,997

39,077

2,300

2

ESP

6,783

490

8,041

857

12,217

1,094

12,217

1,277

13,602

1,367

3

ESP

1,480

283

10,208

1,810

30,939

3,315

30,939

3,867

34,784

4,130

3

SD/FF

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

ESP

96

146

19,172

2,725

33,671

3,597

33,671

4,088

45,625

5,035

4

SD/ESP

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

491

21,987

2,618

4

SD/FF

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

5

ESP

96

146

10,085

1,767

20,433

2,314

20,433

2,528

25,873

3,193

5

SD/ESP

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

214

11,259

1,265

5

SD/FF

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

6

ESP

3,600

341

5,188

894

8,648

1,037

8,648

1,210

9,992

1,292

6

SD/FF

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

7

ESP

13,577

263

20,449

2,129

53,245

3,345

53,245

3,902

64,115

4,814

8

ESP

5,267

187

12,862

1,348

23,720

1,686

23,720

1,879

28,223

2,310

9

none

2,154

234

3,232

536

5,072

517

5,072

604

5,176

708

10

none

1,284

217

1,762

502

4,125

532

4,125

621

3,862

607

11

ESP

1,523

66

2,612

416

4,897

527

4,897

614

5,556

688

12

ESP

3,403

138

5,792

946

11,101

1,176

11,101

1,372

12,969

1,597

14

ESP

2,621

195

4,576

765

8,102

904

8,102

1,054

9,443

1,150

14

SD/FF

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

15

ESP

0

0

6,872

1,942

26,477

3,079

26,477

3,431

33,491

4,357

15

SD/ESP

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

352

23,016

2,568

15

SD/FF

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

16

ESP

0

0

6,992

1,144

14,510

1,499

14,510

1,670

16,980

1,986

16

SD/FF

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

17

ESP

2,824

126

5,213

988

10,774

1,163

10,774

1,357

12,636

1,586

17

SD/FF

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Source: U.S. EPA (1994a)

Note: EPA dropped model plant #13 from its 1994 Economic Analysis (U.S. EPA, 1994a).

39


-------
Table 5

Ex Ante Costs for Model NSPS MWCs: Acid Gas, Particulate Matter, and Metals Control

(thousands of 1990 dollars)



GCP+ESP

GCP+DSI/FF



GCP+SD/FF

Model
Plant
Number

Installed Capital
Costs

Annual
Operating
Costs

.. . Annual
Installed ^

* Operating
Capital Costs

Costs

Installed
Capital Costs

Annual
Operating
Costs

1

178

12

1,222

600

4,533

732

2

533

45

3,744

1,446

9,855

1,666

3

1,500

131

8,699

3,314

20,365

3,740

4

689

57

3,089

1,223

9,799

1,504

5

600

40

4,244

1,887

12,743

2,185

6

1,378

122

8,510

3,638

21,842

4,064

8

233

18

1,400

526

3,955

625

9

591

80

1,555

358

3,100

436

10

625

36

1,398

397

3,064

454

11

0

0

500

1,057

9,510

1,542

12

0

0

500

1,746

9,510

1,542

Source: U.S. EPA (1994a)

Note: EPA dropped model plant #7 from its 1994 Economic Analysis (U.S. EPA, 1994a).

40


-------
Table 6

Ex Ante Capital and Annual Operating Costs for Existing MWCs:
Hg and NOx Control
(thousands of 1990 dollars)

Mercury	NOx

Annual Operating Costs

Model

Installed

(by type of APCD)



Installed

Annual

Plant

Capital

DSI/ESP





Capital

Operating

Number

Costs

or DSI/FF

SD/ESP

SD/FF

Costs

Costs

1

160

245

156

63

0

0

2

81

75

48

19

0

0

3

179

346

221

89

0

0

4

310

865

553

222

5,322

781

5

310

865

553

222

3,271

486

6

72

77

49

20

1,364

201

7

0

0

0

0

5,196

711

8

0

0

0

0

2,599

336

9

61

37

24

9

1,063

162

10

32

16

10

4

832

142

11

72

74

47

19

53

39

12

126

192

123

49

53

40

14

72

77

49

20

1,364

201

15

0

0

0

0

5,196

711

16

0

0

0

0

2,599

336

17

126

192

123

49

53

40

Source: U.S. EPA (1994a)

Note: EPA dropped model plant #13 from its 1994 Economic Analysis (U.S. EPA, 1994a).

41


-------
Table 7

Ex Ante Capital and Annual Operating Costs for Model NSPS MWCs:
Hg and NOx Control
(thousands of 1990 dollars)





Mercury



NO:

X

Model

Installed

Annual Operating Costs
(by type of APCD)

Installed

Annual

Plant
Number

Capital
Costs

DSI/FF SD/FF

Capital
Costs

Operating
Costs

1

72

50

13

1,122

163

2

167

308

79

2,244

337

3

310

865

222

4,155

691

4

126

192

49

0

0

5

196

404

104

80

61

6

0

0

0

3,966

699

8

81

89

23

53

39

9

32

13

3

684

121

10

48

37

9

870

148

11

179

340

87

53

40

12

179

340

87

53

40

Source: U.S. EPA (1994a)

Note: EPA dropped model plant #7 from its 1994 Economic Analysis (U.S. EPA, 1994a).


-------
Table 8

Ex Ante and Ex Post Capital Expenditures for Acid Gas, Particulate Matter, and Metals Control APCDs

(thousands of 1990 dollars)

(Source: EIA-860, 2013)

State

Facility Name

Plant ID

Model
Plant

Baseline
APCD

Ex Ante

Ex Post FGD

Ex Post FGP

AL

Huntsville Solid Waste-to-Energy Facility

N/A

5

(ESP)

25,873

na

na

CA

Commerce Refuse-to-Energy Facility

10090

6

SD/FF

0





CA

Southeast Resource Recovery Facility (SERRF)

50837

5

SD/FF

0





CA

Stanislaus County Resource Recovery Facility

50632

5

SD/FF

0





CT

Bristol Resource Recovery Facility

50648

5

SD/FF

0





CT

Mid-Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility

54945

7

SD/FF

0





CT

Riley Energy Systems of Lisbon Connecticut Corp

54758

(NSPS) 2

—

9,855

5,630

8,445

CT

Southeastern Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility

10646

5

(ESP)

25,873

9,983

2,937

CT

Wheelabrator Bridgeport Company, L.P.

50883

4

SD/FF

0





FL

Hillsborough County Resource Recovery Facility

50858

5

ESP

25,873

36,421

36,421

FL

Lake County Resource Recovery Facility

50629

6

(ESP)

9,992

18,000

12,000

FL

Lee County Resource Recovery Facility

52010

(NSPS) 2

—

9,855

7,480

7,772

FL

McKay Bay Refuse-to-Energy Facility

50875

5

ESP

25,873

7,983

9,434

FL

Miami-Dade County Resource Recovery Facility

10062

7

ESP

64,115

6,352

89,577

FL

North County Resource Recovery Facility

50071

7

SD/ESP

0





FL

Pasco County Resource Recovery Facility

50666

5

(ESP)

25,873

2,375

3,563

FL

Pinellas County Resource Recovery Facility

50884

4

ESP

45,625

34,948

27,191

FL

Wheelabrator North Broward, Inc.

54033

4

(ESP)

45,625

13,551

8,985

FL

Wheelabrator South Broward, Inc.

50887

4

(ESP)

45,625

13,858

8,908

GA

Montenay Savannah Operations, Inc.

N/A

6

ESP

9,992

na

na

HI

Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture - HPOWER

49846

7

(ESP)

53,245

**na

**

IN

Indianapolis Resource Recovery Facility

50647

4

SD/FF

0





MA

Haverhill Resource Recovery Facility

50661

4

SD/ESP

21,987

*

*10,656

MA

SEMASS Resource Recovery Facility (units 1-2)

50290

7

SD/ESP

a10,870

*

*12,159

MA

SEMASS Resource Recovery Facility (unit 3)

50290

(NSPS) 6

—

21,842

4,878

3,484

MA

Wheelabrator Millbury Inc.

50878

5

SD/ESP

0





43


-------
MA

Wheelabrator North Andover Inc.

50877

5

ESP

25,873

32,666

10,889

MA

Wheelabrator Saugus, J.V.

50880

5

ESP

25,873

49,419

24,710

MD

Baltimore Refuse Energy Systems Company (BRESCO)

10629

4

ESP

33,671

**25,017

**

MD

Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility

50657

(NSPS) 3

—

20,365

na

na

ME

Greater Portland Resource Recovery Facility

50225

6

SD/ESP

0





ME

Maine Energy Recovery Company

10338

8

SD/FF

0





ME

Penobscot Energy Recovery Corp.

50051

8

SD/FF

0





Ml

Central Wayne Energy (unit 3 is large MWC)

54804

(NSPS) 1

—

4,533

8,563

3,154

Ml

Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Facility

10033

7

ESP

64,115

552

261

Ml

Kent County Waste-to-Energy Facility

50860

5

(ESP)

25,873

2,956

3,448

MN

Great River Energy - Elk River Station

2039

8

SD/FF

0





MN

Hennepin Energy Resource Co.

10013

5

SD/FF

0





MN

Xcel Energy - Red Wing Steam Plant

1926

8

ESP

12,862

na

***1,996

MN

Xcel Energy-Wilmarth Plant

1934

8

ESP

28,223

5,275

2,247

NC

New Hanover County-Wastec (unit 3 is large MWC)

50271

6

(ESP)

9,992

na

na

NH

Wheelabrator Concord Company, L.P.

50873

6

DSI/FF

a4,804

**7,735

**

NJ

Camden Resource Recovery Facility

10435

5

(ESP)

20,433

**23,457

**

NJ

Essex County Resource Recovery Facility

10643

4

(ESP)

33,671

**6,000

**

NJ

Union County Resource Recovery Facility

50960

(NSPS) 3

—

20,365

8,670

8,670

NJ

Wheelabrator Gloucester Company, L.P.

50885

6

(ESP)

9,992

3,000

6,000

NY

Babylon Resource Recovery Facility

50649

5

SD/FF

0





NY

Hempstead Resource Recovery Facility

10642

4

SD/FF

0





NY

Huntington Resource Recovery Facility

50656

5

(ESP)

25,873

***14,846

na

NY

Niagara Falls Resource Recovery Facility

50472

4

ESP

45,625

7,984

7,169

NY

Onondaga County Resource Recovery Facility

50662

(NSPS) 2

—

9,855

4,653

3,643

NY

Wheelabrator Hudson Falls Inc.

10503

6

(ESP)

8,648

**900

**

NY

Wheelabrator Westchester Company, L.P.

50882

4

ESP

45,625

53,195

53,195

OK

Walter B. Hall RDD (Tulsa)

50660

5

ESP

25,873

5,851

59,857

OR

Marion County Solid Waste-to-Energy Facility

50630

6

SD/FF

0





PA

Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility

10746

12

(ESP)

12,969

14,846

29,693

PA

Lancaster County Resource Recovery Facility

50859

5

(ESP)

25,873

na

na

PA

Montenay Energy Resources of Montgomery County, Inc.

54625

5

(ESP)

25,873

na

na

PA

Wheelabrator Falls Inc.

54746

(NSPS) 3

—

20,365

9,831

6,995

PA

York Resource Recovery Center/Montenay York

50215

12

SD/FF

0





44


-------
sc

Montenay Charleston Resource Recovery Inc.

10344

5

SD/ESP

0





TN

Nashville Thermal Transfer Corp

50209

5

ESP

25,873

na

na

VA

Alexandria/Arlington Resource Recovery Facility

50663

5

ESP

25,873

15,071

16,382

VA

1-95 Energy-Resource Recovery Facility (Fairfax)

50658

4

(ESP)

45,625

22,000

30,000

VA

Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia

54998

7

ESP

64,115

31,268

28,702

WA

Spokane Regional Solid Waste Disposal Facility

50886

5

(ESP)

25,873

na

na

Wl

Xcel Energy French Island Generating Plant

4005

8

EGB

28,223

542

1,627

Note: Plant ID refers to DOE/EIA ORIS Plant Code

Note: Sources of baseline APCDs are listed in endnotes for Table 1.

Note: GAA and EIA capital expenditure data are converted to 1990 dollars using the Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index (see Vatavuk, 2002,
and Economic Indicators, 2007).

Note: Because Central Wayne closed in 2003, the 2001 EIA-767 survey is the source of its cost data.

Note: New Hanover (NC) is assigned to a model plant category based solely on its unit 3 characteristics (its only unit subject to the large MWC
rule)

Note: Because SEMASS NSPS unit has SD/FF configuration, ESP costs listed in EIA-860 are excluded from FGP ex post costs. Expenditures for
ESP/FF by SEMASS existing units in 2000 are assumed to be related to COHPAC installation and are included in FGP ex post costs.

na = data not available (EIA, Form 860, 2013)

* FGP changed between baseline and 2000 with no change in FGD
** FGD added between baseline and 2000 with no change in FGP

*** Because Red Wing (MN) only reports FGP costs and Huntington (NY) only reports FGD costs, their costs are excluded from the summary
results presented in Table 9.

a = ex ante cost estimate derived by authors because Table 4 does not include the change in APCD configuration between baseline and 2000
exhibited by MWC (see Table A.14 in the Appendix for a more detailed explanation of derivation of ex ante values)

45


-------
Table 9

Comparison of Ex Ante and Ex Post Capital Costs FGD and FGP (PM and S02) for Existing and NSPS MWCs

(Source: EIA-860, 2013 and EIA-767, 2006)

# of MWCs

Ex post > Ex ante	17

Ex post < Ex ante	20
Ex post / Ex ante

Mean	1.16

Median	0.90

Minimum	0.01

Maximum	3.43

46


-------
Table 10

Ex Ante and Ex Post Capital Expenditures for Hg and NOx APCDs (1,000s of 1990 dollars)









Ex Ante

Ex Post

Ex Post

State

Facility Name

Plant

Model

(GAA, 2006)

(EIA, 2013)

ID

Plant

CI(Hg)

SNCR
(NOx)

CI(Hg)

SNCR
(NOx)

CI(Hg)

SNCR
(NOx)

AL

Huntsville Solid Waste-to-Energy Facility

N/A

5

310

3,271

*2,722

*





CA

Commerce Refuse-to-Energy Facility

10090

6













CA

Southeast Resource Recovery Facility (SERRF)

50837

5













CA

Stanislaus County Resource Recovery Facility

50632

5

310







1,814



CT

Bristol Resource Recovery Facility

50648

5

310

3,271



1,220

1,299

5,900

CT

Mid-Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility

54945

7



5,196



1,906





CT

Riley Energy Systems of Lisbon Connecticut Corp.

54758

(NSPS) 2

167

2,244

318



726

1,360

CT

Southeastern Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility

10646

5

310

3,271

a904



627

335

CT

Wheelabrator Bridgeport Company, L.P.

50883

4

310

5,322

317

1,898

1,360

2,041

FL

Hillsborough County Resource Recovery Facility

50858

5













FL

Lake County Resource Recovery Facility

50629

6

72

1,364

1,408

1,831

938

916

FL

Lee County Resource Recovery Facility

52010

(NSPS) 2



2,244







2,040

FL

McKay Bay Refuse-to-Energy Facility

50875

5

310

3,271





1,452

2,722

FL

Miami-Dade County Resource Recovery Facility

10062

7



5,196







1,996

FL

North County Resource Recovery Facility

50071

7













FL

Pasco County Resource Recovery Facility

50666

5

310

3,271

938



915

953

FL

Pinellas County Resource Recovery Facility

50884

4

310

5,322





4,084

11,649

FL

Wheelabrator North Broward, Inc.

54033

4



5,322



1,814



2,041

*FL

Wheelabrator South Broward, Inc.

50887

4



5,322



1,815



2,041

GA

Montenay Savannah Operations, Inc.

N/A

6





HI

Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture—HPOWER

49846

7





IN

Indianapolis Resource Recovery Facility

50647

4

310

5,322

*3,204

*





MA

Haverhill Resource Recovery Facility

50661

4

310

5,322





10,656

10,656

MA

SEMASS Resource Recovery Facility (units 1-2)

50290

7

0



**1,361



**216



MA

SEMASS Resource Recovery Facility (unit 3)

50290

(NSPS) 6













MA

Wheelabrator Millbury Inc.

50878

5

310

3,271

*2,541

*

907

1,360

MA

Wheelabrator North Andover Inc.

50877

5

310

3,271





907

1,360

47


-------
MA

Wheelabrator Saugus, J.V.

50880

5

310

3,271

1,724



907

1,360

MD

Baltimore Refuse Energy Systems Company (BRESCO)

10629

4

310

5,322





1,361

2,082

MD

Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility

50657

(NSPS) 3













ME

Greater Portland Resource Recovery Facility

50225

6

72

1,364

454

1,190

408

907

ME

Maine Energy Recovery Company

10338

8













ME

Penobscot Energy Recovery Corp.

50051

8













Ml

Central Wayne Energy

54804

(NSPS) 1













Ml

Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Facility

10033

7













Ml

Kent County Waste-to-Energy Facility

50860

5

310

3,271

*3,662

*

1,282

1,373

MN

Great River Energy - Elk River Station

2039

8













MN

Hennepin Energy Resource Co.

10013

5

310



729



486



MN

Xcel Energy - Red Wing Steam Plant

1926

8













MN

Xcel Energy-Wilmarth Plant

1934

8













NC

New Hanover County-Wastec (unit 3 is large MWC)

50271

6





NH

Wheelabrator Concord Company, L.P.

50873

6

72

1,364





726

1,360

NJ

Camden Resource Recovery Facility

10435

5

310



1,166



563



NJ

Essex County Resource Recovery Facility

10643

4

310

5,322

187

1,408

901

3,302

NJ

Union County Resource Recovery Facility

50960

(NSPS) 3

310

4,155





8,670

8,670

NJ

Wheelabrator Gloucester Company, L.P.

50885

6

72

1,364

562

681

751

1,361

NY

Babylon Resource Recovery Facility

50649

5

310

3,271

*1,831

*

c916

c2,014

NY

Hempstead Resource Recovery Facility

10642

4



5,322



907



1,361

NY

Huntington Resource Recovery Facility

50656

5

310

3,271

1,190



2,042

1,485

NY

Niagara Falls Resource Recovery Facility

50472

4

310

5,322

bl,779



1,808

1,312

NY

Onondaga County Resource Recovery Facility

50662

(NSPS) 2

167

2,244





845

845

NY

Wheelabrator Hudson Falls Inc.

10503

6

72



454



726



NY

Wheelabrator Westchester Company, L.P.

50882

4

310

5,322





1,373

2,060

OK

Walter B. Hall RDD (Tulsa)

50660

5





OR

Marion County Solid Waste-to-Energy Facility

50630

6

72

1,364

*1,836

*

459

505

PA

Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility

10746

12













PA

Lancaster County Resource Recovery Facility

50859

5

310

3,271

*2,479

*





PA

Montenay Energy Resources of Montgomery County, Inc.

54625

5

310

3,271

1,373

1,874





PA

Wheelabrator Falls Inc.

54746

(NSPS) 3

310

4,155





751

1,457

PA

York Resource Recovery Center/Montenay York

50215

12

126



937



2,286



SC

Montenay Charleston Resource Recovery Inc.

10344

5

310

1,373

48


-------
TN

Nashville Thermal Transfer Corp

50209

5





VA

Alexandria/Arlington Resource Recovery Facility

50663

5

310

3,271

498

5,461

5,461

VA

1-95 Energy-Resource Recovery Facility (Fairfax)

50658

4

310

5,322

*2,268

* 1,451

1,451

VA

Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia

54998

7











WA

Spokane Regional Solid Waste Disposal Facility

50886

5

310

455

Wl

Xcel Energy French Island Generating Plant

4005

8

2,599

36

Note: Plant ID refers to DOE/EIA ORIS Plant Code

* cost value in ex post Hg column represents combined cost of Hg and NOx APCDs.

** Because SEMASS (MA) existing units have nil ex ante costs for CI (Hg), costs listed in EIA-860 survey are excluded from the summary results
presented in Table 11 and Table 12.
a Expenditure undertaken in 2002 (Berenyi, 2006)
b Expenditure undertaken in 2003 (Berenyi, 2006)

c EIA-860 lists year of CI and SNCR expenditures for Babylon (NY) as 1989. Due to lack of evidence that those APCDs were installed pre-1990,
we changed the date from 1989 to 1999 to be consistent with the GAA date of expenditures.

49


-------
Table 11

Comparison of Ex Ante and Ex Post Capital Costs (Hg and NOx)
(Source: GAA, 2006)

# of MWCs

CI(Hg)

SNCR(NOx)

CI + SNCR
(combined)

CI + SNCR (8
MWCs combined
& 6 MWCs -
report separate CI
& SNCR)

Ex post > Ex ante

18

1

2

4

Ex post < Ex ante

1

10

6

10

Ex post / Ex ante

Mean

4.74

0.50

0.74

0.85

Median

3.84

0.37

0.70

0.73

Minimum

0.60

0.17

0.40

0.28

Maximum

19.55

1.34

1.28

2.26

50


-------
Table 12

Comparison of Ex Ante and Ex Post Capital Costs (Hg and NOx)
(Source: EIA-860, 2013)

# of MWCs

CI(Hg)

SNCR(NOx)

Ex post > Ex ante

33

5

Ex post < Ex ante

0

29

Ex post / Ex ante

Mean

7.60

0.69

Median

4.68

0.42

Minimum

1.57

0.01

Maximum

34.38

2.19

51


-------
Table 13

Ex Ante and Ex Post Capital Expenditures for Acid Gas, Particulate Matter, and Metals Control plus Hg and NOx APCDs

(thousands of 1990 dollars)

(Source: GAA, 2006)

State

Facility Name

Plant ID

Model

Ex Ante

Ex Post

Ex Ante

Ex Post







Plant

(FGD+ FGP)

(FGD + FGP)

Total
(FGD+FGP
SNCR+CI)

Total
(FGD+FGP
+SNCR+CI)

AL

Huntsville Solid Waste-to-Energy Facility

N/A

5

25,873

na





CA

Commerce Refuse-to-Energy Facility

10090

6

0







CA

Southeast Resource Recovery Facility (SERRF)

50837

5

0







CA

Stanislaus County Resource Recovery Facility

50632

5

0







CT

Bristol Resource Recovery Facility

50648

5

0







CT

Mid-Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility

54945

7

0







CT

Riley Energy Systems of Lisbon Connecticut Corp

54758

(NSPS) 2

9.855

na





CT

Southeastern Connecticut Resource Recovery Facility

10646

5

25,873

na





CT

Wheelabrator Bridgeport Company, L.P.

50883

4

0







FL

Hillsborough County Resource Recovery Facility

50858

5

25,873

33,052





FL

Lake County Resource Recovery Facility

50629

6

9,992

na





FL

Lee County Resource Recovery Facility

52010

(NSPS) 2

9,855

na





FL

McKay Bay Refuse-to-Energy Facility

50875

5

25,873

64,086





FL

Miami-Dade County Resource Recovery Facility

10062

7

64,115

na

69,311

57,165

FL

North County Resource Recovery Facility

50071

7

0







FL

Pasco County Resource Recovery Facility

50666

5

25,873

na





FL

Pinellas County Resource Recovery Facility

50884

4

45,625

na

51,257

83,547

FL

Wheelabrator North Broward, Inc.

54033

4

45,625

na





FL

Wheelabrator South Broward, Inc.

50887

4

45,625

na





GA

Montenay Savannah Operations, Inc.

N/A

6

9,992

12,853





HI

Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture—HPOWER

49846

7

53,245

na





IN

Indianapolis Resource Recovery Facility

50647

4

0







MA

Haverhill Resource Recovery Facility

50661

4

21,987

na

27,619

*25,634

MA

SEMASS Resource Recovery Facility (units 1-2)

50290

7

a10,870

*27,222





52


-------
MA

SEMASS Resource Recovery Facility (unit 3)

50290

(NSPS) 6

21,842

na





MA

Wheelabrator Millbury Inc.

50878

5

0







MA

Wheelabrator North Andover Inc.

50877

5

25,873

na

29,454

35,842

MA

Wheelabrator Saugus, J.V.

50880

5

25,873

69,283





MD

Baltimore Refuse Energy Systems Company (BRESCO)

10629

4

33,671

na

39,303

**37,591

MD

Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility

50657

(NSPS) 3

20,365

na





ME

Greater Portland Resource Recovery Facility

50225

6

0







ME

Maine Energy Recovery Company

10338

8

0







ME

Penobscot Energy Recovery Corp.

50051

8

0







Ml

Central Wayne Energy (unit 3 is large MWC)

54804

(NSPS) 1

4,533

na





Ml

Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Facility

10033

7

64,115

118,771





Ml

Kent County Waste-to-Energy Facility

50860

5

25,873

na





MN

Great River Energy - Elk River Station

2039

8

0







MN

Hennepin Energy Resource Co.

10013

5

0







MN

Xcel Energy - Red Wing Steam Plant

1926

8

12,862

13,611





MN

Xcel Energy-Wilmarth Plant

1934

8

28,223

6,250





NC

New Hanover County-Wastec (unit 3 is large MWC)

50271

6

9,992

na





NH

Wheelabrator Concord Company, L.P.

50873

6

a4,804

na

6,240

**7,268

NJ

Camden Resource Recovery Facility

10435

5

20,433

na





NJ

Essex County Resource Recovery Facility

10643

4

33,671

na





NJ

Union County Resource Recovery Facility

50960

(NSPS) 3

20,365

na





NJ

Wheelabrator Gloucester Company, L.P.

50885

6

9,992

na





NY

Babylon Resource Recovery Facility

50649

5

0







NY

Hempstead Resource Recovery Facility

10642

4

0







NY

Huntington Resource Recovery Facility

50656

5

25,873

na





NY

Niagara Falls Resource Recovery Facility

50472

4

45,625

na





NY

Onondaga County Resource Recovery Facility

50662

(NSPS) 2

9,855

na





NY

Wheelabrator Hudson Falls Inc.

10503

6

8,648

na





NY

Wheelabrator Westchester Company, L.P.

50882

4

45,625

na

51,257

69,328

OK

Walter B. Hall RDD (Tulsa)

50660

5

25,873

na

29,454

22,402

OR

Marion County Solid Waste-to-Energy Facility

50630

6

0







PA

Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility

10746

12

12,969

na





PA

Lancaster County Resource Recovery Facility

50859

5

25,873

na





PA

Montenay Energy Resources of Montgomery County, Inc.

54625

5

25,873

na





53


-------
PA

Wheelabrator Falls Inc.

54746

(NSPS) 3

20,365

na





PA

York Resource Recovery Center/Montenay York

50215

12

0







SC

Montenay Charleston Resource Recovery Inc.

10344

5

0







TN

Nashville Thermal Transfer Corp

50209

5

25,873

na

29,454

36,084

VA

Alexandria/Arlington Resource Recovery Facility

50663

5

25,873

39,367





VA

1-95 Energy-Resource Recovery Facility (Fairfax)

50658

4

45,625

na





VA

Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia

54998

7

64,115

116,354





WA

Spokane Regional Solid Waste Disposal Facility

50886

5

25,873

na





Wl

Xcel Energy French Island Generating Plant

4005

8

28,223

na

***30,782

***9,121

Note: Plant ID refers to DOE/EIA ORIS Plant Code
Note: Discussion of baseline APCDs is found in Table 1.
na = data not available

* FGP changed between baseline and 2000 with no change in FGD
** FGD added between baseline and 2000 with no change in FGP

*** Although French Island (Wl) has nil ex ante and ex post CI (Hg) costs, it is included in the summary results in Table 14.

a = ex ante cost estimate derived by authors because Table 4 does not include the change in APCD configuration between baseline and 2000
exhibited by MWC (see Table A.14 in the Appendix for a more detailed explanation of derivation of ex ante values)

54


-------
Table 14

Comparison of Ex Ante and Ex Post Aggregate Capital Costs for Existing MWCs

(Source: GAA, 2006)

# of MWCs

FGD+FGP

FGD+FGP+SNCR+CI

Ex post > Ex ante

9

5

Ex post < Ex ante

1

5

Ex post / Ex ante

Mean

1.69

1.04

Median

1.67

1.06

Minimum

0.22

0.30

Maximum

2.68

1.63

55


-------