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Part 75 Emissions Monitoring Policy Manual: Introduction
In order to reduce acid rain in the United States and Canada, Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 established the Acid Rain Program. The program will cut sulfur dioxide emissions in half and substantially reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from electric utility plants. To achieve these reductions at the lowest cost to society, the program employs both traditional regulatory techniques and innovative, market-based approaches. The centerpiece of the program is the allowance trading system, under which affected utility units are allocated "allowances" (each "allowance" permits a utility to emit one ton of SO2) based on historical fuel consumption and specified emission rates. The allowances can be traded as commodities.
To ensure that allowances are consistently valued and to ensure that all of the projected emission reductions are in fact achieved, it is necessary that actual emissions from each affected utility unit be accurately determined. To fulfill this function, Title IV requires that affected units continuously measure and record their SO2, NOx, and CO2 emissions, as well as volumetric flow, opacity, and diluent gas levels. Most plants will fulfill these requirements by using continuous emission monitoring systems. The EPA initially promulgated regulations for Acid Rain Program continuous emission monitoring (CEM) requirements at 40 CFR Part 75 on January 11, 1993 (58 FR 3590) and has published interim and direct final rule revisions to Part 75 as well as technical revisions since that time. The most recent revisions include extensive rule revisions published on June 12, 2002 (67 FR 40394).
This manual in the past addressed policy questions involving the implementation of the Acid Rain CEM (40 CFR Part 75) and NOx (40 CFR Part 76) Programs, and was titled the Acid Rain Program Policy Manual. The Part 76 requirements have been implemented fully for the most part, while Part 75 now has been adopted by other trading programs, including NOx trading programs. As a result, we have changed the title of the manual to "Part 75 Emissions Monitoring Policy Manual" to reflect the focus of the manual on these monitoring requirements.
This manual provides a series of Questions and Answers that can be used on a nationwide basis to ensure that Part 75 requirements are applied consistently for all affected sources. The manual includes a general table of contents that lists the major topic area and a separate table of contents for each topic area that identifies the appropriate page reference for each Question and Answer applicable to that area. At the end of this manual, a key word index is provided that identifies for each key word the question number(s) where an issue concerning that key word is addressed.
This manual is intended to be a living document. The EPA will issue new Questions and Answers as they arise and will revise previously issued Questions and Answers as necessary to provide clarification. The "History" information in each answer indicates when the question and answer was originally published and when, if applicable, it was retired or revised. The table of contents for each section also identifies which questions and answers have been retired or revised. (Note that minor typographical corrections or non-substantive revisions are not reflected in the "History" or in the listing of a question as "Revised." For instance, EPA has updated references throughout the manual to refer to EDR v2.1/2.2 to reflect that either of these EDR versions may apply, as applicable.)
It should be noted that the materials in this manual are intended only to clarify the regulations. This document is not intended, nor can it be relied upon, to create any rights enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States. EPA may decide to follow this document, or to act at variance with this document, based on its analysis of the specific facts presented. This document may be revised without public notice to reflect changes in EPA's approach to implementation, or to clarify and update text.
The contents of this manual are available to the general public through the Internet on the Clean Air Markets homepage. The electronic version is provided in an Adobe Acrobat file (pdf format). Updates to the manual will be issued as separate Adobe Acrobat files. Periodically, EPA will reissue a complete manual that incorporates the updates. This version of the manual includes the original March 11, 1993 version, Updates #1 through #13 to that original version, and a complete revision in October 2003 to reflect the June 12, 2002 revisions to the Part 75 regulations.
If after reviewing the regulations and this manual, the reader still has an unresolved issue, the reader should contact the appropriate EPA Headquarters or Regional Office contact. You can find a contacts list on the Clean Air Markets Division website (www.epa.gov/airmarkets).