SECTION 117.1205. Emission Specifications for Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT)

(a) No person shall allow the discharge into the atmosphere from any utility boiler or auxiliary steam boiler, emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_X ) in excess of 0.26 pounds per million British thermal units (lb/MMBtu) heat input on a rolling 24-hour average and 0.20 lb/MMBtu heat input on a 30-day rolling average while firing natural gas or a combination of natural gas and waste oil.

(b) No person shall allow the discharge into the atmosphere from any utility boiler, NO_X emissions in excess of 0.38 lb/MMBtu heat input for tangentially-fired units on a rolling 24-hour averaging period or 0.43 lb/MMBtu heat input for wall-fired units on a rolling 24-hour averaging period while firing coal.

(c) No person shall allow the discharge into the atmosphere from any utility boiler or auxiliary steam boiler, NO _X emissions in excess of 0.30 lb/MMBtu heat input on a rolling 24-hour averaging period while firing fuel oil only.

(d) No person shall allow the discharge into the atmosphere from any utility boiler or auxiliary steam boiler, NO _X emissions in excess of the heat input weighted average of the applicable emission specifications specified in subsections (a) and (c) of this section on a rolling 24-hour averaging period while firing a mixture of natural gas and fuel oil, as follows:

Attached Graphic

(e) Each auxiliary steam boiler that is an affected facility as defined by New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 60, Subparts D, Db, or Dc is limited to the applicable NSPS NO _X emission limit, unless the boiler is also subject to a more stringent permit emission limit, in which case the more stringent emission limit applies. Each auxiliary steam boiler subject to an emission specification under this subsection is not subject to the emission specifications of subsection (a), (c), or (d) of this section.

(f) No person shall allow the discharge into the atmosphere from any stationary gas turbine with a megawatt (MW) rating greater than or equal to 30 MW and an annual electric output in megawatt-hours (MW-hr) of greater than or equal to the product of 2,500 hours and the MW rating of the unit, NO_X emissions in excess of a block one-hour average of:

(1) 42 parts per million by volume (ppmv) at 15% oxygen (O₂), dry basis, while firing natural gas; and

(2) 65 ppmv at 15% O₂, dry basis, while firing fuel oil.

(g) No person shall allow the discharge into the atmosphere from any stationary gas turbine used for peaking service with an annual electric output in MW-hr of less than the product of 2,500 hours and the MW rating of the unit NO_X emissions in excess of a block one-hour average of:

(1) 0.20 lb/MMBtu heat input while firing natural gas; and

(2) 0.30 lb/MMBtu heat input while firing fuel oil.

(h) No person shall allow the discharge into the atmosphere from any utility boiler or auxiliary steam boiler subject to the NO _X emission specifications specified in subsections (a) - (e) of this section, carbon monoxide (CO) emissions in excess of 400 ppmv at 3.0% O₂, dry (or alternatively, 0.30 lb/MMBtu heat input for gas-fired units, 0.31 lb/MMBtu heat input for oil-fired units, and 0.33 lb/MMBtu heat input for coal-fired units), based on:

(1) a one-hour average for units not equipped with a continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) or predictive emissions monitoring system (PEMS) for CO; or

(2) a rolling 24-hour averaging period for units equipped with CEMS or PEMS for CO.

(i) No person shall allow the discharge into the atmosphere from any stationary gas turbine with a MW rating greater than or equal to 10 MW, CO emissions in excess of a block one-hour average of 132 ppmv at 15% O₂, dry basis.

(j) No person shall allow the discharge into the atmosphere from any unit subject to this section, ammonia emissions in excess of 20 ppmv based on a block one-hour averaging period.

(k) For purposes of this subchapter, the following apply.

(1) The lower of any permit NO_X emission limit in effect on June 9, 1993, under a permit issued in accordance with Chapter 116 of this title (relating to Control of Air Pollution by Permits for New Construction or Modification) and the NO_X emission specifications of subsections (a) - (g) of this section apply, except that gas-fired boilers operating under a permit issued after March 3, 1982, with a NO_X emission limit of 0.12 lb/MMBtu heat input, are limited to that rate for the purposes of this subchapter.

(2) For any unit placed into service after June 9, 1993, and prior to the final compliance date as specified in §117.9120 of this title (relating to Compliance Schedule for Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Ozone Nonattainment Area Utility Electric Generation Sources) as functionally identical replacement for an existing unit or group of units subject to the provisions of this chapter, the higher of any permit NO_X emission limit under a permit issued after June 9, 1993, in accordance with Chapter 116 of this title and the emission specifications of subsections (a) - (g) of this section apply. Any emission credits resulting from the operation of such replacement units are limited to the cumulative maximum rated capacity of the units replaced. The inclusion of such new units is an optional method for complying with the emission specifications of §117.1215 of this title (relating to Alternative System-Wide Emission Specifications). Compliance with this paragraph does not eliminate the requirement for new units to comply with Chapter 116 of this title.

(l) This section no longer applies after the appropriate compliance date(s) for emission specifications for attainment demonstration given in §117.9120(2) of this title. For purposes of this subsection, this means that the reasonably available control technology (RACT) emission specifications of this section remain in effect until the emissions allocation for a unit under the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria mass emissions cap are equal to or less than the allocation that would be calculated using the RACT emission specifications of this section.

Source Note: The provisions of this §117.1205 adopted to be effective June 14, 2007, 32 TexReg 3206