| Abstract |
Clean Air Act (CAA) section 172(c)(1) provides that state implementation plans (SIPs) for nonattainment areas must include 'reasonably available control measures' (RACM), including 'reasonably available control techniques' (RACT), for sources of emissions. Section 182(b)(2) provides that for certain nonattainment areas, States must revise their SIPs to include RACT for sources of VOC emissions covered by a control techniques guidelines document (CTG) issued after November 15, 1990 and prior to the area's date of attainment. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines RACT as 'the lowest emission limitation that a particular source is capable of meeting by the application of control technology that is reasonably available considering technological and economic feasibility.' 44 FR 53761 (Sept. 17, 1979). In subsequent Federal Register notices, EPA has addressed how states can meet the RACT requirements of the Act. Significantly, RACT for a particular industry is determined on a case-by-case basis, considering issues of technological and economic feasibility. CAA section 183(e) directs EPA to list for regulation those categories of products that account for at least 80 percent of the VOC emissions, on a reactivity-adjusted basis, from consumer and commercial products in areas that violate the NAAQS for ozone (i.e., ozone nonattainment areas). EPA issued such a list on March 23, 1995, and has revised the list periodically. See March 23, 1995 (60 FR 15264); see also 71 FR 28320 (May 16, 2006), 70 FR 69759 (Nov. 17, 2005); 64 FR 13422 (Mar. 18, 1999). Industrial cleaning solvents are included on the current section 183(e) list. This CTG is intended to provide state and local air pollution control authorities information that should assist them in determining RACT for industrial cleaning solvents. In developing this CTG, EPA, among other things, evaluated the sources of VOC emissions from the use of industrial cleaning solvents and the available
control approaches for addressing these emissions, including the costs of such approaches. Based on available information and data, EPA provides recommendations for determining RACT for the categories at issue in this document.
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