Abstract |
The purpose of this document is to assist state air regulatory agencies in developing revised or new State Plans which will implement the amended regulations controlling air pollutant emissions from hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerator(s) (HMIWI). Under the Clean Air Act (CAA) as amended in 1990, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to develop regulations to control air pollutant emissions from HMIWI. Emissions from new HMIWI are addressed by standards of performance for new sources (New Source Performance Standards (NSPS)), and emissions from existing HMIWI are addressed by guidelines for existing sources (Emission Guidelines (EG)). EPA originally promulgated the NSPS (subpart Ec) and EG (subpart Ce) for HMIWI on September 15, 1997. In a response to a suit filed by the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the Court) remanded the HMIWI regulations on March 2, 1999 for further explanation of EPA's reasoning in determining the minimum regulatory floors for new and existing HMIWI. The HMIWI regulations were not vacated, and states developed State Plans to implement the original EG for existing sources. For any states without an acceptable State Plan, EPA developed a Federal Plan (published in the FR on August 15, 2000 (65 FR 49868)) to implement the original EG. The original EG were fully implemented as of September 15, 2002. |