Section 60.272b - Standard for particulate matter(a) On and after the date of which the performance tests required to be conducted by § 60.8 or § 60.272b(d) are completed, no owner or operator subject to the provisions of this subpart shall cause to be discharged into the atmosphere from an EAF or an AOD vessel any gases which:(1) Exit from control devices at the facility and contain particulate matter as a total for the facility in excess of 79 mg/kg steel produced (0.16 lb/ton steel produced) for the facility;(2) Exit from a control device and exhibit 3 percent opacity or greater, as measured in accordance with EPA Method 9 of appendix A of this part, or, as an alternative, according to ASTM D7520-16 (incorporated by reference, see § 60.17 ), with the caveats described under Shop opacity in § 60.271 ; and(3) Exit from a shop and, due solely to the operations of any affected EAF(s) or AOD vessel(s) during melting and refining exhibit greater than 0 percent opacity, and during tapping exhibit greater than 6 percent opacity, as measured in accordance with Method 9 of appendix A of this part; and during charging, exhibit greater than 6 percent opacity, as measured according to the procedures in section 2.5 of Method 9 in appendix A to part 60 of this chapter, with the modification of this section of Method 9, as follows: begin reading opacity when charging is first initiated and continue reading until melting and refining begins, or for a minimum of 3 minutes total. From the readings collected, take the average of the highest 12 15-second opacity observations (total of 3 minutes) during this period to determine the 3-minute opacity average associated with charging. For the daily opacity observation during melting and refining, facilities may measure opacity by EPA Method 22 of appendix A of this part, modified to require the recording of the aggregate duration of visible emissions at 15-second intervals. As an alternative, facilities may measure opacity according to ASTM D7520-16 (incorporated by reference, see § 60.17 ), with the caveats described under Shop opacity in § 60.271 or, for the daily opacity observations during melting and refining, exhibit 0 seconds of visible emissions as measured by EPA Method 22 of appendix A of this part, modified to require the recording of the aggregate duration of visible emissions at 15-second intervals. Shop opacity shall be recorded for any point(s) during melting and refining, during charging, and during tapping where visible emissions are observed. Where it is possible to determine that a number of visible emission sites relate to only one incident of visible emissions during melting and refining, during charging, or during tapping, only one observation of shop opacity or visible emissions will be required during melting and refining, during charging, or during tapping. In this case, the shop opacity or visible emissions observations must be made for the point of highest emissions during melting and refining, during charging, or during tapping that directly relates to the cause (or location) of visible emissions observed during a single incident.(b) On and after the date on which the performance tests required to be conducted by § 60.8 or § 60.272b(d) are completed, no owner or operator subject to the provisions of this subpart shall cause to be discharged into the atmosphere from the dust-handling system any gases that exhibit 10 percent opacity or greater, as measured in accordance with EPA Method 9 of appendix A of this part, or, as an alternative, according to ASTM D7520-16 (incorporated by reference, see § 60.17 ), with the caveats described under Shop opacity in § 60.271 .(c) The standards in paragraphs (a) and (b) apply at all times. The exemptions to opacity standards under § 60.11(c) do not apply to this subpart. As provided in § 60.11(f) , this provision supersedes the exemptions for periods of startup, shutdown and malfunction in the Part 60 general provisions in Subpart A.(d) Performance tests required to be conducted to show compliance with the standards in paragraph (a) of this section shall be repeated at least every 5 years after the performance tests required by § 60.8 are conducted.88 FR 58487, Aug. 25, 2023, as amended at 89 FR 11206, Feb. 14, 2024 88 FR 58487, 8/25/2023; As amended at 89 FR 11206, 2/14/2024