Md. Code Regs. 26.11.10.03

Current through Register Vol. 52, No. 1, January 10, 2025

Section 26.11.10.03 - Visible Emissions

A. General.

(1) A person may not cause or permit the discharge of emissions from any installation, other than water in an uncombined form, which is visible to human observers.

(2) Exceptions. Section A(1) of this regulation does not apply to the following:

(a) Fugitive emissions from iron and steel production installations in compliance with §B of this regulation and listed in Regulation .04B(2) of this chapter;

(b) Fugitive emissions from metallurgical slot-type by-product coke ovens;

(c) Fugitive emissions from skull cracker oxygen lancing to the extent addressed by Regulation .04C of this chapter;

(d) Fugitive emissions from batch-type hot dip galvanizing installations in compliance with COMAR 26.11.12;

(e) Confined emissions resulting from start-ups, process modifications or adjustments, or occasional cleaning of control equipment if:

(i) The visible emissions are not greater than 40 percent opacity; and

(ii) The visible emissions do not occur for more than 6 consecutive minutes in any 60 minute period; and

(f) Visible emissions from sintering plant scrubbers that are in compliance with the conditions in §D of this regulation.

B. Visible Emissions from Certain Installations. After complying with the requirements of Regulation .04B of this chapter, a person may not cause or permit the discharge of visible fugitive emissions into the outdoor atmosphere, other than water in an uncombined form, which is greater than the following specified visible emission standards:

(1) Blast furnaces constructed before January 1, 1977 (casthouse building): 50 percent opacity as averaged over any consecutive 60-minute period;

(2) Blast furnaces constructed on or after January 1, 1977 (casthouse building): 5 percent opacity as averaged over any consecutive 6-minute period, except for 20 percent opacity as averaged over any consecutive 6-minute period during drilling, oxygen lancing, and plugging of the furnace tapholes;

(3) Electric arc furnace shop building: no visible emissions, except for 20 percent opacity during charging and 40 percent opacity during tapping;

(4) Sinter plant building: 10 percent opacity as averaged over any consecutive 6-minute period;

(5) Basic oxygen furnace shop building: 15 percent opacity from the basic oxygen furnace shop roof monitor based on a 3-observation rolling arithmetic average of the opacity records recorded on each of 3 calendar days of observation.

C. 15 Percent Standard.

(1) The provision described in §B(5) of this regulation is referred to as the 15 percent standard. The first exceedance of the 15 percent standard during each calendar year, from January 1 through December 31, does not constitute a violation of the 15 percent standard. The second exceedance and all subsequent exceedances of the 15 percent standard during the calendar year are prohibited.

(2) Any source subject to §B(5) of this regulation shall, at a minimum, schedule one observation on each of three different calendar days per calendar week, and perform the observations on the days scheduled, unless weather or other conditions on one or more of those days prevent observations to be made in accordance with Method 9.

(3) If weather or other conditions prevent Method 9 observations from being made, a person shall perform the missing observation or observations during that week or in the following 2 calendar weeks in addition to the minimum three observations required for each calendar week, unless prevented by weather or other conditions.

D. Sintering Plant.

(1) The owner or operator of a sintering plant equipped with a two stack wet scrubber system and subject to the particulate matter requirement in Regulation .04A of this chapter, shall assure continuous compliance with the particulate matter requirement in Regulation .04A of this chapter by maintaining the hourly average scrubber pressure drop and water flow rate to each scrubber in accordance with the operating conditions in §D(2) of this regulation.

(2) Scrubber¹ Operating Conditions and Requirements.

Scrubber Pressure Drop (inches of water)		Water Flow Rate (gallons per minute)
Operating Conditions	North	South	North	South
(a) 2 scrubbers each with 2 fans	33	39	3,796	3,718
(b) 2 scrubbers each with a windbox fan	23	32	3,679	3,705
(c) North scrubber with 2 fans and south scrubber with a wind box fan	33	32	3,710	3,818
(d) South scrubber with 2 fans and north scrubber with a wind box fan	32	33	3,818	3,710
(e) North scrubber with 2 fans	33	-	3,488	-
(f) South scrubber with 2 fans	-	33	-	3,488
¹ The one affected sintering plant is equipped with 2 scrubbers that are identified as north scrubber and south scrubber.

(3) One or more of the scrubbers shall be in operation whenever the sintering plant is in operation.

(4) Compliance with particulate matter requirements is achieved if at any time the hourly block average of the scrubber pressure drop and water flow rate are not less than the values in §D(2) of this regulation.

(5) The scrubber pressure drop and water flow rate shall be monitored by a continuous monitoring system and the monitoring system data made available to the Department upon request.

(6) Stack Testing Requirements.

(a) The affected sintering plant shall be stack tested for particulate matter at a frequency of not less than once each 2.5 years. During a compliance stack test, the scrubber pressure drop and water flow rate shall be recorded as hourly block averages.

(b) If the scrubber pressure drop and water flow rate determined during a compliance stack test differ from the values in §D(2) of this regulation, the owner or operator may request the Department to change the values in §D(2) of this regulation to reflect the revised values.

(c) Upon receiving a request, the Department may propose amending the regulation to include the revised values. Any amendment shall be submitted to the EPA to be included in the approved SIP.

Md. Code Regs. 26.11.10.03

Regulation .03B amended effective March 24, 1987 (14:4 Md. R. 419); January 5, 1988 (14:24 Md. R. 2555)
Regulation .03A amended effective November 24, 2003 (30:23 Md. R. 1653); January 29, 2007 (34:2 Md. R. 138)
Regulation .03C amended effective October 2, 2000 (27:19 Md. R. 1731)
Regulation .03D adopted effective January 29, 2007 (34:2 Md. R. 138)
Regulation .03D amended effective June 29, 2009 (36:13 Md. R. 901)