	Introduction

This report provides information concerning EPA's Maximum Achievable Control Technology standards for boilers (the Boiler MACT), an EPA rule designed to reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants, and three related rules. EPA estimates that, as finalized on December 20, 2012, the Boiler MACT will affect about 14,000 boilers and process heaters. The 12% include coal-fired, biomass-fired, and liquid-fired boilers. The agency estimates the capital costs associated with the rule for existing boilers at $4.6 billion to meet the compliance deadline in 2016; annualized costs, which spread the costs of capital over the expected life of the equipment and include operating and maintenance costs as well, were estimated at $1.2 billion per year. EPA has developed regulations addressing boiler emissions because it has found, based on emissions data, that they are major sources of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Section 112 of the Clean Air Act, which requires controls on major sources of HAPs, defines a major source as any facility that emits 10 tons or more of a single listed HAP or 25 tons of any combination of HAPs annually. The HAPs themselves (187 substances) were listed by Congress in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. By controlling boiler emissions, EPA expects to avoid 3,100 to 7,900 premature deaths annually, as well as many other health effects, including 5,000 nonfatal heart attacks annually. In the reconsidered rule, EPA responded to the comments it received by modifying its subcategories. EPA's Estimates of the Boiler MACT's Costs and Benefits

Among the existing boilers affected by the Boiler MACT rule, there are an estimated 955 units that burn liquids and 1,123 units that burn solids (621 of them coal-fired and the rest biomass-fired). Most boilers, which are fueled by natural gas, will experience a reduction in operating costs that more than compensates for any capital costs, according to EPA. Industry-funded studies of the originally proposed and subsequent versions of the rule, including one from the Council of Industrial Boiler Owners (CIBO), placed the costs of the rule substantially higher than EPA's estimates. Most of these units are located at commercial and institutional (as opposed to industrial) facilities, according to EPA. Thus, in addition to the Boiler MACT and Area Source rules, the agency promulgated a rule on the Identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials that Are Solid Waste, and a rule that would set emission standards for Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerators (the "CISWI Rule"). Non-hazardous secondary materials that meet legitimacy criteria, such as the following, would not be considered solid waste under the rule promulgated in March 2011:
material used as a fuel that remains within the control of the generator (whether at the site of generation or another site the generator has control over); scrap tires removed from vehicles and managed under established tire collection programs; resinated wood residuals, provided they have not been discarded and are used as fuel either by the generator or outside the generator's control; material used as an ingredient in a manufacturing process (whether by the generator or a third party); material that has been sufficiently processed to produce a fuel or ingredient product; and material that has been determined through a case-by-case petition process to not have been discarded and to be indistinguishable in all relevant aspects from a fuel product. Doing so would be costly and impractical. Conclusion

EPA's Boiler MACT has been controversial since its original proposal in June 2010. The version of the rule promulgated March 21, 2011, and the reconsidered version finalized December 20, 2012, are much less stringent than the rule as first proposed. In the 112 th Congress, bills were introduced in both the House and Senate ( H.R. At a minimum, this would have given the affected units three years of additional time to comply with MACT standards. 2250 passed the House, 275-142, on October 13, 2011. A Senate version similar to H.R. 2250 was offered as an amendment ( S.Amdt. 1660 ) to the surface transportation bill ( S. 1813 ) on March 8, 2012, but was not adopted on a vote of 52-46 (60 votes being necessary for adoption). In the reconsidered rules, finalized December 20, 2012, EPA took a number of steps in the direction of its critics, giving affected units an additional two years to comply and making many of the emission limits less stringent. Whether these changes will be sufficient to mollify the affected industries and the agency's other critics remains to be seen.
On December 20, 2012, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson signed final revisions to EPA's 2011 Maximum Achievable Control Technology standards for boilers (the "Boiler MACT"). The Boiler MACT has been among the most controversial EPA regulations over the last three years, because of its wide reach and potential economic impact. Boilers are widely used for heat and power throughout industry, and by large commercial establishments and institutions, as well. EPA found it difficult to adequately characterize and develop emissions data for the many types of boilers, leading many in the regulated community to complain that the originally proposed standards would not be economically achievable. Although EPA and others disputed the industry cost estimates, the revised rule modifies all of the originally proposed standards, lowering the projected cost, and grants owners and operators additional time to comply. Whether these changes will quell the long controversy or raise new issues remains to be seen.
EPA developed the regulations because it has found, based on emissions data, that boilers (especially coal-, biomass-, and liquid-fired boilers) are major sources of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). The Clean Air Act defines a major source as any facility that emits 10 tons or more of a single listed HAP or 25 tons of any combination of HAPs annually. The HAPs themselves (187 substances) were listed by Congress in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Congress also set specific requirements for the stringency of MACT standards, limiting EPA's ability to promulgate less stringent requirements.
The revised MACT will affect about 14,000 existing boilers and process heaters, with capital costs of $4.6 billion, according to the agency. Annualized costs, which spread the costs of capital over the expected life of the equipment and include operating and maintenance expenses, are estimated by EPA at $1.2 billion per year. In response to comments on an earlier proposal and on the promulgated 2011 rule, the modified rule reduces the number of units expected to require controls, and makes the emissions standards much less stringent, cutting the agency's estimate of annualized control costs by more than half. Most of the costs of the final rule would be borne by boilers that burn coal, biomass, or liquid fuels; only 12% of the 14,000 units covered by the rule will need to install equipment to meet it. Most of the rest are fueled by natural gas or refinery gases. These boilers would not have to install pollution control equipment and most would experience cost savings under the rule's provisions, according to EPA. For the rule as a whole, EPA estimated that benefits—including the avoidance of 3,100 to 7,900 premature deaths annually—would outweigh costs by at least $23 billion per year.
Affected industries and many in Congress raised objections to the rule as proposed in 2010 and as promulgated in 2011, and bills were introduced in both the House and Senate in the 112th Congress to alter the rule's requirements and delay its implementation. H.R. 2250 passed the House 275-142 on October 13, 2011. Provisions similar to H.R. 2250 were offered as an amendment (S.Amdt. 1660) to the Senate version of the surface transportation bill (S. 1813) on March 8, 2012, but were not adopted. Numerous stakeholders have also challenged the rules in court. These challenges are expected to proceed now that EPA has finalized the rule.
In addition to the Boiler MACT, this report discusses three related rules that EPA developed at the same time, dealing with smaller "area source" boilers and with commercial and industrial boilers that burn solid waste (the "CISWI" and solid waste rules). The latter two rules have also been controversial. Revised versions of the three related rules were also finalized December 20.