[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67633-67635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18721]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0341; FRL-12182-01-OAR]


Notice of Availability of One Updated Chapter in the 
Environmental Protection Agency's Air Pollution Control Cost Manual--
Fabric Filters

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability and public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice 
that one chapter of the current EPA Air Pollution Control Cost Manual 
(Control Cost Manual) has been updated. The EPA is requesting comment 
on: Chapter 1, Section 6, ``Fabric Filters.'' This Control Cost Manual 
chapter covers control measures for particulate matter (PM), including 
fine particulate (PM2.5) emissions.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 19, 2024. Please 
refer to SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional information on 
submitting comments on the provided data.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2015-0341, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/ 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center, Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0341, Office of Air and Radiation 
Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20460.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: EPA Docket Center, WJC West 
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. 
The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
Monday through Friday (except Federal Holidays).
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this action. Comments received may be posted without change to 
https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the

[[Page 67634]]

``Public Participation'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Sorrels, Health and 
Environmental Impacts Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards, Environmental Protection Agency, C439-02, 109 T.W. Alexander 
Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; telephone number: (919) 541-
5041; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA is requesting comment on the 
specific Control Cost Manual chapter included in this notice.
    Written Comments: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0341, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred 
method), or the other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once 
submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. The 
EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not 
submit to EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov any information 
you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI), Proprietary 
Business Information (PBI), or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must 
be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered 
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you 
wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment 
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, 
cloud, or other file sharing system). Please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets for additional submission methods; the 
full EPA public comment policy; information about CBI, PBI, or 
multimedia submissions; and general guidance on making effective 
comments.

I. General Information

A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to the EPA 
through www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of 
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk 
or CD-ROM that you mail to the EPA docket office, mark the outside of 
the disk or CD-ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the 
disk or CD-ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In 
addition to one complete version of the comment that includes 
information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain 
the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the 
public docket. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in 
accordance with procedures set forth in 40 Code of Federal Regulation 
(CFR) part 2.
    2. Tips for Preparing your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to: Identify the notification by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a CFR part or 
section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language/data for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Information Available for Public Comment

    The EPA is requesting comment on one updated chapter of the EPA Air 
Pollution Control Cost Manual. The Control Cost Manual contains 
individual chapters on control measures, including data and equations 
to aid users in estimating capital costs for installation and annual 
costs for operation and maintenance of these measures, and data 
concerning the percentage of pollutant emissions that control measures 
can reduce. The Control Cost Manual is used by the EPA for estimating 
the impacts of rulemakings and serves as a basis for sources to 
estimate costs of controls that are Best Available Control Technology 
(BACT) under the New Source Review Program, the Regional Haze Program, 
Reasonably Achievable Control Technology (RACT) for State 
Implementation Plans (SIPs) and for other programs.
    The one updated Control Cost Manual chapter is: Chapter 1, Section 
6, ``Fabric Filters.'' This revised Control Cost Manual chapter can be 
found in the docket for the Control Cost Manual update (Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0341). The current Control Cost Manual version (sixth 
edition) including the current fabric filters chapter is available at 
http://epa.gov/ttn/catc/products.html#cccinfo, and last updated in 
2003.
    The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 requested that the EPA 
begin development of a seventh edition of the Control Cost Manual. The 
EPA has met with state, local, and Tribal officials to discuss plans 
for the Control Cost Manual update as called for under the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act of 2014. The EPA has met with other groups as well 
at their request. The EPA has updated the selective non-catalytic 
reduction (SNCR) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) chapters, the 
first two chapters (Chapter 1, Section 4; Chapter 2, Section 4, 
respectively) completed for the seventh edition of the Control Cost 
Manual and made them available to the public in May 2016 (81 FR 38702, 
June 14, 2016) and also updated these chapters again in May 2019. In 
addition, the EPA has updated the Refrigerated Condensers (Chapter 1, 
Section 3 and Section 3.1) and Incinerators (Chapter 2, Section 3, 
Section 3.2, now Incinerators/Oxidizers) chapters in November 2017, the 
Cost Estimation: Concepts and Methodology chapter (Chapter 2, Section 
1) as of November 2017, the Carbon Adsorbers (Chapter 1, Section 3, 
Section 3.1) and Flares (Chapter 1, Section 3, Section 3.2) chapters in 
October 2018, and the Gas Absorbers (now (Wet and Dry Scrubbers for 
Acid Gas, Chapter 1, Section 5) chapter in May 2021.
    To help focus review of the Fabric Filters chapter, we offer the 
following list of questions that the EPA is particularly interested in 
addressing in the updated chapter. Regardless of the topics that are 
covered in this list of questions, commenters are welcome to address 
any aspects of this chapter. Please provide supporting data for 
responses to these questions and for other comments on the chapter.
    For the Fabric Filters chapter:
    (1) What is a reasonable and up-to-date estimate of equipment life 
(defined as design or operational life) for fabric filters--that is, an 
entire fabric filter system, not just the filter bags or cages? Please 
provide data, if possible, on accurate estimates of equipment life.
    (2) Are the descriptions of and technical background on fabric 
filters complete, up to date, and accurate with regard to control of PM 
(including PM2.5)? Please provide information, if possible, 
on descriptions of and background on control of PM by fabric filters if 
you do not believe that the

[[Page 67635]]

descriptions in the draft chapter are complete, up to date, and 
accurate.
    (3) Is the applicability of fabric filters to various types of 
emissions sources complete, up to date, and accurate?
    (4) Are the estimates of PM (including PM2.5) removal or 
control efficiency for fabric filters accurate and up-to-date? If not, 
what are more accurate estimates? Please provide data, if possible, to 
address inaccuracies.
    (5) Is the information accurate on how fabric filters operate in 
tandem with control technologies such as dry sorbent injection (DSI) to 
reduce sulfur dioxide and activated carbon injection (ACI) to reduce 
mercury? Please provide data, if possible, to address inaccuracies.
    (6) Are the capital cost correlations, factors, and equations for 
fabric filters applied to various types of emissions sources and 
industries accurate and up to date? Are the annual costs (such as 
operating and maintenance costs) for fabric filters applied to various 
types of emissions sources and industries accurate and up-to-date? If 
not, how should they be revised? Please provide data, if possible, to 
address inaccuracies.
    (7) This revised Control Cost Manual chapter lists test methods 
used to measure the performance of fabric media. Is the list of test 
methods accurate and up-to-date?

Erika N. Sasser,
Director, Health and Environmental Impacts Division.
[FR Doc. 2024-18721 Filed 8-20-24; 8:45 am]
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