The Business Council provided these comments to DEC for consideration in the Department’s efforts to revise the NOx RACT emissions standards.

It is essential that New York’s rule be fair and not put in-state industry at a competitive disadvantage.

Specifically, we recommend that the Department recognize that other clean air programs such as the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and the New York Acid Deposition Reduction Program (ADRP) are already reducing NOx, lessening the need for additional expensive control technology. Many of the affected parties to this proposed rule have already installed control equipment to reduce ozone and NOx.

We recommend that the Department exclude boilers with heat capacities as low as 25 million Btu per hour from the definition of a “mid size boiler.” Lowering the threshold will subject these smaller boilers to costly modifications without any significant environmental benefit.

We recommend that the Department not codify specific dates for the submission of NOx analyses and the installation of approved control equipment. Any required NOx analysis should be submitted to the Department in a reasonable time-frame following adoption of a final NOx rule and any approved emissions reduction methods should be installed as “expeditiously as possible” after approval of the State Implementation Plan (SIP).

To read the complete list of comments provide to DEC click here.