b Compliance and performance test methods and procedures for particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.
40 C.F.R. § 60.46b
in effect(a) The PM emission standards and opacity limits under § 60.43b apply at all times except during periods of startup, shutdown, or malfunction. The NOX emission standards under § 60.44b apply at all times.
(b) Compliance with the PM emission standards under § 60.43b shall be determined through performance testing as described in paragraph (d) of this section, except as provided in paragraph (i) of this section.
(c) Compliance with the NOX emission standards under § 60.44b shall be determined through performance testing under paragraph (e) or (f), or under paragraphs (g) and (h) of this section, as applicable.
(d) To determine compliance with the PM emission limits and opacity limits under § 60.43b, the owner or operator of an affected facility shall conduct an initial performance test as required under § 60.8, and shall conduct subsequent performance tests as requested by the Administrator, using the following procedures and reference methods:
(1) Method 3A or 3B of appendix A-2 of this part is used for gas analysis when applying Method 5 of appendix A-3 of this part or Method 17 of appendix A-6 of this part.
(2) Method 5, 5B, or 17 of appendix A of this part shall be used to measure the concentration of PM as follows:
(i) Method 5 of appendix A of this part shall be used at affected facilities without wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems; and
(ii) Method 17 of appendix A-6 of this part may be used at facilities with or without wet scrubber systems provided the stack gas temperature does not exceed a temperature of 160 °C (320 °F). The procedures of sections 8.1 and 11.1 of Method 5B of appendix A-3 of this part may be used in Method 17 of appendix A-6 of this part only if it is used after a wet FGD system. Do not use Method 17 of appendix A-6 of this part after wet FGD systems if the effluent is saturated or laden with water droplets.
(iii) Method 5B of appendix A of this part is to be used only after wet FGD systems.
(3) Method 1 of appendix A of this part is used to select the sampling site and the number of traverse sampling points. The sampling time for each run is at least 120 minutes and the minimum sampling volume is 1.7 dscm (60 dscf) except that smaller sampling times or volumes may be approved by the Administrator when necessitated by process variables or other factors.
(4) For Method 5 of appendix A of this part, the temperature of the sample gas in the probe and filter holder is monitored and is maintained at 160±14 °C (320±25 °F).
(5) For determination of PM emissions, the oxygen (O2) or CO2 sample is obtained simultaneously with each run of Method 5, 5B, or 17 of appendix A of this part by traversing the duct at the same sampling location.
(6) For each run using Method 5, 5B, or 17 of appendix A of this part, the emission rate expressed in ng/J heat input is determined using:
(i) The O2 or CO2 measurements and PM measurements obtained under this section;
(ii) The dry basis F factor; and
(iii) The dry basis emission rate calculation procedure contained in Method 19 of appendix A of this part.
(7) Method 9 of appendix A of this part is used for determining the opacity of stack emissions.
(e) To determine compliance with the emission limits for NOX required under § 60.44b, the owner or operator of an affected facility shall conduct the performance test as required under § 60.8 using the continuous system for monitoring NOX under § 60.48(b).
(1) For the initial compliance test, NOX from the steam generating unit are monitored for 30 successive steam generating unit operating days and the 30-day average emission rate is used to determine compliance with the NOX emission standards under § 60.44b. The 30-day average emission rate is calculated as the average of all hourly emissions data recorded by the monitoring system during the 30-day test period.
(2) Following the date on which the initial performance test is completed or is required to be completed in § 60.8, whichever date comes first, the owner or operator of an affected facility which combusts coal (except as specified under § 60.46b(e)(4)) or which combusts residual oil having a nitrogen content greater than 0.30 weight percent shall determine compliance with the NOX emission standards in § 60.44b on a continuous basis through the use of a 30-day rolling average emission rate. A new 30-day rolling average emission rate is calculated for each steam generating unit operating day as the average of all of the hourly NOX emission data for the preceding 30 steam generating unit operating days.
(3) Following the date on which the initial performance test is completed or is required to be completed under § 60.8, whichever date comes first, the owner or operator of an affected facility that has a heat input capacity greater than 73 MW (250 MMBtu/hr) and that combusts natural gas, distillate oil, or residual oil having a nitrogen content of 0.30 weight percent or less shall determine compliance with the NOX standards under § 60.44b on a continuous basis through the use of a 30-day rolling average emission rate. A new 30-day rolling average emission rate is calculated each steam generating unit operating day as the average of all of the hourly NOX emission data for the preceding 30 steam generating unit operating days.
(4) Following the date on which the initial performance test is completed or required to be completed under § 60.8, whichever date comes first, the owner or operator of an affected facility that has a heat input capacity of 73 MW (250 MMBtu/hr) or less and that combusts natural gas, distillate oil, gasified coal, or residual oil having a nitrogen content of 0.30 weight percent or less shall upon request determine compliance with the NOX standards in § 60.44b through the use of a 30-day performance test. During periods when performance tests are not requested, NOX emissions data collected pursuant to § 60.48b(g)(1) or § 60.48b(g)(2) are used to calculate a 30-day rolling average emission rate on a daily basis and used to prepare excess emission reports, but will not be used to determine compliance with the NOX emission standards. A new 30-day rolling average emission rate is calculated each steam generating unit operating day as the average of all of the hourly NOX emission data for the preceding 30 steam generating unit operating days.
(5) If the owner or operator of an affected facility that combusts residual oil does not sample and analyze the residual oil for nitrogen content, as specified in § 60.49b(e), the requirements of § 60.48b(g)(1) apply and the provisions of § 60.48b(g)(2) are inapplicable.
(f) To determine compliance with the emissions limits for NOX required by § 60.44b(a)(4) or § 60.44b(l) for duct burners used in combined cycle systems, either of the procedures described in paragraph (f)(1) or (2) of this section may be used:
(1) The owner or operator of an affected facility shall conduct the performance test required under § 60.8 as follows:
(i) The emissions rate (E) of NOX shall be computed using Equation 1 in this section:
(ii) Method 7E of appendix A of this part or Method 320 of appendix A of part 63 shall be used to determine the NOX concentrations. Method 3A or 3B of appendix A of this part shall be used to determine O2 concentration.
(iii) The owner or operator shall identify and demonstrate to the Administrator's satisfaction suitable methods to determine the average hourly heat input rate to the combustion turbine and the average hourly heat input rate to the affected duct burner.
(iv) Compliance with the emissions limits under § 60.44b(a)(4) or § 60.44b(l) is determined by the three-run average (nominal 1-hour runs) for the initial and subsequent performance tests; or
(2) The owner or operator of an affected facility may elect to determine compliance on a 30-day rolling average basis by using the CEMS specified under § 60.48b for measuring NOX and O2 and meet the requirements of § 60.48b. The sampling site shall be located at the outlet from the steam generating unit. The NOX emissions rate at the outlet from the steam generating unit shall constitute the NOX emissions rate from the duct burner of the combined cycle system.
(g) The owner or operator of an affected facility described in § 60.44b(j) or § 60.44b(k) shall demonstrate the maximum heat input capacity of the steam generating unit by operating the facility at maximum capacity for 24 hours. The owner or operator of an affected facility shall determine the maximum heat input capacity using the heat loss method or the heat input method described in sections 5 and 7.3 of the ASME Power Test Codes 4.1 (incorporated by reference, see § 60.17). This demonstration of maximum heat input capacity shall be made during the initial performance test for affected facilities that meet the criteria of § 60.44b(j). It shall be made within 60 days after achieving the maximum production rate at which the affected facility will be operated, but not later than 180 days after initial start-up of each facility, for affected facilities meeting the criteria of § 60.44b(k). Subsequent demonstrations may be required by the Administrator at any other time. If this demonstration indicates that the maximum heat input capacity of the affected facility is less than that stated by the manufacturer of the affected facility, the maximum heat input capacity determined during this demonstration shall be used to determine the capacity utilization rate for the affected facility. Otherwise, the maximum heat input capacity provided by the manufacturer is used.
(h) The owner or operator of an affected facility described in § 60.44b(j) that has a heat input capacity greater than 73 MW (250 MMBtu/hr) shall:
(1) Conduct an initial performance test as required under § 60.8 over a minimum of 24 consecutive steam generating unit operating hours at maximum heat input capacity to demonstrate compliance with the NOX emission standards under § 60.44b using Method 7, 7A, or 7E of appendix A of this part, Method 320 of appendix A of part 63 of this chapter, or other approved reference methods; and
(2) Conduct subsequent performance tests once per calendar year or every 400 hours of operation (whichever comes first) to demonstrate compliance with the NOX emission standards under § 60.44b over a minimum of 3 consecutive steam generating unit operating hours at maximum heat input capacity using Method 7, 7A, or 7E of appendix A of this part, Method 320 of appendix A of part 63, or other approved reference methods.
(i) The owner or operator of an affected facility seeking to demonstrate compliance with the PM limit in paragraphs § 60.43b(a)(4) or § 60.43b(h)(5) shall follow the applicable procedures in § 60.49b(r).
(j) In place of PM testing with Method 5 or 5B of appendix A-3 of this part, or Method 17 of appendix A-6 of this part, an owner or operator may elect to install, calibrate, maintain, and operate a CEMS for monitoring PM emissions discharged to the atmosphere and record the output of the system. The owner or operator of an affected facility who elects to continuously monitor PM emissions instead of conducting performance testing using Method 5 or 5B of appendix A-3 of this part or Method 17 of appendix A-6 of this part shall comply with the requirements specified in paragraphs (j)(1) through (j)(14) of this section.
(1) Notify the Administrator one month before starting use of the system.
(2) Notify the Administrator one month before stopping use of the system.
(3) The monitor shall be installed, evaluated, and operated in accordance with § 60.13 of subpart A of this part.
(4) The initial performance evaluation shall be completed no later than 180 days after the date of initial startup of the affected facility, as specified under § 60.8 of subpart A of this part or within 180 days of notification to the Administrator of use of the CEMS if the owner or operator was previously determining compliance by Method 5, 5B, or 17 of appendix A of this part performance tests, whichever is later.
(5) The owner or operator of an affected facility shall conduct an initial performance test for PM emissions as required under § 60.8 of subpart A of this part. Compliance with the PM emission limit shall be determined by using the CEMS specified in paragraph (j) of this section to measure PM and calculating a 24-hour block arithmetic average emission concentration using EPA Reference Method 19 of appendix A of this part, section 4.1.
(6) Compliance with the PM emission limit shall be determined based on the 24-hour daily (block) average of the hourly arithmetic average emission concentrations using CEMS outlet data.
(7) At a minimum, valid CEMS hourly averages shall be obtained as specified in paragraphs (j)(7)(i) of this section for 75 percent of the total operating hours per 30-day rolling average.
(i) At least two data points per hour shall be used to calculate each 1-hour arithmetic average.
(ii) [Reserved]
(8) The 1-hour arithmetic averages required under paragraph (j)(7) of this section shall be expressed in ng/J or lb/MMBtu heat input and shall be used to calculate the boiler operating day daily arithmetic average emission concentrations. The 1-hour arithmetic averages shall be calculated using the data points required under § 60.13(e)(2) of subpart A of this part.
(9) All valid CEMS data shall be used in calculating average emission concentrations even if the minimum CEMS data requirements of paragraph (j)(7) of this section are not met.
(10) The CEMS shall be operated according to Performance Specification 11 in appendix B of this part.
(11) During the correlation testing runs of the CEMS required by Performance Specification 11 in appendix B of this part, PM and O2 (or CO2) data shall be collected concurrently (or within a 30-to 60-minute period) by both the continuous emission monitors and performance tests conducted using the following test methods.
(i) For PM, Method 5 or 5B of appendix A-3 of this part or Method 17 of appendix A-6 of this part shall be used; and
(ii) For O2 (or CO2), Method 3A or 3B of appendix A-2 of this part, as applicable shall be used.
(12) Quarterly accuracy determinations and daily calibration drift tests shall be performed in accordance with procedure 2 in appendix F of this part. Relative Response Audit's must be performed annually and Response Correlation Audits must be performed every 3 years.
(13) When PM emissions data are not obtained because of CEMS breakdowns, repairs, calibration checks, and zero and span adjustments, emissions data shall be obtained by using other monitoring systems as approved by the Administrator or EPA Reference Method 19 of appendix A of this part to provide, as necessary, valid emissions data for a minimum of 75 percent of total operating hours per 30-day rolling average.
(14) As of January 1, 2012, and within 90 days after the date of completing each performance test, as defined in § 60.8, conducted to demonstrate compliance with this subpart, you must submit relative accuracy test audit (i.e., reference method) data and performance test (i.e., compliance test) data, except opacity data, electronically to EPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX) by using the Electronic Reporting Tool (ERT) (see http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ert/ert__tool.html/) or other compatible electronic spreadsheet. Only data collected using test methods compatible with ERT are subject to this requirement to be submitted electronically into EPA's WebFIRE database.
Where:
E = Emissions rate of NOX from the duct burner, ng/J (lb/MMBtu) heat input;
Esg = Combined effluent emissions rate, in ng/J (lb/MMBtu) heat input using appropriate F factor as described in Method 19 of appendix A of this part;
Hg = Heat input rate to the combustion turbine, in J/hr (MMBtu/hr);
Hb = Heat input rate to the duct burner, in J/hr (MMBtu/hr); and
Eg = Emissions rate from the combustion turbine, in ng/J (lb/MMBtu) heat input calculated using appropriate F factor as described in Method 19 of appendix A of this part.
Source: ecfr_bulkFetched: 7/26/2026
Source: eCFR APIURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-40.xml?part=60Fetched: 5/31/2026