§ 63.309 - Performance tests and procedures.

§ 63.309 Performance tests and procedures.

(a) Except as otherwise provided, a daily performance test shall be conducted each day, 7 days per week for each new and existing coke oven battery, the results of which shall be used in accordance with procedures specified in this subpart to determine compliance with each of the applicable visible emission limitations for coke oven doors, topside port lids, offtake systems, and charging operations in this subpart. If a facility pushes and charges only at night, then that facility must, at its option, change their schedule and charge during daylight hours or provide adequate lighting so that visible emission inspections can be made at night. “Adequate lighting” will be determined by the enforcement agency. The performance test should be based on representative performance (i.e., performance based on the entire range of normal operating conditions) of the affected source for the period being tested. Representative conditions exclude periods of startup and shutdown. You may not conduct performance tests during periods of malfunction. You must record the process information that is necessary to document operating conditions during the test and include in such record an explanation to support that such conditions represent the entire range of normal operations, including operational conditions for maximum emissions if such emissions are not expected during maximum production. You shall make available to the Administrator such records as may be necessary to determine the conditions of performance tests.

(1) Each performance test is to be conducted according to the procedures and requirements in this section and in Method 303 or 303A in appendix A to this part or Methods 9 and 22 in appendix A to part 60 of this chapter (where applicable).

(2) Each performance test is to be conducted by a certified observer.

(3) The certified observer shall complete any reasonable safety training program offered by the owner or operator prior to conducting any performance test at a coke oven battery.

(4) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (a)(5) of this section, the owner or operator shall pay an inspection fee to the enforcement agency each calendar quarter to defray the costs of the daily performance tests required under paragraph (a) of this section.

(i) The inspection fee shall be determined according to the following formula:

where

F = Fees to be paid by owner or operator.

H = Total person hours for inspections: 4 hours for 1 coke oven battery, 6.25 hours for 2 coke oven batteries, 8.25 hours for 3 coke oven batteries. For more than 3 coke oven batteries, use these hours to calculate the appropriate estimate of person hours.

S = Current average hourly rate for private visible emission inspectors in the relevant market.

(ii) The enforcement agency may revise the value for H in equation 3 within 3 years after October 27, 1993 to reflect the amount of time actually required to conduct the inspections required under paragraph (a) of this section.

(iii) The owner or operator shall not be required to pay an inspection fee (or any part thereof) under paragraph (a)(4) of this section, for any monitoring or inspection services required by paragraph (a) of this section that the owner or operator can demonstrate are covered by other fees collected by the enforcement agency.

(iv) Upon request, the enforcement agency shall provide the owner or operator information concerning the inspection services covered by any other fees collected by the enforcement agency, and any information relied upon under paragraph (a)(4)(ii) of this section.

(5)

(i) The EPA shall be the enforcement agency during any period of time that a delegation of enforcement authority is not in effect or a withdrawal of enforcement authority under § 63.313 is in effect, and the Administrator is responsible for performing the inspections required by this section, pursuant to § 63.313(c).

(ii) Within thirty (30) days of receiving notification from the Administrator that the EPA is the enforcement agency for a coke oven battery, the owner or operator shall enter into a contract providing for the inspections and performance tests required under this section to be performed by a Method 303 certified observer. The inspections and performance tests will be conducted at the expense of the owner or operator, during the period that the EPA is the implementing agency.

(b) The enforcement agency shall commence daily performance tests on the applicable date specified in § 63.300 (a) or (c).

(c) The certified observer shall conduct each performance test according to the requirements in this paragraph:

(1) The certified observer shall conduct one run each day to observe and record visible emissions from each coke oven door (except for doors covered by an alternative standard under § 63.305), topside port lid, and offtake system on each coke oven battery. The certified observer also shall conduct five runs to observe and record the seconds of visible emissions per charge for five consecutive charges from each coke oven battery. The observer may perform additional runs as needed to obtain and record a visible emissions value (or set of values) for an emission point that is valid under Method 303 or Method 303A in appendix A to this part. Observations from fewer than five consecutive charges shall constitute a valid set of charging observations only in accordance with the procedures and conditions specified in sections 3.8 and 3.9 of Method 303 in appendix A to this part.

(2) If a valid visible emissions value (or set of values) is not obtained for a performance test, there is no compliance determination for that day. Compliance determinations will resume on the next day that a valid visible emissions value (or set of values) is obtained.

(3) After each performance test for a by-product coke oven battery, the certified observer shall check and record the collecting main pressure according to the procedures in section 6.3 of Method 303 in appendix A to this part.

(i) The owner or operator shall demonstrate pursuant to Method 303 in appendix A to this part the accuracy of the pressure measurement device upon request of the certified observer;

(ii) The owner or operator shall not adjust the pressure to a level below the range of normal operation during or prior to the inspection;

(4) The certified observer shall monitor visible emissions from coke oven doors subject to an alternative standard under § 63.305 on the schedule specified in § 63.305(f).

(5) If applicable, the certified observer shall monitor the opacity of any emissions escaping the control device for a shed covering doors subject to an alternative standard under § 63.305 on the schedule specified in § 63.305(f).

(6) In no case shall the owner or operator knowingly block a coke oven door, or any portion of a door for the purpose of concealing emissions or preventing observations by the certified observer.

(d) Using the observations obtained from each performance test, the enforcement agency shall compute and record, in accordance with the procedures and requirements of Method 303 or 303A in appendix A to this part, for each day of operations on which a valid emissions value (or set of values) is obtained:

(1) The 30-run rolling average of the percent leaking coke oven doors, topside port lids, and offtake systems on each coke oven battery, using the equations in sections 412.5.3.2, 512.6.5.2, and 5.6.6.2 12.7 of Method 303 (or section 3.4.3.212 of Method 303A) in appendix A to this part;

(2) For by-product coke oven battery charging operations, the logarithmic 30-day rolling average of the seconds of visible emissions per charge for each battery, using the equation in section 312.94 of Method 303 in appendix A to this part;

(3) For a battery subject to an alternative emission limitation for coke oven doors on by-product coke oven batteries pursuant to § 63.305, the 30-run rolling average of the percent leaking coke oven doors for any side of the battery not subject to such alternative emission limitation;

(4) For a by-product coke oven battery subject to the small battery emission limitation for coke oven doors pursuant to § 63.304(b)(7), the 30-run rolling average of the number of leaking coke oven doors;

(5) For an approved alternative emission limitation for coke oven doors according to § 63.305, the weekly or monthly observation of the percent leaking coke oven doors using Method 303 in appendix A to this part, the percent opacity of visible emissions from the control device for the shed using Method 9 in appendix A-4 to 40 CFR part 60 of this chapter, or ASTM D7520-16 (incorporated by reference, see § 63.14), and visible emissions from the shed using Method 22 in appendix A-7 to 40 CFR part 60 of this chapter;

(e) The certified observer shall make available to the implementing agency as well as to the owner or operator, a copy of the daily inspection results by the end of the day and shall make available the calculated rolling average for each emission point to the owner or operator as soon as practicable following each performance test. The information provided by the certified observer is not a compliance determination. For the purpose of notifying an owner or operator of the results obtained by a certified observer, the person does not have to be certified.

(f) Compliance shall not be determined more often than the schedule provided for performance tests under this section. If additional valid emissions observations are obtained (or in the case of charging, valid sets of emission observations), the arithmetic average of all valid values (or valid sets of values) obtained during the day shall be used in any computations performed to determine compliance under paragraph (d) of this section or determinations under § 63.306.

(g) Compliance with the alternative standards for nonrecovery coke oven batteries in § 63.303; shed inspection, maintenance requirements, and monitoring requirements for parameters affecting the shed exhaust or pushing/charging machine or equivalent device flow rate for batteries subject to alternative standards for coke oven doors under § 63.305; work practice emission control plan requirements in § 63.306; standards for bypass/bleeder stacks in § 63.307; and standards for collecting mains in § 63.308 is to be determined by the enforcement agency based on review of records and inspections.

(h) For a flare installed to meet the requirements of § 63.307(b):

(1) Compliance with the provisions in § 63.307(c) (visible emissions from flares) shall be determined using Method 22 in appendix A to part 60 of this chapter, with an observation period of 2 hours; and

(2) Compliance with the provisions in § 63.307(b)(4) (flare pilot light) shall be determined using a thermocouple or any other equivalent device.

(i) No observations obtained during any program for training or for certifying observers under this subpart shall be used to determine compliance with the requirements of this subpart or any other federally enforceable standard.

(j) The owner or operator of a new nonrecovery coke oven battery shall conduct a performance test once each week to demonstrate compliance with the opacity limit in § 63.303(d)(1). The owner or operator shall conduct each performance test according to the procedures and requirements in paragraphs (j)(1) through (3) of this section.

(1) Using a certified observer, determine the average opacity of five consecutive charges per week for each charging emissions capture system if charges can be observed according to the requirements of Method 9 (in appendix A-4 to 40 CFR part 60, appendix A or ASTM D7520-16 (as applicable; incorporated by reference, see § 63.14), except as specified in paragraphs (j)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section.

(i) Instead of the procedures in section 2.4 of Method 9 (in appendix A-4 to 40 CFR part 60, appendix A or section 8.4 of ASTM D7520-16 (as applicable; incorporated by reference, see § 63.14), record observations to the nearest 5 percent at 15-second intervals for at least five consecutive charges.

(ii) Instead of the procedures in section 2.5 of Method 9 (in appendix A-4 to 40 CFR part 60, appendix A or section 8.5 of ASTM D7520-16 (as applicable; incorporated by reference, see § 63.14), determine and record the highest 3-minute average opacity for each charge from the consecutive observations recorded at 15-second intervals.

(2) Opacity observations are to start when the door is removed for charging and end when the door is replaced.

(3) Using the observations recorded from each performance test, the certified observer shall compute and record the average of the highest 3-minute averages for five consecutive charges.

(k) The owner or operator of a new nonrecovery coke oven battery shall conduct a performance test to demonstrate initial compliance with the emission limitations for a charging emissions control device in § 63.303(d)(2) within 180 days of the compliance date that is specified for the affected source in § 63.300(a)(4) and report the results in the notification of compliance status. The owner or operator shall prepare a site-specific test plan according to the requirements in § 63.7(c) and shall conduct each performance test according to the requirements in § 63.7(e)(1) and paragraphs paragraphs (a) and (k)(1) through (4) of this section.

(1) Determine the concentration of PM according to the following test methods in appendix A appendices A-1 through A-3 to 40 CFR part 60.

(i) Method 1 to select sampling port locations and the number of traverse points. Sampling sites must be located at the outlet of the control device and prior to any releases to the atmosphere.

(ii) Method 2, 2F, or 2G to determine the volumetric flow rate of the stack gas.

(iii) Method 3, 3A, or 3B to determine the dry molecular weight of the stack gas. You may also use as an alternative to Method 3B, the manual method (but not instrumental procedures) for measuring the oxygen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide content of exhaust gas, ANSI/ASME PTC 19.10-1981 , “Flue and Exhaust Gas Analyses” (incorporated by reference, see § 63.14).

(iv) Method 4 to determine the moisture content of the stack gas.

(v) Method 5 or 5D, as applicable, to determine the concentration of front half PM in the stack gas.

(2) During each PM test run, sample only during periods of actual charging when the capture system fan and control device are engaged. Collect a minimum sample volume of 30 dry standard cubic feet (dscf) during each test run. Three valid test runs are needed to comprise a performance test. Each run must start at the beginning of a charge and finish at the end of a charge (i.e., sample for an integral number of charges).

(3) Determine and record the total combined weight of tons of dry coal charged during the duration of each test run.

(4) Compute the process-weighted mass emissions (E_p) for each test run using Equation 1 of this section as follows:

Where:

E_p = Process weighted mass emissions of PM, lb/ton;

C = Concentration of PM, grains per dry standard cubic foot (gr/dscf);

Q = Volumetric flow rate of stack gas, dscf/hr;

T = Total time during a run that a sample is withdrawn from the stack during charging, hr;

P = Total amount of dry coal charged during the test run, tons; and

K = Conversion factor, 7,000 grains per pound (gr/lb).

(l) The owner or operator of a new nonrecovery coke oven battery shall conduct subsequent performance tests for each charging emissions control device subject to the PM emissions limit in § 63.303(d)(2) at least once during each term of their title V operating permit.

(m) Visible emission observations of a charging emissions control device required by § 63.303(d)(3)(iii) must be performed by a certified observer according to Method 9 (in appendix A-4 to 40 CFR part 60, appendix A or ASTM D7520-16 (as applicable; incorporated by reference, see § 63.14) for one 6-minute period.

[58 FR 57911, Oct. 27, 1993, as amended at 68 FR 37345, June 23, 2003; 70 FR 20013, Apr. 15, 2005; 89 FR 55735, July 5, 2024]