Chapter NR 409

NR 409.01(3) (3) Scope. The regulations under this chapter set forth certain generally applicable provisions under the acid rain program. The regulations also set forth requirements for obtaining and revising the acid rain portion of an operation permit issued by the department. The requirements under this chapter supplement, and in some cases modify, the requirements under chs. NR 406 and 407 as such requirements apply to affected sources under the acid rain program.

NR 409.01 History History: Cr. Register, September, 1986, No. 369, eff. 10-1-86; am. (2), Register, May, 1992, No. 437, eff. 6-1-92; am. Register, December, 1993, No. 456, eff. 1-1-94; renum. (1) to NR 406.15 (1), r. (2), cr. (1), (2), (3), Register, April, 1995, No. 472, eff. 5-1-95; cr. (1) (b) 9. and (d), am. (1) (c), Register, November, 1999, No. 527, eff. 12-1-99; correction in (2) made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 7., Stats., Register, November, 1999, No. 527.

NR 409.02 NR 409.02 Definitions. The definitions contained in chs. NR 400, 406 and 407 and title IV of the act (42 USC 7651 to 7651o) apply to the terms used in this chapter. In addition, the following definitions apply to the terms used in this chapter:

NR 409.02(1) (1) “Acid rain compliance option” means one of the methods of compliance used by an affected unit under the acid rain program as described in a compliance plan submitted and approved in accordance with s. NR 409.09 or regulations implementing section 407 of the act (42 USC 7651f).

NR 409.02(2) (2) “Acid rain emissions limitation” means:

NR 409.02(2)(a) (a) For the purposes of sulfur dioxide emissions:

NR 409.02(2)(a)1. 1. The tonnage equivalent of the allowances authorized to be allocated to an affected unit for use in a calendar year under section 404 (a) (1) and (3) of the act (42 USC 7651c) or the basic phase II allowance allocations authorized to be allocated to an affected unit for use in a calendar year;

NR 409.02(2)(a)2. 2. As adjusted:

NR 409.02(2)(a)2.a. a. By allowances allocated by the administrator pursuant to sections 403, 405 (a) (2) and (3), (b) (2), (c) (4), (d) (3) and (h) (2) and 406 of the act (42 USC 7651b, 7651d and 7651e);

NR 409.02(2)(a)2.b. b. By allowances allocated by the administrator pursuant to subpart D of 40 CFR part 72; and thereafter

NR 409.02(2)(a)2.c. c. By allowance transfers to or from the compliance subaccount for that unit that were recorded or properly submitted for recordation by the allowance transfer deadline as provided in 40 CFR 73.35, after deductions and other adjustments are made pursuant to 40 CFR 73.34 (c).

NR 409.02(2)(b) (b) For purposes of nitrogen oxides emissions, the applicable limitation under s. NR 409.065.

NR 409.02(3) (3) “Acid rain emissions reduction requirement” means a requirement under the acid rain program to reduce the emissions of sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides from a unit to a specified level or by a specified percentage.

NR 409.02(4) (4) “Acid rain portion of an operation permit” means the legally binding written document, or portion of an operation permit, issued by the department which specifies the acid rain program requirements applicable to an affected source and to the owners and operators and the designated representative of the affected source or the affected unit.

NR 409.02(5) (5) “Actual SO2 emissions rate” means the annual average sulfur dioxide emissions rate for the unit, expressed in lb/mmBtu, for the specified calendar year; provided that, if the unit is listed in the national allowance database (NADB), the “1985 actual SO2 emissions rate” for the unit shall be the rate specified by the administrator in the NADB under the data field “SO2RTE.”

NR 409.02(7) (7) “Allocate” or “allocation” means the initial crediting of an allowance by the administrator to an allowance tracking system unit account or general account.

NR 409.02(8) (8) “Allowance deduction” or “deduct”, when referring to allowances, means the permanent withdrawal of allowances by the administrator from an allowance tracking system compliance subaccount to account for the number of tons of SO2 emitted from an affected unit for the calendar year, for tonnage emissions estimates calculated for periods of missing data as provided in 40 CFR part 75, or for any other allowance surrender obligations of the acid rain program.

NR 409.02(9) (9) “Allowances held” or “hold allowances” means the allowances recorded by the administrator or submitted to the administrator for recordation in accordance with 40 CFR 73.50, in an allowance tracking system account.

NR 409.02(10) (10) “Allowance tracking system” means the acid rain program system by which the administrator allocates, records, deducts and tracks allowances.

NR 409.02(11) (11) “Allowance tracking system account” means an account in the allowance tracking system established by the administrator for purposes of allocating, holding, transferring and using allowances.

NR 409.02(12) (12) “Allowance transfer deadline” means midnight of March 1 (or February 29 in a leap year) or, if March 1 (or February 29 in a leap year) is not a business day, midnight of the first business day thereafter and is the deadline by which allowances may be submitted for recordation in an affected unit’s compliance subaccount for the purposes of meeting the unit’s acid rain emissions limitation requirements for sulfur dioxide for the previous calendar year.

NR 409.02(12g) (12g) ‘‘Alternative contemporaneous annual emission limitation” means the maximum allowable NOx emission rate (on a pound per million BTU, annual average basis) assigned to an individual unit in a NOx emissions averaging plan pursuant to s. NR 409.065 (7).

NR 409.02(12m) (12m) ‘‘Alternative technology” means a control technology for reducing NOx emissions that is outside the scope of the definition of low NOx burner technology. Alternative technology does not include overfire air as applied to wall-fired boilers or separated overfire air as applied to tangentially fired boilers.

NR 409.02(12s) (12s) ‘‘Arch-fired boiler” means a dry bottom boiler with circular burners, or coal and air pipes, oriented downward and mounted on waterwalls that are at an angle significantly different from the horizontal axis and the vertical axis. This definition shall include only the following units: Holtwood unit 17, Hunlock unit 6, and Sunbury units 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B. This definition shall exclude dry bottom turbo-fired boilers.

NR 409.02 Note Note: Arch-fired boilers that are wet bottom boilers are specifically excluded from this definition.

NR 409.02(13) (13) “Authorized account representative” means a responsible natural person who is authorized, in accordance with 40 CFR part 73, to transfer and otherwise dispose of allowances held in an allowance tracking system general account; or, in the case of a unit account, the designated representative of the owners and operators of the affected unit.

NR 409.02(14) (14) “Auxiliary firing” means combustion of a fuel that supplements the primary fuel, when more than 5% of an affected unit’s heat input is provided by the supplemental fuel.

NR 409.02(15) (15) “Baseline”, for purposes of the acid rain program, means the annual average quantity of fossil fuel consumed by a unit, measured in millions of Btus for calendar years 1985 through 1987; provided that in the event that a unit is listed in the NADB, the baseline will be calculated for each unit-generator pair that includes the unit, and the unit’s baseline will be the sum of such unit-generator baselines. The unit-generator baseline shall be as provided in the NADB under the data field “BASE8587”, as adjusted by the outage hours listed in the NADB under the data field “OUTAGEHR” in accordance with the following equation:

where “months not on line” is the number of months during January 1985 through December 1987 prior to the commencement of firing for units that commenced firing in that period, i.e., the number of months, in that period, prior to the on-line month listed under the data field “BLRMNONL” and the on-line year listed in the data field “BLRYRONL” in the NADB.

NR 409.02(16) (16) “Basic phase II allowance allocations” means:

NR 409.02(16)(a) (a) For calendar years 2000 to 2009, allocations of allowances made by the administrator pursuant to sections 403 and 405 (b) (1), (3) and (4); (c) (1), (2), (3) and (5); (d) (1), (2), (4) and (5); (e); (f); (g) (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5); (h) (1); (i); and (j) of the act (42 USC 7651b and 7651d).

NR 409.02(16)(b) (b) For each calendar year beginning in 2010, allocations of allowances made by the administrator pursuant to sections 403 and 405 (b) (1), (3) and (4); (c) (1), (2), (3) and (5); (d) (1), (2), (4) and (5); (e); (f); (g) (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5); (h) (1) and (3); (i); and (j) of the act (42 USC 7651b and 7651d).

NR 409.02(17) (17) “Boiler” means an enclosed fossil or other fuel-fired combustion device used to produce heat and to transfer heat to recirculating water, steam or any other medium.

NR 409.02(17m) (17m) ‘‘Cell burner boiler” means a wall-fired boiler that utilizes 2 or 3 circular burners combined into a single vertically oriented assembly that results in a compact, intense flame.

NR 409.02 Note Note: Any low NOx retrofit of a cell burner boiler that reuses the existing cell burner, close-coupled wall opening configuration would not change the designation of the unit as a cell burner boiler.

NR 409.02(18) (18) “Certificate of representation” means the completed and signed submission required by 40 CFR 72.20, for certifying the appointment of a designated representative for an affected source or a group of identified affected sources authorized to represent the owners and operators of the sources and of the affected units at the sources with regard to matters under the acid rain program.

NR 409.02(19) (19) “Clean coal technology” means atmospheric or pressurized fluidized bed combustion, integrated gasification combined cycle, magnetohydrodynamics, direct and indirect coal-fired turbines, integrated gasification fuel cells, or as determined by the administrator, in consultation with the secretary of the U.S. department of energy, a derivative of one or more of these technologies, and any other technology capable of controlling multiple combustion emissions simultaneously with improved boiler or generation efficiency and with significantly greater waste reduction relative to the performance of technology in widespread commercial use as of November 15, 1990.

NR 409.02(20) (20) “Coal-fired” means, except for the purposes of applying s. NR 409.065, the combustion of fuel consisting of coal or any coal-derived fuel, except a coal-derived gaseous fuel with a sulfur content no greater than natural gas, alone or in combination with any other fuel, where a unit is coal-fired if it uses coal or coal-derived fuel as its primary fuel, expressed in mmBtu; provided that, if the unit is listed in the NADB, the primary fuel is the fuel listed in the NADB under the data field “PRIMEFUEL”.

NR 409.02(20m) (20m) ‘‘Coal-fired utility unit” means a utility unit in which the combustion of coal (or any coal-derived fuel) on a Btu basis exceeds 50.0% of its annual heat input during the following calendar year: for Phase I units, in calendar year 1990; and, for Phase II units, in calendar year 1995 or, for a Phase II unit that did not combust any fuel that resulted in the generation of electricity in calendar year 1995, in any calendar year during the period 1990-1995. For the purposes of s. NR 409.065, this definition shall apply notwithstanding the definition of ‘‘coal-fired” in sub. (20).

NR 409.02(21) (21) “Cogeneration unit” means a unit that has equipment used to produce electric energy and forms of useful thermal energy, such as heat or steam, for industrial, commercial, heating or cooling purposes, through the sequential use of energy.

NR 409.02(21m) (21m) ‘‘Combustion controls” means technology that minimizes NOx formation by staging fuel and combustion air flows in a boiler. This definition shall include low NOx burners, overfire air or low NOx burners with overfire air.

NR 409.02(22) (22) “Commence commercial operation” means to have begun to generate electricity for sale, including the sale of test generation.

NR 409.02(23) (23) “Commence construction” means that an owner or operator has either undertaken a continuous program of construction or has entered into a contractual obligation to undertake and complete, within a reasonable time, a continuous program of construction.

NR 409.02(24) (24) “Commence operation” means to have begun any mechanical, chemical or electronic process, including startup of an emissions control technology or emissions monitor or of a unit’s combustion chamber.

NR 409.02(25) (25) “Common stack” means the exhaust of emissions from 2 or more units through a single flue.

NR 409.02(26) (26) “Compensating unit” means a unit that is not otherwise subject to acid rain program emissions limitations or emissions reduction requirements during phase I and that is designated as a phase I unit in a reduced utilization plan under 40 CFR 72.43, provided that a unit that is not an affected unit under the acid rain program may not be a compensating unit.

NR 409.02(27) (27) “Compliance certification” means a submission to the administrator or department that is required by this chapter, by 40 CFR part 72, 73, 75, 77 or 78 or by regulations implementing section 407 or 410 of the act (42 USC 7651f and 7651i) to report an affected source or an affected unit’s compliance or non-compliance with a provision of the acid rain program and that is signed and verified by the designated representative in accordance with subparts B and I of 40 CFR part 72, s. NR 409.13 and the acid rain program regulations generally.

NR 409.02(28) (28) “Compliance option”, for purposes of the acid rain program, means any of the 4 strategies specified in 40 CFR 72.40 to 72.44 for complying with the acid rain program. Subpart D lists 4 options: phase I substitution plans, phase I extension plans, phase I reduced utilization plans and phase II repowering extensions.

NR 409.02(29) (29) “Compliance plan”, for purposes of the acid rain program, means the document submitted to the department for an affected source in accordance with the acid rain portion of an operation permit application under this chapter and 40 CFR 72.30 to 72.33, specifying the methods, including one or more compliance options under this chapter, 40 CFR 72.40 to 72.44 or regulations implementing section 407 of the act (42 USC 7651f), by which each affected unit at the source will meet the applicable emissions limitations and emissions reduction requirements of the acid rain program.

NR 409.02(30) (30) “Compliance subaccount” means the subaccount in an affected unit’s allowance tracking system account, established pursuant to 40 CFR 73.31 (a) or (b), in which are held, from the date that allowances for the current calendar year are recorded under 40 CFR 73.34 (a) until December 31, allowances available for use by the unit in the current calendar year and, after December 31 until the date that deductions are made under 40 CFR 73.35 (b), allowances available for use by the unit in the preceding calendar year, for the purpose of meeting the unit’s acid rain emissions limitation for sulfur dioxide.

NR 409.02(31) (31) “Compliance use date” means the first calendar year for which an allowance may be used for purposes of meeting a unit’s acid rain emissions limitation for sulfur dioxide.

NR 409.02(32) (32) “Construction” means fabrication, erection or installation of an affected unit or any portion of an affected unit.

NR 409.02(32g) (32g) ‘‘Customer” means a purchaser of electricity not for purposes of transmission or resale.

NR 409.02(32m) (32m) ‘‘Cyclone boiler” means a boiler with one or more water-cooled horizontal cylindrical chambers in which coal combustion takes place. The horizontal cylindrical chamber or chambers are attached to the bottom of the furnace. One or more cylindrical chambers are arranged either on one furnace wall or on 2 opposed furnace walls. Gaseous combustion products exiting from the chamber or chambers turn 90° to go up through the boiler while coal ash exits the bottom of the boiler as a molten slag.

NR 409.02(32s) (32s) ‘‘Demonstration period” means a period of time of not less than 15 months, approved under s. NR 409.065 (6), for demonstrating that the affected unit cannot meet the applicable emission limitation under s. NR 409.065 (2), (3) or (4) and establishing the minimum NOx emission rate that the unit can achieve during long-term load dispatch operation.

NR 409.02(33) (33) “Designated representative” means a responsible natural person authorized by the owners and operators of an affected source and of all affected units at the source, as evidenced by a certificate of representation submitted in accordance with subpart B of 40 CFR part 72, to represent and legally bind each owner and operator, as a matter of federal or state law, in matters pertaining to the acid rain program and acid rain portion of the operation permit program. Whenever the term “designated representative” is used in this chapter, the term shall also be construed to include the alternate designated representative.

NR 409.02 Note Note: Whenever the term “responsible official” is used in 40 CFR part 70, chs. NR 406 and 407, or in any other regulations implementing title V of the act, it shall be deemed to refer to the “designated representative” with regard to all matters under the acid rain program.

NR 409.02(34) (34) “Diesel fuel” means a low sulfur fuel oil of grades 1-D or 2-D, as defined in ASTM D975-02, incorporated by reference in s. NR 484.10 (13).

NR 409.02(35) (35) “Direct public utility ownership” means direct ownership of equipment and facilities by one or more corporations, the principal business of which is sale of electricity to the public at retail. Percentage ownership of equipment and facilities shall be measured on the basis of book value.

NR 409.02(35h) (35h) ‘‘Dry bottom” means having a furnace bottom temperature below the ash melting point and bottom ash removal as a solid.

NR 409.02(35p) (35p) ‘‘Economizer” means the lowest temperature heat exchange section of a utility boiler where boiler feed water is heated by the flue gas.

NR 409.02(36) (36) “Emissions” means air contaminants exhausted from an affected unit or affected source into the atmosphere, as measured, recorded and reported to the administrator and the department by the designated representative and as determined by the administrator and the department, in accordance with the emissions monitoring requirements of 40 CFR part 75.

NR 409.02(37) (37) “Excess acid rain emissions” means:

NR 409.02(37)(a) (a) Any tonnage of sulfur dioxide emitted by an affected unit during a calendar year that exceeds the emissions limitation in the acid rain program for sulfur dioxide for the unit; and

NR 409.02(37)(b) (b) Any tonnage of nitrogen oxides emitted by an affected unit during a calendar year that exceeds the annual tonnage equivalent of the emissions limitation in the acid rain program for nitrogen oxides applicable to the affected unit taking into account the unit’s heat input for the year.

NR 409.02(38) (38) “Excess emission offset requirement” means a requirement to reduce excess acid rain emissions pursuant to 40 CFR 77.1 to 77.6 by offsetting excess emissions of sulfur dioxide that have occurred at an affected unit in any calendar year.

NR 409.02(39) (39) “Existing unit” means a unit, including a unit subject to new source performance standards, section 111 of the act (42 USC 7411), that commenced commercial operation before November 15, 1990 and that on or after November 15, 1990 served a generator with a nameplate capacity of greater than 25 MWe. The term existing unit does not include simple cycle combustion turbines or any unit that on or after November 15, 1990 served only generators with a nameplate capacity of 25 MWe or less. Any existing unit that is modified, reconstructed or repowered after November 15, 1990 shall continue to be an existing unit.

NR 409.02(39m) (39m) ‘‘Flue gas” means the gaseous combustion products arising from the combustion of fossil fuel in a utility boiler.

NR 409.02(40) (40) “Gas-fired” means the combustion of natural gas or a coal-derived gaseous fuel with a sulfur content no greater than natural gas, for at least 90% of the average annual heat input during the previous 3 calendar years and for at least 85% of the annual heat input in each of those calendar years; and any fuel, other than coal or any other coal-derived fuel, for the remaining heat input, if any.

NR 409.02(41) (41) “General account” means an allowance tracking system account that is not a unit account.

NR 409.02(42) (42) “Generator” means a device that produces electricity and was or would have been required to be reported as a generating unit pursuant to the United States department of energy form 860—1990 edition.

NR 409.02(43) (43) “Generator output capacity” means the full-load continuous rating of a generator under specific conditions as designed by the manufacturer.

NR 409.02(43h) (43h) ‘‘Group 1 boiler’’ means a tangentially-fired boiler or a dry bottom wall-fired boiler that is not a cell burner boiler.

NR 409.02(43p) (43p) ‘‘Group 2 boiler” means a wet bottom wall-fired boiler, a cyclone boiler, a boiler applying cell burner technology, a vertically fired boiler, an arch-fired boiler, or any other type of utility boiler, such as a fluidized bed or stoker boiler, that is not a Group 1 boiler.

NR 409.02(44) (44) “Heat input” means the product, expressed in mmBtu/time, of the gross calorific value of the fuel, expressed in Btu/lb, and the fuel feed rate into the combustion device, expressed in mass of fuel/time, and does not include the heat derived from preheated combustion air, recirculated flue gases, or exhaust from other sources.

NR 409.02(44m) (44m) ‘‘Incidental electricity sales” means the total annual sales of electricity produced by a generator that do not exceed 10% of the nameplate capacity of that generator times 8,760 hours per year and do not exceed 10% of the actual annual electric output of that generator.

NR 409.02(45) (45) “Independent power production facility” means a source that:

NR 409.02(45)(a) (a) Is nonrecourse project financed, as defined by the secretary of energy at 10 CFR part 715;

NR 409.02(45)(b) (b) Is used for the generation of electricity, 80% or more of which is sold at wholesale;

NR 409.02(45)(c) (c) Is a new unit required to hold allowances under title IV of the act (42 USC 7651 to 7651o); and

NR 409.02(45)(d) (d) Does not have direct public utility ownership of the equipment comprising the facility which exceeds 50%.

NR 409.02(46) (46) “Life-of-the-unit, firm power contractual arrangement” means a unit participation power sales agreement under which a utility or industrial customer reserves, or is entitled to receive, a specified amount or percentage of nameplate capacity and associated energy generated by any specified generating unit and pays its proportional amount of the unit’s total costs, pursuant to a contract:

NR 409.02(46)(a) (a) For the life of the unit;

NR 409.02(46)(b) (b) For a cumulative term of no less than 30 years, including contracts that permit an election for early termination; or

NR 409.02(46)(c) (c) For a period equal to or greater than 25 years or 70% of the economic useful life of the unit determined as of the time the unit was built, with option rights to purchase or release some portion of the nameplate capacity and associated energy generated by the unit at the end of the period.

NR 409.02(46h) (46h) ‘‘Low NOx burners” or ‘‘low NOx burner technology” means commercially available combustion modification NOx controls that minimize NOx formation by introducing coal and its associated combustion air into a boiler such that initial combustion occurs in a manner that promotes rapid coal devolatilization in a fuel-rich, i.e., oxygen deficient, environment and introduces additional air to achieve a final fuel-lean, i.e., oxygen rich, environment to complete the combustion process. This definition shall include the staging of any portion of the combustion air using air nozzles or registers located inside any waterwall hole that includes a burner. This definition shall exclude the staging of any portion of the combustion air using air nozzles or ports located outside any waterwall hole that includes a burner, commonly referred to as NOx ports or separated overfire air ports.

NR 409.02(46p) (46p) ‘‘Maximum continuous steam flow at 100% of load” means the maximum capacity of a boiler as reported in item 3 (Maximum Continuous Steam Flow at 100% Load in thousand pounds per hour), Section C (design parameters), Part III (boiler information) of the U.S. department of energy’s Form EIA-767 for 1995.

NR 409.02 Note Note: Copies of DOE’s Form EIA-767 may be obtained for personal use from:

NR 409.02 Note DOE/EIA

NR 409.02 Note Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternative Fuels