Note! Aug. 1 Deadline to Exempt-Out of NEW Statewide Engine Regulations

On July 1, 2009, the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) released a guidance document directed to owners and operators of lean and rich burn engines affected by the December 2008 Regulation No. 7 Rulemaking.  In the 2008 Ozone SIP Rulemaking, the Air Quality Control Commission adopted statewide controls for owners and operators of lean and rich burn reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE) with a manufacturer’s maximum design rate of 500 horsepower or greater.  Owners and operators of affected rich burn engines are required to install and operate both a non-selective catalyst reduction and an air fuel controller by July 1, 2010, while owners and operators of affected lean burn engines must install an oxidation catalyst by that same date. 

The new regulations provide an exemption to the control requirements if an owner/operator can demonstrate that the required controls cannot be installed at a “reasonable cost.”  For rich burn engines, “reasonable cost” is defined as “a cost of less than $5,000 per ton of combined Volatile Organic Compound and Nitrogen Oxides emission reductions,” and as, “a cost of less than $5,000 per ton of Volatile Organic Compound emission reduction” for lean burn engines. 

The APCD’s July 1, 2009, guidance outlines the type of information and documentation that an owner/operator must provide to the APCD by August 1, 2009, in order to be considered for a cost-out exemption.  (See http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ap/down/Off-RampAnalysis.pdf.) As the guidance document explains, an owner/operator must submit the following types of information in its request for an exemption:

• Documentation of the capital costs of the equipment (e.g., vendor quotes);
• A copy of the calculations and associated assumptions for the installation and other costs of the control equipment;
• An appropriate amortization period and interest rate (on an annualized basis); and
• Any other relevant documentation to support the owner/operator’s request.