The Energy Recovery Council's settlement with EPA was finalized today as part of a final rule revising the Greenhouse Gas Mandatory Reporting Rule. Today's action codifies the settlement reached by ERC and EPA in July of this year. Today's action is significant since the relief afforded by the settlement could not take effect until EPA solicited public comments on this settlement (and settlements reached with other industries) and issued a final rule. The final rule had to be issued prior to January 1, 2011 or the facilities that will now benefit from the settlement would have been out of compliance with the original rule on January 1.

Under the original mandatory reporting rule, municipal waste combustor units greater than 250 tons per day were required to calculate and report greenhouse gas emissions using a burdensome Tier 4 methodology. The settlement provides relief for municipal waste combustor units which have a maximum rated input capacity less than 600 tons per day of MSW. Essentially, under the final rule, any units between 250 and 600 tons per day have been granted a reprieve and may now use the Tier 2 methodology to calculate and report greenhouse gases to EPA.

The settlment also clarifies that waste-to-energy facilities may utilize site-specific default moisture values if CO2 concentrations are measured on a dry basis. The signed copy of the rule can be found here.  It will be published in the Federal Register shortly.