SHASTA COUNTY AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

RULE 3:21 - DIOXINS AIRBORNE TOXIC CONTROL MEASURE MEDICAL WASTE INCINERATORS
(Added 1/14/92) (Amended 12/23/92)

a. Definitions

For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply.

ARB means the State of California Air Resources Board.

ARB Test Method 2 means the test method specified in Title 17, California Code of Regulations, Section 94102.

Arb Test Method 428 means the test method specified in Title 17, California Code of Regulations, Section 94139.

Control equipment means any device which reduces emissions from medical waste incinerators.

Dioxins means dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans chlorinated in the 2,3,7, and 8 positions, and containing 4,5,6, or 7 chlorine atoms and is expressed as 2,3,7,8, tetrachlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxin equivalents using current California Department of Health Services toxic equivalency factors.

Facility means every building, structure, appurtenance, installation, or improvement located on land which is under the same or common ownership or operation, and is on one or more contiguous or adjacent properties.

Medical facilities means medical and dental offices, clinics and hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, research facilities, research laboratories, clinical laboratories, all unlicensed and licensed medical facilities, clinics and hospitals, surgery centers, diagnostic laboratories, and other providers of health care.

Medical waste incinerator means all of the furnaces or other closed fire chambers that are located at a facility and used to dispose of waste generated at medical facilities by burning.

Uncontrolled emissions means the dioxins emissions measured from the incinerator at a location downstream of the last combustion chamber, but prior to the air pollution control equipment.

Waste means all discarded but putrescible and nonputrescible solid, semisolid, and liquid materials, including garbage, trash, refuse, paper, rubbish, food, ashes, plastics, industrial wastes, utensils, appliances, manure, and human or animal solid or semisolid wastes.

b. Medical waste incinerators that incinerate more than 25 tons of waste per year.

The following requirements shall apply only to medical waste incinerators that incinerate more than 25 tons of waste per year:

1. No person shall operate a medical waste incinerator unless:
   
   
   1. The dioxins emissions have been reduced by 99 percent or more of the uncontrolled emissions; or
      
      
   2. The dioxins emissions have been reduced to 10 nanograms or less per kilogram of waste burned.
      
      
2. No person shall operate a medical waste incinerator unless the control equipment is installed and used in a manner which has been demonstrated to and approved by the District Air Pollution Control Officer (APCO) to meet the following requirements:
   
   
   1. The flue gas temperature at the outlet of the control equipment shall not exceed 300 degrees Fahrenheit, unless it has been demonstrated to, and approved in writing by, both the ARB and the District APCO that lower emissions are achieved at a higher outlet temperature; and
      
      
   2. For a single chamber incinerator, the combustion chamber shall be maintained at no less than 1800 degrees (+200 degrees) Fahrenheit.
      
      For a multiple chamber incinerator, the primary combustion chamber shall be maintained at no less than 1400 degrees Fahrenheit, and the secondary chamber shall be maintained at no less than 1800 degrees (+200 degrees) Fahrenheit. The furnace design shall provide for a residence time for combustion gas of at least one second. Residence time shall be calculated using the following equation:
      
      

      Residence Time	=	V
      		Qc

      
      Where:
      V means the volume, as expressed in cubic feet, from the point in the incinerator where the maximum temperature has been reached until the point where the temperature has dropped to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit.
      
      Qc means the combustion gas flow through V, as expressed in actual cubic feet per second, which is determined with ARB Test Method 2 after adjusting the measured flow rate to the maximum combustion chamber temperature (Tc) by using Tc instead of Tstd in the Method 2 calculation for Qc. The volumetric flow rate measured at the sampling points must be adjusted to chamber pressures.
      
      Alternative methods may be used if conditions for determining the combustion gas flow rate by Method 2 are unacceptable. The determination shall be within the guidelines of Method 2 and at the discretion of the APCO.
      
      
3. No person shall operate a medical waste incinerator unless the bottom ash, fly ash, and scrubber residuals are handled and stored in a manner that prevents entrainment into ambient air.
   
   
4. The owner or operator of a medical waste incinerator shall maintain the following:
   
   
   1. A continuous data recording system which provides for each day of operation continuous recording of the primary and secondary combustion chamber temperatures; carbon monoxide emissions; the key operating parameters of the air pollution control equipment, as specified by the District APCO; the hourly waste charging rates; and the opacity of stack emissions or other indicator of particulate matter which is approved by the District APCO.
   2. Maintenance records for the incinerator, control equipment, and monitoring equipment; and calibration records for the monitoring equipment; and
      
      
   3. Equipment for determining and recording the weight of waste charged to the incinerator.
      
      
5. For purposes of demonstrating compliance with subsection "b"(1) of this rule, the owner or operator of a medical waste incinerator shall conduct a minimum of two (2) annual source tests for the dioxins stack emissions using ARB Test Method 428, high-resolution mass spectrometry option.
   
   Annual source tests shall be conducted until at least two consecutive tests demonstrate compliance, at which time the frequency of future source tests is at the discretion of the Air Pollution Control Officer (APCO).
   
   For purposes of determining compliance with subsection "b"1(A) of this rule, emissions shall be sampled simultaneously from the flue at a location downstream of the last combustion chamber, but prior to the control equipment, and from the stack during source testing. For purposes of determining compliance with subsection "b"1(B) of this rule, the source testing shall be conducted at the stack.
   
   The information regarding the composition (moisture content, and the amount of the total waste that is infectious, pathological, hazardous, or radioactive) and feed rate of the fuel charged during the source test shall be provided with the test results. The District APCO can require additional necessary information regarding the composition of the waste. Source testing shall be conducted at the maximum waste firing capacity (+10 percent) allowed by the air district permit. A copy of all source test results conducted for purposes of demonstrating compliance with this rule shall be provided to the ARB at the same time that is provided to the local air pollution control district.
   
   
6. Any violation, malfunction, or upset condition on the incinerator, the air pollution control equipment, or the continuous data recording system shall be reported to the District within one (1) hour of occurrence or by 9 A.M. the next business day if the malfunction occurs outside normal business hours and the District does not maintain a radio room or an answering machine.
   
   
7. No person shall operate a medical waste incinerator unless each individual who operates or maintains the incinerator obtains either a certificate of training in medical waste incineration issued by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers within nine (9) months of the commencement of the training program, or equivalent training as determined by the APCO. Copies of the training certificates for the operators and maintenance engineers shall be submitted to the Districts, and the original certificates shall be available for inspection at the facility with the permit to operate.

c. Medical waste incinerators that incinerate twenty-five (25) tons or less of waste per year.

The following requirements shall apply to incinerators that incinerate twenty-five (25) tons or less of waste per year:

1. No person shall operate a medical waste incinerator that incinerates twenty-five (25) tons or less of waste per year unless the requirements specified in subsections "b"3, "b"4(C), and "b"7 are met.
   
   
2. The owner or operator of a medical waste incinerator that incinerates more than ten (10) but less than twenty-five (25) tons of waste per year shall conduct one initial source test at the incinerator stack as specified in subsection "b"5.

d. Compliance Schedule.

1. No later than ninety (90) days after District adoption of regulations enacting this control measure, the owner or operator of a medical waste incinerator that incinerates more than twenty-five (25) tons of waste per year shall submit to the District Air Pollution Control Officer (APCO) an application for an Authority to Construct the equipment necessary to meet the requirements for "b"1 or "b" 2, and no later than fifteen (15) months after District adoption of regulations enacting this control measure, the owner or operator of a medical waste incinerator shall be in compliance with this regulation.
   
   
2. The owner or operator of a medical waste incinerator who intents to permanently shut down operation of the incinerator shall notify the District of the shutdown date within ninety (90) days after District adoption of regulations enacting this control measure. The shutdown date shall be not later than six (6) months after District adoption of regulations enacting this control measure.
   
   
3. The owner or operator of a medical waste incinerator that incinerates twenty-five (25) tons or less of waste per year who intents to remain in operation shall notify the District within ninety (90) days after District adoption of regulations enacting this control measure. The owner or operator of a medical waste incinerator shall be in compliance with this regulation no later than fifteen (15) months after District adoption of regulations enacting this control measure.

e. This control measure shall not apply to those incinerators that are exclusively crematoria of human or animal remains.


NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 39650, and 39666, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 39650 and 39666, Health and Safety Code.