Industrial Process Cooling Towers: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants
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Rule Summary
Industrial process cooling towers remove heat from chemical and industrial processes. The primary industries that use cooling towers include petroleum refineries, chemical manufacturing plants, primary metals processing plants, glass manufacturing plants, rubber products manufacturing plants, tobacco products manufacturing plants, and textile manufacturing plants.
Water treatment chemicals, such as chromium, are added to the cooling tower waters to protect equipment and piping from corrosion and to control algae growth in the tower.
The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Industrial Cooling Towers set standards for emissions of chromium compounds, which are released into the atmosphere from the cooling tower during the cooling process.
See the regulations below for more details.
Rule History
04/07/2006 - Final rule (April 2006) (pdf) (183 KB)
10/24/2005 - Proposed rule (October 2005) (pdf) (168 KB)
09/08/1994 - Final rule (September 1994)
Additional Resources
Final Rule for Industrial Process Cooling Towers: Fact Sheet
View the supporting documents in the docket folder to find additional related documents to this rule.
Compliance
Residual Risk Assessment for the Industrial Process Cooling Towers Source Category
Applicability Determination Index (ADI) The ADI is maintained by EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) and provides a data base of memoranda dealing with applicability issues. The database is searchable by Subpart.