(a) The owner or operator of equipment with fugitive
emission components shall create a written plan and maintain such
plan in accordance with §115.180 of this title (relating to Recordkeeping
Requirements) that details information about the site subject to this
section including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) the identification of each fugitive emission component
grouping required to be monitored;
(2) the fugitive emission component designated as unsafe-to-monitor
or difficult-to-monitor;
(3) the exemptions or exceptions that apply to any
fugitive emission component;
(4) the method of monitoring; and
(5) the monitoring survey schedules of the fugitive
emission components in paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection.
(b) The owner or operator shall monitor each affected
fugitive emission component and calibrate the hydrocarbon gas analyzer
instrumentation in accordance with procedures specified by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 21 in 40 Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 60, Appendix A-7. The owner or operator
may elect to use the alternative work practice in §115.358 of
this title (relating to Alternative Work Practice) for any fugitive
emission component, as specified in paragraph (11) of this subsection.
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (5)(C) of this
subsection, no component at a natural gas processing plant is allowed
to have a volatile organic compounds (VOC) leak for more than five
calendar days without a first attempt at repair after the leak is
detected and must be repaired no later than 15 calendar days after
the leak is found that meets the following:
(A) for pump seals in light-liquid service, a leak
definition of 5,000 parts per million by volume (ppmv) for a pump
used for any polymerizing monomer and 2,000 ppmv for all other pumps;
(B) for valves, flanges, connectors, pressure relief
devices, pumps in heavy-liquid service, sampling connections, and
process drains, a leak definition of 500 ppmv; and
(C) for compressors, a leak definition of 10,000 ppmv
or exuding of process fluid based on sight, smell, or sound.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (5)(C) of this
subsection, no fugitive emission component at a well site or gathering
and boosting station is allowed to have a VOC leak of equal to or
greater than 500 ppmv for more than five calendar days without a first
attempt at repair after the leak is detected and must be repaired
no later than 15 calendar days after the leak is found.
(3) Except as specified in subsection (c) of this section,
the owner or operator shall conduct monitoring according to the following
schedules.
(A) The owner or operator of a natural gas processing
plant shall monitor annually to detect leaks of VOC emissions from
all connectors.
(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (E) of this
paragraph, the owner or operator shall monitor to detect leaks of
VOC emissions from all:
(i) fugitive emission components at gathering and boosting
stations quarterly; and
(ii) fugitive emission components at well sites semiannually.
(C) The owner or operator shall monitor quarterly to
detect VOC emissions leaks from all:
(i) pump seals at a natural gas processing plant that
are not in light-liquid service; and
(ii) fugitive emission components at a natural gas
processing plant not specified elsewhere in this paragraph.
(D) The owner or operator shall monitor monthly to
detect leaks of VOC emissions at a natural gas processing plant from
all:
(i) pressure relief valves in gaseous service;
(ii) pump seals in light-liquid service; and
(iii) accessible fugitive emission components in gas/vapor
and light-liquid service, except for connectors.
(E) In addition to monitoring in subparagraphs (B)(i),
(B)(ii), and (D)(i) of this paragraph, the owner or operator shall
monitor pressure relief valves within 24 hours of a release.
(F) At a natural gas processing plant, the owner or
operator shall visually inspect for indications of dripping liquid
each pump in light liquid service weekly. If evidence of a leak is
found, the owner or operator shall monitor each leaking pump in accordance
with Method 21 in 40 CFR Part 60, Appendix A-7 or the alternative
work practice in §115.358 of this title within five calendar
days after the leak is detected.
(4) Upon the detection of a leaking fugitive emission
component, the owner or operator shall affix to the leaking component
a weatherproof and readily visible tag, bearing an identification
number and the date the leak was detected. This tag must remain in
place, or be replaced if damaged, until the leaking component is repaired.
Tagging of difficult-to-monitor leaking components may be done by
reference tagging. The reference tag should be located as close as
possible to the leaking component and should clearly identify the
leaking component and its location.
(5) When a leak or defect is detected from a fugitive
emission component, the owner or operator shall repair the leak or
defect as soon as practicable.
(A) A first attempt at repair must be made no later
than five calendar days after the leak is detected.
(B) A repair must be completed no later than 15 calendar
days after the leak is detected.
(C) If an owner or operator determines and documents
that a repair is technically infeasible without a shutdown, vent blowdown
at a well site or gathering and boosting station, well shut-in, would
be unsafe to repair during operation of the unit, or that emissions
resulting from immediate repair would be greater than the total fugitive
emissions likely to result from a delay of repair, then the repair
is not required to be completed until the end of the next shutdown,
vent blowdown at a well site or gathering and boosting station, well
shut-in, or unplanned blowdown. Any repair under this subparagraph
at a well site or gathering and boosting station must be made within
two years after the leak is detected.
(D) For the owner or operator using the alternative
work practice in §115.358 of this title to monitor fugitive emission
components, repair is complete once a monitoring survey using EPA
Method 21 in 40 CFR Part 60, Appendix A-7 or the alternative work
practice in §115.358 of this title shows no leaking. For the
owner or operator using Method 21 in 40 CFR Part 60, Appendix A-7
or audio, visual, or olfactory means to monitor fugitive emission
components, repair is complete once the monitoring required under
this section shows no leaking. At a well site or gathering and boosting
station, this monitoring survey to check that the leak is fixed must
be done within 30 days of the repair attempt. At a natural gas processing
plant, if a shutdown is needed as specified in subparagraph (C) of
this paragraph, the monitoring survey to check that the leak is fixed
must be done within 15 days of startup of the process unit.
(6) If the executive director determines that the number
of leaks in a process area is excessive, the monitoring schedule in
this subsection may be modified to require an increase in the frequency
of monitoring in a given process area.
(7) Any fugitive component that is monitored monthly
in accordance with EPA Method 21 to comply with §115.177(b)(3)(D)
and not found leaking for two successive monthly monitoring periods
may be monitored quarterly, beginning with the first month of the
next quarter until a leak is detected. Any component found to be leaking
must be returned to its original monthly monitoring schedule until
it does not show evidence of a leak for two successive months. After
completion of the required valve monitoring in this subsection for
a period of at least two years, the owner or operator of a natural
gas processing plant may request in writing to the appropriate regional
office that the valve monitoring schedule be revised based on the
percent of valves leaking. Valid historical monitoring data may be
used to satisfy the initial 2-year data collection period requirement.
The percent of valves leaking must be determined by dividing the sum
of valves leaking during the current monitoring period and valves
for which repair has been delayed by the total number of valves subject
to monitoring requirements. The revised monitoring schedule is not
effective until a response is received from the executive director.
This request must include all data that have been developed to justify
the following modifications in the monitoring schedule.
(A) After two consecutive quarterly leak detection
periods with the percent of valves leaking equal to or less than 2.0%
using EPA Method 21, an owner or operator may begin to skip one of
the quarterly leak detection periods for the valves in gas/vapor and
light liquid service.
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