Machining association chips away at ozone proposal

If the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) selects the lowest ozone ceiling as part of the new rulemaking it is considering, precision machining companies will be hit hard by the cost of new controls equipment they will have to buy.

That is the concern of Miles Free, co-interim executive director, Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA). He was responding to a request from the EPA to all industries to give their thoughts on reducing the ozone standard from its current 75 parts per billion to 65-70 PPB. The comment period closed in March. Emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic chemicals from manufacturing operations, particularly those that are heavy users of solvents, mix when exposed to sunlight to form ground-level ozone, also known as smog.

EPA estimated that the additional annualized costs of achieving a 65-PPB standard for areas other than California would be about $15.4 billion, which about $4.2 billion would be “known” controls and about $11.3 billion would be “unknown” controls.

“In the precision machining industry, well-maintained equipment can last decades, and small businesses like our members can ill afford to invest millions of dollars in new machines because of an EPA regulation,” Free explained. “The average cost of equipment in our industry is $250,000 to $500,000, meaning a smaller company would have to generate one year’s worth of revenue before they would recover the cost of the new machine they had to purchase.”

Currently, 227 counties are designated as nonattainment for the 75-PPB standard. Under the proposed rule the EPA issued last December, the number of counties designated as non-attainment would rise to 358 under the 70-PPB standard and to 558 under the 65-PPB standard.

Free explained that if the EPA’s 65-PPB standard takes effect, virtually all PMPA members will find themselves in a nonattainment zone, restricting their manufacturing activity. Currently manufacturing-heavy regions such as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and South Bend, Ind., are exceeding the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality Standards of 75 PPB. In Ohio, where PMPA is based, the new EPA standard places every single county in the state into nonattainment status.