|
Spring 2011 OCMA News and Tour |
|
|
Spring 2011 OCMA News and Tour |
Although it was clear to most observers that the USEPA “endangerment finding” on carbon was driven by politics, it is not clear what drove the latest bone-headed decision coming out of that agency affecting the metal casting industry. On March 21, 2011, a number of USEPA final rules were published in the Federal Register. One of which, the Identification on Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials as Solid Waste (NHSMSW) rule identified foundry sand processed through a thermal sand reclamation (TSR) unit as solid waste. A second rule, the commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators (CISWI) rule would subject TSRs to emission limitations, monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. For new TSRs these emissions limitations and work practices are called new source performance standards (NSPS) and for existing units they are called Emission Guidelines (EG). USEPA specifically stated in the preamble to the NHSMSW rule “that the purpose of ‘processing’ foundry sand in a thermal reclamation unit is to destroy or dispose of the contaminants so that the foundry sand can be re-used. As such, the burning of foundry sand in a thermal reclamation unit is burning for discard and, thus, would be considered a solid waste if combusted in such a unit, which would be subject to the section 129 Clean Air Act (CAA) standards.” Further defying common sense, USEPA did not gather any emissions information or work practices from the industry in establishing the standards that are provided in the CISWI rule nor were foundries utilizing TSR units ever notified of this rule development and its potential impact on their operations. AFS is working with several OCMA member companies including GM-Powertrain, Haley & Aldrich, and Sage Environmental to reverse this decision. Recently, an AFS working group participated on a conference call with USEPA representatives from the waste and air offices to discuss the applicability of these regulations to TSR units. On that call, the air office conceded that the TSR units may constitute a new separate category that would not be subject to the CISWI performance standards. If AFS is successful in identifying a new subcategory under the CISWI rule, USEPA may later decide to impose emission limits specifically for TSR units. This would avoid the horrendous impact of compliance with the CISWI performance standards, but it would still establish new requirements for the industry. This issue became even more complex on May 16, 2011, when USEPA announced that it will stay indefinitely the 2011 CISWI rules pending any appeals and/or judicial review of the rules. As a result the 2011 CISWI standards will not take effect until further notice. However, USEPA has not issued a stay of the NHSMSW rule that identified foundry sand processed through a sand reclaimer as solid waste. This creates a potential problem in that there is an existing December 1, 2000, CISWI standard with emissions limitations and other requirements that could be viewed as applicable to TSRs. To further complicate matters, the 2000 CISWI standards would not affect a unit that includes “energy recovery”. The rule defines “energy recovery” as “the process of recovering thermal energy from combustion for useful purposes such as steam generation or process heating.” Therefore, it is likely that a TSR using off-gases to preheat combustion air would be excluded from regulation under the 2000 CISWI standards. If you are not sure whether your TSR unit incorporates an energy or heat recovery system, please contact the manufacturer of the TSR. You may also wish to see advice from your legal counsel and an expert on these environmental rules. This latest decision by USEPA demonstrates an agency out of control. The ideologues in the RCRA division are incapable of making common sense decisions. We need significant new Congressional oversight and fortunately that action may be forthcoming. OCMA and AFS will be devising a legislative strategy to overturn this abomination if USEPA does not relent. We will keep you up to date with both regulatory and judicial decisions affecting TSR units. Stay tuned.
OCMA Annual Foundry Tour
On Thursday, April 28, 2011, 50 representatives of OCMA member companies participated in a tour of the OSCO Industries, Inc. in Portsmouth. The green sand foundry is the oldest foundry in Ohio, established in 1872. Participants were able to tour two of OSCO’s three facilities in Portsmouth and New Boston. Both facilities make small, gray iron castings weighing between 1 and 50 lbs. for heat compressors, pumps, mechanical power transmission, and auto parts. The Portsmouth facility melts with a modern cupola with “state of the art” environmental controls and the New Boston facility has two large induction furnaces. Lucky tour participants received their own version of the “Mangrate”, the barbecuing wonder. OCMA tour participants all met at the Portsmouth Brewing Company for lunch. The food was great and plentiful and the chocolate cream pie was delicious. A good time was had by all and many of the participants checked out the 20 feet high, 2000 feet long Robert Dafford murals on the floodwall portraying the history of Portsmouth including a mural of OSCO Industries, Inc. long ago. OCMA Treasurer John Burke, OCMA VP for Environmental Affairs Ryan
Burke, and Mike Burke hosted the tour. They were assisted by Tom Brower,
Mike Butler, Chris Hamilton, Buddy Kitchen, Jim McCullough, Mark Miller,
and Jim Jensen.
American Foundry Society (AFS) & North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) Government Affairs Conference in Washington, DC
The Ohio delegation was number one again at this year's AFS/NADCA Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, DC, on May 4-6, 2011. However, we were nearly edged out by Wisconsin so next year we will have to step it up a bit. All OCMA members should be proud of our record of dedication and support of the effort to educate our national leaders about the importance of the metal casting industry. Importantly, the Ohio delegation once again had a number of “rookies” who made important contributions to our task. We trust they found the experience worthwhile and the camaraderie enjoyable. This year's conference was highlighted by a presentation by Karen Harbert, President and CEO, Institute for 21st Century Energy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who has been engaged in an “Energy Reality Tour” throughout the Nation, bringing facts and figures to the energy debate rather than “dreams and wishes”. The Institute is recommending a five point plan with bi-partisan support in Congress. Check it out at www.ENERGYXXI.org. Former Indiana Congressman David McIntosh, now a partner at Mayer & Brown, described the cost and inefficiencies caused by an outbreak of excessive regulation in the Obama Administration. Katie Hays, Executive Director, Congressional Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, outlined the changes forthcoming from the implementation of ObamaCare. It is not too pretty. Lastly, Joseph Santucci Jr., Partner, Morgan Lewis, warned about the impact an overreaching NLRB could have on labor relations in the future. As always, the most important task of the Ohio delegation was reserved for lobbying on Capitol Hill on May 5, 2011. The day began with a meeting with new Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-18) at 9:15 AM. Rep. Gibbs served for a number of years in the Ohio House of Representatives and is a no-nonsense kind of guy. He had challenged a silly USEPA proposed regulation pertaining to dust on farms and earned himself a write-up in the New York Times. He was chairing a subcommittee hearing beginning at 10:00 AM and the environmental protesters had already begun to congregate outside the hearing room. That was an exciting kick-off to what proved to be a productive day with OCMA delegates meeting with Congressmen Pat Tiberi, Steve Chabot, Steve LaTourette, Steve Stivers, and Bill Johnson and also with Congresswoman Jean Schmidt. Additional meetings with staff were held in the offices of Congressmen Mike Turner, Tim Ryan, Steve Austria, Jim Jordan, John Boehner, and Jim Renacci and Congresswoman Betty Sutton. Although we were unable to meet with freshman Senator Rob Portman, the Ohio delegates did meet with high level staff who indicated that the Senator was supportive of our issues. The same could not be true about our meeting with a new staffperson in Senator Brown’s office. Notably the meetings with the three freshman representatives were refreshing. Rep. Gibbs, Johnson, and Stivers were all very interested in making changes that would improve business conditions and increase manufacturing competitiveness. All three were co-sponsors of the REINS Act, an AFS/NADCA priority that would require Congressional approval of agency rule-makings. They all brought a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm to the task at hand and gave us reason to believe that the worst of big government interference with business might be over.
The AFS/NADCA GAC presents an opportunity to remind our Congressional delegation of the importance of metal casting to the manufacturing base in Ohio's economy. We were successful in recruiting the largest GAC delegation this year and we look forward to a better economy and a larger Ohio delegation next year. Copies of the presentations can be viewed at: http://www.metalcastinggov.com/2011magaconferencepresentations.asp
Environmental Update OCMA goes to Washington After a long day of preparation for the next day's meetings on Capitol Hill, the members of the Ohio delegation took a few moments to have their photo taken. The OCMA delegation met with their Congressional leaders & staff in sixteen (16) separate meetings during their day on the Hill. Pictured from left to right are:
|
 |
 |
 |
