Pollution Engineering - October 2008 - (Page 22)

CLEARING A row of gas cylinders are properly attached to a manifold and stored in the background. Cylinders of calibrated gases are available in various sizes. Photograph supplied courtesy of Airgas Inc. An inside look at the EPA’s new protocol gas veriﬁcation program, and what it means for American industry. By BOB DAVIS, Director of Utilities for Airgas Inc. t is finally here, the highly anticipated solution to the EPA blind audits, the Protocol Gas Verification Program (PGVP). Although it has been widely discussed over the past three years, the official announcement was made in the Federal Register (Vol. 73, No. 16) in late January 2008. The PGVP flips the old protocol on its head, and in a good way. It puts more responsibility on the gas vendor, pushing EPA protocol gas manufacturers to a higher standard, which in turn will ensure that the end user receives a quality product that is in compliance with EPA regulations. I 22 Why is it necessary? For years, there have been arguments from all sides over which EPA protocol gas should be used from what company and why. The mandated blind audits that originated in the 1980s were the only way that users of EPA protocol gases could monitor gas vendors’ quality. Regulations require EPA protocol gas vendors to supply product that is at least ±2 percent accurate from the tag value of the cylinder contents. Unfortunately, there was one substantial glitch in this program. Unless the user of the EPA protocol gas had a contract with Pollution Engineering OCTOBER2008 the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) or an extremely sophisticated analytical laboratory available with NISTtraceable gases, it was impossible to confirm compliant accuracy on their own. This left the user potentially susceptible to fines and citations from the EPA if the calibration gas gave a false reading, which can be caused by understating emissions from the polluting source. A new round of blind audits was mandated by the EPA in 2003, followed by an unofficial audit in 2006, in which only three companies participated. Both series had various degrees of problems and successes, which led the agency to reevaluate its existing auditing program and to find a more appealing solution. For the past several years, the agency has been working to develop a program that is superior in proving EPA protocol gas accuracy. Enter the PGVP. What are the key changes? There are two significant differences between the agency’s former blind-audit protocol and the new PGVP. The first Calibration gases are available in various size cylinders depending upon the user’s needs. Photograph supplied courtesy of Airgas Inc.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pollution Engineering - October 2008

Pollution Engineering - October 2008 Contents The Editor’s Desk EnviroNews PE Events Legal Lookout Green Connections Clearing the Air Water for People There’s a New Show in Town Catching Wind for Clean Water Taking the Pressure off Blower Selection Pulsed Plasma Positive Redundancy Product Focus: Municipal Water Treatment Product Focus: Monitoring Equipment PE Products Classified Marketplace Advertisers Index State Rules

Pollution Engineering - October 2008

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