HP0416
LD 603
Session - 127th Maine Legislature
C "A", Filing Number H-47, Sponsored by
LR 947
Item 2
Bill Tracking, Additional Documents Chamber Status

Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:

Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §603-A, sub-§2,  as amended by PL 2013, c. 300, §15, is further amended to read:

2. Prohibitions.   Except as provided in subsections 4 and 9, a person may not use import, distribute or offer for sale any liquid fossil fuel with a sulfur content exceeding the limits in paragraph A or any solid fossil fuel with a sulfur content to heat content ratio exceeding the limits of paragraph B.
A. The sulfur content for liquid fossil fuels is as follows.

(1) In the Central Maine, Downeast, Aroostook County and Northwest Maine Air Quality Control Regions and the Metropolitan Portland Air Quality Control Region outside the Portland Peninsula Air Quality Control Region, a person may not use distribute or offer for sale any residual fuel oil with a sulfur content greater than 2.0% by weight; beginning January July 1, 2018, the limit for those regions is 0.5% by weight.

(2) In the Portland Peninsula Air Quality Control Region, a person may not use distribute or offer for sale any residual fuel oil with a sulfur content greater than 1.5% by weight; beginning January July 1, 2018, the limit for that region is 0.5% by weight.

(3) Statewide, a person may not use import, distribute or offer for sale a distillate fuel:

(a) Beginning July 1, 2016, with a sulfur content greater than 0.005% by weight; and

(b) Beginning January July 1, 2018, with a sulfur content greater than 0.0015% by weight.

The sulfur content requirements in this subparagraph do not apply to the use of distillate fuel for manufacturing purposes.

B. The sulfur content for solid fossil fuels is as follows:

(1) One and two-tenths pounds sulfur per million British Thermal Units until November 1, 1991, and .96 pounds sulfur per million British Thermal Units thereafter, calculated as a calendar quarter average for sources in the Central Maine, Downeast, Aroostook County, Northwest Maine Air Quality Control Regions and that portion of the Metropolitan Portland Air Quality Region outside the Portland Peninsula Air Quality Region. A calendar quarter is composed of the months as follows: (1) January, February, March; (2) April, May, June; (3) July, August, September; and (4) October, November, December; and

(2) Seventy-two hundredths pounds sulfur per million British Thermal Units calculated as a calendar quarter average for sources in the Portland Peninsula Air Quality Region. A calendar quarter is composed of the months as follows: (1) January, February, March; (2) April, May, June; (3) July, August, September; and (4) October, November, December.

Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §603-A, sub-§9,  as enacted by PL 2009, c. 604, §2, is amended to read:

9. Equivalent alternative sulfur reduction application.  The department shall adopt major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A that provide an opportunity for a licensed air contamination source that holds a license on the effective date of this subsection to apply for an equivalent alternative sulfur reduction strategy to the residual fuel oil and distillate fuel requirements in subsection 2. The rules must provide for the achievement of equivalent sulfur emission reductions through other means, including, but not limited to, reductions in consumption of residual fuel oil and distillate fuel, early sulfur emission reductions from a baseline emissions inventory year of 2002 and conversions to alternative fuels. The department shall submit the major substantive rules to the Legislature by January 31, 2014. Approved alternate sulfur reduction strategies must be in effect by January July 1, 2018.’

summary

This amendment replaces the bill, which proposes to delay by 6 months the implementation of the statewide prohibition on the use of any but ultra low sulfur distillate fuel. The amendment retains that 6-month delay and it clarifies that the prohibition applies to the importation, distribution and offering for sale, rather than the use, of any but ultra low sulfur distillate fuel. The amendment also incorporates the change in the implementation date and the prohibition language throughout the statutory section.


Top of Page