1、Petroleum Refining Industry Contribution to Nationwide Surface Water Nutrient LoadingsAPI PUBLICATION 4782AUGUST 2016Special NotesAPI publications necessarily address problems of a general nature. With respect to particular circumstances, local, state, and federal laws and regulations should be revi
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9、ained in the publication be construed as insuring anyone against liability for infringement of letters patent.iiiv Executive Summary This analysis was commissioned by API to provide member companies and the public with a better understanding of the water quality problems associated with nutrient dis
10、charges to the nations surface waters, the current federal and state regulatory responses to nutrient-related water quality problems, the scientific and implementation challenges of nutrient controls, and the petroleum refining industrys relative contribution to nationwide nutrient discharges to sur
11、face waters. The overwhelming majority of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) nutrient loadings to surface waters is from nonpoint sources. A significant contribution also comes from municipal wastewater effluents. Petroleum refineries contribute only 0.1 % of the nationwide TN loading and
12、 only 0.08 % of the nationwide TP loading to surface waters. Clearly, nutrient control efforts targeting the petroleum industry, though perhaps important in specific circumstances, will not resolve the majority of nutrient impairments of our nations waters; control efforts must focus on reductions i
13、n nonpoint source and municipal nutrient loadings if meaningful gains in water quality are to be achieved. The key findings of this study are as follows: The two so-called macronutrients, TN and TP, are almost always the growth-limiting nutrients for aquatic plant growth and are the focus of regulat
14、ory agency efforts to control such growth to protect water quality. The quantities of TN and TP that cause aquatic plant growth sufficient to impair water quality and designated uses are inherently water body specific. The physical and chemical characteristics of each water body are important determ
15、inants of the type of aquatic plants, their growth rates, and the total density of such growth, which in turn determine impairment of water quality and/or designated uses of the water body. The enrichment of surface waters with the plant nutrients TN and TP causes impairments of water quality and fa
16、ilure to attain designated water uses in a large number of surface water bodies in the United States, including rivers and streams, lakes and reservoirs, estuaries, and coastal waters. The inherent water bodyspecific characteristics of nutrient enrichment have made it difficult for states to establi
17、sh scientifically sound water quality standards for nutrients. Because of this difficulty, many states rely on narrative water quality standards to address nutrient enrichment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been encouraging states to adopt numeric standards for TN and TP for the
18、 past 20 years. The water bodyspecific characteristics of nutrient enrichment have made a “one-size-fits-all” approach to numeric nutrient standards impossible, so most states have been slow to adopt numeric nutrient standards. EPAs most recent initiative is for states to adopt “independently applic
19、able” numeric standards for both TN and TP, regardless of which one is the limiting nutrient in a specific surface water body. Many states have rejected this approach as not scientifically justified. There are many sources of TN and TP that discharge to surface waters. These can be both natural and
20、anthropogenic. However, the research shows that anthropogenic sources are the principal cause of excessive nutrient concentrations in surface waters. Nonpoint sources such as agriculture, fertilizer application in urban and suburban areas, urban runoff, and atmospheric deposition are typically cited
21、 as the source of 90 % or more of the excess nutrients discharged to surface waters of the United States. This study of nutrient loading sources using data compiled from EPA databases, the scientific literature, technical textbooks, and several states has shown that on a nationwide basis (Figure ES-
22、1): vi o 84.6 % of the TP loading and 84.1 % of the TN loading on surface waters are due to nonpointsources.o Municipal wastewater effluents (publicly owned treatment works POTWs) account for 14.1 % ofthe TP loading and 14.6 % of the TN loading.o The total industrial point source loadings of TP and
23、TN are estimated at 1.3 % of the nationaltotals.o Petroleum refineries contribute 0.08 % and 0.1 % of the nationwide TP and TN loadings onsurface waters, respectively. These relative loadings demonstrate that nutrient control efforts must focus on reductions in nonpointsource nutrient loadings if th
24、ere are to be any meaningful results in reducing nutrient enrichment ofthe nations surface waters. This analysis does not conclude that point source nutrient contributions are insignificant in all waterbodies, and it is not intended to justify inaction in such instances. Rather, each water body must
25、 beevaluated by considering its physical, chemical, and biological characteristics; the point and nonpointsources that contribute nutrients; and the effects of such nutrients on aquatic plant growth beforeestablishing limitations on TN and TP for point source discharges.Figure ES-1Percent Contributi
26、ons to Total National Nutrient Loadings vii Abbreviations BMP Best Management Practice CWA Clean Water Act DMR Discharge Monitoring Report ELG Effluent Limitation Guideline EPA Environmental Protection Agency EPCRA Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act NEIWPCC New England Interstate Wat
27、er Pollution Control Commission NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System PCS Permit Compliance System POTW Publicly Owned Treatment Works SAB Science Advisory Board TBEL Technology-based Effluent Limit TCEQ Texas Commission on Environmental Quality TKN Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen TMDL Total
28、 Maximum Daily Load TN Total Nitrogen TP Total Phosphorus TPDES Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System TRI Toxics Release Inventory WQBEL Water Qualitybased Effluent Limit ix Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY v ABBREVIATIONS vii CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION. 1 Scope 1 Organization 1 Principal Finding . 1 CH
29、APTER 2NUTRIENTS AND THEIR WATER QUALITY IMPACTS 2 Nutrients in Surface Waters . 2 Water Quality Effects of Nutrients . 4 CHAPTER 3NUTRIENT SOURCES . 7 Nutrient Data Sources 7 Petroleum Refining Industry Nutrient Loadings 8 Nutrient Sources in Refineries 9 Refinery DMR Data Analysis 10 Other Point S
30、ource Nutrient Loadings . 15 Municipal Treatment Plants (POTWs) 15 Other Industrial Point Source Categories . 16 Nonpoint Source Nutrient Loadings . 17 Comparison of Nutrient Sources . 18 Limitations of the Nationwide Comparison 18 CHAPTER 4REGULATION OF NUTRIENT DISCHARGES 20 Water Quality Criteria
31、 and Standards . 20 EPA Nutrient Policy and Guidance . 21 EPA Ecoregion Criteria . 21 EPA “Urgent Call to Action” 22 EPA Region 5 Position Letter . 22 EPA Letter on Nutrient Criteria and Independent Applicability . 23 Framework Memorandum to Regional Administrators . 24 EPAs Science Advisory Board R
32、eview of EPAs Methodology for Establishing Nutrient Criteria . 24 Nutrient Status and Trends in the United States . 25 Nutrient-impaired Surface Waters 26 United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Report on Nutrients in the Nations Streams and Groundwater, 1992
33、2004 . 26 x The TMDL Process for Impaired Waters . 30 CHAPTER 5SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . 31 REFERENCES 33 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 35 Tables Table 1Refineries in DMR Database . 11 Table 2Effluent Flow, Ammonia Nitrogen, and Total Phosphorus Concentration and Load for the 23 Refineries in the DMR Data Analy
34、sis for the 1998 to 2010 Time Period. 13 Table 3DMR Effluent Concentrations (in mg/L) for Various Forms of Nitrogen 14 Table 4TPDES Permit Application Data for Nutrients (mg/L) 14 Table 5Municipal Point Source Nutrient Concentrations (mg/L) . 15 Table 6Municipal Point Source Nutrient Loads (Mlb/year
35、) 16 Table 7Industrial Point Source Nutrient Loads (Mlb/year) 17 Table 8Nonpoint Source Nutrient Loadings (Mlb/year) . 18 Table 9Comparison of Nutrient Sources to U.S. Surface Waters . 18 Table 10Rivers Assessed as Impaired by Nutrient-related Causes 27 Table 11Lakes/Reservoirs Assessed as Impaired
36、by Nutrient-related Causes 28 Table 12Bays/Estuaries Assessed as Impaired by Nutrient-related Causes 29 Figures Figure ES-1Percent Contributions to Total National Nutrient Loadings vi Figure 1The Aquatic Nitrogen Cycle . 3 Figure 2The Aquatic Phosphorus Cycle 4 Figure 3Nutrients from Nonpoint and Po
37、int Sources Are Cycled Throughout the Hydrologic System, but May Be Affected by Different Chemical, Physical, and Biological Processes in Different Parts of the System 6 1 Petroleum Refining Industry Contribution to Nationwide Surface Water Nutrient Loadings Chapter 1Introduction The U.S. Environmen
38、tal Protection Agency (EPA) and many states have agreed that loadings of nutrients to surface waters are generally increasing and excess nitrogen and phosphorus levels are contributing to degradation of surface water quality in certain water bodies (EPA, 2009a). EPA and the states have been working
39、for decades on approaches to controlling nutrients, and it is probable that more stringent water qualitybased effluent limits (WQBELs) for nitrogen and phosphorus could be imposed on point source dischargers in future years. This report provides an overview of the national issue of nutrient enrichme
40、nt of surface waters, the sources of such nutrients, and the significance of petroleum refining industry discharge contributions to nationwide nutrient loadings. Scope This study is based on using available published data on nutrient enrichment of U.S. surface waters; EPA and state nutrient control
41、guidance, policy, and water quality standards; prior analysis performed for API by a third-party consultant; petroleum refinery effluent quality data from the EPA Integrated Compliance Information System/National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (ICIS-NPDES); and permit data collected from the
42、 files of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Organization Chapter 2 presents a description of nutrients and their effects on water quality and receiving water uses. The terminology describing nutrient enrichment in surface waters is presented, and the fundamental interactions amon
43、g nutrients, aquatic biology, and other water quality constituents are summarized to provide a basic understanding of the issues and complexities involved in evaluating the effects of nutrients on water quality. Chapter 3 presents the evaluation of the petroleum refining industrys contribution of ni
44、trogen and phosphorus, the primary nutrients of concern, to surface waters of the United States. The petroleum refinery contributions are compared with the contributions from other point and nonpoint sources of these constituents, including discharges from publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), agr
45、icultural sources, and urban runoff. A ranking of nutrient contributions from the petroleum refining industry relative to the other point and nonpoint source categories is based on the combined data available for nitrogen and phosphorus. Chapter 4 provides an overview of the history of and recent de
46、velopments in nutrient control policy and regulation. A summary of nutrient enrichment impacts of major point source categories and nonpoint sources on both national and regional scales is presented. The chapter also summarizes surface water body impairments and major nutrient total maximum daily lo
47、ad (TMDL) studies at the national level. Chapter 5 presents a summary of the principal findings in the report and the conclusions of this evaluation. Principal Finding The overwhelming majority of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) nutrient loadings to surface waters is from nonpoint sour
48、ces. A significant contribution also comes from municipal wastewater effluents. Petroleum refineries contribute only 0.1 % of the nationwide TN loading and only 0.08 % of the nationwide TP loading to surface waters. Clearly, nutrient control efforts targeting the petroleum industry, though perhaps i
49、mportant in specific circumstances, will not resolve the majority of nutrient impairments of our nations waters; control efforts must focus on reductions in nonpoint source and municipal nutrient loadings if meaningful gains in water quality are to be achieved. 2 Chapter 2Nutrients and Their Water Quality Impacts When the term “nutrient” is used in a water quality context, it is typically referring to substances used for growth by rooted and floating aquatic plants. Nutrients are also required by the biological treatment systems u
