1. What is a shipment?

The definition of a "shipment" depends, in part, on the method by which the facility receives its coal.

(1) Coal received by rail car, barge, or ship. For owners/operators of units that receive coal from the mine or supplier by rail car (i.e., unit train, super unit train, or individual car), barge (i.e., barge tow or individual barge), or ship, a "shipment" would equate to each distinct load (e.g., unit train, barge tow) received from a single suppler. The owner/operator would be required to provide the required information about each shipment (e.g., tonnage received; source [State, mine, seam] to the extent possible), and the results of particular analyses (e.g., Btu, moisture, ash, sulfur, mercury, and chlorine content) of a composited coal sample that represents each sixth coal shipment received. Facilities receiving from multiple suppliers may have every sixth coal shipment shipped analyzed if the logistics of this approach works better.

(2) Shipment by truck. For owners/operators of units receiving coal from the mine or supplier by truck, a "shipment" would equate to all truck loads of a single type of coal (e.g., recently mined bituminous, subbituminous, or lignite coals; waste coal) received within one calendar 24-hour period (i.e., midnight to midnight), regardless of supplier. The owner/operator would be required to provide certain information about each truckload received (e.g., tonnage received; type of coal; source [State, mine, seam] to the extent possible) and the results of particular analyses (e.g., Btu, moisture, ash, sulfur, mercury, and chlorine content) of a composited coal sample that represents each sixth coal shipment received. Therefore, as all truck loads of a single type of coal received within one twenty-four hour period equate to one shipment, the owner/operator would be required to report the analyses of every sixth day's shipment for each coal type received (three to five per month, depending on whether shipments are received on Saturdays and Sundays). The total tonnage of coal received would also have to be reported.

(3) Shipment by conveyor. For owners/operators of units receiving coal from the mine or supplier by conveyor belt (e.g., "mine-mouth" units), a "shipment" equates to all the coal received during continuous operation of the conveyor. For example, if the conveyor operates intermittently during any calendar 24-hour period, this would equate to one shipment per calendar day. If the conveyor operates continuously for an entire month, this would equate to one shipment per calendar month. The owner/operator would be required to provide certain information about coal received in any shipment (e.g., tonnage received; source [State, mine, seam]) and the results of particular analyses (e.g., Btu, moisture, ash, sulfur, mercury, and chlorine content) of a composited coal sample that represents each sixth shipment received, with a minimum of three analyses reported per month, spaced approximately every ten days.

Each facility is required to provide a minimum of three analyses for each calendar month in which coal is received, even if no coal is combusted during that period (e.g., maintenance outages). Each facility that operates during months during which no coal is received is also required to provide three analyses per month. These analyses should be as-fired coal samples, if possible.

1. Site receives 75 trucks of new and waste coal per day from up to 15 vendors. Can they composite the new and waste coal? They cannot identify the source of the waste coal.

   Answer: The owner/operator can make a composite of the waste coal and a composite of the "new" coal, for any given type of coal (e.g., lignite, subbituminous), but not both combined in a 24-hour period to be counted as a shipment. This essentially means that every sixth day, assuming truck loads of waste and new coal are received daily, the results of analyses two composite samples should be provided.

2. Site has one coal supplier and receives 540 truck loads per week. One boiler has an auto coal sampler and the other doesn't. Can they let the auto sampler collect one sample and report the results for both boilers?

   Answer: Every sixth day that a truck load(s) of coal is (are) received, a sample (composite sample) should be provided for the coal received that day. If analyses are not received from the supplier, then as-fired samples for the one boiler may be used for the analyses and provided for both boilers.

3. Company has a third-party contractor sample coal at the point of shipment. The coal shipment is sent to two or three plants. The company cannot certify that sampling every 6th shipment will give the same results that would be obtained in sampling at each plant. Can the plant sample every 6th shipment?

   Answer: Yes.

4. Will it be acceptable to request suppliers to sample every 6th shipment sent to each facility, or does EPA expect to strictly enforce sampling of every 6th shipment received at each facility? The latter operation is much more difficult logistically when multiple suppliers ship coal to a facility.

   Answer: Analyses of every sixth shipment shipped (rather than received) will be acceptable.

5. If the site has less than 10,000 tons of coal, do they have to sample more frequently than they presently sample?

   Answer: The owner/operator must provide analyses according to the number of shipments they receive, while maintaining a minimum of three reported analyses per month, regardless of the amount of coal. This means that if less than three shipments were received in any given month, the facility would have to take additional samples to meet the minimum reporting of three analyses per month.

6. Site receives seven shipments per year (by boat) from a single source and a single seam from May to November. They burn this stockpiled coal throughout the year. Do they obtain only seven composited coal samples?

   Answer: A minimum of three analyses must be reported for each month that the facility either receives or combusts coal. If only one shipment is received per month, this company should perform three analyses on the sample (composite or individual) obtained for that shipment. If two shipments are received per month, this company should perform two analyses from the sample taken for one shipment and one from the other. For months during which the unit operates but no coal is received, three analyses must be provided, preferably from as-fired samples.

   Note: Since this is a change in strategy arrived at after discussions with industry groups, and since the data sampling had already commenced, EPA has made the following decision. If a company collected samples from as-fired coal to make up for not having at least 3 shipments a month, then that will be flagged when the data is submitted. More details on how to indicate if a sample is from as-fired coal will be available in the Web site user's guide.

7. Site blends coal with up to 10 percent petroleum coke. Do they obtain a sample of the blended material or each individual coal and coke shipment?

   Answer: The owner/operator must provide analyses of every sixth shipment of coal (by type, if multiple types are used) and every sixth shipment of coke, while maintaining a minimum of three analyses of each per month.

8. The site is a mine-mouth unit. They only have to sample the coal every 10 days?

   Answer: A mine-mouth unit only has to provide analyses based on the mode of receipt of coal (e.g., truck, conveyor) as noted above. A minimum of three analyses must be provided each month.

9. Site receives 100 car train every 5 days. The vendor collects a car top sample from every 6th or 10th train. Do they only have to provide analyses for three of the vendor-collected samples per month?

   Answer: If a 100-car train is received every 5 days, then approximately 6 shipments are received every month. Analyses in this case would be provided from every other shipment to maintain the minimum reporting requirement of three shipments (or analyses) per month. If the quarterly calculation indicates the need to sample more frequently, however, other shipments analyses will have to be provided.

10. Site has 200 truck loads per day from a local mine. They obtain a composite of the coal shipments daily by collecting coal from the tailgate of the truck. Do they analyze every 6th composite or every 6th truck?

    Answer: They analyze every sixth day's composite of coal.

11. If a site receives and stores coal, while a boiler is down for maintenance, do they need to sample the coal and report the analyses once the boiler resumes operation?

    Answer: Analyses must be provided of shipments received on the requisite frequency whether the facility is operating or not.

12. Site receives 1 or 2 train shipments per month. Can they provide the vendor's analyses of the one or two shipments received each month or will they have to collect more samples?

    Answer: They should report the vendor's analyses plus take additional samples (preferably as-fired) to maintain reporting at the minimum of three analyses per month.

13. The site operates sporadically and receives coal sporadically. They stockpile coal in the summer. The site might not run for three or four months at a stretch. What do they have to do?

    Answer: Analyses must be provided on the requisite frequency for those months that the unit either operates or receives coal.

OMB Control Number 2060-0396
Last Update: 10 March 1999
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