New Air Permit Rules Become Effective

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Allegheny County have recently revised air pollution permit rules as required by the federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. The new rules, effective in April in Allegheny County and in November 1994 in the rest of the state, create a new air pollution permit system for nearly all sources of air emissions. The new air permit rules, 25 Pennsylvania Code Section 127.401et. seq. and Article XXI of the Allegheny County Code, are supposed to be a procedural mechanism that does not impose any additional air pollution control requirements. However, the permit system is a major change in enforcement strategy. Past practice required the government to find and prosecute a regulatory violation. Under the new rules, sources must know what they emit and prove they are always in compliance with applicable requirements. The new regulatory system will impose additional costs on most businesses, particularly new sources of air pollution.

Operating Permits - There are three categories of facilities under the new air permit rules: "major" sources of air pollution that must have federally enforceable or "Title V" operating permits; minor sources that must have state or county operating permits; and sources that are so small that no permit is required. The new permit rules cover many more facilities than past practice, and "grandfathered" sources that were previously exempt from state permits are now required to have permits. A list of air emissions sources that are not required to have permits under Pennsylvania regulations is attached as Table A.

If the plant is required to have a permit, it is illegal to operate without a permit, violate any permit condition or air pollution rule, or make a false statement in obtaining a permit or a required report. "Major" or "Title V" sources are defined by the type of pollutant emitted and the quality of the air in the plant's location. In Western Pennsylvania, major sources are plants that have the potential to emit more than 100 tons per year for particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, nitrogen oxides (NO_X); or 50 tons per year volatile organic compounds (VOC); or 10 tons of any of 189 listed "hazardous air pollutants" ("HAPS"), or 25 tons per year of a combination of HAPS.

Major sources of air pollutants are required to submit a detailed permit application to the state or county by November 1995. The respective agencies will begin sending "permit application call" letters to sources next month. The first applications in Allegheny County are due August 15, 1995. Permit applications must contain a plant and source description, emissions data, control device data, compliance test methods, a listing of all applicable air pollution requirements, and a certification that the plant is operating in compliance with all requirements. The new rules expand public notice provisions, provide for citizen suits, and require permit application fees and annual emissions fees of $37 per ton of criteria pollutants, except carbon monoxide, emitted from major sources.

Minor sources are not exempt from permitting requirements, but the permit applications are not quite as detailed. Minor sources pay application fees but not annual emissions fees. In Allegheny County, both major and minor permit applications are due by November of this year. In the rest of Pennsylvania, minor source applications are due by November 1996 or when requested by DER. The minor source application must demonstrate that the facility meets air pollution requirements, and has appropriate air pollution controls, properly maintained and operated. Minor sources must have adequate methods of monitoring and recording air emissions, and submit a compliance review form to DER at least twice a year.

Construction Permits - Since the air is already considered unhealthy by federal law, the new air pollution rules impose special permit requirements on new plants or plant expansions that are new sources of pollution. Federal law requires a construction permit program for new sources of air pollution, called "Installation Permits" by Allegheny County and "Plan Approvals" by DER. The state's listing of sources that are too small to need a construction permit (they may still need operating permits) are listed in Table B.

A major new source must receive a construction permit, install Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER) controls, and reduce total pollutant emissions in the area by pollution offsets. In Pennsylvania (outside of Philadelphia), the offset requirement provides that for each ton of NO_X or VOC emitted by the new facility, 1.15 tons of that pollutant must be removed from other sources in the area. The offsets can be created by controlling more than is required at an existing plant, or purchasing pollution rights (emission reduction credits, "ERCs") from another source.

The government does not set prices of ERCs. The market value of ERCs for various pollutants is not yet clear because the rules creating them are so new. Based on what it costs to control emissions, the value of credits might be substantial; for example, the cost of installing controls to remove one ton per year of VOC at a small plant can be $4,000 to $5,000. Major sources of VOC or NO_X are required to install "RACT" controls if they can eliminate NO_X emissions for less than $2,000 a ton or VOC emissions for less than $4,000 a ton. In February 1995, a Westmoreland County manufacturer bought NO_X ERCs from a closed plant in Jeannette, PA for $2,800 per ton in an auction sale in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the first reported competitively bid trade for ERCs in Pennsylvania.

The new permit rules and new air pollution control requirements will affect all sources of air emissions except for the smallest plants. The cost of engineering work and new control equipment may put a significant financial strain on small business in Pennsylvania.

Harry F. Klodowski is Vice-Chairman of the Allegheny County Bar Association's Environmental Law Section and Vice-Chairman of the Western Pennsylvania Section Air and Waste Management Association.

TABLE A - OPERATING PERMIT EXEMPTIONS or "INSIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES"

1. Air conditioning and ventilation systems not designed to remove pollutants generated by or released from other sources.
2. Portable space heaters, electrically heated furnaces, ovens and heaters, and other electrically operated equipment from which no emissions of air contaminants occur.
3. The emissions from the internal combustion engines powering mobile air contamination sources. The term "mobile" means it is capable of moving by its own power. The term does not include a source mounted on a vehicle, whether the mounting is permanent or temporary, which source is not used to supply power to the vehicle.
4. Routine office equipment, such as copier, printer, communication equipment, etc.
5. Any equipment, machine or device from which emission of air contaminant does not occur.
6. Paper trimmers or binders.
7. Detergent washing of metal parts, except those using VOCs or HAPs.
8. Cafeteria equipment used for employee meal preparation.
9. Stationary storage tanks or containers, which are not used for storage of volatile organic liquids or hazardous air pollutants.
10. Laundry operations that are used for cleaning employee uniforms or other clothing, except for those using VOCs or HAPs.
11. Construction or demolition of buildings or structures.
12. Clearing of land.
13. Maintenance activities and the equipment and supplies used therein.
14. Machine shop and maintenance shop equipment used for routine maintenance, such as lathe, drilling and boring machine, cutter, grinder, welder, reaming machine, milling machine, planer and shaper, etc., except for those using VOCs or HAPs. This list does not include casting operations.
15. Fire protection equipment and activities involved in fire protection training, first aid or emergency medical training.
16. Garbage compactors and waste barrels.
17. Stationary material handling systems from which no emissions of air contaminant occur.
18. Electrically operated equipment from which no emissions of air contaminant occur.
19. Portable water treatment equipment, but not including air strippers.
20. Service and maintenance shop for mobile sources, such as car, truck, etc., except where they include degreasing operations that are large enough to be regulated under 25 Pa. Code 129.63.
21. Sources emitting inert gases only, such as argon, helium, krypton, neon, and xenon; pure constituents of air such as nitrogen, oxygen, or carbon dioxide; or the organic aliphatic hydrocarbon gases methane and ethane.
22. Propane or natural gas tanks or containers.
23. Residential Wood Stores
24. Asbestos Demolition or Renovation Sites

Source: DER "Title V Application Workbook" 2/1/95

TABLE B - CONSTRUCTION PERMIT EXEMPTIONS

1. Combustion units rated at 2.5 million or less Btus per hour of heat input.
2. Combustion units with a rated capacity of less than 10 million Btus per hour of heat input fueled by natural gas supplied by a public utility or by commercial fuel oils which are No. 2 or lighter viscosity . . . and which meet the sulfur content requirements of §123.22 . . . .
3. Sources used in residential premises designed to house four or less families.
4. Space heaters which heat by direct heat transfer.
5. Mobile sources.
6. Laboratory equipment used exclusively for chemical or physical analyses.
7. Incinerators with rated capacities less than 75 lbs. per hour burning a municipal or residual waste other than an infectious or Type 4 waste or hazardous waste.
8. Shell core machines.
9. Shotblast and sand blasting units with air pollution control equipment as an integral part of the design and exhaust volumes equal to or smaller than 5,000 scfm.
10. Coal handling facilities processing less than 200 tons per day. (Thermal coal dryers and pneumatic coal cleaners remain subject to the requirements of Chapter 127.)
11. Combustion turbines rated at less than 1,000 horsepower or 10.7 gigajoules per hour.
12. Natural gas fired heat treating furnaces with less than 10x10⁶ Btus per hour heat input (fuel burning emissions only).
13. Steam aspirated vacuum degassing of molten steel.
14. Wet sand and gravel operations (screening only) and dry sand and gravel operations with a capacity of less than 150 tons per hour of unconsolidated materials.
15. Ready mix concrete plants and associated storage vessels which are equipped with appropriately designed fabric collectors.
16. Bulk material storage bins, other than those associated with a production facility with total actual facility particulate emissions greater than 10 tons per year.
17. Storage vessels for volatile organic compounds (except for air toxics) which have capacities less than 40 m³ based on vessel dimensions . . . .
18. Plastic bead or pellet milling, screening and storage operations (does not include handling and storage of resin powders).
19. Plastic parts casting ovens and injection molding processes.
20. Tire buffing.
21. Paper trimmers/binders.
22. Vocational education shops.
23. Woodworking facilities such as sawmills and pallet mills which process green wood; or, small woodworking facilities processing kiln-dried wood or wood products . . . associated with pattern shops, retail lumber yards, shipping and packing departments, etc.; or, woodworking facilities of any size processing kiln-dried wood or wood products which are equipped with appropriately designed fabric collectors.
24. Smokehouses.
25. Slaughterhouses (rendering cookers remain subject to the requirements of Chapter 127).
26. Restaurant operations.
27. Cold degreasers, except those using air toxics. These units are still subject to Section 129.63 (a).
28. Vapor degreasers with cross sectional areas at the liquid-vapor interface, equal to or less than 10 square feet, except those using air toxics.
29. Detergent washing of metals parts, except those using VOCs or air toxics.
30. Surface coating sources of the type addressed in Table I of §129.52 which have not emitted VOCs in excess of 3 pounds per hour, 15 pounds per day, or 2.7 tons per year during any calendar year since January 1, 1987, provided total plant emissions are less than 25 tons per year.
31. Sources of uncontrolled VOC emissions (except those emitting air toxics, or those of the type subject to §129.52, or addressed elsewhere in this listing), are located outside Bucks, Chester, Delaware, or Montgomery Counties, and emit less than 10 TPY for plants emitting less than 25 TPY and 1 TPY for plants over 25 TPY.
32. Drycleaning facilities (except those emitting air toxics) which are not subject to §129.70 requirements NSPS, PSD, or emissions offset requirements.
33. Retail gasoline stations.
34. Sources of particulate matter (not subject to NESHAPS, NSPS, PSD, or emission offset requirements, nor which emit lead or air toxics) which are controlled by a baghouse, have an emission rate which meets the limits of Chapter 123, and are exhausted indoors without the possibility of being bypassed outdoors.
35. Sources emitting inert gases only, such as argon, helium, krypton, neon and xenon; pure constituents of air such as nitrogen, oxygen or carbon dioxide; or the organic aliphatic hydrocarbon gases methane and ethane.
36. Any source granted an exemption by the Department through the execution of a Request for Determination for Plan Approval/Operating Permit Application form.

Source: DER Air Permit Manual, January 28, 1994

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