Clean
Air Act Title V Permits
BREDL
Fact Sheet
BREDL comments on various Title V
permits
The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments Title V
established a federal operating permit system
administered by the states. Title V permits
are designed to gather all existing, federally
enforceable laws and regulations into one
permit. Federally enforceable laws include
all EPA regulations and any state and local
regulations approved by the EPA. The State
Implementation Plan (SIP) embodies all
EPA-approved state regulations. A state
regulation is not part of the SIP and not
federally enforceable until it is submitted to
and approved by the EPA. EPA approval
allows enforcement by federal agencies and by
citizens under the Clean Air Act.
Title V Permits must include: 1) CAA
requirements applicable to the source 2) a
schedule for compliance 3) monitoring and
reporting requirements. The two types of air
regulations are ambient standards and emission
standards.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
have been set for six
pollutants: particulate matter, sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxide, ozone, and lead (PM-10, SO2, NOx,
CO, O3, and Pb). They are typically
expressed in parts per million (ppm) or
micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3). Each
pollutant has a primary standard based on public
health protection and a secondary standard based
on public well-being, ie, esthetic and economic
effects such as visibility and damage to
agriculture.
Emission standards regulate industrial sources
and are written in terms of grams/minute or
kilograms of pollutant per ton of product for
specific pollutants from specific sources.
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) limit
PM-10, SO2, NOx, CO, O3, and Pb and apply to
facilities built after a certain date.
National Emission standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants (NESHAPs) are supposed to control 189
air toxics, e.g. mercury, vinyl chloride, and
benzene, listed in the CAAA Title III which cause
"serious irreversible or incapacitating
reversible illness."
ELEMENTS
OF TITLE V PERMITS
The draft permit will contain general
conditions which are included in 40 CFR
70 and any conditions approved by the EPA under
the state SIP. These conditions include the
permit duration, duty to comply, permit
modifications, provision of information, claims
of confidential information, compliance
certification, reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, schedule of compliance, fees, and
emissions trading.
The draft permit must contain a statement
of basis which contains information
about decisions made by the permitting agency and
which allows any interested citizen to
effectively review the permit. The
statement should explain decisions about
monitoring of the facility for compliance.
The permit application forms
the basis for the Title V permit and contains
important information not found in the draft
permit. The application contains a
description of the facility, the types of fuel
burned and amounts of pollution emitted, a
description of all applicable requirements, a
compliance certification stating whether the
facility is complying with regulations and the
methods for determining compliance, a
certification of truthfulness, and a compliance
plan.
If the Title V permit application contains a compliance
schedule, it indicates the facility has
a history of problems with existing
regulations. Applications can be submitted
years before permits are drafted, but permits
must contain up-to-date compliance
schedules. If a consent order has been
issued, the terms must be included in the
permit. Under no circumstances may a
compliance schedule sanction non-compliance with
an applicable requirement.
Permit conditions must be practically
enforceable, that is, they must make it
possible to determine whether a plant is
complying with the rules. The permit must
clearly explain how the requirements apply to the
facility. If you cannot tell what the
facility is required to do to comply with permit
limits, it is not practically enforceable.
With limited exceptions, a facility must comply
with regulations at all times. The public
may use any credible evidence to show a facility
is violating its permit. Evidence may
include air sampling tests taken at the property
line of the facility.
Documents
for Review of Title V Permits
Draft Permit - Now available
at state websites
Permit Application - Contains
description of facility, applicable requirements
and certification of compliance. It is a
large document available at central state office
and regional offices where the plant is located.
Existing permit - State air
permit includes possible PSS, New Source Review
limits/requirements, and any previous Title V
permits.
Notices of Violation - Dates
and types of violations, fines, consent orders
Inspection Records - Contains
descriptions of plant process, monitoring
methods, problems, and borderline violations
Monitoring Reports -
Frequency and types of monitoring, patterns of
non-compliance
Stack Tests - Test results
and conclusions can indicate how well a plant
operates within requirements.
Correspondence Files -
Letters between EPA, state, and facility
owner/operator. Disputes, resolutions,
recommendations, and plan English descriptions in
these files can give a quick assessment of
possible permitting problems.
Useful
websites (updated
Feb. 06, 2003)
Clean Air Act - http://www.epa.gov/oar/caa/contents.html
EPA Regulations and Guidance Documents - http://www.epa.gov/oar/oarregul.html
EPA Title V Operationg Permits - http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t5main.html
EPA Office of Air and Radiation - http://www.epa.gov/oar/
Hazardous air pollutants concentrations - http://www.epa.gov/cumulativeexposure/index.htm
EPA Region III Title V permitting status - http://www.epa.gov/airprogm/oar/oaqps/permits/maps/reg3sm.html
EPA Region IV Title V permitting status - http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/permits/maps/reg4sm.html
North Carolina DAQ permits - http://daq.state.nc.us/permits/
North Carolina DAQ calendar - http://daq.state.nc.us/calendar/
South Carolina environmental permit status - http://www.scdhec.net/eqc/admin/html/eqspare.html
Virginia DEQ permits - http://www.deq.state.va.us/permits/air.html
Virginia Title V permits
mailing list - http://www.deq.state.va.us/permits/ttlvmail.html
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