Plan Approval and Operating Permit Exemptions [26 Pa.B. 3160] Under the authority contained in 25 Pa. Code § 127.14, the Department of Environmental Protection (Department) may determine sources or classes of sources which may be exempt from the plan approval and permitting requirements of 25 Pa. Code Chapter 127. Notice is hereby provided that, in accordance with § 127.14(d), the listing of these determinations is being revised and that a draft is now available. After a 30-day comment period the listings will be revised as appropriate and be published in final form in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
The listing is being revised by the addition of a list of physical changes qualifying for exemption under § 127.14(a)(9).
Additionally, criteria has been added for the exemption of facilities previously grandfathered from operating permit requirements. Revisions to the Air Pollution Control Act and 25 Pa. Code Chapter 127, requires the submission of operating permit applications for previously grandfathered sources by November 1, 1996.
Finally, the listings will include insignificant activities that need not be described in either a Title V or State-only operating permit application.
A complete copy of the Plan Approval and Operating Permit Exemption Listings may be obtained by contacting Kimberly Maneval, Division of Permits, Bureau of Air Quality Control, 12th Floor Rachel Carson State Office Building, P. O. Box 8468, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8468, telephone (717) 787-4325 or by e-mail to Maneval.Kimberly@a1.dep.state.pa.us. TDD users may telephone the Department through the AT&T Relay Service, 1 (800) 654-5984. Internet users can access a copy of the exemption listing at http:\\www.dep.state.pa.us (choose Public Participation Center/Proposals Open for Comment).
The Department requests written comments on the proposed revisions to the permit exemption listings. Interested persons may submit written comments, suggestions or objections to John F. Slade, Chief, Division of Permits, Bureau of Air Quality Control, 12th Floor Rachel Carson State Office Building, P. O. Box 8468, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8468, (717) 787-4325 or e-mail to Slade.John@a1.dep.state.pa.us. Public comments must be submitted to the Department within 30 days of the date of this notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Comments received by facsimile will not be accepted.
PLAN APPROVAL AND OPERATING PERMIT EXEMPTION LISTINGS Listing of Plan Approval Exemptions
Section 127.14(a) of Chapter 127 of the Rules and Regulations of the Department of Environmental Protection (25 Pa. Code § 127.14(a)) provides that approval is not required for the construction, modification, reactivation or installation of the following:
1. Air conditioning or ventilation systems not designed to remove pollutants generated by or released from other sources.
2. Combustion units rated at 2.5 million or less Btus per hour of heat input.
3. 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 less than or equal to 5.82 C St--and which meet the sulfur content requirements of § 123.22 (relating to combustion units). Combustion units converting to fuel oils which are No. 3 or heavier-viscosity greater than 5.82 C St or contain sulfur in excess of the requirements of § 123.22 require approval. For the purpose of this section, commercial fuel oil shall be virgin oil which contains no reprocessed, recycled or waste material.
4. Sources used in residential premises designed to house four or less families.
5. Space heaters which heat by direct heat transfer.
6. Mobile sources.
7. Laboratory equipment used exclusively for chemical or physical analyses.
8. Other sources and classes of sources determined to be of minor significance by the Department.
The following is a list of those sources and classes of sources determined in accordance with § 127.14(a)(8) to be exempt from the Plan Approval requirements of 25 Pa. Code §§ 127.11 and 127.12. Note that certain exceptions and qualifications regarding this list are contained in the discussion that follows the list.
1. Incinerators with rated capacities less than 75 lb. per hour burning a municipal or residual waste as defined by the Bureau of Land Recycling and Waste Management.
2. Shot blast and sand blasting units with appropriately designed fabric collectors, cartridge collectors or scrubbers manufactured as an integral part of the design and which have exhaust volumes equal to or smaller than 5,000 scfm.
3. Coal handling facilities processing less than 200 tons per day. (Thermal coal dryers and pneumatic coal cleaners remain subject to the requirements of § 127.11)
4. Combustion turbines rated at less than 1,000 horsepower or 10.7 gigajoules per hour.
5. Natural gas-fired heat treating furnaces with less than 10×106 Btus per hour heat input (fuel burning emissions only).
6. Steam aspirated vacuum degassing of molten steel.
7. 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.
8. Concrete batch plants and associated storage vessels which are equipped with appropriately designed fabric collectors.
9. Bulk material storage bins, except those associated with a production facility with total actual facility particulate emissions greater than 10 tons per year.
10. Storage vessels for volatile organic compounds [which are not hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)] which have capacities less than 40 m3 (10,000 gallons) based on vessel dimensions, unless subject to § 129.59 (bulk gasoline terminals) or § 129.60(b) and (c) (bulk gasoline plants).
11. Storage vessels containing non-VOC or nonhazardous air pollutant materials and compounds.
12. Diesel fuel, Nos. 2, 4 and 6 fuel oils, or kerosene and jet fuel storage and dispensing facilities.
13. Covered wastewater transfer systems such as covered junction boxes, sumps, tanks at industrial sites.
14. Plastic bead or pellet milling, screening and storage operations (does not include handling and storage of resin powders).
15. Plastic parts casting ovens and injection molding processes.
16. Tire buffing.
17. Paper trimmers/binders.
18. Vocational education shops. Chemistry laboratories at schools and colleges.
19. Laboratory equipment used for kinetic studies, mass/energy transport studies, or laboratory scale chemical synthesis.
20. Research and development activities with hourly emission rates:
i. less than 6 pounds/hour of CO;
ii. less than 0.034 pound/hour of lead; and
iii. less than 3 pounds/hours of PM10, SO2, NOx or VOC.
iv. less than 1 pound/hour of a HAP.
21. Woodworking facilities such as sawmills and pallet mills which process green wood; or, small woodworking facilities processing kiln-dried wood or wood products (flakeboard, particleboard, and the like) associated with pattern shops, retail lumber yards, shipping and packing departments, and the like; or, woodworking facilities of any size processing kiln-dried wood or wood products which are equipped with appropriately designed fabric collectors.
This exemption does not apply to woodworking facilities processing wood which has been treated with a wood preservative of any kind. The term ''woodworking facilities'' refers only to operations in which wood or a wood product is sawed, sanded, planed or similarly shaped or reshaped. The term does not include such activities as painting, finishing, hardboard manufacturing, plywood manufacturing, and the like.
22. Smokehouses.
23. Slaughterhouses (rendering cookers remain subject to the requirements of § 127.11).
24. Restaurant operations.
25. Cold degreasers, except those emitting more than 1 ton per year of a HAP or 2.5 tons per year of a combination of HAPs. These units are still subject to § 129.63(a).
26. Vapor degreasers with cross sectional areas at the liquid-vapor interface, equal to or less than 10 square feet, except those emitting more than 1 ton per year of a HAP or 2.5 tons per year of a combination of HAPs.
27. Detergent washing of metal parts, except those using VOCs or HAPs.
28. Uncontrolled surface coating sources of the type addressed in Table I of § 129.52 which have not had actual emissions of VOCs (except those emitting more than 1 ton per year of a HAP or 2.5 tons per year of a combination of HAPs) in excess of 3 pounds per hours, 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. For plants emitting equal to or greater than 25 tons per year, sources emitting equal to or less than 1 ton per year are exempt.
29. Sources of uncontrolled VOC emissions (except those emitting more than 1 ton per year of a HAP or 2.5 tons per year of a combination of HAPs, or those of the type subject to § 129.52, or addressed elsewhere in this listing), and:
i. are located in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery or Philadelphia Counties and have actual emissions less than 3 lb. per hour, 15 lb. per day, and 2.7 tons per year; or,
ii. are located in counties other than those listed in i) above and have actual emissions less than the amounts shown in the following table:
Facility (Plant) Size New Source Exemption <=25 TPY <=8 TPY >25 TPY <1 TPY 30. Dry-cleaning facilities which are not subject to § 129.70, NSPS, MACT (area MACT sources are currently deferred from plan approval and operating permit requirements), PSD or NSR requirements.
31. Retail gasoline stations.
32. Sources of particulate matter (not subject to NESHAPs, NSPS, PSD or emission offset requirements, nor which emit lead or HAPs) which are controlled by a baghouse, have an emission rate which meets the limits of Chapter 123, and are exhausted indoors and cannot be bypassed to exhaust to the outdoor atmosphere.
33. Sources emitting inert gases only, such as argon, helium, krypton, neon and xenon; pure constitutents of air such as nitrogen, oxygen or carbon dioxide; or, methane or ethane.
34. Any source qualifying under § 127.449 as a de minimis emission increase.
35. Any source granted an exemption by the Department through the execution of a Request for Determination of Requirement for Plan Approval Application form.
Special Exclusion from Exemption
A. This notice shall not be construed to exempt facilities which include multiple sources of air contaminants, even if each source is within a class in the above list.
B. The addition of sources that would subject the facility to major source New Source Review or Prevention of Significant Deterioration requirements, Title V or Reasonably Available Control Technology are not to be exempted from plan approval requirements, even if such sources are within a class in the above list.
These determinations do not exempt the above-listed sources from compliance with the emission limitations, work practice and other applicable requirements contained in 25 Pa. Code Chapters 121--124, 127, 129 and 135. Although a source may be exempt from the plan approval and operating permit requirements of 25 Pa. Code Chapter 127, the source is subject to all other applicable air quality regulations. For example, combustion units exempt from the requirements of Chapter 127 are not exempt from the opacity limitations of § 123.41 or the emission limitations of § 123.22. Storage vessels for organic compounds with capacities between 2,000 gallons to 40,000 gallons, not subject to the requirements of Chapter 127, must install pressure relief valves in accordance with the requirements of § 129.57. (Note: Storage vessels in this size range would also not be subject to the requirements of §§ 129.59 and 129.60.)
If the Department determines that any source within the above list is causing air pollution in violation of section 8 of the Air Pollution Control Act (35 P. S. § 4008) or 25 Pa. Code § 121.7, the Department may order the installation of additional air cleaning devices. In such cases, plan approvals and operating permits may be required.
Requests for exemptions from the plan approval requirements of Chapter 127 for multiple source facilities must be considered on a case-by-case basis.
As noted in item (35) of the list, additional exemptions, when appropriate, may be obtained through the submission of a completed Request for Determination of Requirement for Plan Approval Application form. These forms are available from any Air Quality office.
Physical Changes Qualifying for Exemption Under § 127.14(a)(9)
In accordance with § 127.14(a)(9), the Department has determined that the following physical changes qualify for plan approval exemption if the change: a) would not violate the terms of an operating permit, the Air Pollution Control Act, the Clean Air Act or the regulations adopted under them; b) would not result in emission increases above the allowable in the operating permit; and, c) would not result in an increased ambient air quality impact for an air contaminant. These changes may be made without notification to the Department. Caution: Do not read the following list without consideration of the preceding qualifiers.
1. Changes in the supplier or formulation of similar raw materials, fuels, paints and other coatings which do not effect emissions or which meet all applicable standards and limitations.
2. Changes in product formulations that do not affect air emissions.
3. Changes that result in different speciation of pollutants but fall within permit limitations.
4. Changes in the method of raw material addition.
5. Changes in the method of product packaging.
6. Changes in temperature, pressure or other operating parameters which do not adversely affect air cleaning devices performance or air emissions.
7. Additions of or changes to sampling connections used exclusively to withdraw materials for testing and analysis including air contaminant detection and vent lines.
8. Changes to paint drying oven length designed to alter curing time, so long as capture efficiencies of control equipment are not altered.
9. Routine maintenance, inspection and cleaning of storage tanks and process vessels.
10. Changing water sources to air cleaning devices when there is no affect on performance or air emissions.
11. Moving a source from one building to another building at the same facility with no change in operation or controls.
12. Installation of an air cleaning device that is not installed to comply with regulatory requirements and will not be used to generate emission reduction credits.
13. Repairing, replacing, upgrading, maintaining or installing pollution control device instrumentation or component equipment including pumps, blowers, burners, filters, filter bags, devices for measuring pressure drop across an air cleaning device or a filter breakage detector for a baghouse, provided such changes would not violate an operating permit term or condition.
14. Installing a fume hood or vent system for industrial hygiene purposes or in a laboratory.
15. The temporary (no longer than 6 months) replacement in kind of a source that has experienced an emergency breakdown.
In accordance with section 127.14(c) additional physical changes may be determined to be of minor significance and not subject to plan approval requirements through the following procedure.
A. If the changes do not involve the installation of equipment, the changes may be made within 7 calendar days of the Department's receipt of a written request provided the Department does not request additional information or objects to the change within the 7-day period.
B. If the changes involve the installation of equipment, the changes may be made within 15 calendar days of the Department's receipt of a written request provided the Department does not request additional information or objects to the change within the 15-day period.
C. If the change would violate the terms of an operating permit the plan approval exemption may be processed contemporaneously with the minor operating permit modification under the procedures described in section 127.462.
Exemption Criteria for Operating Permits
A Title V operating permit is needed by all facilities which have the potential to emit (PTE) exceeding the levels described in the definition of ''Title V facility.'' A State-only operating permit is needed by any facility containing sources prevously issued plan approvals and permits. A State-only operating permit is also needed for existing nonpermitted facilities (for example, grandfathered facilities) which do not have a potential to emit (PTE) which exceeds the Title V facility thresholds, but which has actual emissions equal to or exceeding the facility levels summarized below.
State-Only Operating Permit Facility Exemptions for Grandfathered Facilities Pollutant PTE Actual Emission Rate CO 100 TPY 20 TPY NOx 100 TPY 10 TPY SOx 100 TPY 8 TPY PM10 100 TPY 3 TPY VOCs 50 TPY 8 TPY Single HAP 10 TPY 1 TPY Multiple HAPs 25 TPY 2.5 TPY Exceptions: Sources subject to MACT requirements are not exempted from operating permit requirements. However, the permitting of MACT area sources will be deferred at this time. MACT area sources include nonmajor facilities containing: perchloroethylene dry cleaning, halogenated solvent cleaning, ethylene oxide commercial sterilization and fumigation operations, hard and decorative chromium electroplating and chromium anodizing tanks.
Source Category and Insignificant Activities Exemptions
At present there are only two permanently exempted source categories. These categories include residential wood stoves and asbestos demolition/renovation sites. (Ref. Section 127.504(d))
Insignificant activities are those located within a facility which do not create air pollution in significant amounts. These insignificant activities need not be described in a Title V or State-only operating permit application. Certain of these listed activities include qualifying statements intended to exclude many similar activities.
1. Combustion emissions from propulsion of mobile 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. Examples might include lawn mowers, tow and life vehicles, and the like.
2. Air-conditioning units used for human comfort that do not have applicable requirements under Title VI of the act.
3. Ventilating units used for human comfort that do not exhaust air pollutants into the ambient air from any manufacturing, industrial or commercial process.
4. Portable space heaters.
5. Electrically heated furnaces, ovens and heaters, and other electrically operated equipment from which no emissions of air contaminants occur.
6. Noncommercial food preparation.
7. Use of office equipment and products, not including printers or businesses primarily involved in photographic reproduction.
8. Any equipment, machine or device from which emission of air contaminant does not occur.
9. Janitorial services and consumer use of janitorial products.
10. Internal combustion engines used for landscaping purposes.
11. Garbage compactors and waste barrels.
12. Laundry activities, except for dry-cleaning and steam boilers.
13. Bathroom/toilet vent emissions.
14. Emergency (backup) electrical generators at residential locations.
15. Tobacco smoking rooms and areas.
16. Blacksmith forges.
17. Plant maintenance and upkeep activities (for example, grounds-keeping, general repairs, cleaning, painting, welding, plumbing, retarring roofs, installing insulation and paving parking lots) provided these activities are not conducted as part of a manufacturing process, are not related to the source's primary business activity, and not otherwise triggering a permit modification.1
18. Repair or maintenance shop activities not related to the source's primary business activity, not including emissions from surface coating or de-greasing (solvent metal cleaning) activities, and not otherwise triggering a permit modification.
19. Portable electrical generators that can be moved by hand from one location to another2 .
20. Hand-held equipment for buffing, polishing, cutting, drilling, sawing, grinding, turning or machining wood, metal or plastic.
21. Brazing, soldering and welding equipment, and cutting torches related to maintenance and construction activities that do not result in emission of HAP metals.3
22. Air compressors and pneumatically operated equipment, including hand tools.
23. Batteries and battery charging stations, except at battery manufacturing plants.
24. Storage tanks, vessels and containers holding or storing liquid substances that will not emit any VOC or HAP.4
25. Propane or natural gas tanks and containers.
26. Storage tanks, reservoirs, and pumping and handling equipment of any size containing soaps, vegetable oil, grease, animal fat and nonvolatile aqueous salt solutions, provided appropriate lids and covers are utilized.
27. Equipment used to mix and package, soaps, vegetable oil, grease, animal fat and nonvolatile aqueous salt solutions, provided appropriate lids and covers are utilized.
28. Drop hammers or hydraulic presses for forging or metalworking.
29. Equipment used exclusively to slaughter animals, but not including other equipment at slaughterhouses, such as rendering cookers, boilers, heating plants, incinerators and electrical power generating equipment.
30. Vents from continous emissions monitors and other analyzers.
31. Natural gas pressure regulator vents, excluding venting at oil and gas production facilities.
32. Hand-held applicator equipment for hot melt adhesives with no VOC in the adhesive formulation.
33. Equipment used for surface coating, painting, dipping or spraying operations, except those that will emit VOC or HAP.
34. CO2 lasers, used only on metals and other materials which do not emit HAP in the process.
35. Consumer use of paper trimmers/binders.
36. Electric or steam-heated drying ovens and autoclaves, but not the emissions from the articles or substances being processed in the ovens or autoclaves or the boilers delivering the steam.
37. Salt baths using nonvolatile salts that do not result in emissions of any regulated air pollutants.
38. Laser trimmers using dust collection to prevent fugitive emissions.
39. Bench-scale laboratory equipment used for physical or chemical analysis, but not lab fume hoods or vents.5
40. Sources emitting inert gases only, such as argon, helium, krypton, neon and xenon; pure constituents or air such as nitrogen, oxygen or carbon dioxide; or the organic aliphatic hydrocarbon gases methane and ethane.
41. Routine calibration and maintenance of laboratory equipment or other analytical instruments.
42. Equipment used for quality control/assurance or inspection purposes, including sampling equipment used to withdraw materials for analysis.
43. Hydraulic and hydrostatic testing equipment.
44. Environmental chambers not using hazardous air pollutant (HAP) gasses.
45. Shock chambers.
46. Humidity chambers.
47. Solar simulators.
48. Fugitive emissions related to movement of passenger vehicles, provided the emissions are not counted for applicability purposes and any required fugitive dust control plan or its equivalent is submitted.
49. Process water filtration systems and demineralizors, but not including air stripper.
50. Demineralized water tanks and demineralizer vents.
51. Boiler water treatment operations, not including cooling towers.
52. Oxygen scavenging (de-aeration) of water.
53. Ozone generators.
54. Fire suppression systems and activities involved in fire protection training, first aid or emergency medical training.
55. Emergency road flares.
56. Steam vents and safety relief valves.
57. Steam leaks.
58. Steam cleaning operations.
59. Steam sterilizers.
If an applicant conducts an activity that is believed insignificant but not covered by this listing, the applicant may list the activity in an operating permit application and provide a justification for listing the activity as insignificant. If the Department accepts the applicants justification then no further information will be required on the activity. If the Department rejects the justification then operating permit information will have to be supplied for the activity.
JAMES M. SEIF,
Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 96-1096. Filed for public inspection July 5, 1996, 9:00 a.m.] _______
1 Cleaning and painting activities qualify if they are not subject to VOC or HAP control requirements. Asphalt batch plant owners/operators must still get a permit.
2 ''Moved by hand'' means that it can be moved without the assistance of any motorized or nonmotorized vehicle, conveyance or device.
3 Brazing, soldering and welding equipment, and cutting torches related to manufacturing and construction activities that emit HAP metals are more appropriate for treatment as insignificant activities based on size or production level thresholds. Brazing, soldering, welding and cutting torches directly related to plant maintenance and upkeep and repair or maintenance shop activities that emit HAP metals are treated as trivial and listed separately in this appendix.
4 Exemptions for storage tanks containing petroleum liquids or other volatile organic liquids should be based on size limits such as storage tank capacity and vapor pressure of liquids stored and are not appropriate for this list.
5 Many lab fume hoods or vents might qualify for treatment as insignificant (depending on the applicable SIP) or be grouped together for purposes of description.
