Section 129.204. Emission accountability

(a) This section applies to units described in § § 129.201—129.203 (relating to boilers; stationary combustion turbines; and stationary internal combustion enginers).

(b) The owner or operator shall determine actual emissions in accordance with one of the following:

(1) If the owner or operator of the unit is required to monitor NOx emissions with a CEMS operated and maintained in accordance with a permit or State or Federal regulation, the CEMS data reported to the Department to comply with the monitoring and reporting requirements of this article shall be used. Any data invalidated under Chapter 139 (relating to sampling and testing) shall be substituted with data calculated using the potential emission rate for the unit or, if approved by the Department in writing, an alternative amount of emissions that is more representative of actual emissions that occurred during the period of invalid data.

(2) If the owner or operator of the unit is not required to monitor NOx emissions with a CEMS, one of the following shall be used to determine actual emissions of NOx:

(i) The 1-year average emission rate calculated from the most recent permit emission limit compliance demonstration test data for NOx.

(ii) The maximum hourly allowable NOx emission rate contained in the permit or the higher of the following:

(A) The highest rate determined by use of the emission factor for the unit class contained in the most up-to-date version of the EPA publication, ‘‘AP-42 Compilation of Air Pollution Emission Factors.’’

(B) The highest rate determined by use of the emission factor for the unit class contained in the most up-to-date version of EPA’s ‘‘Factor Information Retrieval (FIRE)’’ data system.

(iii) CEMS data, if the owner or operator elects to monitor NOx emissions with a CEMS. The owner or operator shall monitor emissions and report the data from the CEMS in accordance with Chapter 139 or Chapter 145 (relating to interstate pollution transport reduction). Any data invalidated under Chapter 139 shall be substituted with data calculated using the potential emission rate for the unit or, if approved by the Department in writing, an alternative amount of emissions that is more representative of actual emissions that occurred during the period of invalid data.

(iv) An alternate calculation and recordkeeping procedure based upon emissions testing and correlations with operating parameters. The operator of the unit shall demonstrate that the alternate procedure does not underestimate actual emissions throughout the allowable range of operating conditions. In regard to obtaining the Department’s approval for an alternate calculation method and recordkeeping procedure for actual emissions, the owner or operator may request an adjustment to the allowable emissions calculations set forth in § § 129.201—129.203. An allowable emission adjustment may not overestimate a unit’s allowable emissions and must be based upon the parameters and procedures proposed in the alternate calculation method for actual emissions. The alternate calculation and recordkeeping procedures must be approved by the Department, in writing, prior to implementation.

(c) The owner or operator of a unit subject to this section shall surrender to the Department one CAIR NOx allowance and one CAIR NOx Ozone Season allowance, as defined in 40 CFR 96.102 and 96.302 (relating to definitions), for each ton of NOx by which the combined actual emissions exceed the allowable emissions of the units subject to this section at a facility from May 1 through September 30. The surrendered allowances shall be of current year vintage. For the purpose of determining the amount of allowances to surrender, any remaining fraction of a ton equal to or greater than 0.50 ton is deemed to equal 1 ton and any fraction of a ton less than 0.50 ton is deemed to equal zero tons.

(d) If the combined allowable emissions from units subject to this section at a facility from May 1 through September 30 exceed the combined actual emissions from units subject to this section at the facility during the same period, the owner or operator may deduct the difference or any portion of the difference from the amount of actual emissions from units subject to this section at the owner or operator’s other facilities.

(e) By November 1, 2005, and by November 1 of each year thereafter, an owner or operator of a unit subject to this section shall surrender the required NOx allowances to the Department’s designated NOx allowance tracking system account and provide to the Department, in writing, the following:

(1) The serial number of each NOx allowance surrendered.

(2) The calculations used to determine the quantity of NOx allowances required to be surrendered.

(f) If an owner or operator fails to comply with subsection (e), the owner or operator shall by December 31 surrender three NOx allowances of the current or later year vintage for each NOx allowance that was required to be surrendered by November 1 of that year.

(g) The surrender of NOx allowances under subsection (f) does not affect the liability of the owner or operator of the unit for any fine, penalty or assessment, or an obligation to comply with any other remedy for the same violation, under the CAA or the act.

(1) For purposes of determining the number of days of violation, if a facility has excess emissions for the period May 1 through September 30, each day in that period (153 days) constitutes a day in violation unless the owner or operator of the unit demonstrates that a lesser number of days should be considered.

(2) Each ton of excess emissions is a separate violation.

The provisions of this § 129.204 adopted December 10, 2004, effective December 11, 2004, 34 Pa.B. 6509; amended April 11, 2008, effective April 12, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 1705. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (308495) to (308497).

Notation

Authority

The provisions of this § 129.204 issued under section 5 of the Air Pollution Control Act (35 P. S. § 4005).

Cross References

This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 129.202 (relating to stationary combustion turbines); 25 Pa. Code § 129.203 (relating to stationary internal combustion engines); and 25 Pa. Code § 129.205 (relating to zero emissions renewable energy production credit).