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Texas SIP: 30 TAC 116.12 Nonattainment Review Definitions; SIP effective 2009-05-19

Regulatory Text: 
Texas Chapter 116 - Control of Air Pollution by Permits for New Construction or Modification

SUBCHAPTER A : DEFINITIONS

6A §116.12.  Nonattainment Review Definitions.
6-64: As adopted by TCEQ August 20, 2003 effective September 14, 2003 (6-64).
Submitted to EPA September 25, 2003.
Approved by EPA March 20, 2009 (74 FR 11851) effective May 19, 2009 (TXd101).

     Unless specifically defined in the TCAA or in the rules of the commission, the terms used by the commission have the meanings commonly ascribed to them in the field of air pollution control.  The terms in this section are applicable to permit review for major source consauction and major source modification in nonattainment areas. In addition to the terms which are defined by the TCAA, and in §101.1 of this title (relating to Definitions), the following words and terms, when used in §116.150 and §116.151 of this title (relating to Nonattainment Review), shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. 

     (1)  Actual emissions - Actual emissions as of a particular date shall equal the average rate, in tons per year, at which the unit actually emitted the pollutant during a two-year period which precedes the particular date and which is representative of normal source operation. The executive director shall allow the use of a different time period upon a determination that it is more representative of normal source operation. Actual emissions shall be calculated using the unit's actual operating hours, production rates, and types of materials processed, stored, or combusted during the selected time period. The executive director may presume that the source-specific allowable emissions for the unit are equivalent to the actual emissions, e.g., when the allowable limit is reflective of actual emissions. For any emissions unit which has not begun normal operations on the particular date, actual emissions shall equal the potential to emit the unit on that date. 

     (2)  Allowable emissions - The emissions rate of a stationary source, calculated using the maximum rated capacity of the source (unless the source is subject to federally enforceable limits which restrict the operating rate, or hours of operation, or both), and the most stringent of the following: 
          (A) the applicable standards set forth in Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 60 or 61; 
          (B) the applicable state implementation plan emissions limitation including those with a future compliance date; or 
          (C) the emissions rate specified as a federally enforceable permit condition including those with a future compliance date. 

      (3)  Begin actual construction -In general, initiation of physical on-site construction activities on an emissions unit which are of a permanent nature. Such activities include, but are not limited to, installation of building supports and foundations, laying of underground pipework, and construction of permanent storage structures. With respect to a change in method of operation, this term refers to those on-site activities other than preparatory activities which mark the initiation of the change. 

     (4)  Building, structure, facility, or installation -All of the pollutant-emitting activities which belong to the same industrial grouping, are located in one or more contiguous or adjacent properties, and are under the control of the same person (or persons under common control). Pollutant-emitting activities shall be considered as part of the same industrial grouping if they belong to the same 'major group" (i.e., which have the same two digit code) as described in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972, as amended by the 1977 supplement.

     (5)  Commence -As applied to construction of a major stationary source or major modification, means that the owner or operator has all necessary preconstruction approvals or permits and either has: 
          (A) begun, or caused to begin, a continuous program of actual on-site construction of the source, to be completed within a reasonable time; or 
          (B) entered into binding agreements or contractual obligations, which cannot be canceled or modified without substantial loss to the owner or operator, to undertake a program of actual construction of the source to be completed within a reasonable time. 

     (6)  Construction -Any physical change or change in the method of operation (including fabrication, erection, installation, demolition, or modification of an emissions unit) which would result in a change in actual emissions. 

     (7)  Contemporaneous period -As follows. 
          (A) For major sources with the potential to emit 250 tons per year (tpy) or more of a nonattainment pollutant, the period between: 
               (i)  November 15, 1992; and 
               (ii)  the date that the increase from the particular change occurs. 
          (B)  For major sources with the potential to emit less than 250 tpy of a nonattainrnent pollutant, the period between:
               (i)  the date five years before construction on the particular change commences; and 
               (ii)  the date that the increase from the particular change occurs. 
          (C)  Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this definition, for major sources of nitrogen oxides as a precursor to ozone in ozone nonattainment areas, the contemporaneous period shall begin no earlier than November 15, 1992. 

     (8)  De minimis threshold test (netting) - A method of determining if a proposed emission increase will trigger nonattainment review. The summation of the proposed increase with all other creditable source emission increases and decreases during the contemporaneous period is compared to the MAJOR MODIFICATION column of Table I (in tons per year) for that specific nonattainment area. If the major modification level is exceeded, then nonattainrnent review is required. 

     (9)  Lowest achievable emission rate - For any emitting facility, that rate of emissions of a contaminant which does not exceed the amount allowable under applicable New Source Performance Standards promulgated by the EPA under the FCAA, §111, and which reflects the following: 
          (A) the most stringent emission limitation which is contained in the rules and regulations of any approved state implementation plan for a specific class or category of facility, unless the owner or operator of the proposed facility demonstrates that such limitations are not achievable; or 
          (B) the most stringent emission limitation which is achieved in practice by a specific class or category of facilities, whichever is more stringent. 

     (10)  Major facility/stationary source -Any facility/stationary source which emits, or has the potential to emit, the amount specified in the MAJOR SOURCE column of Table I of this section or more of any air contaminant (including volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) for which a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) has been issued.  Any physical change that would occur at a stationary source not qualifying as a major stationary source in Table I of this section, if the change would constitute a major stationary source by itself.  A major stationary source that is major for VOCs or nitrogen oxides shall be considered major for ozone.  The fugitive emissions of a stationary source shall not be included in determining for any of the purposes of this definition whether it is a major stationary source, unless the source belongs to one of the categories of stationary sources listed in 40 Code of Federal Regulations $5 1.165(a)(l)(iv)(C). 

     (11)  Major modification -As follows. 
          (A) Any physical change in, or change in the method of operation of a facility/stationary source that causes a significant net emissions increase for any air contaminant for which a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) has been issued.  At a facility/stationary source that is not major prior to the increase, the increase by itself must equal or exceed that specified in the MAJOR SOURCE column of Table I of this section.  At an existing major facility/stationary source, the increase must equal or exceed that specified in the MAJOR MODIFICATION column of Table I.
 
                             TABLE I
    
       MAJOR SOURCE/MAJOR MODIFICATION EMISSION THRESHOLDS

    POLLUTANT       MAJOR SOURCE     MAJOR        OFFSET RATIO
   designation1       tons/year   MODIFICATION2       minimum
                                    tons/year

OZONE (VOC, NOx)3 
    I marginal          100            40            1.10 to 1
    II moderate         100            40            1.15 to 1
    III serious          50            25            1.20 to 1
    IV severe            25            25            1.30 to 1

CO 
    I moderate          100           100            1.00 to 14
    II serious           50            50            1.00 to 14

SO2                      100            40            1.00 to 14

PM10 

    I moderate          100            15            1.00 to 14 
    II serious           70            15            1.00 to 14

NOx5                     100            40            1.00 to 14

Lead                    100           0.6            1.00 to 14

1 Texas nonattainment area designations are specified in 40 Code of Federal Regulations §81.344. 

2 The major modification threshold is applicable only to existing major sources and shall be evaluated after netting, unless the applicant chooses to apply nonattainment new source review (NNSR) directly to the project. The appropriate netting triggers for existing major sources of NOx and VOC are specified in §116.150 of this title (relating to New Major Source or Major Modification in Ozone Nonattainment Areas) and for other pollutants are equal to the major modification level listed in Table I. 

3 VOC and NOx are precursors to ozone formation and should be quantified individually to determine whether a source is subject to NNSR under §116.150 of this title.  As specified in §116.150of this title, for El Paso County, the NNSR rules apply to sources of VOC, but not to sources of NOx. 

4 The offset ratio is specified to be greater than 1.00 to 1.

VOC = volatile organic compounds 

NOx = oxides of nitrogen 

CO = carbon monoxide 

SO2 = sulfur dioxide 

PM10 = particulate matter of less than ten microns in diameter 

5 Applies to the NAAQS for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). 

********************end §116.12(11)(A) TABLE I***********************

          (B) A physical change or change in the method of operation shall not include: 
               (i) routine maintenance, repair, and replacement; 
               (ii) use of an alternative fuel or raw material by reason of an order under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974, §2(a) and (b) (or any superseding legislation) or by reason of a natural gas curtailment plan under the Federal Power Act; 
                (iii) use of an alternative fuel by reason of an order or rule of the FCAA, §125; 
                (iv) use of an alternative fuel at a steam generating unit to the extent that the fuel is generated from municipal solid waste; 
                (v) use of an alternative fuel or raw material by a stationary source which the source was capable of accommodating before December 21, 1976 (unless such change would be prohibited under any federally enforceable permit condition established after December 21, 1976) or the source is approved to use under any permit issued under regulations approved under this chapter; 
               (vi) an increase in the hours of operation or in the production rate (unless the change is prohibited under any federally enforceable permit condition which was established after December 21, 1976); or 
               (vii) any change in ownership at a stationary source. 


     (12)  Necessary preconstruction approvals or permits - Those permits or approvals required under federal air quality control laws and regulations and those air quality control laws and regulations which are part of the applicable state implementation plan. 

     (13)  Net emissions increase - The amount by which the sum of the following exceeds zero: the total increase in actual emissions from a particular physical change or change in the method of operation at a stationary source, plus any sourcewide creditable contemporaneous emission increases, minus any sourcewide creditable contemporaneous emission decreases. 
          (A)  An increase or decrease in actual emissions is creditable only if both of the following conditions are met: 
               (i)  it occurs during the contemporaneous period; and 
               (ii)  the executive director has not relied on it in issuing a nonattainment permit for the source (under regulations approved during which the permit is in effect) when the increase in actual emissions from the particular change occurs. 
          (B)  An increase in actual emissions is creditable only to the extent that the new level of actual emissions exceeds the old level. 
          (C)  A decrease in actual emissions is creditable only to the extent that all of the following conditions are met: 
               (i)  the old level of actual emissions or the old level of allowable emissions, whichever is lower, exceeds the new level of actual emissions; 
               (ii)  it is federally enforceable at and after the time that actual construction on the particular change begins; 
               (iii)  the reviewing authority has not relied on it in issuing a Prevention of Significant Deterioration or a nonattainment permit, or the state has not relied on it in demonstrating attainment or reasonable further progress; and 
               (iv)  it has approximately the same qualitative significance for public health and welfare as that attributed to the increase from the particular change. 
          (D)  An increase that results from a physical change at a source occurs when the emissions unit on which construction occurred becomes operational and begins to emit a particular pollutant.  Any replacement unit that requires shakedown becomes operational only after a reasonable shakedown period, not to exceed 180 days. 
          (E)  At major sources with the potential to emit 250 tons per year or more of a nonattainment pollutant: 
               (i)  increases and decreases of such pollutant resulting from authorizations or applications received before November 15, 1992are creditable to the extent that the increases or decreases occur within the period five years prior to the date construction on a particular change commences and meet all other creditability criteria; and 
               (ii)  increases and decreases of such pollutant resulting from authorizations or applications received on or after November 15, 1992, are creditable indefinitely to the extent that all other creditability criteria are met. 
          (F)  For all major sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in ozone nonattainment areas, increases and decreases of NOx are creditable only if they resulted from authorizations or applications received on or after November 15, 1992. 

     (14)  Offset ratio - For the purpose of satisfying the emissions offset reduction requirements of the FCAA, §173(a)(l)(A), the emissions offset ratio is the ratio of total actual reductions of emissions to total allowable emissions increases of such pollutants.  The minimum offset ratios are included in Table I of this section under the definition of major modification.  In order for a reduction to qualify as an offset, it must be certified as an emission credit under Chapter 101, Subchapter H, Division 1 or 4 of this title (relating to Emission Credit Banking or Trading; or Discrete Emission Credit Banking and Trading), except as provided for in §116.170(b) of this title (relating to Applicability of Emission Reductions as Offsets).  The reduction must not have been relied on in the issuance of a previous nonattainment or prevention of significant deterioration permit. 

     (15)  Potential to emit -The maximum capacity of a facility/stationary source to emit a pollutant under its physical and operational design.  Any physical or enforceable operational limitation on the capacity of the facility/stationary source to emit a pollutant, including air pollution control equipment and restrictions on hours of operation or on the type or amount of material combusted, stored, or processed, shall be treated as part of its design only if the limitation or the effect it would have on emissions is federally enforceable.  Secondary emissions, as defined in 40 Code of Federal Regulations §51.165(a)(l)(viii), do not count in determining the potential to emit for a stationary source. 

     (16)  Project net - The sum of the following: the total proposed increase in emissions resulting from a physical change or change in the method of operation at a stationary source, minus any sourcewide creditable actual emission decreases proposed at the source between the date of application for the modification and the date the resultant modification begins emitting.  Increases and decreases must meet the creditability criteria listed under paragraph (13) of this section. 

     (17)  Secondary emissions -Emissions which would occur as a result of the construction or operation of a major stationary source or major modification, but do not come from the source or modification itself.  Secondary emissions must be specific, well-defined, quantifiable, and impact the same general area as the stationary source or modification which causes the secondary emissions.  Secondary emissions include emissions from any off-site support facility which would not be constructed or increase its emissions, except as a result of the construction or operation of the major stationary source or major modification.  Secondary emissions do not include any emissions which come directly from a mobile source such as emissions from the tail pipe of a motor vehicle, from a train, or from a vessel. 

     (18)  Stationary source - Any building, structure, facility, or installation which emits or may emit any air pollutant subject to regulation under the FCAA. 

Adopted August 20, 2003, Effective September 14, 2003 (6-64).
***end tx 116.12***6-64***EPA-R06-OAR-2005-TX-0026***TX032***TXd101***m6p***