|
MassDEP
Streamlining Air Plan Approval Process
by Capaccio Environmental Engineering, Inc.
The MassDEP is preparing to
implement changes to the air plan approval regulations
based on the recommendations from its “2007 Air Permit
Streamlining Study”. The MassDEP presented its plans for
implementing the accepted recommendations at the
Environmental Compliance Seminar for Coaters held on
February 14, 2008. The proposed regulation changes
include: raising of permitting thresholds, giving the
MassDEP administrative authority to amend approvals, a
method to consolidate existing plan approvals, and the
establishment of certain Best Available Control Technology
(BACT) limits in advance. Other changes include the
creation of a BACT registry, revising of application
submittal forms, and standardizing approval letters.
Plan Approval Changes
The study identified a need to alleviate the air
permitting burden for air emission sources with potential
emissions of less than 10 tons per year (tpy). Currently,
sources with potential emissions of over five tpy but less
than major source thresholds are required to file a
Non-Major Comprehensive Plan Approval (NM-CPA) application
with the MassDEP. The proposed amendment would raise the
NM-CPA threshold from five tons per year to 10 tons per
year. Correspondingly, the upper limit for Limited Plan
Approvals (LPA) would be revised from less than five tpy
to less than 10 tpy. Another recommendation of the study
was to give regulated facilities a method to consolidate
multiple air plan approvals into a single updated air plan
approval. This will be a great tool for facilities that
have been issued numerous permits over multiple years
that have confusing and/or contradictory requirements, or
more importantly may have cumulative emissions limits that
may only be known if you review all the permits. Another
recommendation was to give the MassDEP the regulatory
authority to make administrative amendments to issued air
plan approvals. Currently, such changes could require
filing of a new air plan approval application.
Listed below are the
highlights of the proposed regulation amendments and
additions:
Amend the Following
Regulations
-
Amend 310 CMR 7.02(4) LPA
requirements, 7.02(5) CPA requirements, and 7.02(6)
Aggregated Emissions, to:
Raise the threshold at which
a NM-CPA would be required from five tpy to 10 tpy
-
Amend 310 CMR 7.02(9) and
7.02(10) to:
Correct language related to
the submittal, review, and modification of a Restricted
Emission Status (RES) approval
Add the Following New
Regulations
In addition to the above
regulation changes the MassDEP is also implementing the
following actions to improve the overall understanding of
the air plan approval process:
-
Improved permitting guidance
-
Simplification of
application forms
-
Standardization of Plan
Approval Letters
-
Improve overall
communications with the regulated community
New BACT Guidance
The MassDEP also gave insight on how it reviews BACT
determinations. Of particular note is the answer to the
question:
“When do I need to do a top
down BACT analysis for a VOC source of emissions?”
Answer: The MassDEP has been
using an internal (and unknown) rule of thumb of 18 tons
per year.
What does this mean?
Well the short answer is that
if your potential VOC emissions are 18 tpy or less then
you are not expected to do a top down BACT Analysis. The
MassDEP is likely to leave the door open for a case by
case analysis but this can be a huge savings in
application preparation time and cost. To implement this
rule of thumb into the air regulations the MassDEP will be
defining in regulation and guidance the various BACT
options (or “pathways”) that can be used. These include:
creation of performance standard based BACT, defining the
highest level of BACT by previous MassDEP determinations,
allowing BACT approaches that rely on a combination of
pollution prevention, toxics use reduction and caps on
allowable emission, and of course the use of traditional
top-down analyses. Regulation amendments to implement
these changes include:
-
Amending 310 CMR 7.02(8)
Emission Limitations, to:
Outline the “pathways” for
defining emission limitations that would be considered
BACT
List the control technology
requirements for abating a condition of air pollution
In conjunction with the
amendments to 310 CMR 7.02(8) listed above, the MassDEP is
also implementing changes to better streamline the overall
BACT preparation and review process. Two of these changes
include:
Implementation Schedule
The MassDEP is being very aggressive in implementing
the changes and has proposed the following schedule for
the proposed amendments:
February 2008 – Issuing of
Draft Regulation Changes
March 2008 – Public Hearings
on Draft Regulation Changes
April 1, 2008 – BACT
Registry Online
May 1, 2008 – Adopt
Regulation Changes
May 1, 2008 – Issue New
Application Forms
If you have any questions, or
would like to receive additional information, please
contact David Cotter
at (508) 970-0033 ext. 133.
|
