Air Quality and Permitting Basics

Midwest Environmental Compliance ConferenceOverland Park, KS – May 13th, 2015

Tony BarlageOlsson Associates

Air Consulting Services Team LeaderEmail: tbarlage@olssonassociates.com

Phone: 303-237-2072

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Title V

RACT / BACT / LAER

GHG

CEMSMethod 9

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Industries With Air Quality Permitting Considerations

• Agriculture / Farming / Grain handling• Aggregate / Gravel / Cement / Asphalt / Rock Crushing / Coal handling• Biofuel facilities (ethanol and biodiesel) • Commercial / Industrial / Rail

– Metal fabrication– Maintenance shops (welding, painting, etc.)– Manufacturing (chemicals, hard goods, etc.)

• Mining• Oil and Gas

– Exploration and production sites– Refining– Storage and transloading

• Power Generation (coal, natural gas, diesel, etc.)• Waste Incineration

Primary Air PollutantsRegulated air pollutants, require a finding that the pollutant endangers the public health or welfare (e.g., visibility), and/or the environment.

Criteria PollutantsThose pollutants for which the U.S. EPA has established national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS)

– CO, Pb, NO2 , O3 (VOC + NOx + sunlight), PM10 & PM2.5 , SO2

NAAQS & Attainment

EPA determines whether or not an area is attaining (“attainment” vs. “non-attainment” areas) the NAAQS for all criteria pollutants.

St. Louis is a marginal non-attainmentArea for the 8 hour ozone standard

Indirect impact comes from state’s obligation to protect ‘attainment’ areas and mitigate ‘non-attainment’ areas (i.e. new permits can be delayed, additional requirements in permits, etc.)

Pollutant[final rule cite]

Primary/ Secondary Averaging Time Level Form

Carbon Monoxide[76 FR 54294, Aug 31, 2011] primary

8-hour 9 ppmNot to be exceeded more than once per year

1-hour 35 ppm

Lead[73 FR 66964, Nov 12, 2008]

primary and secondary

Rolling 3 month average 0.15 μg/m3 (1) Not to be exceeded

Nitrogen Dioxide[75 FR 6474, Feb 9, 2010]

[61 FR 52852, Oct 8, 1996]

primary 1-hour 100 ppb 98th percentile of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations, averaged over 3 years

primary andsecondary Annual 53 ppb (2) Annual Mean

Ozone[73 FR 16436, Mar 27, 2008]

primary and secondary 8-hour 0.075 ppm (3)

Annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hr concentration, averaged over 3 years

Particle PollutionDec 14, 2012

PM2.5

primary Annual 12 μg/m3 annual mean, averaged over 3 years

secondary Annual 15 μg/m3 annual mean, averaged over 3 years

primary and secondary 24-hour 35 μg/m3 98th percentile, averaged over 3 years

PM10primary andsecondary 24-hour 150 μg/m3 Not to be exceeded more than once per year on average

over 3 years

Sulfur Dioxide[75 FR 35520, Jun 22, 2010]

[38 FR 25678, Sept 14, 1973]

primary 1-hour 75 ppb (4) 99th percentile of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations, averaged over 3 years

secondary 3-hour 0.5 ppm Not to be exceeded more than once per year

Primary Air Pollutants

Non – Criteria Pollutants Reportable or regulated pollutants that are not criteria pollutants (no NAAQS)• Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)– formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene,

xylenes, and more• Greenhouse Gases (GHG) – CO2, CH4, SF6, etc.

Permitting Triggers• New facilities (thresholds, varies in different states)• Facility Modifications

• Equipment changes / swap outs, process changes, throughput changes, production changes, operating and maintenance changes

• Permit expiration / renewals (operating permits)• Regulatory changes

Types of Permits and Sources

Construction vs. Operating Permit (TV)

NSR/PSD vs. Major vs. Minor vs. Synthetic Minor Sources

-Initial, pre-construction(some exceptions)

-After construction and commencement of operation-Has an expiration/renewal date-Rolls in construction permits

- Are potential emissions greater than NSR/PSD or major source thresholds?- If so, can they be controlled to be below?

Other permit sub types: general permits, permit by rule (PBR), etc.

General Permitting Process• Understand the process – flows, equipment, scope of activity, interconnections

(source aggregation?) • Establish technical assumptions and complete a first-pass estimate of emissions –

controlled and uncontrolled, compare to applicable thresholds (PTE vs. Actual) • Arrange and attend pre-application meeting (especially for complex construction

permits or Title V projects)• Identify all potentially applicable rules and requirements – high level review• Complete a detailed Applicability Analysis – i.e., read the rules, assess the

applicability and requirements (controls, operations, recordkeeping, reporting)• Fix technical assumptions, refine emissions estimates, and draft permit application

documents• Revise and finalize permit application• Submit permit application and wait (depending on the process and/or backlog of

certain states…keep waiting…) *AIR PERMITTING CAN BE A BOTTLENECK*• Review draft permit from regulatory agency, verify conditions (very important)• Depending on state, complete required self certification requirements

Monitoring

Compliance monitoring– Visible emissions– CEMS– Operating parameters, etc.

Related to modelling data– PSD / NSR projects– When representative meteorological and ambient airquality data are not available.

Dispersion Modeling

• Compare impacts to NAAQS or to permit specific standard• Required for larger projects initially or for major modifications

to facilities• Slows process down, can be costly, new short term NAAQS

can be difficult to comply with

Questions?Additional Resources:• IDNR, KDHE, MDNR, and NDEQ (or other state regulatory agencies)• EPA• Air Consultants

Tony BarlageOlsson Associates

Air Consulting Services Team LeaderEmail: tbarlage@olssonassociates.com

Phone: 303-237-2072