WAC 173-400-112
Requirements for new sources in
nonattainment areas. (1) Definitions. The following
definitions apply to this section:
(a) "Major modification," for the purposes of WAC 173-400-112, means any physical change in or change in the
method of operation of a major stationary source that would
result in a significant net emissions increase of any
pollutant subject to regulation under the Federal Clean Air
Act.
(i) Any net emissions increase that is considered
significant for volatile organic compounds or nitrogen oxides
shall be considered significant for ozone.
(ii) A physical change or change in the method of
operation shall not include:
(A) Routine maintenance, repair and replacement;
(B) Use of an alternative fuel or raw material by reason
of an order under section 2 (a) and (b) of the Energy Supply
and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 (or any superseding
legislation) or by reason of a natural gas curtailment plan
pursuant to the Federal Power Act;
(C) Use of an alternative fuel by reason of an order or
rule under section 125 of the Federal Clean Air Act;
(D) Use of an alternative fuel at a steam generating unit
to the extent that the fuel is generated from municipal solid
waste; (E) Use of an alternative fuel or raw material by a
source which:
(I) The source was capable of accommodating before
December 21, 1976, unless such change would be prohibited
under any federally enforceable permit or approval order
condition which was established after December 12, 1976,
pursuant to 40 CFR 52.21 or a SIP approved new source review
regulation; or
(II) The source is approved to use under any permit or
approval order issued under WAC 173-400-112;
(iii) An increase in the hours of operation or in the
production rate, unless such change is prohibited under any
federally enforceable permit or approval order condition which
was established after December 21, 1976, pursuant to 40 CFR
52.21 or a SIP approved new source review regulation.
(iv) Any change in ownership at a source.
(v) The addition, replacement, or use of a pollution
control project (as defined in 40 CFR 51.165 (a)(1)(xxv), in
effect on July 1, 2001) at an existing electric utility steam
generating unit, unless the permitting authority determines
that such addition, replacement, or use renders the unit less
environmentally beneficial, or except:
(A) When the permitting authority has reason to believe
that the pollution control project would result in a
significant net emissions increase in representative actual
annual emissions of any criteria pollutant over levels used
for that source in the most recent air quality impact analysis
in the area conducted for the purpose of title I of the
Federal Clean Air Act, if any; and
(B) The permitting authority determines that the increase
will cause or contribute to a violation of any National
Ambient Air Quality Standard or PSD increment, or visibility
limitation.
(vi) The installation, operation, cessation, or removal
of a temporary clean coal technology demonstration project,
provided that the project complies with:
(A) The SIP; and
(B) Other requirements necessary to attain and maintain
the National Ambient Air Quality Standard during the project
and after it is terminated.
(b) "Major stationary source," for the purposes of WAC 173-400-112, means:
(i) Any stationary source of air pollutants which emits,
or has the potential to emit, 100 tons per year or more of any
pollutant subject to regulation under the Federal Clean Air
Act, except that lower emissions thresholds shall apply as
follows:
(A) 70 tons per year of PM-10 in any "serious"
nonattainment area for PM-10.
(B) 50 tons per year of carbon monoxide in any "serious"
nonattainment area for carbon monoxide where stationary
sources contribute significantly to carbon monoxide levels in
the area.
(ii) Any physical change that would occur at a stationary
source not qualifying under (b)(i) of this subsection as a
major stationary source, if the change would constitute a
major stationary source by itself.
(iii) A major stationary source that is major for
volatile organic compounds or NOx shall be considered major
for ozone.
(iv) The fugitive emissions of a stationary source shall
not be included in determining for any of the purposes of this
paragraph whether it is a major stationary source, unless the
source belongs to one of the following categories of
stationary sources or the source is a major stationary source
due to (b)(i)(A) or (b)(i)(B)of this subsection:
(A) Coal cleaning plants (with thermal dryers);
(B) Kraft pulp mills;
(C) Portland cement plants;
(D) Primary zinc smelters;
(E) Iron and steel mills;
(F) Primary aluminum ore reduction plants;
(G) Primary copper smelters;
(H) Municipal incinerators capable of charging more than
50 tons of refuse per day;
(I) Hydrofluoric, sulfuric, or nitric acid plants;
(J) Petroleum refineries;
(K) Lime plants;
(L) Phosphate rock processing plants;
(M) Coke oven batteries;
(N) Sulfur recovery plants;
(O) Carbon black plants (furnace process);
(P) Primary lead smelters;
(Q) Fuel conversion plants;
(R) Sintering plants;
(S) Secondary metal production plants;
(T) Chemical process plants;
(U) Fossil-fuel boilers (or combination thereof) totaling
more than 250 million British thermal units per hour heat
input;
(V) Petroleum storage and transfer units with a total
storage capacity exceeding 300,000 barrels;
(W) Taconite ore processing plants;
(X) Glass fiber processing plants;
(Y) Charcoal production plants;
(Z) Fossil fuel-fired steam electric plants of more than
250 million British thermal units per hour heat input; and
(AA) Any other stationary source category which, as of
August 7, 1980, is being regulated under section 111 or 112 of
the Federal Clean Air Act.
(c) "Net emissions increase," for the purposes of WAC 173-400-112, means:
(i) The amount by which the sum of the following exceeds
zero:
(A) Any increase in actual emissions from a particular
physical change or change in method of operation at a source;
and
(B) Any other increases and decreases in actual emissions
at the source that are contemporaneous with the particular
change and are otherwise creditable.
(ii) An increase or decrease in actual emissions is
contemporaneous with the increase from the particular change
only if it occurs before the date that the increase from the
particular change occurs.
(iii) An increase or decrease in actual emissions is
creditable only if:
(A) It occurred no more than one year prior to the date
of submittal of a complete notice of construction application
for the particular change, or it has been documented by an
emission reduction credit (ERC). Any emissions increases
occurring between the date of issuance of the ERC and the date
when a particular change becomes operational shall be counted
against the ERC.
(B) The permitting authority has not relied on it in
issuing any permit or order of approval for the source under
this section or a previous SIP approved nonattainment area new
source review regulation, which order or permit is in effect
when the increase in actual emissions from the particular
change occurs.
(iv) An increase in actual emissions is creditable only
to the extent that the new level of actual emissions exceeds
the old level.
(v) A decrease in actual emissions is creditable only to
the extent that:
(A) The old level of actual emissions or the old level of
allowable emissions, whichever is lower, exceeds the new level
of actual emissions;
(B) It is federally enforceable at and after the time
that actual construction on the particular change begins;
(C) It has approximately the same qualitative
significance for public health and welfare as that attributed
to the increase from the particular change; and
(D) The permitting authority has not relied on it in
issuing any permit or order of approval under this section or
a SIP approved nonattainment area new source review
regulation; or the permitting authority has not relied on it
in demonstrating attainment or reasonable further progress.
(vi) An increase that results from a physical change at a
source occurs when the emission 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 one hundred eighty days.
(d) "Significant," for purposes of WAC 173-400-112,
means, in reference to a net emissions increase or the
potential of a major stationary source to emit any of the
following pollutants, a rate of emissions that would equal or
exceed any of the following rates:
Pollutant and Emissions Rate
Carbon monoxide:
100 tons per year (tpy)
Nitrogen oxides:
40 tpy
Sulfur dioxide:
40 tpy
Volatile organic compounds:
40 tpy
Lead:
0.6 tpy
PM-10:
15 tpy
(e) "Stationary source" and "source" for the purposes of
WAC 173-400-112 means any building, structure, facility or
installation which emits or may emit a regulated NSR
pollutant. A stationary source (or source) does not include
emissions resulting directly for an internal combustion engine
for transportation purposes or from a nonroad engine or
nonroad vehicle as defined in section 216 of the Federal Clean
Air Act.
(f) "Building, structure facility or installation" means
for the purposes of WAC 173-400-112, all the
pollutant-emitting activities which belong to the same
industrial grouping, are located on 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, as amended by the 1977
supplement.
(2) The permitting authority that is reviewing an
application to establish a new source in a nonattainment area
shall issue the order of approval if it determines that the
proposed project satisfies each of the following requirements:
(a) The proposed new source or modification will comply
with all applicable new source performance standards, national
emission standards for hazardous air pollutants, national
emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for source
categories, emission standards adopted under chapter 70.94 RCW
and, for sources regulated by an authority, the applicable
emission standards of that authority.
(b) The proposed new source will employ BACT for all air
contaminants, except that if the new source is a major
stationary source or the proposed modification is a major
modification it will achieve LAER for the air contaminants for
which the area has been designated nonattainment and for which
the proposed new source or modification is major.
(c) The proposed new source will not cause any ambient
air quality standard to be exceeded, will not violate the
requirements for reasonable further progress established by
the SIP and will comply with WAC 173-400-113(3) for all air
contaminants for which the area has not been designated
nonattainment.
(d) If the proposed new source is a major stationary
source or the proposed modification is a major modification,
the permitting authority has determined, based on review of an
analysis performed by the source of alternative sites, sizes,
production processes, and environmental control techniques,
that the benefits of the project significantly outweigh the
environmental and social costs imposed as a result of its
location, construction, or modification.
(e) If the proposed new source or the proposed
modification is major for the air contaminant for which the
area is designated nonattainment, allowable emissions from the
proposed new source or modification of that air contaminant
are offset by reductions in actual emissions from existing
sources in the nonattainment area. Emission offsets must be
sufficient to ensure that total allowable emissions from
existing major stationary sources in the nonattainment area,
new or modified sources which are not major stationary
sources, and the proposed new or modified source will be less
than total actual emissions from existing sources (before
submitting the application) so as to represent (when
considered together with the nonattainment provisions of
section 172 of the Federal Clean Air Act) reasonable further
progress. All offsetting emission reductions must satisfy the
following requirements:
(i) The proposed new level of allowable emissions of the
source or emissions unit(s) providing the reduction must be
less than the current level of actual emissions of that source
or emissions unit(s). No emission reduction can be credited
for actual emissions which exceed the current allowable
emissions of the source or emissions unit(s) providing the
reduction. Emission reductions imposed by local, state, or
federal regulations, regulatory orders, or permits required by
the Federal Clean Air Act, including the SIP, cannot be
credited.
(ii) The emission reductions must provide for a net air
quality benefit. For marginal ozone nonattainment areas, the
total emissions of volatile organic compounds or total
emissions of nitrogen oxides are reduced by a ratio of 1.1 to
1 for the area in which the new source is located. For any
other nonattainment area, the emissions offsets must provide a
positive net air quality benefit in the nonattainment area. Determinations on whether emissions offsets provide a positive
net air quality benefit will be made in accordance with the
guidelines contained in 40 CFR 51 Appendix S (in effect on
July 1, 2004).
(iii) If the offsets are provided by another source, the
reductions in emissions from that source must be federally
enforceable by the time the order of approval for the new or
modified source is effective. An emission reduction credit
issued under WAC 173-400-131 may be used to satisfy some or
all of the offset requirements of this subsection.
(f) If the proposed new source is a major stationary
source or the proposed modification is a major modification,
the owner or operator has demonstrated that all major
stationary sources owned or operated by such person (or by any
entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control
with such person) in Washington are subject to emission
limitations and are in compliance, or on a schedule for
compliance, with all applicable emission limitations and
standards under the Federal Clean Air Act, including all rules
in the SIP.
(g) If the proposed new source is a major stationary
source within the meaning of WAC 173-400-720, or the proposed
modification is a major modification within the meaning of WAC 173-400-720, it meets the requirements of the PSD program in
WAC 173-400-720 for all air contaminants for which the area
has not been designated nonattainment.
(h) If the proposed new source or modification will emit
any toxic air pollutants regulated under chapter 173-460 WAC,
the source meets all applicable requirements of that chapter.
(i) If the proposed new source is a major stationary
source within the meaning of WAC 173-400-720, or the proposed
modification is a major modification within the meaning of WAC 173-400-720, the project meets the special protection
requirements for federal Class I areas in WAC 173-400-117.