Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) An emission offset must be obtained from a
source in operation prior to the permit application for the new or modified
source. Emission offsets must be effective prior to start-up of the new or
modified source.
b) The emission
offsets provided:
1) Must be of the same
pollutant and further be of a type with approximately the same qualitative
significance for public health and welfare as that attributed to the increase
from a particular change;
2) Must,
in the case of a fuel combustion source, be based on the type of fuel being
burned at the time the permit application is filed, and, if offset is to be
produced by a future switch to a cleaner fuel, be accompanied by evidence that
long-term supplies of the clean fuel are available and a commitment to a
specified alternative control measure which would achieve the same degree of
emission reduction of the dirtier fuel is proposed;
3) Must, in the case of a past shutdown of a
source or permanent curtailment of production or operating hours, have occurred
since April 24, 1979, or the date the area is designated a nonattainment area
for the pollutant, whichever is more recent, and, until the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has approved the attainment
demonstration and state trading or marketing rules for the relevant pollutant,
the proposed new or modified source must be a replacement for the shutdown or
curtailment;
4) Must be federally
enforceable by permit; and
5) Must
not have been previously relied on, as demonstrated by the Agency, in issuing
any permit pursuant to 35 Ill. Adm. Code
201.142
or
201.143
or this Part, or for demonstrating attainment or reasonable further
progress.
c) The
baseline for determining the extent to which emission reductions are creditable
as offsets shall be the actual emissions of the source from which the offset is
to be obtained, to the extent they are within any applicable emissions
limitations of this Chapter or the Act or any applicable standards adopted by
USEPA pursuant to Section 111 and 112 of the Clean Air Act, and made applicable
in Illinois pursuant to Section 9.1 of the Environmental Protection Act (Ill.
Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 1111/2, par. 1009.1) [415 ILCS
5/9.1] .
d) The location of sources providing the
emission reductions to fulfill the offset requirements of this Section:
1) Must be achieved in the same nonattainment
area as the increase being offset, except as provided as follows:
A) An owner or operator may obtain the
necessary emission reductions from another nonattainment area where such other
area has an equal or higher nonattainment classification than the area in which
the source is located, and
B) The
emission reductions from such other area contribute to a violation of the
national ambient air quality standard in the nonattainment area in which the
new or modified source is located.
2) Must, for particulate matter, sulfur
dioxide and carbon monoxide, be such that, relative to the site of the proposed
new or modified source, the location of the offset, together with its effective
stack height, ensures a positive net air quality benefit. This shall be
demonstrated by atmospheric simulation modeling, unless the sources providing
the offset are on the same premises or in the immediate vicinity of the new or
modified source and the pollutants disperse from substantially the same
effective stack height. In determining effective stack height, credit shall not
be given for dispersion enhancement techniques. The owner or operator of a
proposed new or modified source shall perform the analysis to demonstrate the
acceptability of the location of an offset, if the Agency declines to make such
analysis. Effective stack height means actual stack height plus plume rise.
Where actual stack height exceeds good engineering practices, as determined
pursuant to
40
CFR 51.100(1987) (no future
amendments or editions are included), the creditable stack height shall be
used.
e) Replacement of
one volatile organic material with another of lesser reactivity does not
constitute an emission reduction.
f) Emission reductions otherwise required by
the Clean Air Act (
42 U.S.C.
7401 et seq.) shall not be creditable for
purposes of any such offset requirement. Incidental emission reductions which
are not otherwise required by the Clean Air Act shall be creditable as emission
reductions for such purposes if such emissions reductions meet the requirements
of this Subpart.
