New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 20 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Chapter 2 - AIR QUALITY (STATEWIDE)
Part 70 - OPERATING PERMITS
Section 20.2.70.404 - PERMIT MODIFICATIONS
Universal Citation: 20 NM Admin Code 20.2.70.404
Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. Administrative Permit Amendments:
(1) An
administrative permit amendment is one that:
(a) Corrects typographical errors;
(b) Provides for a minor administrative
change at the source, such as a change in the address or phone number of any
person identified in the permit;
(c) Incorporates a change in the permit
solely involving the retiring of an emissions unit;
(d) Requires more frequent monitoring or
reporting by the permittee; or
(e)
Any other type of change which has been determined by the Department and the
Administrator to be similar to those in this paragraph.
(2) Changes in ownership or operational
control of a source may be made as administrative amendments provided that:
(a) A written agreement, containing a
specific date for transfer of permit responsibility, coverage, and liability
between the current and new permittee, has been submitted to the Department,
and either the Department has determined that no other change in the permit is
necessary, or changes deemed necessary by the Department have been
made;
(b) The new owners have
submitted the application information required in paragraph (2) of subsection D
of 20.2.70.300 NMAC;
(c) No grounds
exist for permit termination, as set out in subparagraphs (b) and (c) of
paragraph (3) of subsection A of 20.2.70.405 NMAC; and
(d) The permittee has published a public
notice of the change in ownership of the source in a newspaper of general
circulation in the area where the source is located.
(3) The Department may incorporate
administrative permit amendments without providing notice to the public or
affected programs, provided that it designates any such permit modifications as
administrative permit amendments and submits a copy of the revised permit to
the Administrator.
(4) The
Department shall take no more than sixty (60) days from receipt of a request
for an administrative permit amendment to take final action on such request.
The permittee may implement the changes outlined in subparagraphs (a) through
(d) of paragraph (1) of subsection A of 20.2.70.404 NMAC immediately upon
submittal of the request for the administrative amendment. The permittee may
implement the changes outlined in subparagraph (e) of paragraph (1) of
subsection A of 20.2.70.404 NMAC or paragraph (2) of subsection A of
20.2.70.404 NMAC upon approval of the administrative amendment by the
Department.
B. Minor Permit Modifications:
(1) Minor permit
modification procedures may be used only for those permit modifications that:
(a) Do not violate any applicable
requirement;
(b) Do not involve
relaxation of existing monitoring, reporting, or recordkeeping requirements in
the permit;
(c) Do not require or
change a case-by-case determination of an emission limitation or other
standard, or a source-specific determination for temporary sources of ambient
impacts, or a visibility or increment analysis;
(d) Do not seek to establish or change a
permit term or condition for which there is no corresponding underlying
applicable requirement and that the permittee has assumed to avoid an
applicable requirement to which the source would otherwise be subject. Such
terms and conditions include any federally enforceable emissions cap assumed to
avoid classification as a title I modification and any alternative emissions
limit approved pursuant to regulations promulgated under section 112(i)(5) of
the Federal Act;
(e) Are not title
I modifications; and
(f) Are not
required by the Department to be processed as a significant modification
pursuant to subsection C of 20.2.70.404 NMAC.
(2) A permittee shall not submit multiple
minor permit modification applications that may conceal a larger modification
that would not be eligible for minor permit modification procedures. The
Department may, at its discretion, require that multiple related minor permit
modification applications be submitted as a significant permit modification.
(3) An application requesting the
use of minor permit modification procedures shall meet the requirements of
subsections C and D of 20.2.70.300 NMAC and shall include:
(a) A description of the change, the
emissions resulting from the change, and any new applicable requirements that
will apply if the change occurs;
(b) The applicant's suggested draft
permit;
(c) Certification by a
responsible official, consistent with subsection E of 20.2.70.300 NMAC, that
the proposed modification meets the criteria for use of minor permit
modification procedures and a request that such procedures be used;
and
(d) If the requested permit
modification would affect existing compliance plans or schedules, related
progress reports, or certification of compliance requirements, an outline of
such effects.
(4) The
Department shall, within thirty (30) days after its receipt of an application
for a minor permit modification, review such application for completeness.
Unless the Department determines that an application is not complete, requests
additional information or otherwise notifies the applicant of incompleteness
within thirty (30) days of receipt of an application, the application shall be
deemed complete. If the application is judged complete, a certified letter to
that effect shall be sent to the applicant. If the application is judged
incomplete a certified letter shall be sent to the applicant stating what
additional information or points of clarification are necessary to judge the
application complete.
(5) Within
five (5) working days of notification by the Department that the minor permit
modification application has been determined complete, the applicant shall meet
its obligation under subsection A of 20.2.70.402 NMAC to notify the
Administrator of the requested permit modification. The Department promptly
shall send any notice required under paragraph (2) of subsection A of
20.2.70.402 NMAC and subsection B of 20.2.70.402 NMAC to the Administrator and
affected programs.
(6) The
permittee may make the change proposed in its minor permit modification
application immediately after such application is deemed complete. After the
permittee makes the change allowed by the preceding sentence, and until the
Department takes any of the actions specified in paragraph (7) of subsection B
of 20.2.70.404 NMAC below, the permittee must comply with both the applicable
requirements governing the change and the proposed permit terms and conditions.
During this time period, the permittee need not comply with the existing permit
terms and conditions it seeks to modify. If the permittee fails to comply with
its proposed permit terms and conditions during this time period, the existing
permit terms and conditions it seeks to modify may be enforced against it.
(7) The Department may not issue a
final minor permit modification until after the Administrator's 45-day review
period of the proposed permit modification or until US EPA has notified the
Department that the Administrator will not object to issuance of the permit
modification, although the Department may approve the permit modification prior
to that time. Within ninety (90) days of ruling the application complete under
minor permit modification procedures or within fifteen (15) days after the end
of the Administrator's 45-day review period, whichever is later, the Department
shall:
(a) Issue the permit modification as
it was proposed;
(b) Disapprove the
permit modification application;
(c) Determine that the requested modification
does not meet the minor permit modification criteria and should be reviewed
under the significant modification procedures; or
(d) Revise the draft permit modification and
transmit to the Administrator the new proposed permit modification as required
by subsection A of 20.2.70.402 NMAC.
C. Significant Permit Modifications:
(1) A significant permit modification is:
(a) Any revision to an operating permit that
does not meet the criteria under the provisions for administrative permit
amendments under subsection A of 20.2.70.404 NMAC or for minor permit
modifications under subsection B of 20.2.70.404 NMAC above;
(b) Any modification that would result in any
relaxation in existing monitoring, reporting or recordkeeping permit terms or
conditions;
(c) Any modification
for which action on the application would, in the judgment of the Department,
require decisions to be made on significant or complex issues; and
(d) Changes in ownership which do not meet
the criteria of paragraph (2) of subsection A of 20.2.70.404 NMAC.
(2) For significant modifications
which are not required to undergo preconstruction permit review and approval,
changes to the source which qualify as significant permit modifications shall
not be made until the Department has issued the operating permit modification.
(3) For significant modifications
which have undergone preconstruction permit review and approval, the permittee
shall:
(a) Before commencing operation,
notify the Department in writing of any applicable requirements and operating
permit terms and conditions contravened by the modification, emissions units
affected by the change, and allowable emissions increases resulting from the
modification; and
(b) Within twelve
(12) months after commencing operation, file a complete operating permit
modification application.
(4) Where an existing operating permit would
specifically prohibit such change, the permittee must obtain an operating
permit modification before commencing operation or implementing the change.
(5) Significant permit
modifications shall meet all requirements of this Part for permit issuance,
including those for applications, public participation, review by affected
programs and review by the Administrator.
(6) The Department shall complete review on
the majority of significant permit modification applications within nine (9)
months after the Department rules the applications complete.
D. Modifications to Acid Rain Sources: Administrative permit amendments and permit modifications for purposes of the acid rain portion of the permit shall be governed by regulations promulgated by the Administrator under title IV of the Federal Act.
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