Virginia Administrative Code
Title 9 - ENVIRONMENT
Agency 5 - STATE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
Chapter 80 - PERMITS FOR STATIONARY SOURCES
Part II - Emission Standards
Article 1 - Federal Operating Permits for Stationary Sources
Section 9VAC5-80-60 - Definitions

Universal Citation: 9 VA Admin Code 9VAC5-80-60

Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024

A. For the purpose of Regulations for the Control and Abatement of Air Pollution and subsequent amendments, or any orders issued by the department, the words or terms shall have the meanings given them in subsection C of this section.

B. As used in this article, all terms not defined herein shall have the meanings given them in 9VAC5-10 (General Definitions), unless otherwise required by context.

C. Terms defined.

"Affected source" means a source that includes one or more affected units.

"Affected states" means all states (i) whose air quality may be affected by the permitted source and that are contiguous to Virginia or (ii) that are within 50 miles of the permitted source.

"Affected unit" means a unit that is subject to any acid rain emissions reduction requirement or acid rain emissions limitation under 40 CFR Part 72, 73, 75, 76, 77 or 78.

"Allowable emissions" means the emission rates of a stationary source calculated by using the maximum rated capacity of the emissions units within the source (unless the source is subject to state or federally enforceable limits which restrict the operating rate or hours of operation or both) and the most stringent of the following:

a. Applicable emission standards.

b. The emission limitation specified as a state or federally enforceable permit condition, including those with a future compliance date.

c. Any other applicable emission limitation, including those with a future compliance date.

"Applicable federal requirement" means all of the following as they apply to emissions units in a source subject to this article (including requirements that have been promulgated or approved by the administrator through rulemaking at the time of permit issuance but have future effective compliance dates):

a. Any standard or other requirement provided for in the implementation plan, including any source-specific provisions such as consent agreements or orders.

b. Any term or condition of any preconstruction permit issued pursuant to the new source review program or of any operating permit issued pursuant to the state operating permit program, except for terms or conditions derived from applicable state requirements.

c. Any standard or other requirement prescribed under the Regulations for the Control and Abatement of Air Pollution, particularly the provisions of 9VAC5-40 (Existing Stationary Sources), 9VAC5-50 (New and Modified Stationary Sources), or 9VAC5-60 (Hazardous Air Pollutant Sources), adopted pursuant to requirements of the federal Clean Air Act or under § 111, 112 or 129 of the federal Clean Air Act.

d. Any requirement concerning accident prevention under § 112(r)(7) of the federal Clean Air Act.

e. Any compliance monitoring requirements established pursuant to either § 504(b) or § 114(a)(3) of the federal Clean Air Act or the Regulations for the Control and Abatement of Air Pollution.

f. Any standard or other requirement for consumer and commercial products under § 183(e) of the federal Clean Air Act.

g. Any standard or other requirement for tank vessels under § 183(f) of the federal Clean Air Act.

h. Any standard or other requirement in 40 CFR Part 55 to control air pollution from outer continental shelf sources.

i. Any standard or other requirement of the regulations promulgated to protect stratospheric ozone under Title VI of the federal Clean Air Act, unless the administrator has determined that such requirements need not be contained in a permit issued under this article.

j. With regard to temporary sources subject to 9VAC5-80-130,(i) any ambient air quality standard, except applicable state requirements, and (ii) requirements regarding increments or visibility as provided in Article 8 (9VAC5-80-1700 et seq.) of this part.

"Applicable requirement" means any applicable federal requirement or any applicable state requirement included in a permit issued under this article as provided in 9VAC5-80-300.

"Applicable state requirement" means all of the following as they apply to emissions units in a source subject to this article (including requirements that have been promulgated or approved through rulemaking at the time of permit issuance but have future effective compliance dates):

a. Any standard or other requirement prescribed by any regulation of the board that is not included in the definition of applicable federal requirement.

b. Any regulatory provision or definition directly associated with or related to any of the specific state requirements listed in this definition.

"Area source" means any stationary source that is not a major source. For purposes of this article, the phrase "area source" shall not include motor vehicles or nonroad vehicles.

"Complete application" means an application that contains all the information required pursuant to 9VAC5-80-80 and 9VAC5-80-90 sufficient to determine all applicable requirements and to evaluate the source and its application. Designating an application complete does not preclude the department from requesting or accepting additional information.

"Designated representative" means a responsible natural person authorized by the owners and operators of an affected source and of all affected units at the source, as evidenced by a certificate of representation submitted in accordance with subpart B of 40 CFR Part 72, to represent and legally bind each owner and operator, as a matter of federal law, in matters pertaining to the acid rain program. Whenever the term "responsible official" is used in this regulation, it shall be deemed to refer to the designated representative with regard to all matters under the acid rain program. Whenever the term "designated representative" is used in this regulation, the term shall be construed to include the alternate designated representative.

"Draft permit" means the version of a permit for which the department offers public participation under 9VAC5-80-270 or affected state review under 9VAC5-80-290.

"Emissions allowable under the permit" means a federally and state enforceable or state-only enforceable permit term or condition determined at issuance to be required by an applicable requirement that establishes an emissions limit (including a work practice standard) or a federally and state enforceable emissions cap that the source has assumed to avoid an applicable requirement to which the source would otherwise be subject.

"Emissions unit" means any part or activity of a stationary source that emits or has the potential to emit any regulated air pollutant. This term is not meant to alter or affect the definition of the term "unit" in 40 CFR Part 72.

"Federally enforceable" means all limitations and conditions that are enforceable by the administrator and citizens under the federal Clean Air Act or that are enforceable under other statutes administered by the administrator. Federally enforceable limitations and conditions include, but are not limited, to the following:

1. Emission standards, alternative emission standards, alternative emission limitations, and equivalent emission limitations established pursuant to § 112 of the federal Clean Air Act as amended in 1990.

2. New source performance standards established pursuant to § 111 of the federal Clean Air Act, and emission standards established pursuant to § 112 of the federal Clean Air Act before it was amended in 1990.

3. All terms and conditions in a federal operating permit, including any provisions that limit a source's potential to emit, unless expressly designated as not federally enforceable.

4. Limitations and conditions that are part of an approved implementation plan.

5. Limitations and conditions that are part of a federal construction permit issued under 40 CFR 52.21 or a new source review program permit issued under regulations approved by the EPA into the implementation plan.

6. Limitations and conditions that are part of a state operating permit issued under regulations approved by the EPA into the implementation plan as meeting the EPA's minimum criteria for federal enforceability, including adequate notice and opportunity for EPA and public comment prior to issuance of the final permit and practicable enforceability.

7. Limitations and conditions in a Virginia regulation or program that has been approved by the EPA under Subpart E of 40 CFR Part 63 for the purposes of implementing and enforcing § 112 of the federal Clean Air Act.

8. Individual consent agreements that the EPA has legal authority to create.

"Final permit" means the version of a permit issued by the department under this article that has completed all review procedures required by 9VAC5-80-270 and 9VAC5-80-290.

"Fugitive emissions" are those emissions which cannot reasonably pass through a stack, chimney, vent, or other functionally equivalent opening.

"General permit" means a permit issued under this article that meets the requirements of 9VAC5-80-120.

"Hazardous air pollutant" means any air pollutant listed in § 112(b) of the federal Clean Air Act, as amended by 40 CFR 63.60.

"Implementation plan" means the portion or portions of the state implementation plan, or the most recent revision thereof, which has been approved in Subpart VV of 40 CFR Part 52 by the administrator under § 110 of the federal Clean Air Act, or promulgated under § 110(c) of the federal Clean Air Act, or promulgated or approved pursuant to regulations promulgated under § 301(d) of the federal Clean Air Act and which implements the relevant requirements of the federal Clean Air Act.

"Insignificant activity" means any emission unit listed in 9VAC5-80-720 A, any emissions unit that meets the emissions criteria described in 9VAC5-80-720 B, or any emissions unit that meets the size or production rate criteria in 9VAC5-80-720 C.

"Major source" means:

a. For hazardous air pollutants other than radionuclides, any stationary source that emits or has the potential to emit, in the aggregate, 10 tons per year or more of any hazardous air pollutant or 25 tons per year or more of any combination of hazardous air pollutants. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, emissions from any oil or gas exploration or production well (with its associated equipment) and emissions from any pipeline compressor or pump station shall not be aggregated with emissions from other similar units, whether or not such units are in a contiguous area or under common control, to determine whether such units or stations are major sources.

b. For air pollutants other than hazardous air pollutants, any stationary source that directly emits or has the potential to emit 100 tons per year or more of any air pollutant (including any major source of fugitive emissions of any such pollutant). The fugitive emissions of a stationary source shall not be considered in determining whether it is a major stationary source, unless the source belongs to one of the following categories of stationary source:
(1) Coal cleaning plants (with thermal dryers).

(2) Kraft pulp mills.

(3) Portland cement plants.

(4) Primary zinc smelters.

(5) Iron and steel mills.

(6) Primary aluminum ore reduction plants.

(7) Primary copper smelters.

(8) Municipal incinerators capable of charging more than 250 tons of refuse per day.

(9) Hydrofluoric, sulfuric, or nitric acid plants.

(10) Petroleum refineries.

(11) Lime plants.

(12) Phosphate rock processing plants.

(13) Coke oven batteries.

(14) Sulfur recovery plants.

(15) Carbon black plants (furnace process).

(16) Primary lead smelters.

(17) Fuel conversion plant.

(18) Sintering plants.

(19) Secondary metal production plants.

(20) Chemical process plants (which shall not include ethanol production facilities that produce ethanol by natural fermentation included in NAICS codes 325193 or 312140).

(21) Fossil-fuel boilers (or combination of them) totaling more than 250 million British thermal units per hour heat input.

(22) Petroleum storage and transfer units with a total storage capacity exceeding 300,000 barrels.

(23) Taconite ore processing plants.

(24) Glass fiber processing plants.

(25) Charcoal production plants.

(26) Fossil-fuel-fired steam electric plants of more than 250 million British thermal units per hour heat input.

(27) Any other stationary source category regulated under § 111 or § 112 of the federal Clean Air Act for which the administrator has made an affirmative determination under § 302(j) of the federal Clean Air Act.

c. For ozone nonattainment areas, any stationary source with the potential to emit 100 tons per year or more of volatile organic compounds or oxides of nitrogen in areas classified as "marginal" or "moderate," 50 tons per year or more in areas classified as "serious," 25 tons per year or more in areas classified as "severe," and 10 tons per year or more in areas classified as "extreme"; except that the references in this definition to nitrogen oxides shall not apply with respect to any source for which the administrator has made a finding that requirements under § 182(f) of the federal Clean Air Act (NOx requirements for ozone nonattainment areas) do not apply.

d. For attainment areas in ozone transport regions, any stationary source with the potential to emit 50 tons per year or more of volatile organic compounds.

"Malfunction" means any sudden and unavoidable failure of air pollution control equipment or process equipment or of a process to operate in a normal or usual manner that (i) arises from sudden and reasonably unforeseeable events beyond the control of the source, including acts of God, (ii) causes an exceedance of a technology-based emission limitation under the permit due to unavoidable increases in emissions attributable to the failure and (iii) requires immediate corrective action to restore normal operation. Failures that are caused entirely or in part by improperly designed equipment, lack of or poor preventative maintenance, careless or improper operation, operator error, or any other preventable upset condition or preventable equipment breakdown shall not be considered malfunctions.

"New source review program" means a program for the preconstruction review and permitting of new stationary sources or expansions to existing ones in accordance with 9VAC5-80-10 or Article 7 (9VAC5-80-1400 et seq.), Article 8 (9VAC5-80-1700 et seq.) or Article 9 (9VAC5-80-2000 et seq.) of this part, promulgated to implement the requirements of §§ 110(a)(2)(C), 165 (relating to permits in prevention of significant deterioration areas), 173 (relating to permits in nonattainment areas), and 112 (relating to permits for hazardous air pollutants) of the federal Clean Air Act.

"Permit," unless the context suggests otherwise, means any permit or group of permits covering a source subject to this article that is issued, renewed, amended, or revised pursuant to this article.

"Permit modification" means a revision to a permit issued under this article that meets the requirements of 9VAC5-80-210 on minor permit modifications, 9VAC5-80-220 on group processing of minor permit modifications, or 9VAC5-80-230 on significant modifications.

"Permit revision" means any permit modification that meets the requirements of 9VAC5-80-210, 9VAC5-80-220 or 9VAC5-80-230 or any administrative permit amendment that meets the requirements of 9VAC5-80-200.

"Potential to emit" means the maximum capacity of a stationary source to emit any air pollutant under its physical and operational design. Any physical or operational limitation on the capacity of a source to emit an air pollutant, including air pollution control equipment and restrictions on hours of operation or on the type or amount of material combusted, stored, or processed, shall be treated as part of its design if the limitation is state and federally enforceable.

"Proposed permit" means the version of a permit that the department proposes to issue and forwards to the administrator for review in compliance with 9VAC5-80-290.

"Regulated air pollutant" means any of the following:

a. Nitrogen oxides or any volatile organic compound.

b. Any pollutant for which an ambient air quality standard has been promulgated.

c. Any pollutant subject to any standard promulgated under § 111 of the federal Clean Air Act.

d. Any Class I or II substance subject to a standard promulgated under or established by Title VI of the federal Clean Air Act concerning stratospheric ozone protection.

e. Any pollutant subject to a standard promulgated under or other requirements established under § 112 of the federal Clean Air Act concerning hazardous air pollutants and any pollutant regulated under Subpart C of 40 CFR Part 68.

f. Any pollutant subject to an applicable state requirement included in a permit issued under this article as provided in 9VAC5-80-300.

"Renewal" means the process by which a permit is reissued at the end of its term.

"Research and development facility" means all the following as applied to any stationary source:

a. The primary purpose of the source is the conduct of either (i) research and development into new products or processes or into new uses for existing products or processes or into refining and improving existing products or processes or (ii) basic research to provide for education or the general advancement of technology or knowledge.

b. The source is operated under the close supervision of technically trained personnel.

c. The source is not engaged in the manufacture of products in any manner inconsistent with subdivision a (i) or (ii) of this definition.

An analytical laboratory that primarily supports a research and development facility is considered to be part of that facility.

"Responsible official" means one of the following:

a. For a business entity, such as a corporation, association or cooperative:
(1) The president, secretary, treasurer, or vice-president of the business entity in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision making functions for the business entity, or

(2) A duly authorized representative of such business entity if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities applying for or subject to a permit and either:
(i) the facilities employ more than 250 persons or have gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding $25 million (in second quarter 1980 dollars); or

(ii) the authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to such representative in accordance with procedures of the business entity and the delegation of authority is approved in advance by the department;

b. For a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or the proprietor, respectively; or

c. For a municipality, state, federal, or other public agency: either a principal executive officer or ranking elected official. A principal executive officer of a federal agency includes the chief executive officer having responsibility for the overall operations of a principal geographic unit of the agency (e.g., a regional administrator of EPA).

d. For affected sources:
(1) The designated representative insofar as actions, standards, requirements, or prohibitions under Title IV of the federal Clean Air Act or the regulations promulgated thereunder are concerned; and

(2) The designated representative or any other person specified in this definition for any other purposes under this article.

"State enforceable" means all limitations and conditions which are enforceable by the department, including those requirements developed pursuant to 9VAC5-170-160, requirements within any applicable order or variance, and any permit requirements established pursuant to this chapter

"State operating permit program" means a program for issuing limitations and conditions for stationary sources in accordance with Article 5 (9VAC5-80-800 et seq.) of this part, promulgated to meet EPA's minimum criteria for federal enforceability, including adequate notice and opportunity for EPA and public comment prior to issuance of the final permit and practicable enforceability.

"Stationary source" means any building, structure, facility or installation which emits or may emit any regulated air pollutant. A stationary source shall include all of 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 (see 9VAC5-20-21) . At the request of the applicant, any research and development facility may be considered a separate stationary source from the manufacturing or other facility with which it is co-located.

"Title I modification" means any modification under Parts C and D of Title I or §§ 111(a)(4), 112(a)(5), or § 112(g) of the federal Clean Air Act; under regulations promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency thereunder or in 40 CFR 61.07; or under regulations approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to meet such requirements.

Statutory Authority: § 10.1-1308 of the Code of Virginia.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Virginia may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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