Md. Code Regs. 26.11.17.01 - Definitions
A. For the
purpose of this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated. Other
applicable definitions may be found in COMAR 26.11.01.01.
B. Terms Defined.
(1) Actual Emissions.
(a) "Actual emissions" means:
(i) The actual rate of emissions of a
regulated NSR pollutant from an emissions unit as determined in accordance with
this subsection;
(ii) In general,
as of a particular date, the average rate in tons per year at which the unit
actually emitted the pollutant during a consecutive 24-month period, which
precedes the particular date and which is representative of normal source
operation, although the Department may allow the use of a different time period
upon a determination that it is more representative of normal source operation;
and
(iii) As of a particular date,
for any emissions unit which has not begun normal operations on the particular
date, the unit's potential to emit on that date.
(b) Actual emissions shall be calculated
using the emissions unit's actual operating hours, production rates, and types
of materials processed, stored, or combusted during the selected time
period.
(c) The Department may
assume that source-specific allowable emissions for the emissions unit are
equivalent to the actual emissions of the unit.
(2) "Allowable emissions" means the emissions
rate calculated using the maximum rated capacity of the source, unless the
source is subject to federally enforceable limits which restrict the operating
rate, or hours of operation, or both, and the most stringent of the following:
(b) Any applicable
Maryland State Implementation Plan (SIP) emissions limitation, including those
with a future compliance date; or
(c) The emissions rate specified as a
federally enforceable permit condition including those with a future compliance
date.
(3) Baseline Actual
Emissions.
(a) "Baseline actual emissions"
means the rate of emissions, in tons per year, of a regulated NSR
pollutant.
(b) For an existing
electric utility steam generating unit, "baseline actual emissions" is
determined by the average rate, in tons per year, at which the unit actually
emitted the pollutant during any consecutive 24-month period selected by the
owner or operator within the 5-year period immediately preceding the date on
which a complete application was submitted. The Department may approve a
different period upon a demonstration that it is more representative of normal
source operations.
(c) For an
existing emissions unit, other than an electric utility steam generating unit,
"baseline actual emissions" is determined by the average rate, in tons per
year, at which the emissions unit actually emitted the pollutant during any
consecutive 24-month period selected by the owner or operator within the 5-year
period immediately preceding the date on which a complete application was
submitted. The Department may allow a different 24-month consecutive time
period, within the last 10 years, upon a demonstration that it is more
representative of normal source operations.
(d) For a new emissions unit, the baseline
actual emissions for purposes of determining the emissions increase that will
result from the initial construction and operation of the unit shall equal
zero, and, thereafter, for all other purposes, shall equal the unit's potential
to emit.
(e) For a PAL for a major
stationary source, the baseline actual emissions shall be calculated, for
existing electric utility steam generating units, in accordance with the
procedures contained in §B(3)(b) of this regulation, for other existing
emissions units in accordance with the procedures contained in §B(3)(c) of this
regulation, and for a new emissions unit, in accordance with the procedures
contained in §B(3)(d) of this regulation.
(f) In General.
(i) The average rate of emissions shall
include fugitive emissions to the extent quantifiable, and emissions associated
with start-ups, shutdowns, and malfunctions.
(ii) The average rate shall be adjusted
downward to exclude any noncompliant emissions that occurred while the source
was operating above any emissions limitation that was legally enforceable
during the consecutive 24-month period. However, if an emission limitation is
part of a proposed or promulgated maximum achievable control technology
standard under 40 CFR Part 63, the baseline actual emissions need only be
adjusted if credit for the emissions reductions was taken in an attainment
demonstration or maintenance plan.
(iii) When a project involves multiple
emissions units or different regulated NSR pollutants, only one consecutive
24-month period shall be used to determine the baseline actual emissions for
the emissions units being changed.
(iv) The average rate may not be based on any
consecutive 24-month period for which there is inadequate information for
determining annual emissions and adjusting the amount if required.
(4) "Begin actual
construction" means, in general, initiation of physical on-site construction
activities on an emissions unit which are of a permanent nature. These
activities include installation of building supports and foundations, laying of
underground pipework, and construction of permanent storage structures. With
respect to a change in method of operation, this definition refers to those
on-site activities other than preparatory activities which mark the initiation
of the change.
(5) Best Available
Control Technology.
(a) "Best available
control technology" means an emissions limitation, including a visible
emissions standard, based on the maximum degree of reduction for each regulated
NSR pollutant which would be emitted from any proposed major stationary source
or major modification which the Department, on a case-by-case basis, taking
into account energy, environmental, and economic impacts and other costs,
determines is achievable for that source or modification through application of
production processes or available methods, systems, and techniques, including
fuel cleaning or treatment or innovative fuel combination techniques for
control of the pollutant.
(b)
Application of best available control technology may not result in emissions of
any pollutant which would exceed the emissions allowed by an applicable
standard under 40 CFR 60 and 61.
(c) If the Department determines that
technological or economic limitations on the application of measurement
methodology to a particular emissions unit would make the imposition of an
emissions standard infeasible, a design, equipment, work practice, operational
standard, or combination of these, may be prescribed instead to satisfy the
requirement for the application of best available control technology. This
standard shall, to the degree possible, set forth the emissions reduction
achievable by implementation of the design, equipment, work practice, or
operation, and shall provide for compliance by means which achieve equivalent
results.
(6) Building,
Structure, Facility, or Installation.
(a)
"Building, structure, facility, or installation" means all of the
pollutant-emitting activities that belong to the same industrial group that are
located on one or more contiguous or adjacent properties, and are under the
control of the same person, or persons under common control.
(b) Pollutant-emitting activities are
considered as part of the same industrial group if they belong to the same
"Major Group" (that is, have the same two-digit code as described in the
Standard Industrial Classification Manual (SIC) prepared by the federal Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) and amended in 1987).
(7) "Commence", as applied to construction of
a major stationary source or major modification, means that the owner or
operator has all necessary preconstruction approvals or permits and either has:
(a) Begun, or caused to begin, a continuous
program of actual on-site construction of the source to be completed within a
reasonable time; or
(b) Entered
into binding agreements or contractual obligations, which cannot be canceled or
modified without substantial loss to the owner or operator, to undertake a
program of actual on-site construction of the source to be completed within a
reasonable time.
(8)
"Construction" means any physical change or change in the method of operation,
including fabrication, erection, installation, demolition, or modification of
an emissions unit, which would result in a change in emissions.
(9) "Electric utility steam generating unit"
means any steam electric generating unit that is constructed for the purpose of
supplying more than 1/3 of its potential electric output capacity and more than
25 megawatts electric output to any utility power distribution system for sale.
Any steam supplied to a steam distribution system for the purpose of providing
steam to a steam electric generator that would produce electrical energy for
sale is also considered in determining the electrical energy output capacity of
the affected facility.
(10)
Emissions Reduction Credit (ERC).
(a)
"Emissions reduction credit (ERC)" means a permanent, enforceable, quantifiable
reduction in actual emissions, occurring on or after January 1, 2003, which is
surplus to all applicable State and federally enforceable requirements to be
used to offset emission increases.
(b) "Emissions reduction credit (ERC)" does
not constitute a security or other form of property.
(11) "Emissions unit" means any part of a
stationary source which emits, or would have the potential to emit, a regulated
NSR pollutant.
(12) "Existing
emissions unit" means an emissions unit that does not meet the requirement in
§B(20) of this regulation.
(13)
"Federally enforceable" means all limitations and conditions which are
enforceable by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including those
requirements developed pursuant to 40 CFR 60 and 61, requirements within the
SIP, any permit requirements established pursuant to
40 CFR §
52.21 or under regulations approved pursuant
to 40 CFR Part 51, Subpart I, including operating permits issued under a
program that is approved by EPA or that is incorporated into the Maryland SIP
and expressly requires adherence to any permit issued under the
program.
(14) "Fugitive emissions"
means those emissions which could not reasonably pass through a stack, chimney,
vent, or other functionally equivalent opening.
(15) Lowest Achievable Emission Rate.
(a) "Lowest achievable emission rate" means,
for any emissions unit, the more stringent rate of emissions based on the
following:
(i) The most stringent emissions
limitation which is contained in the implementation plan of any state for the
class or category of stationary source, unless the owner or operator of the
proposed stationary source demonstrates that these limitations are not
achievable; or
(ii) The most
stringent emissions limitation which is achieved in practice by the class or
category of stationary sources, with this limitation, when applied to a
modification, meaning the lowest achievable emissions rate for the new or
modified emissions units within the stationary source.
(b) The application of this definition does
not permit a proposed new or modified emissions unit to emit any pollutant in
excess of the amount allowable under 40 CFR 60.
(16) Major Modification.
(a) "Major modification" means any physical
change in, or change in the method of operation of, a major stationary source
that would result in a significant emissions increase and a significant net
emissions increase of any regulated NSR pollutant.
(b) Any significant emissions increase from
any emissions unit or net emissions increase at a major stationary source that
is considered significant for volatile organic compounds or
NOx is considered significant for ozone.
(c) A physical change in or a change in the
method of operation does not include:
(i)
Routine maintenance, repair, and replacement;
(ii) Use of an alternative fuel or raw
material by reason of an order under §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;
(iii) Use of an alternative
fuel by reason of an order or rule under §125 of the federal Clean Air
Act;
(iv) Use of an alternative
fuel at a steam generating unit to the extent that the fuel is generated from
municipal solid waste;
(v) Use of
an alternative fuel or raw material by a stationary source which the source was
capable of accommodating before December 21, 1976, unless the change would be
prohibited under any federally enforceable permit condition which was
established after December 21, 1976, pursuant to
40 CFR §
52.21 or under regulations approved pursuant
to 40 CFR Part 51, Subpart I, or
40 CFR §
51.166, or the source is approved to use
under any federally enforceable permit issued under this subtitle;
(vi) An increase in the hours of operation or
in the production rate, unless such change is prohibited under any federally
enforceable permit condition; or
(vii) Any change in
ownership.
(d) This
definition does not apply with respect to a particular regulated NSR pollutant
when the major stationary source is complying with the requirements for a
PAL.
(17) Major
Stationary Source.
(a) "Major stationary
source" means any stationary source of air pollution which emits or has the
potential to emit 100 tons or more of any regulated NSR pollutant, except that
lower emissions thresholds apply as follows:
(i) 25 tons or more per year of VOC or
NOx for sources located in Baltimore City or Anne
Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Frederick, Harford,
Howard, Montgomery, or Prince George's counties;
(ii) 50 tons or more per year of VOC for
sources located in Allegany, Caroline, Dorchester, Garrett, Kent, Queen Anne's,
St. Mary's, Somerset, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico, or Worcester
counties;
(iii) 50 tons or more 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; and
(iv) 70 tons or more
per year of PM10 in any serious nonattainment area for
PM10.
(b) "Major stationary source" also means any
physical change that would occur at a stationary source not qualifying under
§B(17)(a) of this regulation as a major stationary source, if the change would
constitute a major stationary source by itself.
(c) A major stationary source that is major
for volatile organic compounds or NOx is considered
major for ozone.
(d) In determining
if a source is a major stationary source, fugitive emissions shall be included
if the source belongs to one of the categories of stationary sources listed in
40 CFR §
51.165(a)(1)(iv)(C).
(18) "Necessary preconstruction approvals or
permits" means those permits or approvals required under this
subtitle.
(19) Net Emissions
Increase.
(a) "Net emissions increase" means,
with respect to a regulated NSR pollutant emitted by a major stationary source,
the amount by which the sum of the following exceeds zero:
(i) Any increase in emissions from a
particular physical change or change in the method of operation at a stationary
source; and
(ii) Any other
increases and decreases in actual emissions of the particular pollutant that
are contemporaneous with the particular change and are otherwise
creditable.
(b) Baseline
actual emissions for calculating increases and decreases under this definition
shall be determined as provided in §B(3) of this regulation, except that
§B(3)(c) does not apply.
(c) An
increase or decrease in actual emissions of a particular pollutant is
contemporaneous with the increase from the particular change if it occurs
within the 5-year period preceding the date on which a complete permit
application for the change is submitted and before the date that the increase
from the particular change occurs.
(d) An increase or decrease in actual
emissions is creditable only if the Department has not relied on it in issuing
a permit for the source and the permit is in effect when the increase in actual
emissions from the particular change occurs.
(e) An increase in actual emissions is
creditable only to the extent that the new level of actual emissions exceeds
the old level.
(f) A decrease in
actual emissions is creditable only to the extent that:
(i) The old level of actual emissions or the
old level of allowable emissions, whichever is lower, exceeds the new level of
actual emissions;
(ii) The decrease
is enforceable in a practicable manner at and after the time that the actual
construction on the particular change begins;
(iii) The Department has not previously
relied on the decrease in issuing any permit under this chapter or in
demonstrating attainment or reasonable further progress in the SIP and it is
not required by any other State requirement; and
(iv) It has approximately the same
qualitative significance for public health and welfare as that attributed to
the increase from the particular change.
(g) An increase that results from a physical
change occurs when the emissions 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 180 days.
(20) "New emissions unit" means an emissions
unit which is or will be newly constructed and which has existed for less than
2 years from the date the emissions unit first operated.
(21) Potential to Emit.
(a) "Potential to emit" means the maximum
capacity of a stationary source to emit a pollutant under its physical and
operational design.
(b) Any
physical or operational limitation on the capacity of the source to emit a
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 only if the limitation or the
effect it would have on emissions is federally enforceable.
(22) "Project" means a physical
change in, or change in the method of operation of, an existing major
stationary source.
(23) Projected
Actual Emissions.
(a) "Projected actual
emissions" means the maximum annual rate, in tons per year, at which an
existing emissions unit is projected to emit a regulated NSR pollutant in any
one of the 5 years following the date the unit resumes regular operation after
the project, or in any one of the 10 years following that date, if:
(i) The project involves increasing the
emissions unit's design capacity or its potential to emit the regulated NSR
pollutant; and
(ii) Full
utilization of the unit would result in a significant emissions increase or a
significant net emissions increase at the major stationary source.
(b) In determining the projected
actual emissions before beginning actual construction, the owner or operator of
the major stationary source shall:
(i)
Consider all relevant information including historical operational data, the
company's own representations, the company's expected business activity, the
company's highest projections of business activity, the company's filings with
the State or EPA, and compliance plans under the approved plan;
(ii) Include fugitive emissions to the extent
quantifiable and emissions associated with start-ups, shutdowns, and
malfunctions; and
(iii) Exclude, in
calculating any increase in emissions that results from the particular project,
that portion of the emissions unit's emissions following the project that an
existing unit could have accommodated during the consecutive 24-month period
used to establish the baseline actual emissions and that are also unrelated to
the particular project, including any increased utilization due to product
demand growth.
(c) In
lieu of using the method set out in §B(23)(b) of this definition, a person may
elect to use the emissions unit's potential to emit, in tons per
year.
(24) "Regulated NSR
pollutant" means any pollutant for which a national ambient air quality
standard has been promulgated and any pollutant that is a constituent or
precursor of the pollutant for which there is an ambient air quality standard,
provided that the constituent or precursor may only be regulated under this
chapter as part of regulation of the pollutant. After January 1, 2011,
PM2.5 and PM10 emissions shall
include gaseous emissions from a source or activity which condense to form
particulate matter at ambient temperature. These emissions shall be accounted
for in applicability determinations and in establishing emission limitation in
permits. Compliance with PM2.5 and
PM10 emission limitations shall be as described in CFR
51.165(a)(1)(xxxvii)(D). Precursors identified for the purpose of NSR in
Maryland are:
(a) Nitrogen oxides and
volatile organic compounds are precursors of ozone in all ozone nonattainment
areas.
(b) Nitrogen oxides and
sulfur dioxide are precursors of PM2.5 in all
PM2.5 nonattainment areas.
(25) "Replacement unit" means an emissions
unit that meets all of the following criteria:
(a) No creditable emission reductions are
generated by shutting down the existing emissions unit that is
replaced;
(b) The emissions unit is
a reconstructed unit within the meaning of
40 CFR §
60.15(b)(1) or the emissions
unit completely takes the place of an existing emissions unit;
(c) The emissions unit is identical to or
functionally equivalent to the replaced emissions unit;
(d) The replaced unit does not alter the
basic design parameters of the existing emissions unit; and
(e) The replaced emissions unit is
permanently removed from the major stationary source or otherwise permanently
disabled or barred from operation by a permit that is enforceable as a
practicable matter.
(26)
"Significant" means, in reference to a net emissions increase, a significant
emissions increase or the potential of a source to emit a regulated NSR
pollutant, or a rate of emissions that would equal or exceed any of the
following rates:
(a) Volatile organic
compounds or nitrogen oxides: 25 tons per year (tpy) in Baltimore City or Anne
Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Frederick, Harford,
Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties;
(b) Volatile organic compounds or nitrogen
oxides: 40 tpy in Allegany, Caroline, Dorchester, Garrett, Kent, Queen Anne's,
St. Mary's, Somerset, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico, and Worcester
counties.
(c)
PM2.5 emissions: 10 tpy;
(d) Sulfur dioxide: 40 tpy;
(e) Lead: 0.6 tpy;
(f) PM10: 15 tpy;
and
(g) Carbon monoxide: 100
tpy.
(27) "Stationary
source" means any building, structure, facility, or installation which emits or
may emit any regulated NSR pollutant subject to this
chapter.
Notes
Regulation .01B amended effective November 24, 2003 (30:23 Md. R. 1653)
Regulation .01B amended effective 40:13 Md. R. 1077, eff.
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.