30 Tex. Admin. Code § 101.303 - Emission Reduction Credit Generation and Certification
(a) Emission reduction strategy.
(1) An emission reduction credit (ERC) may be
generated using one of the following strategies or any other method that is
approved by the executive director:
(A) the
permanent shutdown of a facility that causes a loss of capability to produce
emissions;
(B) the installation and
operation of pollution control equipment that reduces emissions below baseline
emissions for the facility;
(C) a
change in a manufacturing process that reduces emissions below baseline
emissions for the facility;
(D) a
permanent curtailment in production that reduces the facility's capability to
produce emissions; or
(E) pollution
prevention projects that produce surplus emission reductions.
(2) An ERC may not be generated
from the following strategies:
(A) reductions
from the shifting of activity from one facility to another facility at the same
site;
(B) that portion of
reductions funded through state or federal programs, unless specifically
allowed under that program;
(C)
reductions from a facility without state implementation plan (SIP) emissions;
or
(D) reductions from the shutdown
of specific types of inelastic area sources that are driven by population
needs. The executive director shall maintain a public list of area source
categories determined to be inelastic categories.
(i) The list of inelastic area source
categories will be made available to the public on the commission's
website.
(ii) Any person may submit
a written petition requesting that the executive director add or remove a
category from the list.
(iii)
Within 60 days of receiving a petition under clause (ii) of this subparagraph,
the executive director shall prepare a draft revised list or propose denial of
the petition by preparing a draft denial statement supporting denial of the
petition.
(iv) The executive
director may on its own motion propose revisions to the list by preparing a
draft revised list.
(v) The
executive director's draft revised list, or draft denial statement, under
clauses (iii) and (iv) of this subparagraph shall be made available for public
comment for 30 days.
(vi) Within 30
days of the public comment period ending, the executive director shall issue a
proposed final list or a proposed final denial statement for consideration and
approval by the commission.
(vii)
The commission shall approve, modify, or deny the proposed revisions to the
list of inelastic area sources categories made by the executive director under
clauses (iii) and (iv) of this subparagraph.
(viii) The commission shall approve, modify,
or remand to the executive director for further consideration a recommendation
to deny a petition submitted by the executive director under clause (iii) of
this subparagraph.
(ix) The
shutdown of an area source category that falls into one of the categories on
the list under clause (i) of this subparagraph is ineligible for emissions
reduction credit generation.
(b) ERC baseline emissions.
(1) The baseline emissions may not exceed the
facility's SIP emissions.
(2) The
activity and emission rate used to calculate the facility's historical adjusted
emissions must be determined from the same two consecutive calendar years.
(A) For point sources, the historical
adjusted emissions must be based on two consecutive calendar years from the ten
consecutive years immediately before the emissions reduction is
achieved.
(B) For area sources, the
historical adjusted emissions must be based on two consecutive years from the
five consecutive years immediately before the emissions reduction is achieved
unless detailed operational records are available for more than five years. The
historical adjusted emissions may be determined from two consecutive calendar
years up to six to ten consecutive years immediately before the emissions
reduction is achieved when detailed operational records are available for those
years.
(3) For a
facility in existence less than 24 months or not having two complete calendar
years of activity data, a shorter period of not less than 12 months may be
considered by the executive director.
(c) ERC calculation.
(1) The quantity of ERCs is determined by
subtracting the facility's strategic emissions from the facility's baseline
emissions, as calculated in the following equation.
(2) For area sources generating
credits from the permanent shutdown of a facility, the amount of ERCs
calculated will be reduced by 15% or 0.1 ton per year, whichever is
greater.
(3) For an area source
facility, the amount of ERCs calculated will be adjusted to account for the
quality of the data used to quantify the emissions. The adjustment will be:
(A) no reduction for the same type of records
that are required to be maintained for a point source facility; or
(B) 15% or 0.1 ton per year, whichever is
greater, reduction for records supporting alternative methods approved
according to §
101.302(e)(1)(E)
of this title (relating to General Provisions).
(4) If the facility is subject to both of the
adjustments in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection, the total combined
adjustment to the amount of ERCs issued will be a reduction of 20% or 0.1 ton
per year, whichever is greater.
(d) ERC certification.
(1) The owner or operator of a facility with
potential ERCs shall submit an application form specified by the executive
director and signed by an authorized account representative as specified in
subparagraphs (A) - (D) of this paragraph.
(A)
Applications will be reviewed to determine the credibility of the reductions.
Reductions determined to be creditable will be certified by the executive
director and an ERC will be issued to the owner.
(B) The application for ERCs must be
submitted no more than two years after the facility's emissions reduction date,
except as provided by subparagraphs (C) and (D) of this paragraph.
(C) The application for ERCs from all
facilities affected by a complete site shutdown of an oil and gas production
site may be submitted no more than two years after the site's production well
is plugged in accordance with requirements of the Railroad Commission of Texas
if the plugging is completed within one year of final production being reported
to the Railroad Commission of Texas. Emission credits certified under this
exception will be available for use for 72 months from the date well plugging
is completed in lieu of the provisions outlined in §
101.309(b)(2) of
this title (relating to Emission Credit Banking and Trading).
(D) For an area source facility, the
application for ERCs may be submitted as follows.
(i) For emission reductions that occurred
after June 1, 2013 and prior to January 1, 2015, the application for ERCs must
be submitted by December 31, 2017.
(ii) For emissions reductions that occurred
between January 1, 2015 and January 1, 2017, the application for ERCs may be
submitted up to three years after the facility's emissions reduction
date.
(iii) The application
deadline exceptions specified in clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph no
longer apply after December 31, 2019.
(iv) Emission credits certified under the
application deadline exceptions specified in clauses (i) and (ii) of this
subparagraph or certified for area source emission reductions occurring before
and included on an application submitted, but not acted on, before January 1,
2017 shall be available for use for 72 months from the date of the emission
reduction in lieu of the provisions outlined in §
101.309(b)(2) of
this title.
(2) ERCs must be quantified in accordance
with §
101.302(e) of
this title. The executive director shall have the authority to inspect and
request information to assure that the emissions reductions have actually been
achieved.
(3) An application for
ERCs must include, but is not limited to, a completed application form
specified by the executive director signed by an authorized representative of
the applicant along with the following information for each pollutant reduced
at each applicable facility:
(A) a complete
description of the emission reduction strategy;
(B) the amount of ERCs generated;
(C) for volatile organic compound reductions,
a list of the specific compounds reduced;
(D) documentation, including records for
approved or approvable methods to quantify emissions, supporting the activity,
emission rate, historical adjusted emissions, SIP emissions, baseline
emissions, and strategic emissions;
(E) for point sources, emissions inventory
data for the years used to determine the SIP emissions and historical adjusted
emissions;
(F) the most stringent
emission rate and the most stringent emission level, considering all applicable
local, state, and federal requirements;
(G) a complete description of the protocol
used to calculate the emission reduction generated; and
(H) the actual calculations performed by the
generator to determine the amount of ERCs generated.
(4) ERCs will be made enforceable by one of
the following methods:
(A) amending or
altering a new source review permit to reflect the emission reduction and set a
new maximum allowable emission limit;
(B) voiding a new source review permit when a
facility has been shut down; or
(C)
for any facility without a new source review permit that is otherwise
authorized by commission rule, certifying the emission reduction and the new
maximum emission limit on one or more forms specified by the executive
director, including a Certification of Emission Limits (Form APD-CERT)
submitted through e-permitting and an Emissions Banking and Trading
Certification of Emission Reductions Form (Form EBT-CERT), or other forms
considered equivalent by the executive director.
Notes
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