We register businesses that emit air pollution for the purpose of verifying and maintaining a current and accurate record of these air contaminants and their sources. This allows us to know about the effectiveness of our air pollution control strategies and verify that businesses are meeting air pollution control requirements.
To state it simply, all stationary (not mobile) sources of air pollution which have equipment or processes requiring an agency permit also need to register annually with us. A complete list of the kinds of facilities that need to be registered is a part of our Regulation I, Section 5.03. Some common examples of facilities than need to register are coffee roasting plants, dry cleaners, gas stations, lumber mills, landfills, autobody shops and petroleum refineries.
When you register a business, you are registering the entire facility -- not the particular equipment at the facility. Each piece of air contaminating equipment you use will also have a specific permit for its operation. Permits for equipment must be obtained before building, installing or modifying the equipment.
There is an annual fee charged for maintaining the registration of a business. The size of this fee is determined by the agency Board of Directors. The amount of fees collected is not to exceed the cost of administering the registration program, including information gathering, on-site inspections, data storage, emission inventory reports, engineering staff review and administrative support.
| Facility Fees: | |
| Automobile body repair and painting | $200 |
| Dry cleaners | $130 |
| Gas stations with one tank | $130 |
| Gas stations with more than one tank | $300 |
|
Sources with one or two equipment items requiring a permit (Reg. I, Section 5.06) |
$200 |
|
Sources with three to seven equipment items requiring a permit (Reg. I, Section 5.06) |
$500 |
|
Sources with eight or more equipment items requiring a permit (Reg. I, Section 5.06) |
$1,500 |
In addition to these flat rate fees, there are fees based on the amount of air pollution a source emits. These fees apply to sources exceeding specified emission thresholds and are based on emission data from two years prior. In other words, 1997 fees are based on the emission information that your business provided for calendar 1995.
| 1995 carbon monoxide fee1 | $8 per ton |
| 1995 toxic air contaminant fee2 | $8 per ton |
| 1995 NOx, PM10, SOx emission fee3 | $25 per ton |
| 1995 NR or VOC emission fee4 | $25 per ton |
| 1995 continuous emission monitor fee5 | $1,500/monitor |
NOx = Nitrogen oxides
PM10 = Particulate matter with diameter 10 micrometers or less
NR = Negligible reactivity for producing ozone
VOC = Volatile organic compounds
1required only when emissions
equaled or exceeded 25 tons in 1995.
2required only when individual equipment emissions equaled or
exceeded two tons in 1995 or total facility emissions exceeded five tons
in 1995.
3required only when NOx, PM10, SOx emissions equaled
or exceeded 25 tons in 1995.
4required only when organic compounds with negligible photochemical
reactivity (NR) or VOC emissions equaled or exceeded 25 tons in 1995.
5required only of continuous emission monitors required by Section
12.02, counting each pollutant and location as a separate monitor.
Fee invoices for annual registration are mailed in November and are due within 30 days.
Businesses are required to provide, at the agency's request, information as needed about the source's location, size, height of vertical stacks, kinds of processes and air contaminant emissions, and other information relevant to air pollution. Every year, registered businesses will be asked to provide emission information for the previous year, reported to the nearest whole ton. Some businesses will not need to provide this data if their emissions are below certain levels. These business are not required to pay emission-based fees as explained above.
Businesses with emissions under these levels do not need to report emission information:
Owners or operators of air polluting equipment are required to develop and implement an operation and maintenance plan to assure continuous compliance with our regulations. The agency may request a copy of this plan. The plan should reflect good industrial practice and include periodic inspections, monitoring and recording of performance, prompt repair, operating proceedures (starting, stopping and normal operation) and control measures to comply with regulations. The plan should also include a method of recording all of the actions performed. A good operations and maintenance manual can, of course, be more detailed than this. For complete details about these requirements, consult Regulation I, Section 5.05. If you have any questions about how to develop a plan, contact an inspector for your area.
Updated December 1996
