aggregation issues jesse lovegren, ph.d. air permits division texas commission on environmental...
TRANSCRIPT
Aggregation Issues
Jesse Lovegren, Ph.D.
Air Permits Division
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Advanced Air Permitting Seminar 2015
Presentation Sections
• Overview
• Site Aggregation
• Examples
• Project Aggregation
• Examples
Overview
• Clean Air Act programs applying to "major" sites/sources:
Site Aggregation: “common sense notion of a plant”
Project Aggregation: keeps applicants from improperly avoiding major NSR review
Site AggregationAffected Programs
• Major NSR: Modification to existing major source vs. new source;
• Title V: Applicability of program; and
• NESHAPs for source categories: Major source vs. Area source
Site AggregationSite Criteria
• Same industrial grouping;
• Located in one or more contiguous or adjacent properties; and
• Under common control
Site AggregationSame Industrial Grouping
• Grouping is 2-digit SIC code
• “Support Facility” concept
• Groupings not considered for NESHAP program
Site AggregationContiguous/Adjacent Properties
• Adjoining except for an intervening road, railroad, right-of-way, waterway, etc.;
• Properties located < ¼ mile apart; and
• Interdependent (can be > ¼ mile apart)
Site AggregationContiguous/Adjacent Properties
Oil and Gas Rules
• SB 1134 applies
• Proposed EPA rules:
Proposal 1: Defines “adjacent”; and
Proposal 2: Revises regional consistency regulations
Site Aggregation Contiguous/Adjacent Properties
Oil and Gas Rules
Site AggregationUnder Common Control
• Generally, operations under the same company;
• Evaluated at the highest point of the organization’s structure; and
• More complex business relationships require case-by-case determination
Example 1
Property A:
Crude oil & refined products storage
Property B:
For-hire storage; includes a boiler
Example 1Can They be Aggregated?
Properties A & B:
• Owned by the same company
• On opposite banks of a waterway and < ¼ mile apart at their closest point
< ¼ mile
Example 1Answer
• Common control
• Adjacent properties
• Property A belongs to: Group 5171 Property B belongs to: Group 5169
• Boiler is a support facility
Yes: Sites can be aggregated.
Example 2
Property A:
Soil/groundwater remediation facility
Property B:
Bulk fuels terminal
Example 2Can They be Aggregated?
• On contiguous properties
• Company B owns a share of both
• Shared electricity supply
Partly Owned by Companies A & B
Operated by Company B
Example 2Answer
• Not under common control
• Contiguous properties
• Property A belongs to: Group 4959 Property B belongs to: Group 5171
• Neither is a support facility
No: Sites cannot be aggregated.
Project AggregationApplicability
• Major NSR;
• Major modifications to stationary sources; a physical change with an emissions increase; and
• Projects sufficiently related or treated as a single physical change
Project AggregationOther Applicability
• Applies to evaluation of project increase only
• Source-wide netting comprises all contemporaneous changes at the source, related or not
Project AggregationProject Criteria
• Timing of applications
• Documentation: Funding applications; Consumer demand and projected
production reports; and Statements on plans of operation
• TCEQ analysis
Project AggregationWhen Is Evaluation Required?
• Two or more filed within a short time period; and
• Major NSR requirement avoided by separate treatment of projects
Example 3
Project 1:
PSD application for construction of marine loading dock & storage
Project 2:
PSD application for additional throughput
Example 3Is Further Evaluation Needed?
Project 1 & 2:
• Subject to PSD review for VOC (O3 precursor); and
• Increases for other pollutants insignificant even when projects considered together
Example 3Answer
• Can be considered part of the same physical change
• No major NSR requirements avoided
• Analysis for Project 2 may include emissions from Project 1
No further evaluation is needed.
Example 4
Project 1:
Permit for changes at 3 units at an aluminum reduction plant
Permit
3 Units Controls
Project 2:
Request to split into 3 separate reviews/permits
Permit
1 Unit
Permit
1 Unit
Permit
1 Unit
Example 4Should the Permit Be Split?
Considerations:
• Splitting permit = removal of control device
• Owner: “Projects were separate business decisions and economic justifications.”
Permit
3 Units Controls
Permit
1 Unit
Permit
1 Unit
Permit
1 Unit
Example 4Answer
• Previous owner statements treat the changes as one project
• Owner should not agree to emission reduction measures to avoid PSD review and then apply to discontinue reduction measures
Permit should not be split.
Questions?