Ariz. Admin. Code § 18-2-401

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section R18-2-401 - Definitions

The following definitions apply to this Article:

1. "Adverse impact on visibility" means visibility impairment that interferes with the management, protection, preservation, or enjoyment of the visitor's visual experience of a federal Class I area, as determined according to R18-2-410. This determination must be made on a case-by-case basis taking into account the geographic extent, intensity, duration, frequency and time of visibility impairments, and how these factors correlate with times of visitor use of the federal Class I area and the frequency and timing of natural conditions that reduce visibility. This term does not include effects on integral vistas.

2. "Baseline actual emissions" means the rate of emissions, in tons per year, of a regulated NSR pollutant, as determined in accordance with subsections (2)(a) through (d).

a. For any existing electric utility steam generating unit, baseline actual emissions means 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 five-year period immediately preceding when the owner or operator begins actual construction of the project. The Director shall allow the use of a different time period upon a determination that it is more representative of normal source operation.

i. The average rate shall include fugitive emissions to the extent quantifiable, and emissions associated with startups, shutdowns, and malfunctions.

ii. The average rate shall be adjusted downward to exclude any non-compliant emissions that occurred while the source was operating above any emission limitation that was legally enforceable during the consecutive 24-month period.

iii. For a regulated NSR pollutant, when a project involves multiple emissions units, only one consecutive 24-month period must be used to determine the baseline actual emissions for the emissions units being changed. A different consecutive 24-month period can be used for each regulated NSR pollutant.

iv. The average rate shall not be based on any consecutive 24-month period for which there is inadequate information for determining annual emissions, in tons per year, and for adjusting this amount if required by subsection (2)(a)(ii).

b. For any existing emissions unit (other than an electric utility steam generating unit), baseline actual emissions means 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 10-year period immediately preceding either the date the owner or operator begins actual construction of the project, or the date a complete permit application is received by the Administrator for a permit required under 40 CFR 52.21 or by the Director for a permit required under the state implementation plan, whichever is earlier, except that the 10-year period shall not include any period earlier than November 15, 1990.

i. The average rate shall include fugitive emissions to the extent quantifiable, and emissions associated with startups, shutdowns, and malfunctions.

iii. The average rate shall be adjusted downward to exclude any emissions that would have exceeded an emission limitation with which the major source must currently comply, had such major source been required to comply with such limitations during the consecutive 24-month period. However, if an emission limitation is part of a maximum achievable control technology standard that the Administrator proposed or promulgated under 40 CFR 63, the baseline actual emissions need only be adjusted if the state of Arizona has taken credit for such emissions reductions in an attainment demonstration or maintenance plan consistent with the requirements of 40 CFR 51.165(a)(3)(ii)(G).

iv. For a regulated NSR pollutant, when a project involves multiple emissions units, only one consecutive 24-month period must be used to determine the baseline actual emissions for all existing emissions units affected by the project. A different consecutive 24-month period may be used for each regulated NSR pollutant.

v. The average rate shall not be based on any consecutive 24-month period for which there is inadequate information for determining annual emissions, in tons per year, and for adjusting this amount if required by subsection (2)(b)(ii) or (iii).

c. 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 such unit shall equal zero; and thereafter, for all other purposes, shall equal the unit's potential to emit.

d. For a PAL for a stationary source, the baseline actual emissions shall be calculated for existing electric utility steam generating units in accordance with the procedures in subsection (2)(a), for other existing emissions units in accordance with the procedures contained in subsection (2)(b), and for new emissions units in accordance with the procedures contained in subsection (2)(c).

3. "Basic design parameter" means:

a. Except as provided in subsection (3)(c), for a process unit at a steam electric generating facility, the owner or operator may select as its basic design parameters either maximum hourly heat input and maximum hourly fuel consumption rate or maximum hourly electric output rate and maximum steam flow rate. When establishing fuel consumption specifications in terms of weight or volume, the minimum fuel quality based on Btu content shall be used for determining the basic design parameters for a coal-fired electric utility steam generating unit.

b. Except as provided in subsection (3)(c), the basic design parameters for any process unit that is not at a steam electric generating facility are maximum rate of fuel or heat input, maximum rate of material input, or maximum rate of product output. Combustion process units will typically use maximum rate of fuel input. For sources having multiple end products and raw materials, the owner or operator should consider the primary product or primary raw material when selecting a basic design parameter.

c. If the owner or operator believes the basic design parameters in subsections (3)(a) and (b) are not appropriate for a specific industry or type of process unit, the owner or operator may propose to the Director an alternative basic design parameters for the source's process unit. If the Director approves of the use of an alternative basic design parameters, the Director shall issue a permit that is legally enforceable that records such basic design parameters and requires the owner or operator to comply with such parameters.

d. The owner or operator shall use credible information, such as results of historic maximum capability tests, design information from the manufacturer, or engineering calculations, in establishing the magnitude of the basic design parameters specified in subsections (3)(a) and (b).

e. If design information is not available for a process unit, then the owner or operator shall determine the process unit's basic design parameters using the maximum value achieved by the process unit in the five-year period immediately preceding the planned activity.

f. Efficiency of a process unit is not a basic design parameter.

g. The replacement activity shall not cause the process unit to exceed any emission limitation, or operational limitation that has the effect of constraining emissions, that applies to the process unit and that is legally enforceable.

4. "Complete" means, in reference to an application for a permit or permit revision, that the application contains all the information necessary for processing the application. Designating an application complete for purposes of permit processing does not preclude the Department from requesting or accepting any additional information.

5. "Dispersion technique" means any technique that attempts to affect the concentration of a pollutant in the ambient air by any of the following:

a. Using that portion of a stack that exceeds good engineering practice stack height;

b. Varying the rate of emission of a pollutant according to atmospheric conditions or ambient concentrations of that pollutant; or

c. Increasing final exhaust gas plume rise by manipulating source process parameters, exhaust gas parameters, stack parameters, or combining exhaust gases from several existing stacks into one stack; or other selective handling of exhaust gas streams that increases the exhaust gas plume rise. This shall not include any of the following:

i. The reheating of a gas stream, following use of a pollution control system, for the purpose of returning the gas to the temperature at which it was originally discharged from the facility generating the gas stream.

ii. The merging of exhaust gas streams under any of the following conditions:

(1) The source owner or operator demonstrates that the facility was originally designed and constructed with the merged gas streams;

(2) After July 8, 1985, the merging is part of a change in operation at the facility that includes the installation of pollution controls and is accompanied by a net reduction in the allowable emissions of a pollutant, applying only to the emission limitation for that pollutant; or

(3) Before July 8, 1985, the merging was part of a change in operation at the facility that included the installation of emissions control equipment or was carried out for sound economic or engineering reasons. Where there was an increase in the emission limitation or, in the event that no emission limitation was in existence prior to the merging, an increase in the quantity of pollutants actually emitted prior to the merging, the Department shall presume that merging was significantly motivated by an intent to gain emissions credit for greater dispersion. Absent a demonstration by the source owner or operator that merging was not significantly motivated by such intent, the Department shall deny credit for the effects of the merging in calculating the allowable emissions for the source.

iii. Smoke management in agricultural or silvicultural prescribed burning programs.

iv. Episodic restrictions on residential woodburning and open burning.

v. Techniques that increase final exhaust gas plume rise if the resulting allowable emissions of sulfur dioxide from the facility do not exceed 5,000 tons per year.

6. "Existing emissions unit" is any emissions unit that is currently in existence and that is not a new emissions unit. A replacement unit is an existing emissions unit.

7. "Federal Class I area" means an area designated as Class I under R18-2-217.

8. "High terrain" means any area having an elevation of 900 feet or more above the base of the stack of a source.

9. "Innovative control technology" means any system of air pollution control that has not been adequately demonstrated in practice but would have a substantial likelihood of achieving greater continuous emissions reduction than any control system in current practice, or of achieving at least comparable reductions at lower cost in terms of energy, economics, or nonair quality environmental impacts.

10. "Low terrain" means any area other than high terrain.

11. "Lowest achievable emission rate" (LAER) means, for any source, the more stringent rate of emissions based on one of the following:

a. The most stringent emissions limitation that is contained in any implementation plan approved or promulgated under sections 110 or 172 of the Act for the class or category of stationary source, unless the owner or operator of the proposed stationary source demonstrates that the limitation is not achievable; or

b. The most stringent emissions limitation that is achieved in practice by the class or category of stationary source. This limitation, when applied to a modification, means the lowest achievable emissions rate for the new or modified emissions units within the stationary source. The application of this term shall not permit a proposed new or modified stationary source to emit any pollutant in excess of the amount allowable under the applicable new source performance standards.

12. "Major emissions unit" means:

a. Any emissions unit that emits or has the potential to emit 100 tons per year or more of the PAL pollutant in an attainment area; or

b. Any emissions unit that emits or has the potential to emit the PAL pollutant in an amount that is equal to or greater than the major source threshold for the PAL pollutant for nonattainment areas. For example, in accordance with the definition of major stationary source in section 182(c) of the Act, an emissions unit would be a major emissions unit for VOC if the emissions unit is located in a serious ozone nonattainment area and it emits or has the potential to emit 50 or more tons of VOC per year.

13. "Major source" is defined as follows:

a. For purposes of determining the applicability of R18-2-403 through R18-2-405 or R18-2-411, major source means any stationary source that emits, or has the potential to emit, 100 tons per year or more of any regulated NSR pollutant, except that the following thresholds shall apply in areas subject to subpart 2, subpart 3 or subpart 4 of part D, Title I of the Act:

Pollutant Emitted	Nonattainment Pollutant and Classification	Quantity Threshold tons/year or more
Carbon Monoxide (CO)	CO, Serious, if stationary sources contribute significantly to CO levels in the area as determined under rules issued by the Administrator	50
VOC	Ozone, Serious	50
VOC	Ozone, Severe	25
PM₁₀	PM₁₀, Serious	70
PM_2.5	PM_2.5 Serious	70
PM_2.5 precursors idenfied in R18-2-101(124)(a)	PM_2.5 Serious	70
NO_x	Ozone, Serious	50
NO_x	Ozone, Severe	25

b. For purposes of determining the applicability of R18-2-406 through R18-2-408 or R18-2-410, major source means any stationary source that emits, or has the potential to emit, 100 tons per year or more of any regulated NSR pollutant if the source is classified as a categorical source, or 250 tons per year or more of any regulated NSR pollutant if the source is not classified as a categorical source;

c. A major source includes a physical change that would occur at a stationary source, not otherwise qualifying under subsection (13)(a) or (b) as a major source, if the change would constitute a major source by itself.

d. A major source that is major for VOC or nitrogen oxides shall be considered major for ozone.

e. The fugitive emissions of a stationary source shall not be included in determining for any of the purposes of this Article whether it is a major source, unless the source belongs to a section 302(j) category.

14. "Mandatory federal Class I area" means an area identified in R18-2-217(B).

15. "New emissions unit" means any emissions unit which is (or will be) newly constructed and which has existed for less than two years from the date such emissions unit first operated.

16. "Plantwide applicability limitation" or "PAL" means an emission limitation that is based on the baseline actual emissions of all emissions units at the stationary source that emit or have the potential to emit the PAL pollutant, expressed in tons per year, for a pollutant at a major source, that is enforceable as a practical matter and established source-wide in accordance with this Section.

17. "PAL allowable emissions" means "allowable emissions" as defined in R18-2-101, except that the allowable emissions for any emissions unit shall be calculated considering any emission limitations that are enforceable as a practical matter on the emissions unit's potential to emit.

18. PAL effective date generally means the date of issuance of the PAL permit. However, the PAL effective date for an increased PAL is the date any emissions unit that is part of the PAL major modification becomes operational and begins to emit the PAL pollutant.

19. "PAL effective period" means the period beginning with the PAL effective date and ending 10 years later.

20. "PAL major modification" means any physical change in or change in the method of operation of the PAL source that causes it to emit the PAL pollutant at a level equal to or greater than the PAL.

21. "PAL permit" means the permit issued by the Director that establishes a PAL for a major source under Article 3 or 4 of this Chapter.

22. "PAL pollutant" means the pollutant for which a PAL is established at a major source.

23. "Projected actual emissions" means:

a. The maximum annual rate, in tons per year, at which an existing emissions unit is projected to emit a regulated NSR pollutant during any 12-month period in the 60 calendar months following the date the unit resumes regular operation after the project, or in any 12-month period in the 120 calendar months following that date if the project involves increasing the design capacity or potential to emit of any emissions unit for that regulated NSR pollutant and full utilization of the unit would result in a significant emissions increase or a significant net emissions increase at the major source.

b. In determining the projected actual emissions before beginning actual construction, the owner or operator of the major source:

i. Shall consider all relevant information, including but not limited to, historical operational data, the company's own representations, the company's expected business activity and the company's highest projections of business activity, the company's filings with the county, state or federal regulatory authorities, and compliance plans under these regulations; and

ii. Shall include fugitive emissions to the extent quantifiable;

iii. Shall include emissions associated with startups, shutdowns, and malfunctions ; and

iv. Shall exclude, only for calculating any increase in emissions that results from the particular project, that portion of the 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; or

c. In lieu of using the method set out subsections 23(b)(i) through (iv), the owner or operator may elect to use the emissions unit's potential to emit, in tons per year.

24. "Replacement unit" means an emissions unit for which all the criteria listed in subsections (24)(a) through (d) are met. No creditable emission reductions shall be generated from shutting down the existing emissions unit that is replaced.

a. 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.

b. The emissions unit is identical to or functionally equivalent to the replaced emissions unit.

c. The replacement does not alter the basic design parameters of the process unit.

d. The replaced emissions unit is permanently removed from the major source, otherwise permanently disabled, or permanently barred from operation by a permit that is enforceable as a practical matter. If the replaced emissions unit is brought back into operation, it shall constitute a new emissions unit.

25. "Resource recovery project" means any facility at which solid waste is processed for the purpose of extracting, converting to energy, or otherwise separating and preparing solid waste for reuse. Only energy conversion facilities that utilize solid waste that provides more than 50% of the heat input shall be considered a resource recovery project under this Article.

26. "Significant emissions unit" means an emissions unit that emits or has the potential to emit a PAL pollutant in an amount that is equal to or greater than the significant level for that PAL pollutant, but less than the amount that would qualify the unit as a major emissions unit.

27. "Significance levels" means the following ambient concentrations for the enumerated pollutants:

Averaging Time
Pollutant	Annual	24-Hour	8-Hour	3-Hour	1-Hour
SO₂	1 µg/m³	5 µg/m³	25 µg/m³
NO₂	1 µg/m³
CO	0.5 mg/m³	2 mg/m³
PM₁₀	1 µg/m³	5 µg/m³
PM_2.5 federal Class I area	0.06 µg/m³	0.07 µg/m³
PM_2.5 federal Class II area	0.3 µg/m³	1.2 µg/m³
PM_2.5 federal Class III area	0.3 µg/m³	1.2 µg/m³
Except for the annual pollutant concentrations, the Department shall deem that exceedance of significance levels has occurred when the ambient concentration of the above pollutant is exceeded more than once per year at any one location. If the concentration occurs at a specific location and at a time when the national ambient air quality standards for the pollutant are not violated, the significance level does not apply.

28. "Small emissions unit" means an emissions unit that emits or has the potential to emit the PAL pollutant in an amount less than the significant level for that PAL pollutant.

Ariz. Admin. Code § R18-2-401

Adopted effective May 14, 1979 (Supp. 79-1). Amended effective October 2, 1979 (Supp. 79-5). Former Section R9-3-401 renumbered without change as Section R18-2-401 (Supp. 87-3). Section R18-2-401 renumbered to R18-2-601. New Section R18-2-401 adopted effective November 15, 1993 (Supp. 93-4). Amended by final rulemaking at 5 A.A.R. 4074, effective September 22, 1999 (Supp. 99-3). Typographical error corrected in R18-2-401(9)(a)(Supp. 00-4). Amended by final rulemaking at 13 A.A.R. 1134, effective May 5, 2007 (Supp. 07-1). Amended by final rulemaking at 18 A.A.R. 1542, effective August 7, 2012 (Supp. 12-2). Amended by final rulemaking at 23 A.A.R. 333, effective 3/21/2017.