Md. Code Regs. 26.11.16.05

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 22, November 1, 2024

Section 26.11.16.05 - Procedures for Requesting Special Permits

A. Applicability.

(1) A person who cannot demonstrate that a premises discharging a Class I TAP complies with COMAR 26.11.15.06 a using a risk-based screening level may submit a written request for the Department to establish allowable emissions for the premises in a special permit.

(2) The Department will issue a special permit to specify the maximum allowable emissions of any Class I TAP discharged from the premises.

(3) Except as provided by State Government Article, §10-404, Annotated Code of Maryland, a special permit expires 5 years from the date it is issued by the Department.

B. Approval Criteria. The Department will approve a special permit only if it determines that emission controls represent at least T-BACT and emissions of toxic air pollutants will not unreasonably endanger human health. In making this determination, the Department will consider information submitted by the applicant, public comments, and other available and relevant information, including:

(1) The effectiveness, cost, feasibility, and timing of additional risk reductions, including consideration of process changes or relocation of the source;

(2) Estimated public health risks;

(3) Environmental and social consequences of granting or denying the permit; and

(4) Uncertainty in data or analysis.

C. Application.

(1) Required Information. A person applying for a special permit shall submit the following information to the Department in addition to any other information required by COMAR 26.11.02:

(a) A demonstration that emission controls on installations at the premises that discharge the Class I TAP in question represent T-BACT;

(b) A description and assessment of the effectiveness, cost, and feasibility of potential methods for achieving additional risk reductions;

(c) An assessment of the increased risk of cancer caused by allowable emissions from the premises, determined using procedures consistent with EPA's Risk Assessment Guidelines and approved by the Department;

(d) A description of current or future populations that may be affected by the premises' emissions;

(e) An assessment of other environmental health stresses borne by the affected population; and

(f) Other information requested by the Department and pertinent to the Department's decision to grant or deny the special permit.

(2) Risk Assessment.

(a) The risk assessment submitted under §C(1)(c) of this regulation shall include:

(i) A discussion of overall uncertainty in data and analysis; and

(ii) An estimate of the increase in individual risk from a continuous 70-year exposure to the highest annual average concentration off the property.

(b) The risk assessment submitted under §C(1)(c) of this regulation includes one or more alternative characterizations of risk, such as:

(i) The estimated increase in individual risk at the location of the most exposed individual;

(ii) The estimated increase in individual risk from each year of exposure;

(iii) The maximum number of cancers in the exposed population that would be expected due to operation of the premises; or

(iv) Other risk estimates more accurately characterizing exposure from emissions from the premises.

(c) The risk assessment submitted under §C(1)(c) of this regulation may use alternative unit risk factors, alternative dispersion modeling techniques, or other alternative risk assessment procedures approved by the Department and consistent with EPA's Risk Assessment Guidelines.

D. Scientific Review and Public Hearing.

(1) Optional Scientific Review Panel. If the Department makes a preliminary decision to consider an application for a special permit, it may convene a scientific review panel consisting of experts from within or outside the Department to evaluate information submitted as part of the application.

(2) Public Notice and Opportunity for Public Hearing.

(a) Except as provided in §D(2)(b) of this regulation, if the Department makes a determination to proceed with the application, it will follow the procedures under COMAR 26.11.02.12 a F and G for providing public notice and an opportunity for public hearing.

(b) Unless public notice and an opportunity for public hearing are required by Environment Article, § 2-204, Annotated Code of Maryland, or by other State or federal regulations, the Department will waive the requirement for public notice and opportunity for public hearing under this section if the Department determines that all of the following conditions are met:

(i) T-BACT is being used to reduce emissions of the TAP from the premises;

(ii) Emissions from the premises will not unreasonably endanger human health;

(iii) Emissions from the premises will cause increases in ambient levels of the TAP that are greater than the risk-based screening level for the TAP only on property that is zoned and used for industrial purposes; and

(iv) Increases in ambient levels of the TAP on property that is zoned and used for industrial purposes will increase a person's lifetime cancer risk by not more than 1 in 100,000 (1 x 10^-5) using assumptions that are consistent with EPA's Risk Assessment Guidelines and that the Department concludes accurately characterize worst plausible exposure and risk in those areas. For areas zoned and used for industrial purposes, the Department will assume a person is continuously exposed to the TAP for 40 hours a week for 40 years unless the Department concludes that other exposure assumptions would more accurately characterize worst plausible exposures in a particular instance.

Md. Code Regs. 26.11.16.05