250 R.I. Code R. 250-RICR-120-05-29.5

Current through December 26, 2024

Section 250-RICR-120-05-29.5 - Definitions

A. Unless otherwise expressly defined in this section, the terms used in this regulation shall be defined by reference to Part 0 of this Subchapter (General Definitions). As used in this regulation, the following terms shall, where the context permits, be construed as follows:

1. "42 U.S.C. § 7661(a) (Clean Air Act § 502(b)(10)) change" means changes that contravene an express permit term. Such changes do not include changes that would violate applicable requirements or contravene federally enforceable permit terms and conditions that are monitoring (including test methods), recordkeeping, reporting, or compliance certification requirements.

2. "Actual emissions" means the actual rate of emissions of a pollutant from an emissions unit, as determined in accordance with §§ 29.5(A)(2)(a) through (c) of this Part:

a. In general, actual emissions as of a particular date shall equal the average rate, in tons per year, at which the unit actually emitted the pollutant during a two-year period which precedes the particular date and which is representative of normal source operation. The Director shall allow the use of a different time period upon a determination that it is more representative of normal source operation. Actual emissions shall be calculated using the unit's actual operating hours, production rates, and types of materials processed, stored, or combusted during the selected time period.

b. The Director may presume that source specific allowable emissions for the unit are equivalent to actual emissions of the unit.

c. For any emissions unit which has not begun normal operations on the particular date, actual emissions shall equal the potential to emit of the unit on that date.

3. "Affected source" means the meaning given to it in the regulations promulgated under 42 U.S.C. §§ 7651-7651o (CAA §§ 401-416).

4. "Affected states" means any state that:

a. Is contiguous to Rhode Island and whose air quality may be affected; or

b. Is located within fifty (50) miles of a facility subject to the operating permit program in Rhode Island.

5. "Affected unit" means the meaning given to it in the regulations promulgated under 42 U.S.C. §§ 7651-7651o (CAA §§ 401-416).

6. "Applicable requirement" means all of the following as they apply to emissions units in a stationary source (including requirements that have been promulgated or approved by EPA through rulemaking at the time of issuance but have future-effective compliance dates):

a. Any Air Pollution Control Regulation or other requirement provided for in the Rhode Island State Implementation Plan approved or promulgated by EPA through rulemaking under 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401-7431 (CAA §§ 101-131), 42 U.S.C. §§ 7470-7492 (CAA §§ 160-169b), or 42 U.S.C §§ 7501-7515 (CAA §§ 171-193) that implements the relevant requirements of the Act, including any revisions to that plan promulgated in 40 C.F.R. § 52 ;

b. Any term or condition of any preconstruction permits issued pursuant to Part 9 of this Subchapter (Air Pollution Control Permits) or issued pursuant to regulations approved or promulgated through rulemaking under 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401-7431 (CAA §§ 101-131), 42 U.S.C. §§ 7470-7492 (CAA §§ 160-169b), or 42 U.S.C §§ 7501-7515 (CAA §§ 171-193).

c. Any standard or other requirement under 42 U.S.C. § 7411 (CAA § 111), including 42 U.S.C. § 7411(d) (CAA § 111(d));

d. Any standard or other requirement under 42 U.S.C. § 7412 (CAA § 112), including any requirement concerning accident prevention under 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r)(7) (CAA § 112 (r)(7));

e. Any standard or other requirement of the acid rain program under 42 U.S.C. §§ 7651-7651o (CAA §§ 401-416) or the regulations promulgated thereunder;

f. Any requirements established pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7661c(b) (CAA § 504(b)) or 42 U.S.C. § 7414(a)(3) (CAA § 114(a)(3));

g. Any standard or other requirement governing solid waste incineration, under 42 U.S.C. § 7429 (CAA § 129);

h. Any standard or other requirement for consumer and commercial products, under 42 U.S.C. § 7511b(e) (CAA § 183(e));

i. Any standard or other requirement for tank vessels, under 42 U.S.C. § 7511b(f) (CAA § 183(f));

j. Any standard or other requirement of the program to control air pollution from outer continental shelf sources, under 42 U.S.C. § 7627 (CAA § 328);

k. Any standard or other requirement of the regulations promulgated to protect stratospheric ozone under 42 U.S.C. §§ 7671-7671q (CAA §§ 601-618), unless the Administrator has determined that such requirements need not be contained in an Operating Permit; and

l. Any national ambient air quality standard or increment or visibility requirement under 42 U.S.C. §§ 7470-7492 (CAA §§ 160-169b), but only as it would apply to temporary stationary sources permitted pursuant to § 29.12 of this Part.

m. Any air pollution control regulation adopted by the Office of Air Resources pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 23-23.

7. "Area source" means any stationary source of hazardous air pollutants that is not a major source as defined in § 29.5(A)(15)(a) of this Part.

8. "Designated representative" means a responsible person or official authorized by the owner or operator of a unit to represent the owner or operator in matters pertaining to the holding, transfer, or disposition of allowances allocated to a unit, and the submission of and compliance with permits, permit applications, and compliance plans for the unit under acid rain requirements of 42 U.S.C. §§ 7651-7651o (CAA §§ 401-416) and regulations promulgated thereunder.

9. "Draft permit" means the version of an operating permit for which the Office of Air Resources offers public participation or affected State review.

10. "Emissions allowable under the permit" means a federally enforceable permit term or condition determined at issuance to be required by an applicable requirement that establishes an emissions limit (including a work practice standard) or a federally enforceable emissions cap that the stationary source has assumed to avoid an applicable requirement to which the stationary source would otherwise be subject.

11. "Emissions cap" means any emission limitation or physical or operational limitations, imposed in a federally enforceable document that establishes the maximum quantity of emissions which may be released from a stationary source.

12. "Emissions trading" means the averaging of emissions of a given air pollutant from two (2) or more emissions units within a stationary source for the purpose of complying with a federally enforceable emissions cap or an applicable requirement.

13. "Final permit" means the version of an operating permit issued by the Office of Air Resources that has completed all review procedures.

14. "General permit" means an operating permit that meets the requirements of § 29.11 of this Part.

15. "Major source" means any of the following:

a. For pollutants other than radionuclides, all of the pollutant-emitting activities located within a contiguous area and under common control that emits or has the potential to emit, in the aggregate, ten (10) tons per year (tpy) or more of any hazardous air pollutant which has been listed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7412(b) (CAA § 112(b)), twenty-five (25) tpy or more of any combination of such hazardous air pollutants, or such lesser quantity as the Administrator may establish by rule. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, emissions from any oil or gas exploration or production well (with its associated equipment) and emissions from any pipeline compressor or pump station shall not be aggregated with emissions from other similar units, whether or not such units are in a contiguous area or under common control, to determine whether such units or stations are major sources; or

b. For radionuclides, "major source" shall have the meaning specified by the Administrator by rule.

c. All the pollutant-emitting activities, which belong to the same industrial grouping, are located on one or more contiguous or adjacent properties and are under control of the same person or persons under common control, that emits or has the potential to emit, one hundred (100) tpy or more of any air pollutant subject to regulation including any fugitive emissions, to the extent they are quantifiable; or

d. Pollutant-emitting activities shall be considered as part of the same industrial grouping if they belong to the same two-digit code as described in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987.

e. All the pollutant-emitting activities, which belong to the same industrial grouping, are located on one or more contiguous or adjacent properties and are under control of the same person or persons under common control, that emits or has the potential to emit fifty (50) tpy or more of volatile organic compounds or oxides of nitrogen including any fugitive emission, to the extent they are quantifiable.

f. Pollutant-emitting activities shall be considered as part of the same industrial grouping if they belong to the same two-digit code as described in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987.

16. "Operating permit" means any permit or group of permits covering a stationary source that is issued, renewed, amended, or revised pursuant to this regulation.

17. "Operating permit program" means a program approved by the Administrator under 40 C.F.R. § 70 .

18. "Permit modification" means any revision to an operating permit that cannot be accomplished under the provisions for administrative amendments provided in § 29.14.1 of this Part. A permit modification for purposes of the acid rain portion of the permit shall be governed by regulations promulgated under 42 U.S.C. §§ 7651-7651o (CAA §§ 401-416).

19. "Permit revision" means any permit modification or administrative permit amendment.

20. "Proposed permit" means the version of a permit that the Office of Air Resources proposes to issue and forwards to the Administrator for review.

21. "Regulated air pollutant" means the following:

a. Nitrogen oxides or any volatile organic compounds;

b. Any pollutant for which a national ambient air quality standard has been promulgated;

c. Any pollutant that is subject to any standard promulgated under 42 U.S.C. § 7411 (CAA § 111);

d. Any Class I or II substance subject to a standard promulgated under or established by 42 U.S.C. §§ 7671-7671q (CAA §§ 601-618); or

e. Any pollutant subject to a standard promulgated under 42 U.S.C. § 7412 (CAA § 112) or other requirements established under 42 U.S.C. § 7412 (CAA § 112), including 42 U.S.C. § 7412(g) (CAA § 112(g)), 42 U.S.C. § 7412(j) (CAA § 112(j)), and 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r) (CAA § 112(r)), including the following:

(1) Any pollutant subject to requirements under 42 U.S.C § 7412(j) (CAA § 112(j)). If the Administrator fails to promulgate a standard by the date established pursuant to 42 U.S.C § 7412(e) (CAA § 112 (e)), any pollutant for which a subject stationary source would be major shall be considered to be regulated on the date eighteen (18) months after the applicable date established pursuant to 42 U.S.C § 7412(e) (CAA § 112(e)); and

(2) Any pollutant for which the requirements of 42 U.S.C § 7412 (CAA § 112(g)(2)) of the Act have been met, but only with respect to the individual stationary source subject to the 42 U.S.C § 7412(g)(2) (CAA § 112 (g)(2)) requirement.

f. Any substance which is listed in Part 22 of this Subchapter (Air Toxics).

22. "Renewal" means the process by which a permit is reissued at the end of its term.

23. "Research and development operations" means activities in a laboratory or pilot plant directed toward:

a. The discovery of facts, scientific principles, reactions or substances; or,

b. The structuring or establishment of methods of manufacture or of specific designs of saleable substances, devices or procedures, based upon previously discovered facts, scientific principles, reactions or substances.

c. Development shall not include production for sale of established products through established processes; nor shall it include production for distribution through market testing channels.

24. "Responsible official" means one of the following:

a. For a corporation: a president, secretary, treasurer, or vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation, or a duly authorized representative of such person if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities applying for or subject to a permit and either:

(1) The facilities employ more than two hundred fifty (250) persons or have gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding twenty-five (25) million dollars (in second quarter 1980 dollars); or

(2) The delegation of authority to such representative is approved in advance by the Office of Air Resources;

b. For a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or the proprietor, respectively;

c. For a municipality, State, Federal, or other public agency: either a principal executive officer or ranking elected official. For the purposes of this regulation, a principal executive officer of a Federal agency includes the chief executive officer having responsibility for the overall operations of a principal geographic unit of the agency (e.g., a Regional Administrator of EPA); or

d. For affected sources:

(1) The designated representative in so far as actions, standards, requirements, or prohibitions under 42 U.S.C. §§ 7651-7651o (CAA §§ 401-416) or the regulations promulgated thereunder are concerned; and

(2) The designated representative for any other purposes under 40 C.F.R. § 70 .

25. "Section 111" means that portion of the Federal Clean Air Act that addresses New Source Performance Standards.

26. "Section 112" means that portion of the Federal Clean Air Act that addresses National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.

27. "Section 502(b)(10) changes" means changes that contravene an express permit term. Such changes do not include changes that would violate applicable requirements or contravene federally enforceable permit terms and conditions that are monitoring (including test methods), recordkeeping, reporting, or compliance certification requirements.

28. "Subject to regulation" means, for any air pollutant, that the pollutant is subject to either a provision in the Clean Air Act, or a nationally-applicable regulation codified by the EPA in 40 C.F.R. §§ 50 through 99, that requires actual control of the quantity of emissions of that pollutant, and that such a control requirement has taken effect and is operative to control, limit or restrict the quantity of emissions of that pollutant released from the regulated activity. Except that:

a. Greenhouse gases (GHGs), the air pollutant defined in 40 C.F.R. § 86.1818 "12(a) as the aggregate group of six (6) greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride, shall not be subject to regulation unless, as of July 1, 2011, the GHG emissions are at a stationary source emitting or having the potential to emit one-hundred thousand (100,000) tpy CO2 equivalent emissions.

b. The term tpy CO2 equivalent emissions (CO2e) shall represent an amount of GHGs emitted, and shall be computed by multiplying the mass amount of emissions (tpy), for each of the six (6) greenhouse gases in the pollutant GHGs, by the gas"s associated global warming potential published at 40 C.F.R. § 98, Table A-1, and summing the resultant value for each to compute a tpy CO2e.

29. "Technology-based emission limitation" means an emission limitation that is formulated on the basis of the application of measures, processes, methods, systems or techniques including but not limited to:

a. Enclosing systems or processes to eliminate emissions,

b. Collecting, capturing, destroying, incinerating or treating such pollutants when released from a process, stack, storage or fugitive emissions point,

c. Design, equipment, work practice, or operational standards, or

d. Reducing the volume of or eliminating emissions of such pollutants through process changes, substitution of materials or other modifications, or

e. Are a combination of any of the above.

30. "Temporary source" means a stationary source which, by design, is intended to be operated at more than one location and which is relocated at least once in five (5) years.

31. "Title I" means that portion of the Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 codified in 42 U.S.C. § 7401-7431 (CAA § 101-131), 42 U.S.C. § 7470-7492 (CAA § 160-169b), and 42 U.S.C § 7501-7515 (CAA § 171-193) of the Act.

32. "Title I modification" or "modification under any provision of Title I of the Act" means any modification under 42 U.S.C. § 7411 (CAA § 111) or 42 U.S.C. § 7412 (CAA § 112) and any physical change or change in method of operations that is subject to the preconstruction regulations promulgated 42 U.S.C. § 7470-7492 (CAA § 160-169b), or 42 U.S.C § 7501-7515 (CAA § 171-193). The following are not considered Title I modifications or modifications under any provision of Title I:

a. Routine maintenance, repair and replacement.

b. An increase in the hours of operation or in the production rate, unless such change is prohibited by conditions of any federally enforceable document.

c. A change in ownership at a stationary source.

d. Any modification subject to the minor source permitting requirements in Part 9 of this Subchapter (Air Pollution Control Permits).

250 R.I. Code R. 250-RICR-120-05-29.5

Adopted effective 1/10/2019
Amended effective 4/9/2024