Section 201.146  Exemptions from State Permit Requirements

 

Construction or operating permits, pursuant to Sections 201.142, 201.143 and 201.144 of this Part, are not required for the classes of equipment and activities listed below in this Section.  The permitting exemptions in this Section do not relieve the owner or operator of any source from any obligation to comply with any other applicable requirements, including the obligation to obtain a permit pursuant to Sections 9.1(d) and 39.5 of the Act, sections 165, 173 and 502 of the Clean Air Act or any other applicable permit or registration requirements.

 

a)         Air contaminant detectors or recorders, combustion controllers or combustion shutoffs;

 

b)         Air conditioning or ventilating equipment not designed to remove air contaminants generated by or released from associated equipment;

 

c)         Each fuel burning emission unit for indirect systems and for heating and reheating furnace systems used exclusively for residential, or commercial establishments using gas and/or fuel oil exclusively with a design heat input capacity of less than 14.6 MW (50 MMBtu/hr), except that a permit shall be required for any such emission unit with a design heat input capacity of at least 10 MMBtu/hr that was constructed, reconstructed or modified after June 9, 1989 and that is subject to 40 CFR 60, subpart D;

 

d)         Each fuel burning emission unit other than those listed in subsection (c) of this Section for direct systems used for comfort heating purposes and indirect heating systems with a design heat input capacity of less than 2930 kW (10 MMBtu/hr);

 

e)         Internal combustion engines or boilers (including the fuel system) of motor vehicles, locomotives, air craft, watercraft, lifttrucks and other vehicles powered by nonroad engines;

 

f)         Bench scale laboratory equipment and laboratory equipment used exclusively for chemical and physical analysis, including associated laboratory fume hoods, vacuum producing devices and control devices installed primarily to address potential accidental releases;

 

g)         Coating operations located at a source using not in excess of 18,925 1 (5,000 gal) of coating (including thinner) per year;

 

h)         Any emission unit acquired exclusively for domestic use, except that a permit shall be required for any incinerator and for any fuel combustion emission unit using solid fuel with a design heat input capacity of 14.6 MW (50 MMBtu/hr) or more;

 

i)          Any stationary internal combustion engine with a rated power output of less than 1118 kW (1500 bhp) or stationary turbine, except that a permit shall be required for the following:

 

1)         Any internal combustion engine with a rating at equal to or greater than 500 bhp output that is subject to the control requirements of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 217.388(a) or (b); or

 

2)         Any stationary gas turbine engine with a rated heat input at peak load of 10.7 gigajoules/hr (10 MMBtu/hr) or more that is constructed, reconstructed or modified after October 3, 1977 and that is subject to requirements of 40 CFR 60, subpart GG;

 

j)          Rest room facilities and associated cleanup operations, and stacks or vents used to prevent the escape of sewer gases through plumbing traps;

 

k)         Safety devices designed to protect life and limb, provided that a permit is not otherwise required for the emission unit with which the safety device is associated;

 

l)          Storage tanks and fuel dispensing equipment that are both used for the dispensing of fuel to mobile sources, including on-road and off-road vehicles, for use in such mobile sources;

 

m)        Printing operations with aggregate organic solvent usage that never exceeds 2,839 l (750 gal) per year from all printing lines at the source, including organic solvent from inks, dilutents, fountain solutions and cleaning materials;

 

n)         Storage tanks of:

 

1)         Organic liquids with a capacity of less than 37,850 l (10,000 gal), provided the storage tank is not used to store any amount of material or mixture of any material listed as a hazardous air pollutant pursuant to section 112(b) of the Clean Air Act;

 

2)         Any size containing exclusively soaps, detergents, surfactants, waxes, glycerin, vegetable oils, greases, animal fats, sweetener, corn syrup, aqueous salt solutions or aqueous caustic solutions, provided an organic solvent has not been mixed with such materials; or

 

3)         Any size containing virgin or re-refined distillate oil (including kerosene and diesel fuel), hydrocarbon condensate from natural gas pipeline or storage systems, lubricating oil or residual fuel oils;

 

o)         Threaded pipe connections, vessel manways, flanges, valves, pump seals, pressure relief valves, pressure relief devices and pumps;

 

p)         Sampling connections used exclusively to withdraw materials for testing and analyses;

 

q)         All storage tanks of Illinois crude oil with capacity of less than 151,400 1 (40,000 gal) located on oil field sites;

 

r)          All organic material-water single or multiple compartment effluent water separator facilities for Illinois crude oil of vapor pressure of less than 34.5 kPa absolute (5 psia);

 

s)         Grain-handling operations, exclusive of grain-drying operations, with an annual grain through-put not exceeding 300,000 bushels;

 

t)          Grain-drying operations with a total grain-drying capacity not exceeding 750 bushels per hour for 5% moisture extraction at manufacturer's rated capacity, using the American Society of Agricultural Engineers Standard 248.2, Section 9, Basis for Stating Drying Capacity of Batch and Continuous-Flow Grain Dryers;

 

u)         Portable grain-handling equipment and one-turn storage space;

 

v)         Cold cleaning degreasers that are not in-line cleaning machines, where the vapor pressure of the solvents used never exceeds 2 kPa (15 mmHg or 0.3 psi) measured at 38°C (100°F) or 0.7 kPa (5 mmHg or 0.1 psi) at 20°C (68°F);

 

w)        Coin-operated dry cleaning operations;

 

x)         Dry cleaning operations at a source that consume less than 30 gallons per month of perchloroethylene;

 

y)         Brazing, soldering, wave soldering or welding equipment, including associated ventilation hoods;

 

z)         Cafeterias, kitchens, and other similar facilities, including smokehouses, used for preparing food or beverages, but not including facilities used in the manufacturing and wholesale distribution of food, beverages, food or beverage products, or food or beverage components;

 

aa)       Equipment for carving, cutting, routing, turning, drilling, machining, sawing, surface grinding, sanding, planing, buffing, sand blast cleaning, shot blasting, shot peening, or polishing ceramic artwork, leather, metals (other than beryllium), plastics, concrete, rubber, paper stock, wood or wood products, where such equipment is either:

 

1)         Used for maintenance activity;

 

2)         Manually operated;

 

3)         Exhausted inside a building; or

 

4)         Vented externally with emissions controlled by an appropriately operated cyclonic inertial separator (cyclone), filter, electro-static precipitor or a scrubber;

 

bb)       Feed mills that produce no more than 10,000 tons of feed per calendar year, provided that a permit is not otherwise required for the source pursuant to Section 201.142, 201.143 or 201.144;

 

cc)       Extruders used for the extrusion of metals, minerals, plastics, rubber or wood, excluding:

 

1)         Extruders used in the manufacture of polymers;

 

2)         Extruders using foaming agents or release agents that contain volatile organic materials or Class I or II substances subject to the requirements of Title VI of the Clean Air Act; and

 

3)         Extruders processing scrap material that was produced using foaming agents containing volatile organic materials or Class I or II substances subject to the requirements of Title VI of the Clean Air Act;

 

dd)      Furnaces used for melting metals, other than beryllium, with a brim full capacity of less than 450 cubic inches by volume;

 

ee)       Equipment used for the melting or application of less than 22,767 kg/yr (50,000 lbs/yr) of wax to which no organic solvent has been added;

 

ff)        Equipment used for filling drums, pails or other packaging containers, excluding aerosol cans, with soaps, detergents, surfactants, lubricating oils, waxes, vegetable oils, greases, animal fats, glycerin, sweeteners, corn syrup, aqueous salt solutions or aqueous caustic solutions, provided an organic solvent has not been mixed with such materials;

 

gg)       Loading and unloading systems for railcars, tank trucks, or watercraft that handle only the following liquid materials:  soaps, detergents, surfactants, lubricating oils, waxes, glycerin, vegetable oils, greases, animal fats, sweetener, corn syrup, aqueous salt solutions or aqueous caustic solutions, provided an organic solvent has not been mixed with such materials;

 

hh)       Equipment used for the mixing and blending of materials at ambient temperatures to make water based adhesives, provided each material mixed or blended contains less than 5% organic solvent by weight;

 

ii)         Die casting machines where a metal or plastic is formed under pressure in a die located at a source with a through-put of less than 2,000,000 lbs of metal or plastic per year, in the aggregate, from all die casting machines;

 

jj)         Air pollution control devices used exclusively with other equipment that is exempt from permitting, as provided in this Section;

 

kk)       (Reserved);

 

ll)         Photographic process equipment by which an image is reproduced upon material sensitized to radiant energy;

 

mm)     Equipment used for hydraulic or hydrostatic testing;

 

nn)       General vehicle maintenance and servicing activities conducted at a source, motor vehicle repair shops, and motor vehicle body shops, but not including motor vehicle refinishing;

 

oo)       Equipment using water, water and soap or detergent, or a suspension of abrasives in water for purposes of cleaning or finishing, provided no organic solvent has been added to the water;

 

pp)       Administrative activities including, but not limited to, paper shredding, copying, photographic activities and blueprinting machines. This does not include incinerators;

 

qq)       Laundry dryers, extractors, and tumblers processing that have been cleaned with water solutions of bleach or detergents that are:

 

1)         Located at a source and process clothing, bedding and other fabric items used at the source, provided that any organic solvent present in such items before processing that is retained from cleanup operations shall be addressed as part of the VOM emissions from use of cleaning materials;

 

2)         Located at a commercial laundry; or

 

3)         Coin operated;

 

rr)        Housekeeping activities for cleaning purposes, including collecting spilled and accumulated materials, including operation of fixed vacuum cleaning systems specifically for such purposes, but not including use of cleaning materials that contain organic solvent;

 

ss)        Refrigeration systems, including storage tanks used in refrigeration systems, but excluding any combustion equipment associated with such systems;

 

tt)        Activities associated with the construction, on-site repair, maintenance or dismantlement of buildings, utility lines, pipelines, wells, excavations, earthworks and other structures that do not constitute emission units;

 

uu)       Piping and storage systems for natural gas, propane and liquefied petroleum gas;

 

vv)       Water treatment or storage systems, as follows:

 

1)         Systems for potable water or boiler feedwater;

 

2)         Systems, including cooling towers, for process water, provided that such water has not been in direct or indirect contact with process streams that contain volatile organic material or materials listed as hazardous air pollutants pursuant to section 112(b) of the Clean Air Act;

 

ww)     Lawn care, landscape maintenance and grounds keeping activities;

 

xx)       Containers, reservoirs or tanks used exclusively in dipping operations to coat objects with oils, waxes or greases, provided no organic solvent has been mixed with such materials;

 

yy)       Use of consumer products, including hazardous substances as that term is defined in the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (15 USC 1261 et seq.), where the product is used at a source in the same manner as normal consumer use;

 

zz)       Activities directly used in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, injury or other medical condition;

 

aaa)      Activities associated with the construction, repair or maintenance of roads or other paved or open areas, including operation of street sweepers, vacuum trucks, spray trucks and other vehicles related to the control of fugitive emissions of such roads or other areas;

 

bbb)     Storage and handling of drums or other transportable containers, where the containers are sealed during storage and handling;

 

ccc)      Activities at a source associated with the maintenance, repair or dismantlement of an emission unit or other equipment installed at the source, not including the shutdown of the unit or equipment, including preparation for maintenance, repair or dismantlement, and preparation for subsequent startup, including preparation of a shutdown vessel for entry, replacement of insulation, welding and cutting, and steam purging of a vessel prior to startup;

 

ddd)    Equipment used for corona arc discharge surface treatment of plastic with a power rating of 5 kW or less or equipped with an ozone destruction device;

 

eee)      Equipment used to seal or cut plastic bags for commercial, industrial or domestic use;

 

fff)      Each direct-fired gas dryer used for a washing, cleaning, coating or printing line, excluding:

 

1)         Dryers with a rated heat input capacity of 2930 kW (10 MMBtu/hr) or more; and

 

2)         Dryers for which emissions other than those attributable to combustion of fuel in the dryer, including emissions attributable to use or application of cleaning agents, washing materials, coatings or inks or other process materials that contain volatile organic material are not addressed as part of the permitting of such line, if a permit is otherwise required for the line;

 

ggg)     Municipal solid waste landfills with a maximum total design capacity of less than 2.5 million Mg or 2.5 million m³ that are not required to install a gas collection and control system pursuant to 35 Ill. Adm. Code 220 or 800 through 849 or Section 9.1 of the Act;

 

hhh)    Replacement or addition of air pollution control equipment for existing emission units in circumstances where:

 

1)         The existing emission unit is permitted and has operated in compliance for the past year;

 

2)         The new control equipment will provide equal or better control of the target pollutants;

 

3)         The new control device will not be accompanied by a net increase in emissions of any non-targeted criteria air pollutant;

 

4)         Different State or federal regulatory requirements or newly proposed regulatory requirements will not apply to the unit; and

 

BOARD NOTE:  All sources must comply with underlying federal regulations and future State regulations.

 

5)         Where the existing air pollution control equipment had required monitoring equipment, the new air pollution control equipment will be equipped with the instrumentation and monitoring devices that are typically installed on the new equipment of that type.

 

BOARD NOTE:  For major sources subject to Section 39.5 of the Act, where the new air pollution control equipment will require a different compliance determination method in the facility's CAAPP permit, the facility may need a permit modification to address the changed compliance determination method;

 

iii)       Replacement, addition, or modification of emission units at facilities with federally enforceable State operating permits limiting their potential to emit in circumstances where:

 

1)         The potential to emit any regulated air pollutant in the absence of air pollution control equipment from the new emission unit, or the increase in the potential to emit resulting from the modification of any existing emission unit, is less than 0.1 pound per hour or 0.44 tons per year;

 

2)         The raw materials and fuels used or present in the emission unit that cause or contribute to emissions, based on the information contained in Material Safety Data Sheets for those materials, do not contain equal to or greater than 0.01 percent by weight of any hazardous air pollutant as defined under section 112(b) of the federal Clean Air Act;

 

3)         The emission unit or modification is not subject to an emission standard or other regulatory requirement pursuant to section 111 of the federal Clean Air Act;

 

4)         Potential emissions of regulated air pollutants from the emission unit or modification will not, in combination with emissions from existing units or other proposed units, trigger permitting requirements under Section 39.5, permitting requirements under section 165 or 173 of the federal Clean Air Act, or the requirement to obtain a revised federally enforceable State operating permit limiting the source's potential to emit; and

 

5)         The source is not currently the subject of a Non-compliance Advisory, Clean Air Act Section 114 Request, Violation Notice, Notice of Violation, Compliance Commitment Agreement, Administrative Order, or civil or criminal enforcement action, related to the air emissions of the source;

 

jjj)       Replacement, addition, or modification of emission units at permitted sources that are not major sources subject to Section 39.5 of the Act and that do not have a federally enforceable State operating permit limiting their potential to emit, in circumstances where:

 

1)        The potential to emit of any regulated air pollutant in the absence of air pollution control equipment from the new emission unit, or the increase in the potential to emit resulting from the modification of any existing emission unit is either:

 

A)        Less than 0.1 pound per hour or 0.44 tons per year; or

 

B)        Less than 0.5 pound per hour, and the permittee provides prior notification to the Agency of the intent to construct or install the unit.  The unit may be constructed, installed or modified immediately after the notification is filed;

 

2)         The emission unit or modification is not subject to an emission standard or other regulatory requirement under section 111 or 112 of the federal Clean Air Act;

 

3)         Potential emissions of regulated air pollutants from the emission unit or modification will not, in combination with the emissions from existing units or other proposed units, trigger permitting requirements under Section 39.5 of the Act or the requirement to obtain a federally enforceable permit limiting the source's potential to emit; and

 

4)         The source is not currently the subject of a Non-compliance Advisory, Clean Air Act Section 114 Request, Violation Notice, Notice of Violation, Compliance Commitment Agreement, Administrative Order, or civil or criminal enforcement action, related to the air emissions of the source;

 

kkk)     The owner or operator of a CAAPP source is not required to obtain an air pollution control construction permit for the construction or modification of an emission unit or activity that is an insignificant activity as addressed by Section 201.210 or 201.211 of this Part.  Section 201.212 of this Part must still be followed, as applicable.  Other than excusing the owner or operator of a CAAPP source from the requirement to obtain an air pollution control construction permit for the emission units or activities, nothing in this subsection shall alter or affect the liability of the CAAPP source for compliance with emission standards and other requirements that apply to the emission units or activities, either individually or in conjunction with other emission units or activities constructed, modified or located at the source;

 

lll)        Plastic injection molding equipment with an annual through-put not exceeding 5,000 tons of plastic resin in the aggregate from all plastic injection molding equipment at the source, and all associated plastic resin loading, unloading, conveying, mixing, storage, grinding, and drying equipment and associated mold release and mold cleaning agents;

 

mmm)  Sources required to comply with Section 201.175 (Registration of Smaller Sources (ROSS)).

 

(Source:  Amended at 41 Ill. Reg. 4140, effective March 24, 2017)