Sierra Research | Greenhouse Gas Assistance

On May 13, 2010, EPA issued a final rule that sets thresholds for GHG emissions defining when permits under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Operating Permit programs are required for new and existing industrial facilities.

This final rule "tailors" the emission thresholds for the current Title V and PSD permitting programs to limit the number of facilities that will be required to obtain PSD and Title V permits as a result of their GHG emissions.
EPA will phase in higher PSD and Title V permitting program emission thresholds for GHGs in two initial steps.

Step 1 (January 2, 2011 to June 30, 2011)

Only sources subject to the current PSD permitting program (i.e., new or modified sources with significant increases of a pollutant other than GHGs) would be subject to permitting requirements for their GHG emissions under PSD.
For these projects, only GHG increases of 75,000 tpy or more of total GHG, on a CO2e basis, would need to determine the Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for their GHG emissions.
Similarly for Title V, only sources currently subject to the program (i.e., new or existing sources that are major for a pollutant other than GHGs) would be subject to Title V requirements for GHG.

Step 2 (July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2013)

PSD permitting requirements will apply to new sources that emit GHG emissions of at least 100,000 tpy CO2e and modifications that increase GHG emissions by at least 75,000 tpy CO2e even if they do not exceed the permitting thresholds for any other pollutant.
Facilities that emit at least 100,000 tpy CO2e will be subject to Title V permitting requirements even if they would not otherwise be subject to Title V based on emissions of any other pollutant.

Additional Step 3 Outlined in the GHG Tailoring Rule

EPA will complete another rulemaking no later than July 1, 2012 to consider whether to require PSD and Title V permits for GHG emission sources as small as 50,000 tpy CO2e.
EPA will not require permits for GHG sources smaller than 50,000 tpy CO2e until at least April 30, 2016.

Where Can I Get More Information?

Additional information can be found on EPA’s website at http://www.epa.gov/NSR/actions.html#2010 and by contacting Sierra Research staff at srinfo@sierraresearch.com.

Footnotes:

[1] Federal Register, Volume 74, Number 206, pp. 55292-55365, October 27, 2009.