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WHO MUST OBTAIN AN AIR OPERATING PERMIT IN TEXAS?
One way the state of Texas regulates air emissions is through a permitting process. Under the Texas Clean Air
Act of 1971, most new or expanding industries that will emit air contaminants must obtain a permit from the TCEQ before any construction is begun. Such permits require that the facility
install "best available control technology." Some facilities are exempt from the preconstruction permit requirement if they meet conditions set out in the state's "standard exemption" list,
which covers a variety of businesses, most of them small. Some of these companies automatically qualify for a standard exemption -- which is also called "Permit by Rule" while others
must register. A new kind of permit created in 1994 are called "flexible permits" and allow facilities flexibility in how they meet either emission limits or an emissions cap.
As of April 1994, Texas had issued 20,928 state construction permits in both attainment and
nonattainment areas. Some 14,000 are still active.* "New Source Review" permits in nonattainment areas are generally more stringent than "prevention of significant deterioration" permits in attainment areas. Until changes made by the 1999 and 2001 Legislature, air pollution sources that were operating before 1972 and had not expanded were not required to have a state construction permit; these are known as "grandfathered" facilities. However, in 1999, the Legislature forced all grandfathered utility facilities to apply for a new emissions reduction permit for electric generating facilities by September of 2000, and in 2001, the Texas Legislature passed legislation that will end this loophole for the remaining facilities. By September, 2004, all facilities --even including pipelines -- in Texas should have some kind of permit to operate and emit pollution into the air.
The 1990 federal Clean Air Act created a new category of permits: federal operating permits. These permits are
required of all major stationary sources that emit air pollutants, including "grandfathered" facilities. The purpose of federal operating permits is to codify all applicable requirements at a
site and provide an enforcement and compliance tool. These permits do not impose new emission reductions. For example, a petroleum refinery operation may have 100 to 200 different rules,
regulations, permits, and variances governing the operation of its facility. A Title V permit codifies them all. Thus, construction permits would be incorporated into an operating permit.
Most major sources, such as utilities, were required to submit their applications to the EPA by 1996. The TNRCC projects that there will be 8,100 federal operating permits issued at some
3,000 sites in Texas during the five years after the Texas program receives EPA approval.
Source: Information from the Point Source Data Base, Office of Air Quality, TNRCC; TNRCC, System Requirement
for the FCAA Integrated Management System [1993].
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