United States Environmental Protection Agency

General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified Minor Sources of Air 

Pollution in Indian Country

http://www.epa.gov/air/tribal/tribalnsr.html

Questionnaire for Requesting Coverage under the General Air Quality Permit for 

New or Modifed Minor Source Hot Mix Asphalt Plants in Indian Country

Last Modified: March 23, 2015

Version 1.0 

Does the General Permit apply to my facility?

The following questionnaire is intended to help you, the facility owner or operator, determine whether or not you are 

eligible for the General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified Minor Source Hot Mix Asphalt Plants in Indian Country. 

You are not required to complete this questionnaire and it is not necessary to apply for the General Air Quality Permit 

for New or Modified Minor Source Hot Mix Asphalt Plants. This questionnaire does not cover all of the General Air 

Quality Permit requirements and does not guarantee approval of a minor source preconstruction permit under this 

program. This General Air Quality Permit is available to true minor and synthetic minor sources of regulated New Source 

Review (NSR) pollutants.

Description of Hot Mix Asphalt Plants

A hot mix asphalt plant is a facility that manufactures hot mix asphalt by heating and drying aggregate and mixing with 

asphalt cements, and is comprised only of any combination of the following activities: dryers, liquid asphalt storage 

tanks, fuel oil storage tanks, auxiliary heaters (including hot oil heaters), material storage handling and transfer systems,

generators, storage bins/silos, storage piles, and haul roads.

 

About this Questionnaire

The questions focus on general information pertaining to your existing or future hot mix asphalt plant. The 

questionnaire is not meant to be exhaustive and only requires knowledge of basic facility information, including the 

maximum capacity of the units, production rate, and fuel usage.

You should continue with this Questionnaire if you meet all of the following criteria:

 You plan to construct a new true or synthetic minor source batch or drum hot mix asphalt plant OR plan to 

modify an existing minor source batch or drum hot mix asphalt plant; 

 You are not planning to construct or modify a major source batch or drum hot mix asphalt plant;

 Your new or modified minor source hot mix asphalt plant is located within Indian country;

 Your hot mix asphalt operation will be co-located with your stone quarrying, crushing and screening 

operation (this is not a requirement to qualify for this General Permit); 

 You do not know whether your facility needs a permit, or if you do not know the attainment status of your area

and you want to find out whether or not you should apply for the General Permit for a hot mix asphalt facility;

and

 You intend to satisfy the processes that the EPA has made available in the application documents for this

General Permit to address threatened and endangered species and historic properties under the Endangered 

Species Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, respectively.

More Information

The definition of a “modification” and “Potential to Emit” (or “PTE”) can be found at 40 CFR 49.152(d) and in the 

“Instructions” document. Additional information on the applicability of the Federal Indian Country Minor NSR Rule can 

be found at 40 CFR 49.153.

Information on the ozone attainment status of the area where your facility is located can be found at: 

http://www.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/. You may also contact your reviewing authority for information on your 

attainment status. 
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Please contact your reviewing authority if you have questions or need assistance. A list of reviewing authorities, their 

area of coverage, and contact information can be found in Attachment D to the General Air Quality Permit for Minor 

Source Hot Mix Asphalt Plants or visit: http://www.epa.gov/air/tribal/tribalnsr.html.

Sources eligible for the General Permit for New or Modified Minor Source Hot Mix Asphalt Plants may also be subject to 

federal standards under 40 CFR 60 Subpart I – Standards for Performance for Hot Mix Asphalt Facilities; 40 CFR 60 

Subpart IIII – Standards of Performance for Stationary Compression Ignition Internal Combustion Engines; and 40 CFR 63 

Subpart ZZZZ – National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Stationary Reciprocating Internal 

Combustion Engines. The conditions applicable to sources seeking coverage under this General Permit are intended to 

be generally consistent with the requirements in these regulations; however, compliance with the applicable 

requirements is required independent of the conditions in the General Permit, and not all requirements applicable 

under Subparts I, IIII, and ZZZZ are necessarily included in the General Permit. The Background Document for the 

General Permit identifies the specific requirements in these Subparts that are intended to be included in the General 

Permit.

Additional Information about Co-Located Stone Quarrying, Crushing and Screening Operations:

If you otherwise qualify for this General Permit and intend to be co-located with your stone quarrying, crushing and 

screening facilities operation you may still qualify for the General Permit if:

 The combined potential emissions of the two operations are below all of the applicable Major NSR 

thresholds and you obtain the General Permit or a site-specific permit for your stone quarrying, crushing and 

screening facilities operation; or

 The combined potential emissions of the two operations are below all the applicable major NSR thresholds, 

but you elect to take more restrictive throughput and fuel use limits, those in Conditions 17. and 20.b. of the 

General Permit, so that combined potential emissions of the two operations are below 100 tons per year 

(tpy) for regulated NSR pollutants, and you obtain the Stone Quarrying, Crushing and Screening Facilities

General Permit with the elective limits for co-located operations. This option is not available in serious, 

severe or extreme ozone nonattainment areas or serious carbon monoxide (CO) nonattainment areas.

Please contact your reviewing authority for additional information.

Questionnaire for Hot Mix Asphalt Plants

Part 1: Does my Hot Mix Asphalt Plant Need or Qualify for a Minor Source Permit?

The following questions are meant to determine whether or not your asphalt plant is a minor source. 

1. Will the PTE of your facility be less than 250 tpy for particulate matter (PM, PM10, or PM2.5), volatile organic 

compound (VOC), nitrogen oxides (NOX), CO, and sulfur dioxide (SO2), each individually? The emissions from your 

facility may be calculated using the PTE calculator provided at http://www.epa.gov/air/tribal/tribalnsr.html. Be 

sure to include all existing, new, and modified emission units at your facility.

Yes No 

If you answered ‘No,’ you do not qualify for the General Permit, please contact your reviewing authority to apply 

for a site-specific permit. If you answered ‘Yes,’ continue on to the next question. A synthetic minor source that 

agrees to the enforceable conditions in the General Permit and is below the threshold above should answer 

‘Yes.’
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2. Will the PTE of your new facility or the increase in potential emissions from your modified existing facility be 

equal to or above the applicable minor NSR thresholds listed below for ANY pollutant? The potential emissions 

from your facility may be calculated using the PTE calculator provided at 

http://www.epa.gov/air/tribal/tribalnsr.html. Be sure to include all new and modified emission units at your 

facility.

Pollutant Attainment Area Nonattainment Area

CO 10 tpy 5 tpy

PM 10 tpy 5 tpy

PM10 5 tpy 1 tpy

PM2.5 3 tpy 0.6 tpy

SO2 10 tpy 5 tpy

NOX 10 tpy 5 tpy

VOC 5 tpy 2 tpy

Yes No

 

If you answered ‘No,’ your source is exempt from the minor NSR program. Please contact reviewing 

authority to confirm that your facility will not need a permit. If you answered ‘Yes,’ continue on to the next 

question. 

3. Is your facility located in a severe or extreme ozone nonattainment area?

Yes No 

If you answered ‘Yes,’ your source does not qualify for this General Permit. Please contact reviewing 

authority to apply for a site-specific permit. If you answered ‘No,’ continue on to the next question.

4. If located in a nonattainment area for any pollutant, will the PTE of your facility for the particular 

nonattainment pollutant be less than the NSR major source thresholds specified in the table below (based 

on nonattainment classification)? Be sure to include all existing, new, and modified emission units at your 

facility.

Pollutant Nonattainment Classification NSR Major Source Threshold

Ozone Marginal 100 tpy of VOC or NOX

Moderate 100 tpy of VOC or NOX

Serious 50 tpy of VOC or NOX

Severe Not eligible for the General Permit

Extreme Not eligible for the General Permit

PM10 Moderate 100 tpy

Serious 70 tpy

CO Moderate 100 tpy
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Pollutant Nonattainment Classification NSR Major Source Threshold

Serious 50 tpy

SO2, NO2, PM2.5 No nonattainment classification 100 tpy

Yes No Not Applicable

If you answered ‘No,’ your source does not qualify for the General Permit. Please contact your reviewing 

authority to apply for a site-specific permit. If you answered ‘Yes,’ continue on to the next question. A 

synthetic minor source that agrees to the enforceable conditions in the General Permit and is below the 

thresholds above should answer ‘Yes.’

Information on the ozone attainment status of the area where your facility is located can be found at: 

http://www.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/.

5. Did you include potential emissions from your co-located stone quarrying, crushing, and screening operation in 

your PTE calculations for this section?

Yes No Not Applicable – not co-locating with a stone quarrying, crushing and screening

 facilities operation

If you answered ‘No,” your source does not qualify for coverage under the General Permit for hot mix asphalt

plants. Please contact your reviewing authority to apply for a site-specific permit. If you answered ‘Yes’ or ‘Not 

Applicable’ continue on to Part 2 of the Questionnaire. If you qualify for this General Permit and are co-located 

with a stone quarrying, crushing and screening facilities operation you must also receive either the General 

Permit or a site-specific permit for the stone quarrying, crushing and screening facilities equipment prior to 

construction or modification.

Part 2: What types of facilities DO NOT Qualify for this General Air Quality Permit for Hot Mix 

Asphalt Plants?

The following question is meant to determine whether or not your asphalt plant would disqualify it for operating 

under the General Air Quality Permit for Minor Source Hot Mix Asphalt Plants. 

1. Does or will your facility perform contaminated soil remediation?

Yes No Not Applicable

If you answered ‘No’ to this question, your facility may qualify for coverage under the Hot Mix Asphalt Plants

General Air Quality Permit, and should continue on to Part 3 of the Questionnaire.

If you answered ‘Yes’ to this question, your facility likely does not qualify for coverage under the Hot Mix Asphalt 

Plants General Air Quality Permit. Please contact your reviewing authority to confirm that your facility will not 

qualify for this permit.
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Part 3: Does My Hot Mix Asphalt Plant Qualify for a General Air Quality Permit?

The following questions are meant to determine whether or not your asphalt plant would qualify for the General 

Permit for hot mix asphalt plants. 

After the proposed construction/modification project:

1. Will the asphalt dryer be controlled by a baghouse (fabric filters) or a venturi scrubber?

Yes No 

2. Will this facility use only natural gas, propane, distillate fuel or biodiesel in the dryer/mixer?

Yes No 

3. Will your new or modified drum mix asphalt plant located in an ozone attainment, unclassifiable or 

attainment/unclassifiable area or marginal, moderate or serious ozone nonattainment area produce less than 

83,000 tons per month, on average, of hot mix asphalt? Or, if located in a serious CO nonattainment area, less 

than 33,000 tons per month, on average?

Yes No Not Applicable - (i.e., the source is not a drum mix plant)

4. Will your new or modified batch mix asphalt plant located in an ozone attainment, unclassifiable or 

attainment/unclassifiable area or marginal, moderate or serious ozone nonattainment area produce less than 

27,000 tons per month, on average, of hot mix asphalt? Or, if located in a serious CO nonattainment area, less 

than 11,000 tons per month, on average?

Yes No Not Applicable (i.e., the source is not a batch mix plant)

5. Will this facility use only diesel or biodiesel in its stationary engines/generators? “Stationary” engines include all 

internal-combustion engines that are used either in a fixed application, or in a portable (or transportable) 

application in which the engine (and any replacement engine that is intended to perform the same or similar 

function) will stay at a single site for 12 months or a shorter period for seasonal sources.

Yes No Not Applicable – no engines/generators at the source

6. Will the total liquid fuel usage for the engines/generators at your facility located in an ozone attainment, 

unclassifiable or attainment/unclassifiable area or marginal or moderate ozone nonattainment area be 12,500 

gallons per month or less? Or if in a serious ozone nonattainment area, less than 5,200 gallons per month?

Yes No Not Applicable

7. Will this facility use only the following fuel(s) in the auxiliary heaters: natural gas, propane, distillate fuel or 

biodiesel? 

 Yes No Not Applicable – no auxiliary heaters at the source
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8. Is the total maximum heat input capacity of the auxiliary heaters (including hot oil heaters) equal to or less than 

10 MMBtu/hr?

Yes No Not Applicable – no auxiliary heaters at the source

9. Will each of the asphalt storage tank(s) and fuel storage tank(s) at this facility have a maximum capacity less than 

39,890 gallons and a true maximum vapor pressure less than 4 psi?

 Yes No Not Applicable – no storage tanks at the source

10. Do you intend to satisfy the procedures for threatened or endangered species and historic properties 

according to the processes provided by the EPA for this General Permit?

Yes No

Conclusion

If you answered ‘Yes’ or ‘Not Applicable’ to each question in Part 3, your facility may qualify for coverage under the 

Hot Mix Asphalt Plants General Air Quality Permit. If you believe based upon your answers in this questionnaire that 

your new or modified hot mix asphalt plant qualifies for a General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified Minor 

Source Hot Mix Asphalt Plants, please submit a Request for Coverage to your reviewing authority.

If you answered ‘No’ to any of these questions, your facility may not qualify for coverage under the Hot Mix Asphalt 

Plants Air Quality Permit. Please contact your reviewing authority to confirm that your facility will not qualify for this 

General Permit.