Imperial County Air Pollution Control District Rule 202

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RULE 202 EXEMPTIONS

(Adopted prior to 11/19/85; Revised 9/7/93; 9/14/99; 10/10/2006; 

2/9/2016)

A. An Authority to Construct or Permit to Operate shall not be required for any 

process, article, machine, Equipment, or other contrivance listed in Section E 

unless:

A.1 The process, article, machine, Equipment, or other contrivance is subject 

to New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) or National Emission 

Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) or a Source specific 

prohibitory rule, or

A.2 The process, article, machine, Equipment, or other contrivance emits, in 

quantities determined to be appropriate for review by the Air Pollution 

Control Officer, substances identified as Toxic Air Contaminants or which 

are under review as candidate Toxic Air Contaminants by the California 

Air Resources Board, or

A.3 The Air Pollution Control Officer makes a determination that a permit shall 

be required because the Equipment may not operate in compliance with 

all Air Pollution Control District rules and regulations.

B. An Authority to Construct or Permit to Operate shall not be required for any 

process, article, machine, Equipment, or other contrivance with uncontrolled 

emissions of Affected Pollutants less than or equal to two pounds in any 24-hour 

period.

C. An otherwise exempt piece of Equipment requires a permit if it is part of a 

process that requires a permit.

D. Appropriate recordkeeping shall be required to verify and maintain any 

exemption.

E. Unless otherwise specified in sections A or B, an Authority to Construct or Permit 

to Operate shall not be required for the following Equipment:

E.1 Combustion and Heat Transfer Equipment

E.1.a Internal Combustion Engines and Gas Turbines: Piston type 

internal combustion engines with a manufacturer's maximum 

continuous rating of 50 brake horsepower (bhp) or less or gas 

turbine engines with a maximum heat input rate of 3 million 

British thermal units (Btu) per hour or less at ISO Standard Day 

Conditions. The ratings of all engines or turbines used within a 
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Stationary Source will be accumulated to determine whether this 

exemption applies.

E.1.b (reserved)

E.1.c Steam generator, steam superheaters, water boilers, water 

heaters, steam cleaners, and closed indirect heat transfer 

systems which have a maximum input heat rating of 5,000,000 

Btu per hour (gross) or less and are equipped to be fired 

exclusively with Public Utilities Commission regulated natural 

gas, liquefied petroleum gas or any combination thereof.

E.1.d Portable equipment holding a valid registration under the 

Statewide Portable Equipment Registration Program pursuant to 

Title 13, Article 5, Sections 2450 - 2465 of the California Code 

of Regulations.

E.2 Vehicles

E.2.a Motor Vehicles as defined by the Vehicle Code of the State of 

California but not including any article, machine, Equipment, or 

other contrivance mounted on such vehicle, that would 

otherwise require a permit under the provisions of these rules 

and regulations.

E.2.b Locomotives, airplanes and watercraft used to transport 

passengers or freight. This exemption is not intended to apply 

to Equipment used for the dredging of waterways or to 

Equipment used in pile driving adjacent to or in waterways.

E.3 Residential Structures

E.3.a Any structure designed for and used exclusively as a dwelling 

for not more than four families and any Incinerator used 

exclusively in connection with such a structure.

E.4 Cooling Towers

E.4.a Water Cooling Towers that have a circulation rate of less than 

10,000 gallons per minute and which are not used for cooling of 

process water, water from barometric jets or water from 

barometric condensers.

E.5 Printing and Reproduction Equipment
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E.5.a Printing and related Coating or laminating Equipment not using 

more than 2 gallons of graphic arts material per day. Graphic 

arts materials are any inks, Coatings, Adhesives, fountain 

solutions, thinners, retarders, or cleaning solutions used in 

printing or related Coating or laminating processes. (Does not 

include Equipment associated with wood flat stock Coating 

operations.)

E.6 Food Processing

E.6.a Equipment, excluding boilers, used in eating establishments or 

other retail establishments for the purpose of preparing food for 

human consumption.

E.6.b Mixers and blenders used in bakeries where the products are 

edible and intended for human consumption. Ovens at bakeries 

whose total production is less than 1,000 pounds of product per 

operating day.

E.6.c Equipment used exclusively to grind, blend or package tea, 

cocoa, spices or roasted coffee and Control Equipment venting 

exclusively such Equipment.

E.6.d Smokehouses for preparing food in which the maximum 

horizontal inside cross-section area does not exceed 20 square 

feet (or 2 square meters).

E.6.e Barbecue Equipment.

E.7 Plastic/Rubber Processing

E.7.a General - The following uncontrolled Equipment or process, 

located at the same Stationary Source, using material 

containing ROCs, when aggregated emissions of ROCs from 

the Equipment or process do not exceed 5 pounds in any one 

day:

- Foam manufacturing or application

- Fiberglass reinforced plastic fabrication

- Plastics manufacturing

E.7.b Presses - Equipment used exclusively for extruding rubber 

products or plastic where no plasticizer or blowing agent is 
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present, or for pelletizing polystyrene foam scraps except 

Equipment used to extrude or to pelletize acrylics, polyvinyl 

chloride, polystyrene, and their copolymers.

E.7.c Ovens - Ovens used exclusively for the curing, softening, or 

annealing of plastics. Does not apply to ovens used to cure 

fiberglass reinforced plastics.

E.8 Storage and Transfer Equipment

E.8.a Unheated solvent dispensing containers with capacity not more 

than 250 gallons.

E.8.b Mobile Transport Tanks or delivery tanks or cargo tanks on 

vehicles for delivery of VOCs except Asphalt tankers used to 

transport and transfer hot Asphalt for roofing applications.

E.8.c Equipment used exclusively for the storage of unheated Organic 

Material with an initial boiling point of 150 C (302 F) or greater, 

or with an organic vapor pressure of 5 mm Hg (0.1 psi) absolute 

or less at 21.1 C (70 F) as determined by the following ASTM 

test methods:

E.8.c.1 ASTM D 2879-86, "Standard Test Method for Vapor 

Pressure-Temperature Relationship and Initial 

Decomposition Temperature of Liquids by 

Isoteniscope"

E.8.c.2 ASTM 1078-86, "Standard Test Method for Distillation 

Range of Volatile Organic Liquids"

E.8.d Equipment used exclusively for the unheated underground 

storage of 23,000 liters (6,077 gallons) or less of organic liquids 

with a vapor pressure of 77.5 mm Hg (1.5 psi) absolute or less 

at actual storage conditions. Equipment used exclusively for the 

transfer to or from such storage of organic liquids with a vapor 

pressure of 77.5 mm Hg (1.5 psi) absolute or less at actual 

storage conditions. Vapor pressure to be determined by ASTM 

D 2879-86, "Standard Test Method for Vapor 

Pressure-Temperature Relationship and Initial Decomposition 

Temperature of Liquids by Isoteniscope".

E.9 Surface Coating and Cleaning Operations

E.9.a Application Equipment for architectural surface Coatings used 
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for commercial or residential applications. Architectural surface 

Coating is defined as any Coating applied to stationary 

structures and their Appurtenances, to mobile homes, to 

pavements, or to curbs.

E.9.b Unheated non-conveyorized, cleaning Equipment: (Does not 

include control enclosures)

E.9.b.1 With an open surface area of 1.0 square meters 

(10.8 sq. feet) or less and an internal volume of 350 

liters (92.5 gal.) or less, and

E.9.b.2 Using only Organic Solvents with an initial boiling 

point of 160 C (302 F) or greater as determined by 

ASTM test method 1078-86, "Standard Test Method 

for Distillation Range of Volatile Organic Liquids", and

E.9.b.3 Less than 25 gallons of solvent per year are lost to 

the Atmosphere from all such Equipment. Solvent 

lost shall not include solvent that is recycled or 

disposed of properly. Any Person claiming exemption 

pursuant to this subsection shall maintain adequate 

monthly records to substantiate their exempt status.

E.9.c Surface Coating Equipment using a combined total of one 

gallon per day or less of Coating material and solvent. Coatings 

applied by means of non-refillable aerosol cans shall not be 

included in the daily usage determination for purposes of 

determining the one gallon per day limit.

E.9.d Surface Coating using non-refillable aerosol spray cans. 

E.10 Agricultural Sources

E.10.a Stationary combustion agricultural sources with combined actual 

emissions of less than one half of any applicable emissions 

threshold for a major source.

E.10.b Any confined animal facility that maintains on any one day less 

than 500 milk producing cows; or less than 3,500 beef cattle, 

calves, heifers, or other cattle; or less than 100,000 turkeys or 

less than 400,000 chickens other than laying hens; or less than 

400,000 laying hens; or less than 3,000 swine; or less than 

15,000 sheep, lambs or goats; or less than 2,500 horses or less 

than 400,000 ducks or less than 30,000 rabbits or other 
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animals.

E.11 Repairs or Maintenance

Routine repairs or maintenance not involving structural changes to any 

Equipment for which a permit has been granted.