STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA 

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES 

DIVISION OF AIR QUALITY 

REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF PUBLIC HEARING 

ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO 

RULE 15A NCAC 02D .0902, APPLICABILITY, RULE 15A NCAC 02D .0903, 

RECORDKEEPING: REPORTING: MONITORING; RULE 15A NCAC 02D 

.0909, COMPLIANCE SCHEDULES FOR SOURCES IN NONATTAINMENT 

AREAS; RULE 02D .0951, RACT FOR SOURCES OF VOLATILE ORGANIC 

COMPOUNDS; RULE 15A NCAC 02D .0961, OFFSET LITHOGRAPHIC 

PRINTING AND LETTERPRESS PRINTING; RULE 15A NCAC 02D .0962, 

INDUSTRIAL CLEANING SOLVENTS, RULE 15A NCAC 02Q .0102 

ACTIVITIES EXEMPTED FROM PERMIT REQUIREMENTS 

(VOC RACT APPLICABILITY AND CLARIFICATION) 

 

 

January 15 2013 

Kannapolis, NC 

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION 

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CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I Summaries and Recommendations I-1

Background and Summary I-1

Comments and Responses Thereto I-2

Summary of Comments and Responses I-6

Conclusion I-7

Hearing Officers’ Recommendation I-7

CHAPTER II Rules Proposed for Adoption II-1

CHAPTER III Report of Proceedings III-1

Introduction III-1

Designation of Hearing Officer III-2

Public Notice III-3

Transcript III-5

CHAPTER IV Exhibits IV- 1

Proposed Rules as Presented at the Hearing IV-2

Hearing Officer Comments at Hearing IV-17

CHAPTER V Written Comments During Comment Period V-1

CHAPTER VI Attachments VI-1

CHAPTER VII Documentation VII-1

 

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CHAPTER I 

Summary and Recommendations 

Proposed amendments to Rules 15A NCAC 02D .0902, Applicability; 15A NCAC 02D .0903 

Recordkeeping: Reporting: Monitoring; 15A NCAC 02D .0909, Compliance Schedules for 

Sources in Nonattainment Areas; 15A NCAC 02D .0951 RACT For Sources of Volatile Organic 

Compounds; 15A NCAC 02D .0961, Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing; 15A 

NCAC 02D .0962, Industrial Cleaning Solvents; and 15A NCAC 02Q .0102 Activities 

Exempted From Permit Requirements. 

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY 

In comments on North Carolina’s redesignation demonstration and maintenance plan for the 

North Carolina portion of the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC 1997 8-hour Ozone National 

Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) Nonattainment Area, USEPA identified the need for an 

adjustment of applicability of the state’s Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) 

rules. Section 182(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires RACT for all sources addressed by 

Control Technique Guidelines (CTGs) in areas classified moderate and above. The current 

RACT rules’ applicability is structured such that the RACT requirement for sources in CTG 

categories applies to major sources. For a moderate nonattainment area major sources are those 

with emissions of 100 tons of volatile organic compounds or more per year. 

Applicability changes are proposed to address the issue identified by EPA, and when the changes 

are adopted it is expected that EPA will approve the re-designation request and maintenance 

plan. Once the area has been re-designated, the rule changes would apply only under the scenario 

that the area later violates the 1997 8-hour ozone standard and, based on technical analysis, if 

implementation of the rules would assist in bringing the area back into attainment as part of 

required contingency measures. 

A public hearing was held by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural 

Resources, Division of Air Quality on January 15, 2013 to take public comments on proposed 

amendments to the Volatile Organic Compound RACT rules in 15A NCAC 02D Section .0900 

to revise applicability requirements to comply with Section 182(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act; to 

revise associated compliance schedules; to provide flexibility to comply via category specific 

rules or site specific alternatives; and to amend printing related and industrial solvent cleaning 

RACT rules in response to requests for language clarifications and flexibilities consistent with 

underlying USEPA Control Technique Guidelines. Mr. Benne C. Hutson of the Environmental 

Management Commission (EMC) was appointed and acted as the hearing officer for this hearing. 

15A NCAC 02D .0902, Applicability, is proposed for amendments: (1) to extend RACT 

requirements to apply to all sources addressed by CTGs in the Charlotte-Gastonia nonattainment 

area and also to clarify the provision that certain rules continue to apply statewide; (2) to define 

the range of applicable facilities in accordance with Section 182(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act and 

allow for transition of the requirements to contingency measures upon re-designation of the area 

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consistent with EPA procedures; (3) to address the contingency plan in the event that a violation 

of the 1997 ozone standard occurs and specify measures required by the Clean Air Act (CAA) 

under that scenario; (4) to provide some flexibility for alternative compliance options that is 

specified by the amendment to the rule .0961(b); and (5) to clarify the exemption of laboratories 

that emit less than 800 pounds of VOC per month from provisions of the Section. 

15A NCAC 02D .0903, Recordkeeping: Reporting: Monitoring, is proposed for amendments 

to reflect incorporation of the monthly recordkeeping alternative provided in 02D .0961 for 

consistency with the CTG and in response to industry representative’s comments. 

15A NCAC 02D .0909, Compliance Schedules for Sources in Nonattainment Areas, is 

proposed for amendments: (1) to define the status of the nonattainment area in accordance with 

the current 8-Hour Ozone classifications for the 1997 standard; (2) to delete as unnecessary 

provisions that duplicate CTG recommendations on VOC content limits already incorporated 

into the rule; (3) to allow two years period for compliance achievement if low solvent coating 

technology is to be used; (4) to establish a schedule for the newly affected facilities to comply 

with the RACT requirements via use of solvent coating technology or via add on control. 

15A NCAC 02D .0951, RACT for Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds, is proposed for 

amendments to give affected facilities a choice whether to apply the RACT requirements defined 

in .0900 Section rules or choose RACT requirements demonstrated to the Director and EPA to 

advance attainment. 

15A NCAC 02D .0961, Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing, is proposed 

for amendments to comply with RACT requirements for VOC emissions from heatset inks, 

fountain solutions, and cleaning materials used in offset lithographic printing operations and for 

VOC emissions from heatset inks used in letterpress printing operations.

 

15A NCAC 02D .0962, Industrial Cleaning Solvents, is proposed for amendments to exempt 

cleaning solvent emissions from RACT applicability for resin, coating, ink, and adhesive mixing, 

molding, and application equipment cleaning of coating, ink, and adhesive manufacturing. 

15A NCAC 02Q .0102, Activities Exempted from Permit Requirements, is proposed for 

amendment to update a cross reference. 

PUBLIC COMMENTS AND RESPONSES THERETO

Comment: Mr. David Darling, P.E., Senior Director, Environmental Affairs, American Coatings 

Association (ACA), expresses ACA’s support for the proposed amendments to 15A NCAC 02D 

.0962,Industrial Cleaning Solvents, since these amendments will allow effective cleaning of 

process equipment at coatings, ink, and adhesive manufacturing operations. He also indicates 

that these amendments are consistent with the EPA Industrial Solvent Cleaning CTG (and the 

Bay Area Air Quality Management District rules on which the EPA Industrial Solvent Cleaning 

CTG was based.) 

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Response: The proposed amendments to 02D .0962 are based on understanding that cleaning 

coating, ink and adhesive manufacturing equipment is very important since incomplete cleaning 

of process equipment and tanks can cause cross contamination of manufactured product and 

negatively impact product quality and could result in an off specification product that would 

need to be disposed of. No change to the proposed rule is required in response to this comment.

Comment: Mr. Jeff Stoudt, President, The Printing Industry of the Carolinas (PICA), notes that 

Paragraph 15A NCAC 02D .0961(f) is not consistent with the CTG in that it sets the limit for 

add-on controls based on VOC emissions and the CTG was very specific in setting the limit 

based on ink oil emissions from the ink. Mr. Stoudt requests that NCDAQ consider a 

clarification in Subparagraph NCAC 02D .0961(f) and (f)(1) to specify materials used as the 

basis for an enforceable limitation to keep individual heatset press below 25 tons per year 

potential to emit volatile organic compounds threshold. This clarification can be achieved by 

deleting “volatile organic compound” and replacing it with “petroleum ink oil” to make it 

consistent with the CTG as the CTG specified that the 25 tons per year limit is based on 

petroleum ink oil and not the generic volatile compound. 

Response: The EPA noted on page 14 of the CTG, “We also recommend applying the above 

recommended levels of control to individual heatset web letterpress printing presses with 

potential to emit from the dryer, prior to controls, of at least 25 tpy of VOC (petroleum ink oil). 

We recommend providing printers with the option of using an enforceable limitation on potential 

emissions to keep an individual heatset press below this 25 tpy potential to emit threshold. This 

equates to using inks and coatings which contain less than 31.25 tpy VOC (petroleum ink oil) 

because of the 20 percent ink oil retention” where “the above recommended levels of control” 

means, “the recommended level of control for VOC emissions from heatset dryers is 90 percent 

control efficiency for a control device whose first installation date was prior to the effective date 

of a State RACT rule issued after the date of this CTG. The recommended level of control for 

VOC emissions from heatset dryers is 95 percent control efficiency for a control device whose 

first installation date was on or after the effective date of a State RACT rule issued after the date 

of this CTG,” as described in the Offset and Lithographic Printing CTG, on page 13. 

For consistency with the CTG recommendations, the language of Paragraph 15A NCAC 02D 

.0961(f)(1) is revised as follows: 

“...use an enforceable limitation on potential emissions to keep individual heatset press below 25 

tons per year potential to emit volatile organic compounds (petroleum ink oil) threshold, which 

can be achieved by using inks and coatings that contain less than 31.25 tons per year volatile 

organic compound (petroleum ink oil) where 20 percent retention factor of petroleum ink oil 

applies, or by using other methods established by permit conditions”. 

Comment: Mr. Jeff Stoudt, President, The Printing Industry of the Carolinas (PICA), indicates 

that PICA requests that NCDAQ delete the phrase “for web offset lithographic printing or letter 

press printing operations” in Subparagraph (f)(2) as it is redundant with Subparagraph (f) which 

also contains the same statement. 

Response: The language of Subparagraph (f)(2) is revised as requested by PICA.

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Comment: Mr. Jeff Stoudt, President, The Printing Industry of the Carolinas (PICA), requests 

that NCDAQ revise the effective date of July 1, 2010 contained in 02D .0961 subparagraphs 

(f)(2)(A) and (f)(2)(B) to reflect the final date of this rulemaking as the previous rulemaking was 

not approved by EPA so there is no concern regarding backsliding. 

Response: The date delineating the level of applicable control requirements in Subparagraphs 

(f)(2)(A) and (f)(2)(B) has been clarified for facilities with potential to emit less than 100 tons of 

VOC per year and reflects the anticipated effective date of the rule amendments, May 1, 2013, 

consistent with the recommendations in the CTG regarding timing of these requirements. 

Comment: Mr. Jeff Stoudt, President, The Printing Industry of the Carolinas (PICA), requests 

that NCDAQ revise the provisions "No more than 110 gallons per year of cleaning materials that 

do not meet the requirements of Subparagraph (1) or (2) of this Paragraph shall be used during 

any twelve consecutive months" contained in Paragraph 15A NCAC 02D .0961 (k) in such a 

way that it would have a (3) placed in front of it so that it is clear that it is Subparagraph 15A 

NCAC 02D .0961(k)(3). 

Response: For clarity, the rule text has been revised by placing a (3) in front of the third 

provision. 

Comment: Mr. Jeff Stoudt, President, The Printing Industry of the Carolinas (PICA), noted that 

the proposed rule 15A NCAC 02D .0961 does not provide a material use alternative for facilities 

to determine applicability. Mr. Stoudt proposed that a new Subparagraph 15A NCAC 02D 

.0961(n) be added to lay out requirements for a facility to make a determination that it is not 

subject to this rule. 

Response: In order to provide sources maximum flexibility to address their site specific 

configuration and product usage needs on a case by case basis, North Carolina air quality rules 

typically do not impose prescriptive emissions calculation procedures and requirements on 

sources below applicability thresholds. The rules contain the EPA recommended 15 lb/day actual 

emissions of VOC before consideration of controls, and an equivalent level of 3 tons per 12-

month rolling period was proposed to be added for the applicability criterion to provide 

additional flexibility to use monthly VOC usage records for applicability and compliance 

purposes and thus reduce recordkeeping burden. DAQ regional and central office permitting staff 

can assist with calculating emissions for applicability determinations. Additionally, the affected 

facility or the industry representative may contact the DENR Environmental Assistance Center to 

receive free, non-regulatory technical assistance and guidance through regulatory, permitting and 

compliance processes as well as help in reducing overall environmental impacts. The Center 

serves as an additional point of contact for our customers and serves as a liaison between the 

customer and regulatory agencies to help improve customer satisfaction. The suggested 

Paragraph (n) was not included in the proposed rule amendments and is not proposed to be added 

to the final amendments. 

Comment: Ms. Marcia Y. Kinter, Vice President-Government & Business Information, 

Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA), noted that Appendix C, Summary of NAICS 

Codes for nonattainment facilities in the Industrial Cleaning Solvent CTG, does not identify 

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digital printing facilities (NAICS 323115) as meeting the applicability requirements. Further, 

Ms. Kinter indicated the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in its recently adopted 

revisions to their graphic arts rule, Regulation 8, Rule 20, exempted digital printing operations 

and presses from all VOC control requirements, including those associated with cleaning 

solvents. Ms. Kinter also indicated that the US EPA did not consider the impact of CTG for 

Industrial Cleaning Solvents on new and emerging industry sectors and it did not address 

emerging industry sectors. Finally, Ms. Kinter added that following these CTG 

recommendations, the NC rules did not include digital printing in their air pollution control 

standards. Nevertheless, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in its recently adopted 

revisions to their graphic arts rule, Regulation 8, Rule 20, exempted digital printing operations 

and presses from all VOC control requirements, including those associated with cleaning 

solvents. 

Due to above mentioned facts, SGIA respectfully requests that the DAQ amend its definition of 

Graphic Arts operations as found in 15 NCAC 02Q .0803 to include both screen printing and 

digital imaging operations as follows, "Graphic arts operation" means the application of inks to 

form words, designs, or pictures to a substrate, usually by a series of application rolls each with 

only partial coverage and usually using letterpress, offset lithography, screen printing, digital 

imaging technologies, rotogravure, or flexographic process”, and on the basis of the fact that 

graphic arts operations are already exempted from the permit requirements in the current rule 2Q 

.0102, Ms. Kinter also recommends that digital operations be exempted from state’s proposed 

regulations for cleaning solvents as part of the amended "Graphic arts operation" definition. 

Response: EPA did not consider or address emerging industry sectors, such as digital printing, in 

development of its CTG for Industrial Cleaning Solvents. As a result, such sectors are not subject to 

the requirements of the CTG. The NC rules did not include digital printing in the air pollution control 

standards either. The Rule 02Q .0803, Coating, Solvent Cleaning, Graphic Arts Operations, 

where “graphic arts operations” is defined is not a part of this amendments package and cannot 

be amended for clarity with this rulemaking process. However, the definition of “graphic arts 

operations” can be considered for amendment to address SGIA’s concern through a separate 

rulemaking action in the future. 

Comment: Mr. R. Scott Davis, Chief Air Planning Branch, USEPA, Region 4, noted that 

USEPA, Region 4 completed its review of the prehearing submittal and offers no comments at 

this time.

Response: No changes to the rules are required as a response to this comment.

SUMMARY OF COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

15A NCAC 02D .0961, Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing 

Comments Response

Concerns are expressed that Subparagraph 15A 

NCAC 02D .0961 (f) is not consistent with the 

CTG in that it sets the limit for add-on controls 

based on VOC emissions and the CTG was very 

The language of paragraph 15A NCAC 02D 

.0961(f)(1) is revised as recommended in the 

CTG to clarify VOC emissions are based on 

petroleum ink oil. 

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specific in setting the limit based on ink oil 

emissions from the ink. 

Request is made that NCDAQ delete the phrase 

“for web offset lithographic printing or letter 

press printing operations” in subparagraph (f)(2) 

as it is redundant with subparagraph (f) which 

also contains the same language. 

The language of subparagraph (f)(2) is revised 

as requested. 

Request is made that the effective date of July 1, 

2010 in the Subparagraphs (f)(2)(A) and (f)(2)(B) 

be revised to reflect the final date of this 

rulemaking as the previous rulemaking was not 

approved by EPA so there is no concern 

regarding backsliding. 

The date delineating level of applicable control 

requirements in Subparagraphs (f)(2)(A) and 

(f)(2)(B) has been clarified for facilities with 

potential to emit less than 100 tons of VOC per 

year to reflect the anticipated effective date of 

these amendments, May 1, 2013. 

Revise the provisions of Paragraph 15A NCAC 

02D .0961(k) in such a way that it would have 

three subparagraphs instead of two. 

Paragraph 15A NCAC 02D .0961(k) is revised 

by numbering the third provision as 

subparagraph (3). 

Concerns are expressed that the proposed rule 

15A NCAC 02D .0961 does not provide a 

material use alternative for facilities to determine 

applicability and anew Subparagraph 15A NCAC 

02D .0961(n) is proposed to lay out requirements 

for a facility to make a determination that it is not 

subject to this rule. 

To allow maximum flexibility for sources, 

prescriptive requirements for calculating 

emissions to determine applicability are 

typically not imposed in NC air rules. 

Suggested language is not included. No change. 

15A NCAC 02D .0962, Industrial Cleaning Solvents

Comments Response

Support is expressed for proposed amendments to 

15A NCAC 02D .0962, Industrial Cleaning 

Solvents, since these amendments will allow 

effective cleaning of process equipment at 

coatings, ink, and adhesive manufacturing 

operations. These amendments are consistent 

with the EPA Industrial Solvent Cleaning Control 

Technique Guideline (CTG) (and the Bay Area 

Air Quality Management District rules on which 

the EPA Industrial Solvent Cleaning CTG was 

based). 

The proposed amendments to15A NCAC 02D 

.0962 are based on understanding that cleaning 

coating, ink and adhesive manufacturing 

equipment is very important since incomplete 

cleaning of process equipment and tanks can 

cause cross contamination of manufactured 

product, negatively impacting product quality 

and resulting in an off specification product that 

would need to be disposed of. No change to the 

rule. 

15A NCAC 02Q .0102 Activities Exempted From Permit Requirements 

Request to amend current definition of graphic 

arts operations found in 15A NCAC 02Q .0803 to 

include screen printing and digital imaging 

operations to qualify them as a graphic arts 

operation exempt from permit requirements under 

rule 02Q .0102. 

 Change to 15A NCAC 02Q .0803 definition 

needs to be considered through separate 

rulemaking as 02Q .0803 is not part of current 

proposed rulemaking action. 

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CONCLUSION

Four persons commented for the hearing record on the proposed amendments during the 

comment period. 

One commenter expressed support for the proposed amendments to15A NCAC 02D .0962, 

Industrial Cleaning Solvents, since these amendments will allow effective cleaning of process 

equipment at coatings, ink, and adhesive manufacturing operations. These amendments are 

consistent with the CTG and underlying state rules on which it was based. 

The second commenter focused on the Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0961, Offset Lithographic Printing 

and Letterpress Printing. A few minor text clarifications to Paragraphs (f) and (k) were made. A 

clarification regarding affected equipment date was made to reflect the anticipated effective date 

of these rule changes. The commenter also proposed a new Subparagraph 15A NCAC 02D 

.0961(n) to lay out requirements for a facility to make a determination that it is not subject to this 

rule. In order to provide sources maximum flexibility to address their site specific configuration 

and product usage needs, North Carolina air quality rules typically do not impose prescriptive 

emissions calculation procedures and requirements on sources to determine if they are below 

applicability thresholds. As a result, the suggested language is not included in the final rule. 

DAQ regional and central office permitting staff, as well as DENR’s free, non-regulatory 

Environmental Assistance Center staff, can assist affected sources with calculating emissions for 

applicability determinations on a case by case basis. 

The third commenter requests that the current definition of graphic arts operations found in 15A 

NCAC 02Q.0803 be amended to include both screen printing and digital imaging operations to 

exempt these operations from permit requirements under rule 15A NCAC 02Q .0102 as activities 

already exempted because of category. Because Rule 02Q .0803 is not part of this rulemaking 

package, the requested amendment of the definition cannot be made at this time; however, the 

definition could be considered for amendment through a separate rulemaking action. 

The fourth commenter offers no comments at this time.

HEARING OFFICERS’ RECOMMENDATION

The Hearing Officer recommends that the proposed amendments as presented in Chapter II of 

this hearing report be adopted by the Environmental Management Commission. 

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CHAPTER II 

REGULATIONS PROPOSED FOR AMENDMENTS WITH CHANGES

SECTION .0900 - VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS 

15A NCAC 02D .0902 is proposed for amendment as follows: 

15A NCAC 02D .0902 APPLICABILITY 

(a) The rules in this Section do not apply except as specifically set out in this Rule. 

(b) This Section applies to sources that emit greater than or equal to 15 pounds of volatile organic compounds per 

11 day. day unless specified otherwise in this Section.

12 (c) Rules .0925, .0926, .0927, .0928, .0931, .0932, .0933, and .0958 of this Section apply regardless of the level of 

13 emissions of volatile organic compounds. compounds unless provisions specified in Paragraph (d)(1) of this Rule 

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are applied. 

(d) This Section does not apply to: 

(1) sources that emit less than 800 pounds of volatile organic compounds per calendar month and that 

are: 

(A) bench-scale, on-site equipment used exclusively for chemical or physical analysis for 

quality control purposes, staff instruction, water or wastewater analyses, or nonproduction environmental compliance assessments; 

(B) bench-scale experimentation, chemical or physical analyses, training or instruction from 

not-for-profit, non-production educational laboratories; 

(C) bench-scale experimentation, chemical or physical analyses, training or instruction from 

hospitals or health laboratories pursuant to the determination or diagnoses of illness; or 

(D) research and development laboratory activities provided the activity produces no 

commercial product or feedstock material; or 

(2) emissions of volatile organic compounds during startup or shutdown operations from sources 

which use incineration or other types of combustion to control emissions of volatile organic 

compounds whenever the off-gas contains an explosive mixture during the startup or shutdown 

operation if the exemption is approved by the Director as meeting the requirements of this 

Subparagraph. 

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(e) The following rules of this Section apply to facilities located statewide: 

(1) .0925, Petroleum Liquid Storage in Fixed Roof Tanks, for fixed roof tanks at gasoline bulk plants 

and gasoline bulk terminals; 

(2) .0926, Bulk Gasoline Plants; 

(3) .0927, Bulk Gasoline Terminals; 

(4) .0928, Gasoline Service Stations Stage I; 

(5) .0932, Gasoline Truck Tanks and Vapor Collection Systems; 

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(6) .0933, Petroleum Liquid Storage in External Floating Roof Tanks, for external floating roof tanks 

at bulk gasoline plants and bulk gasoline terminals; 

(7) .0948, VOC Emissions from Transfer Operations; 

(8) .0949, Storage of Miscellaneous Volatile Organic Compounds; and 

(9) .0958, Work Practices for Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds. 

6 (f) Except as provided in Paragraph (e) of this Rule, Thethe Rules in this Section apply to facilities subject to 

7 Section 182(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act with potential to emit 100 or more tons per year of VOC and to facilities with 

8 potential to emit less than 100 tons per year of volatile organic compounds in categories for which the United States 

9 Environmental Protection Agency has issued Control Technique Guidelines with the potential to emit greater than or 

10 equal to 100 tons of volatile organic compounds per yearthat are located in the following moderate nonattainment 

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areas:areas for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard as designated in 40 CFR 81.334: 

(1) Cabarrus County; 

(2) Gaston County; 

(3) Lincoln County; 

(4) Mecklenburg County; 

(5) Rowan County; 

(6) Union County; and 

(7) Davidson Township and Coddle Creek Township in Iredell County. 

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comply in accordance with Rule .0909 of this Section through use of Rule .0951 of this Section.

 (g) If any county or part of a county to which this Section applies is later designated in 40 CFR 81.334 as 

attainment, attainment and becomes a maintenance area for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard, all sources in that 

county 

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23 or part of county subject to Paragraph (f) of this Rule that achieved compliance in accordance with Rule 

.0909 of this Section subject to this Section before the redesignation to attainment shall continue to comply with this 

Section. 

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25 Facilities with potential to emit less than 100 tons of volatile organic compounds per year for which the 

26 compliance date in Rule .0909 of this Section has not passed before redesignation of the area to attainment for the 

27 1997 ozone standard shall comply in accordance with Paragraph (h) of this Rule. 

(h) If EPA reclassifies a violation of the 1997 ambient air quality standard for ozone occurs in the CharlotteGastonia-Rock Hill ozone nonattainment

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29 maintenance area as serious for ozone under Section 182 of the federal 

30 Clean Air Act, the rules in this Section shall apply to facilities in Cabarrus, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, 

31 and Union Counties and Davidson and Coddle Creek townships in Iredell County with the potential to emit at least 

32 50 tons of volatile organic compounds per year. Within 60 days of the reclassification, area, the Director shall

33 initiate technical analysis to determine the control measures needed to attain and maintain the 1997 8-hour ambient 

34 air quality standard for ozone. By the following May 1, the Director shall implement the specific stationary source 

35 control measures contained in this Section that are required as part of the control strategy necessary to bring the area 

36 into compliance and to maintain compliance with the 1997 8-hour ambient air quality standard for ozone. The 

37 Director shall implement the rules in this Section identified as being necessary by the analysis by notice in the North 

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1 Carolina Register. The notice shall identify the rules that are to be implemented and shall identify whether the rules 

2 implemented are to apply in the areas listed in Paragraph (f) of this Rule. At least one week before the scheduled 

publication date of the North Carolina Register containing the Director's notice implementing rules in this Section,

the Director shall notice the applicability of these Rules to these facilities in the North Carolina Register and

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send written notification to all permitted facilities within the counties in which the rules are being implemented that 

are or may be subject to the requirements of this Section informing them that they are or may be subject to the 

requirements of this Section. (For Mecklenburg County, "Director" means for the purpose of notifying permitted 

facilities in Mecklenburg County, the Director of the Mecklenburg County local air pollution control program.) 

Compliance shall be according to Rule .0909 of this Section. 

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(i) Sources whose emissions of volatile organic compounds are not subject to limitation under this Section may still 

be subject to emission limits on volatile organic compounds in Rules .0524, .1110, or .1111 of this Subchapter. 

History Note: Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5); 

Eff. July 1, 1979; 

Amended Eff. May 1, 2013; September 1, 2010; January 1, 2009; July 1, 2007; March 1, 2007; 

August 1, 2004; July 1, 2000; April 1, 1997; July 1, 1996; July 1, 1995; May 1, 1995; July 1, 

1994. 

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15A NCAC 02D .0903 is proposed for amendment as follows: 

15A NCAC 02D .0903 RECORDKEEPING: REPORTING: MONITORING 

(a) The owner or operator of any volatile organic compound emission source or control equipment shall: 

(1) install, operate, and maintain process and control equipment monitoring instruments or procedures 

as necessary to comply with the requirements of this Section; and 

(2) maintain, in writing, data and reports relating to monitoring instruments or procedures which will, 

upon review, document the compliance status of the volatile organic compound emission source or 

28 control equipment; such data and reports shall, as a minimum, be maintained daily. daily unless 

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otherwise specified in this Section.

(b) The owner or operator of any volatile organic compound emission source or control equipment subject to the 

requirements of this Section shall comply with the monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements in Section 

.0600 of this Subchapter. 

History Note: Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5); 

Eff. July 1, 1979; 

Amended Eff. May 1, 2013; April 1, 1999; July 1, 1993; July 1, 1991; December 1, 1989; January 

1, 1985. 

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6 

15A NCAC 02D .0909 is proposed for amendment as follows:

7 15A NCAC 02D .0909 COMPLIANCE SCHEDULES FOR SOURCES IN OZONE NONATTAINMENT 

8 AND MAINTENANCE AREAS 

9 (a) Applicability. With the exceptions in Paragraph (b) of this Rule, this Rule applies to all sources located at any 

10 facility covered by Paragraph Paragraphs (f) or and (h) of Rule .0902 of this Section. 

11 (b) Exceptions. This Rule does not apply to sources facilities required to comply with the requirements subject to 

12 rules listed of this Section under Paragraph (e) of in Rule .0902 of this Section. Facilities subject to Rules listed in 

13 Paragraph (e) of Rule .0902 shall comply in accordance with the provisions defined in those rules rather than the 

14 schedule in Paragraphs (c) and (d) of this Rule. 

(c) Maintenance area and Charlotte ozone nonattainment area contingency plan. The owner or operator of any 

source subject to 

15 

this Rule because of the application of Paragraph (h) of Rule .0902 of this Section Paragraph (a) in

this Rule

16 

17 shall adhere to the following increments of progress and schedules: 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

(1) if compliance with applicable rules in this Section is to be achieved by installing emission control 

equipment, replacing process equipment, or modifying existing process equipment: 

(A) The owner or operator shall submit a permit application and a compliance schedule 

within six months after the Director notices the implementation of rules in the North 

Carolina Register that resolves a violation of the ambient air quality standard for ozone; 

(B) The compliance schedule shall contain the following increments of progress: 

(i) a date by which contracts for the emission control system and process equipment 

shall be awarded or orders shall be issued for purchase of component parts; 

(ii) a date by which on-site construction or installation of the emission control and 

process equipment shall begin; and 

(iii) a date by which on-site construction or installation of the emission control and 

process equipment shall be completed; and 

30 

31 

32 

(C) Final compliance with applicable rules in this Section shall be achieved within three 

years after the Director notices the implementation of rules in the North Carolina Register 

that resolves a violation of the ambient air quality standard for ozone. 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

(2) if compliance with applicable rules in this Section is to be achieved by using low solvent content 

coating technology: 

(A) The owner or operator shall submit a permit application and a compliance schedule 

within six months after the Director notices the implementation of rules in the North 

Carolina Register that resolves a violation of the ambient air quality standard for ozone; 

A-16
II-5 

1 (B) The compliance schedule shall contain the following increments: 

2 (i) a date by which research and development of low solvent content coating shall 

3 be completed if the Director determines that low solvent content coating 

4 technology has not been sufficiently researched and developed to assure 

5 compliance;

6 (ii) a date by which evaluation of product quality and commercial acceptance shall 

7 be completed;

8 

9 

(iii)(i) a date by which purchase orders shall be issued for low solvent content coatings 

and process modifications; 

10 (iv)(ii) a date by which process modifications shall be initiated; and 

(v)(iii) a date by which process modifications shall be completed and use of low solvent 

content coatings shall begin; and 

11 

12 

13 (C) Final compliance with applicable rules in this Section shall be achieved within three 

14 

15 

16 

years two years after the Director notices the implementation of rules in the North 

Carolina Register that resolves a violation of the ambient air quality standard for ozone. 

(3) The owner or operator shall certify to the Director within five days after each increment deadline 

17 of progress defined in this Paragraph, whether the required increment of progress has been met. 

18 (d) Moderate Nonattainment nonattainment areas. The owner or operator of any source subject to this Rule because 

19 

20 

of the application of Paragraph (f) of Rule .0902 of this Section Paragraph (a) of this Rule shall adhere to the 

following increments of progress and schedules: 

(1) if compliance with applicable rules in this Section is to be achieved by installing emission control 

equipment, replacing process equipment, or modifying existing process equipment: 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

(A) The owner or operator shall submit a permit application and a compliance schedule by 

August 1, 2007; 

(B) The compliance schedule shall contain the following increments of progress: 

(i) a date by which contracts for the emission control system and process equipment 

shall be awarded or orders shall be issued for purchase of component parts; 

(ii) a date by which on-site construction or installation of the emission control and 

process equipment shall begin; and 

(iii) a date by which on-site construction or installation of the emission control and 

process equipment shall be completed; and 

32 (C) For facilities with potential to emit 100 tons or more of volatile organic compounds per 

year, Finalfinal compliance with applicable rules in this Section shall be achieved no later 

than April 1, 2009;

33 

34 2009.

35 (D) For facilities with potential to emit less than 100 tons of volatile organic compounds per 

36 year, final compliance with applicable rules in this Section shall be achieved no later than 

37 May 1, 2016.

A-17
II-6 

 (2) if compliance with applicable rules in this Section is to be achieved by using low solvent content 

coating technology: 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

(A) The owner or operator shall submit a permit application and a compliance schedule by 

August 1, 2007; 

(B) The compliance schedule shall contain the following increments: 

6 (i) a date by which research and development of low solvent content coating shall 

7 be completed if the Director determines that low solvent content coating 

8 technology has not been sufficiently researched and developed;

9 (ii) a date by which evaluation of product quality and commercial acceptance shall 

10 be completed;

(iii)(i) a date by which purchase orders shall be issued for low solvent content coatings 

and process modifications; 

11 

12 

13 (iv)(ii) a date by which process modifications shall be initiated; and 

14 

15 

(v)(iii) a date by which process modifications shall be completed and use of low solvent 

content coatings shall begin; and 

(C) Final compliance with applicable rules in this Section shall be achieved no later than 

April 1, 2009.

16 

17 2009;

18 (D) For facilities with potential to emit less than 100 tons of volatile organic compounds per 

19 year, final compliance with applicable rules in this Section shall be achieved no later than 

20 

21 

May 1, 2015.

 (3) The owner or operator shall certify to the Director within five days after the deadline, for each 

increment of progress defined in this Paragraph, whether the required increment of progress has 

been met. 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

(e) If the Director requires a test to demonstrate that compliance has been achieved, the owner or operator of 

sources subject to this Rule shall conduct a test and submit a final test report within six months after the stated date 

of final compliance. 

(f) Sources already in compliance. 

(1) Maintenance area and Charlotte ozone nonattainment area contingency plan. Paragraph (c) of this 

Rule shall not apply to sources

28 

any source subject to Paragraph (a) of this Rule that is in 

compliance with applicable rules of this Section when the Director notices the implementation of 

rules in the North Carolina Register that resolves a violation of the ambient air quality standard for 

ozone and that have determined and certified compliance to the satisfaction of the Director within 

six months after the Director notices the implementation of rules in the North Carolina Register 

that resolves a violation of the ambient air quality standard for ozone. 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

(2) Moderate and Nonattainment nonattainment areas. Paragraphs Paragraph (d) of this Rule does not 

apply to sources in an

35 

36 area named in Paragraph (f) of Rule .0902 of this Section that subject to

A-18
II-7 

Paragraph (a) of this Rule if they are in compliance with applicable rules of this Section on March 

1, 2007. 

1 

2 

3 (g) New sources. 

(1) Maintenance area and Charlotte ozone nonattainment area contingency plan. The owner or 

operator of any new

4 

 source of volatile organic compounds subject to Paragraph (a) of this Rule not 

in existence or under construction before the date that the Director notices in the North Carolina 

Register in accordance with Paragraph (h) of Rule .0902 of this Section the implementation of 

rules in the North Carolina Register that resolves a violation of the ambient air quality standard for 

ozone, shall comply with all applicable rules in this Section upon start-up of the source. 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 (2) Moderate and Nonattainment nonattainment areas. The owner or operator of any new source of 

volatile organic compounds subject to Paragraph (a) of this Rule not in existence or under 

construction before March 1, 2007 in an area identified in Paragraph (f) of Rule .0902 shall 

comply with all applicable rules in this Section upon start-up of the source. 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

History Note Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5); 

Eff. July 1, 1979; 

Amended Eff. May 1, 2013; September 1, 2010; January 1, 2009; July 1, 2007; March 1, 2007; 

July 1, 2000; April 1, 1997; July 1, 1995; July 1, 1994; July 1, 1988; January 1, 1985. 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

15A NCAC 02D .0951 is proposed for amendment as follows: 

 

22 15A NCAC 02D .0951 RACT FOR SOURCES OF VOLATILE ORGANIC 

23 COMPOUNDSMISCELLANEOUS VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND 

24 EMISSIONS

25 (a) Facilities required to install RACT pursuant to Rule .0902 of this Section shall determine the emissions control 

26 level according to this Rule. With the exceptions in Paragraph (b) of this Rule, this Rule applies to all facilities that 

27 use volatile organic compounds as solvents, carriers, material processing media, or industrial chemical reactants, or 

28 in other similar uses, or that mix, blend, or manufacture volatile organic compounds for which there is no other 

29 

30 

31 

applicable emissions control rule in this Section except Rule .0958 of this Section. If the only other applicable 

emissions control rule for the facility in this Section is Rule .0958, then both this Rule and Rule .0958 apply. 

(b) This Rule does not apply to architectural or maintenance coating. 

32 (c) The owner or operator of any facility to which this Rule applies shall:shall comply by either of the following:

33 (1) install and operate reasonable available control technology;technology as defined by category 

34 specific emission standards defined in this Section; or 

35 (2) limit emissions of volatile organic compounds from coating lines not covered by Rules .0922, 

36 .0923, .0924, .0934, .0935, .0936, or .0961 through .0968 from this Section to no more than 6.7 

37 pounds of volatile organic compounds per gallon of solids delivered to the coating 

A-19
II-8 

1 applicator.install and operate reasonable available control technology demonstrated to the Director 

2 

3 

and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to advance attainment.

(d) If the owner or operator of a facility chooses to install reasonable available control technology under 

4 Subparagraph (c)(1) (c)(2) of this Rule, the owner or operator shall submit: 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

(1) the name and location of the facility; 

(2) information identifying the source for which a reasonable available control technology limitation 

or standard is being proposed; 

(3) a demonstration that shows the proposed reasonable available control technology limitation or 

standard satisfies the requirements for reasonable available control technology; and 

(4) a proposal for demonstrating compliance with the proposed reasonable control technology 

limitation or standard. 

History Note: Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5); 

Eff. July 1, 1994; 

15 Amended Eff. May 1, 2013; September 1, 2010; July 1, 2000; July 1, 1996. 

16 

17 

18 

19 

15A NCAC 02D .0961 is proposed for amendment with changes as follows: 

15A NCAC 02D .0961 OFFSET LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING AND LETTERPRESS PRINTING 

20 (a) For the purpose of this Rule, the following definitions listed in rules .0101, 0902 of this Section apply: and in 

21 Paragraph (a)(1) through (10) of this rule shall apply. 

22 

23 

24 

(1) "Composite partial vapor pressure" means the sum of the partial pressure of the compounds 

defined as volatile organic compounds. Volatile organic compounds composite partial vapor 

pressure is calculated as follows: 

∑

∑ =

=

++

=

n

i

n

i i

i

c

c

w

w

iii

c

MW

W

MW

W

MW

W

MWVPW PP

1

1

/))(( 25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

Where: 

Wi = Weight of the "i" volatile organic compound, in grams 

Ww = Weight of water, in grams 

Wc = Weight of exempt compound, in grams 

MWi = Molecular weight of the "i" volatile organic compound, in g/g-mole 

MWw = Molecular weight of water, in g/g-mole 

MWc = Molecular weight of exempt compound, in g/g-mole 

PPc = Volatile organic compounds composite partial vapor pressure at 20 degrees Celsius (68 

degrees Fahrenheit), in mm Hg 

A-20
II-9 

VPi = Vapor pressure of the "i" volatile organic compound at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees 

Fahrenheit), in mm Hg 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

(2) "First installation date" means the actual date when this control device becomes operational. This 

date does not change if the control device is later redirected to a new press. 

(3) "Fountain solution" means water-based solution that applies to lithographic plate to render the 

non-image areas unreceptive to the ink. 

(4) "Heatset" means any operation in which heat is required to evaporate ink oils from the printing 

ink, excluding ultraviolet (UV) curing, electron beam curing and infrared drying. 

(5) "Letterpress printing" means a printing process in which the image area is raised relative to the 

non-image area and the paste ink is transferred to the substrate directly from the image surface. 

(6) "Non-heatset" means a lithographic printing process where the printing inks are set by absorption 

or oxidation of the ink oil, not by evaporation of the ink oils in a dryer. For the purposes of this 

Rule, use of an infrared heater or printing conducted using ultraviolet-cured or electron beamcured inks is considered non-heatset. 

15 (7) "Offset lithography" means an indirect method of a printing process that uses sheet-fed or web 

method of press feeding when and transfers ink transferred from the lithographic plate to a rubbercovered intermediate "blanket" cylinder and then transferred

16 

 from the blanket cylinder to the 

substrate. 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

(8) "Press" means a printing production assembly composed of one or more units used to produce a 

printed substrate including any associated coating, spray powder application, heatset web dryer, 

ultraviolet or electron beam curing units, or infrared heating units. 

22 (9) "Sheet-fed printing" means indirect method of offset lithographic printing when ink transferred 

23 from the lithographic plate to a rubber-covered intermediate "blanket" cylinder and then 

24 transferred from the blanket cylinder to the substrate. individual sheets of paper or other substrate 

25 are fed to the press.

26 

27 

(10) "Web printing" means offset lithographic printing when continuous rolls of substrate material are 

fed to the press and rewound or cut to size after printing. 

28 (b) This Rule applies to any offset lithographic and any letterpress printing operations sources that are not covered 

29 by Subparagraph (c)(1) of Rule .0966 of this Section and whose emissions of volatile organic compounds exceed the 

30 threshold established in Paragraphs (b) and (f) of Rule .0902 of this Section and is not covered by Subparagraph 

31 (c)(1) of Rule .0966 of this Section. Section exceed:

32 (1) the threshold established in Paragraphs (b) and (f) of Rule .0902 of this Section; or

33 (2) an equivalent level of three tons per 12-consecutive month rolling period.

34 (c) Volatile organic compounds content in the fountain solution fromfor on-press (as-applied) for heatset web offset 

35 lithographic printing shall not exceed 1.6 percent alcohol (by weight) in the fountain solution or equivalent. This 

36 level of control for volatile organic compounds shall be achieved by:meet one of the following requirements or 

37 equivalent level of control as determined in permit conditions:

A-21
II-10 

1 (1) reducing the on-press (as-applied) alcohol content tocontain 1.6 percent alcohol or lessless, (by 

2 weight);by weight, as applied, in the fountain solution: or

(2) usecontain three percent alcohol or less (by weight) less, by weight, the on-press (as-applied) in 

the fountain solution if the fountain solution is refrigerated to below 60 degrees Fahrenheit; or 

3 

4 

(3) usecontain five percent alcohol substitute or less (by weight)less, by weight, the on-press (asapplied) and no alcohol in the fountain solution. 

5 

6 

(d) Volatile organic compounds content in the fountain solution fromfor on-press (as-applied) sheet-fed lithographic 

printing shall not exceed five percent alcohol (by weight) in the fountain or equivalent

7 

8 . This level of control for 

9 volatile organic compounds shall be achieved by:meet one of the following requirements or equivalent level of 

10 control as determined in permit conditions:

11 (1) reducing the on-press (as-applied) alcohol content tocontain five percent alcohol or less (by 

12 weight);less, by weight, on-press (as-applied) in the fountain solution; or

13 

14 

(2) usecontain 8.5 percent alcohol or less (by weight) the less, by weight, on-press (as-applied) in the 

fountain solution if the fountain solution is refrigerated to below 60 degrees Fahrenheit; or 

(3) usecontain five percent alcohol substitute or less (by weight) theless, by weight, on-press (asapplied) and no alcohol in the fountain solution. 

15 

16 

 (e) Volatile organic compounds content emissions from fountain solution from on-press (as-applied) for non-heatset 

web offset lithographic printing shall not exceed five percent alcohol substitute (by weight) 

17 

on-press (as-applied)

and no alcohol in the fountain solution. 

18 

19 

20 (f) Emissions of volatile organic compounds from any single letterpress printing heatset press subject to this Rule 

21 shall not exceed 25 tons per year. This level of control shall be achieved by using petroleum ink oil with volatile 

22 organic compounds content 31.25 tons per year volatile organic compounds or less because of the 20 percent ink oil 

23 retention.

24 (g) EPA Method 25A (40CFR Part 60, Appendix A-7) shall be used to determine the volatile organic compounds 

25 content of the materials used at offset lithographic printing and letterpress printing facilities unless the facility 

26 maintains records to document the volatile organic compounds content of the materials from the manufacturer.

27 (h) Any single letterpress printing heatset dryer owner or operator subject to this Rule, who has chosen to use add-on

28 control for letterpress printing operation rather than to comply with the emission limits established in Paragraph (f) 

29 of this Rule shall install control equipment with:

30 (1) 90 percent control efficiency for a control device whose first installation date was prior to July 1,

31 2010;

32 (2) 95 percent control efficiency for a control device whose first installation date was on or after 

33 July1,

34 2010.

35 (i) When the inlet of volatile organic compounds concentration is low or there is no identifiable measurable inlet, 

36 the control device outlet concentration shall be reduced to 20 parts per million by volume as hexane on a dry basis.

A-22
II-11 

1 (j) Volatile organic compounds capture efficiency can be demonstrated by showing that the dryer is operating at 

2 negative pressure relative to the surrounding pressroom. The capture efficiency for volatile organic compounds can 

3 be assumed to be 100 percent of the volatile organic compounds (ink oils) volatilized in the dryer. Capture 

4 efficiency test is not required in this situation.

5 (f) An owner or operator of an individual web offset lithographic printing press dryer or letterpress printing heatset 

6 press subject to this Rule that emits 25 or more tons per year potential emissions of volatile organic compounds 

7 shall:

8 (1) use an enforceable limitation on potential emissions to keep individual heatset press below 25 tons

9 per year potential to emit volatile organic compounds (petroleum ink oil) threshold, which can be 

10 achieved by using inks and coatings that contain less than 31.25 tons per year volatile organic 

11 compound (petroleum ink oil) where 20 percent retention factor of petroleum ink oil applies, or by 

12 using other methods established by permit conditions; or

(2) use an add-on control system for web offset lithographic printing or letterpress printing operations

that meets one of the following requirements:

13 

14 

15 (A) reduces volatile organic compounds emissions from each dryer by at least 90 percent 

16 volatile organic compounds emissions control efficiency established by procedures 

17 defined in Paragraph (h) of this rule for a control device from heatset dryers whose first 

18 installation date was prior to July 1, 2010; or 2010 at facilities with potential to emit 100 

19 tons or more of volatile organic compounds per year and prior to May 1, 2013, at 

20 facilities with potential to emit less than 100 tons of volatile organic compounds per year; 

21 or 

22 (B) reduce volatile organic compounds emissions from each dryer by at least 95 percent 

23 volatile organic compounds emissions control efficiency established by procedures 

24 defined in Paragraph (h) of this rule for a control device from heatset dryers whose first 

25 installation date was on or after July 1, 2010; or 2010 at facilities with potential to emit 

26 100 tons or more of volatile organic compounds per year and on or after May 1, 2013, at 

27 facilities with potential to emit less than 100 tons of volatile organic compounds per year; 

28 or

29 (C) maintain a maximum volatile organic compounds outlet concentration of 20 parts per 

30 million by volume (ppmv), as hexane (C6H14) on a dry basis.

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

(k)(g) The control limits established in: 

(1) Paragraphs (c), (d), and (e), shall not be applied to any press with total fountain solution reservoir 

of less than one gallon; and 

(2) Paragraph (d) shall not be applied to sheet-fed presses with maximum sheet size 11x 17 inches or 

smaller; and 

(3) Paragraph (f) (f)(2) shall not be applied to a heatset press used for book printing, andor to a 

headset

36 

37 heatset press with maximum web width of 22 inches or less. 

A-23
II-12 

1 (h) If the owner or operator of a printing press is required by permit conditions to determine:

2 (1) the volatile organic compounds content, the EPA test Method 24 or approved alternative methods 

3 shall be used;

4 (2) the control efficiency by measuring volatile organic compounds at the control device inlet and 

5 outlet, the EPA test Methods 18, 25, 25A, or approved alternative methods shall be used.

6 (l) All cleaning materials used in amount more than 110 gallons per year for cleaning a press, press parts, or to 

7 remove dried ink from areas around the press shall contain less than 70 weight percent volatile organic compounds 

8 or have volatile organic compounds composite vapor pressure less than 10 mm Hg at 20 degrees Celsius.

9 (i) All test methods defined in Paragraph (h) of this Rule, shall be conducted at typical operating conditions and flow 

10 rates.

11 (j) The owner or operator of any facility subject to this Rule shall demonstrate compliance with RACT applicability 

12 requirements by calculating volatile organic compounds emissions and keep records of the basis of the calculations 

13 required by the Rules .0605 and .0903 of this Subchapter. Volatile organic compounds emissions from offset 

14 lithographic printing and letterpress printing shall be determined by permit condition requirements or by using the 

15 following retention and capture efficiency factors:

16 (1) retention factors are:

17 (A) 20 percent for heatset petroleum ink oils; 

18 (B) 100 percent for heatset vegetable ink oils;

19 (C) 95 percent for sheet-fed and coldset web petroleum ink oils; 

20 (D) 100 percent for sheet-fed and coldset web vegetable ink oils.

21 (2) retention factor is 50 percent for low volatile organic compounds composite vapor pressure 

22 cleaning materials in shop towels where:

23 (A) volatile organic compounds composite vapor pressure of the cleaning material is less than 

24 10 mm Hg at 20 oC; and

25 (B) cleaning materials and used shop towels are kept in closed containers. 

26 (3) Carryover (capture) factors of volatile organic compounds from automatic blanket wash and 

27 fountain solution to offset lithographic heatset dryers are:

28 (A) 40 percent VOC carryover (capture) factor for automatic blanket washing when the 

29 volatile organic compounds composite vapor pressure of the cleaning material is less than 

30 10mm Hg at 20°C.

31 (B) 70 percent VOC carryover (capture) factor for alcohol substitutes in fountain solution.

32 (4) Capture efficiency for volatile organic compounds (petroleum ink oils) from oil-based

33 paste inks and oil-based paste varnishes (coatings) in heatset web offset lithographic presses and 

34 heatset web letterpress presses shall be demonstrated by showing that the dryer is operating at 

35 negative pressure relative to the surrounding pressroom. As long as the dryer is operated at 

36 negative pressure, the capture efficiency for VOC from the heatset lithographic inks and varnishes 

A-24
II-13 

1 (coatings) formulated with low volatility ink oils is 100 percent of the VOC (ink oils) volatilized 

2 in the dryer. Capture efficiency test is not required in this situation

3 (k) Except as specified in this Paragraph, all cleaning materials used for cleaning a press, press parts, or to remove 

4 dried ink from areas around the press shall meet one of the following requirements:

5 (1) The volatile organic compounds content shall be less than 70 percent by weight, or; 

6 (2) Composite partial vapor pressure of volatile organic compounds shall be less than 10 mm Hg at 20 

7 degrees Celsius.

8 (3) No more than 110 gallons per year of cleaning materials that do not meet the requirements of 

9 Subparagraph (1) or (2) of this Paragraph shall be used during any twelve consecutive months. 

10 (l) The owner or operator of any facility subject to this Rule shall maintain the following records for a minimum of 

11 five years:

12 (1) parametric monitoring for processes and control devices as determined and at the frequency 

13 specified in the permit or by Paragraph (f) of this Rule; and

14 (2) the total amount of each individual or class of fountain solution and ink used monthly for the 

15 printing operations and the percentage of volatile organic compounds, alcohol, and alcohol 

16 substitute as applied in it; and

17 (3) the total amount of each individual or class of cleaning solutions used monthly with vapor 

18 pressure and the percentage of volatile organic compounds as applied in it; and

19 (4) the total amount of cleaning solutions used monthly with vapor pressure and the percentage of 

20 volatile organic compounds as applied which does not meet the vapor pressure or percentage of 

21 volatile organic compounds requirements of Paragraph (k) of this Rule; and

22 (5) temperature of fountain solutions for lithographic printing presses using alcohol at the frequency 

23 specified in the permit; and

24 (6) any other parameters required by the permit in accordance with the Rules .0903 and .0605 of this 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

Subchapter.

(m) The owner or operator of any source subject to this Rule shall comply with Rules .0903, and .0958 of this 

Section. 

History Note: Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5); 

Eff. September 1, 2010. 

31 Amended Eff. May 1, 2013.

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

15A NCAC 02D .0962 is proposed for amendment as follows: 

15A NCAC 02D .0962 INDUSTRIAL CLEANING SOLVENTS 

(a) For the purpose of this Rule, the following definitions apply: 

(1) "Organic solvent" means a liquid hydrocarbon, such as methyl ethyl ketone or toluene, used to 

dissolve paints, varnishes, grease, oil, or other hydrocarbons. 

A-25
II-14 

1 

2 

(2) "Solvent cleaning" means the process of removing the excess penetrant from the surface or a part 

by wiping, flushing, or spraying with a solvent for the penetrant. 

3 (3) “Wipe cleaning” The method of cleaning which utilizes a material such as a rag wetted with a 

4 solvent, prior to a physical rubbing process to remove contaminants from surfaces.

(b) This Rule applies applies, with exemptions defined in Paragraphs (c) and (d) of this Rule, to sources whose 

volatile organic compound emissions exceed the threshold established in Paragraph (b) of Rule .0902 of this Section 

from the following cleaning operations: 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

(1) spray gun cleaning; 

(2) spray booth cleaning; 

(3) large manufactured components cleaning; 

(4) parts cleaning; 

(5) equipment cleaning; 

(6) line cleaning; 

(7) floor cleaning; 

(8) tank cleaning; and 

(9) small manufactured components cleaning. 

17 (c) Paragraph (e) of this Rule does not apply to any cleaning material used for:

18 (1) cleaning operations covered by Rules .0918, .0919, .0921, .0923, .0924, .0930, .0934, .0935, 

19 .0936, .0961, .0963, .0964, .0965, .0966, .0967, and .0968 of this Section. 

20 (d) Cleaning operations of portable or stationary mixing vats, high dispersion mills, grinding mills, tote tanks and 

21 roller mills for manufacturing of coating, ink, or adhesive shall apply one or more of the following methods:

22 (1) use industrial cleaning solvents that either contains less than 1.67 pounds VOC per gallon or has 

23 an initial boiling point greater than 120 degrees Celsius, and where the initial boiling point 

24 exceeds the maximum operating temperature by at least 100 degrees Celsius. The industrial 

25 cleaning solvents shall be collected and stored in closed containers; or

26 (2) implement the following work practices:

27 (A) maintain the equipment being cleaned as leak free; and

28 (B) drain volatile organic compounds containing cleaning materials from the cleaned 

29 equipment upon completion of cleaning; and

30 (C) store or dispose of volatile organic compounds containing cleaning materials, including 

31 waste solvent, in a manner that will prevent evaporation into atmosphere; and

32 (D) store all volatile organic containing cleaning materials in closed containers; or 

33 (3) collect and vent the emissions from equipment cleaning to an add-on control system defined in 

34 Paragraph (g) of this Rule; or 

35 (4) use organic solvents other than those defined in Paragraph (d)(1) of this Rule if no more than 60 

36 gallons of fresh solvent shall be used per month (organic solvent that is reused or recycled either 

A-26
II-15 

1 onsite or offsite for further use in equipment cleaning or the manufacture of coating, ink, or 

2 adhesive shall not be included in this limit).

3 (c) Cleaning operations covered by Rules .0918, .0919, .0921, .0923, .0924, .0930, .0934, .0935, .0936, .0961, 

4 .0963, .0964, .0965, .0966, .0967, and .0968 of this Section are exempted from the requirements of this Rule. 

5 (d)(e) Any cleaning material of the nine cleaning operations listed in Paragraph (b) of this Rule shall have: 

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(1) volatile organic compounds content that does not exceed 0.42 pounds per gallon; or 

(2) composite vapor limit of eight millimeters of mercury (mmHg) at 20 degrees Celsius. 

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(e)(f) EPA Method 24 (40CFR Part 60, Appendix A-7) shall be used to determine the volatile organic compounds 

content of coating materials used in industrial cleaning solvents operations unless the facility maintains records to 

document the volatile organic compounds content of coating materials from the manufacturer. 

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(f)(g) Facilities which have chosen to use add-on control rather than to comply with the emission limits established 

in Paragraph (e) of this Rule shall install control equipment with 85 percent overall efficiency. 

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(g)(h) The owner or operator of any facility subject to this Rule shall comply with the Rules .0903 and .0958 of this 

Section. 

History Note: Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5); 

Eff. September 1, 2010. 

18 Amended Eff. May 1, 2013.

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15A NCAC 02Q .0102 is proposed for amendment as follows: 

15A NCAC 02Q .0102 ACTIVITIES EXEMPTED FROM PERMIT REQUIREMENTS 

(a) This Rule does not apply to facilities required to have a permit under Section .0500 of this Subchapter. This 

Rule applies only to permits issued under Section .0300 of this Subchapter. 

(b) If a source is subject to any of the following rules, then the source is not exempted from permit requirements, 

and the exemptions in Paragraph (c) of this Rule do not apply: 

(1) new source performance standards under 15A NCAC 02D .0524 or 40 CFR Part 60, except when 

the following activities are eligible for exemption under Paragraph (c) of this Rule: 

(A) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart Dc, industrial, commercial, and institutional steam generating 

units; 

(B) 40 CFR Part 60, Subparts K, Ka, or Kb, volatile organic liquid storage vessels; 

(C) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart AAA, new residential wood heaters; 

(D) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart JJJ, petroleum dry cleaners; 

(E) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart WWW, municipal solid waste landfills; 

(F) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart IIII, stationary compression ignition internal combustion 

engines; or 

(G) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart JJJJ, stationary spark ignition internal combustion engines; 

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(2) national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants under 15A NCAC 02D .1110 or 40 CFR 

Part 61, except asbestos demolition and renovation activities, which are eligible for exemption 

under Paragraph (c) of this Rule; 

(3) prevention of significant deterioration under 15A NCAC 02D .0530; 

(4) new source review under 15A NCAC 02D .0531 or .0532; 

(5) sources of volatile organic compounds subject to the requirements of 15A NCAC 02D .0900

Section .0900,Volatile Organic Compounds,

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 that are located in Mecklenburg County according to 

15A NCAC 02D .0902 (d);

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(6) sources required to apply maximum achievable control technology (MACT) for hazardous air 

pollutants under 15A NCAC 02D .1109, .1111, .1112, or 40 CFR Part 63 that are required to have 

a permit under Section .0500 of this Subchapter; 

(7) sources at facilities subject to 15A NCAC 02D .1100. (If a source does not emit a toxic air 

pollutant for which the facility at which it is located has been modeled, it shall be exempted from 

needing a permit if it qualifies for one of the exemptions in Paragraph (c) of this Rule). 

(c) The following activities do not need a permit or permit modification under Section .0300 of this Subchapter; 

however, the Director may require the owner or operator of these activities to register them under 15A NCAC 02D 

.0200: 

(1) activities exempted because of category: 

(A) maintenance, upkeep, and replacement: 

(i) maintenance, structural changes, or repairs which do not change the capacity of 

such process, fuel-burning, refuse-burning, or control equipment, and do not 

involve any change in quality or nature or increase in quantity of emission of 

regulated air pollutants; 

(ii) housekeeping activities or building maintenance procedures, including painting 

buildings, resurfacing floors, roof repair, washing, portable vacuum cleaners, 

sweeping, use and associated storage of janitorial products, or insulation 

removal; 

(iii) use of office supplies, supplies to maintain copying equipment, or blueprint 

machines; 

(iv) use of fire fighting equipment; 

(v) paving parking lots; or 

(vi) replacement of existing equipment with equipment of the same size, type, and 

function that does not result in an increase to the actual or potential emission of 

regulated air pollutants and that does not affect the compliance status, and with 

replacement equipment that fits the description of the existing equipment in the 

permit, including the application, such that the replacement equipment can be 

operated under that permit without any changes in the permit; 

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(B) air conditioning or ventilation: comfort air conditioning or comfort ventilating systems 

that do not transport, remove, or exhaust regulated air pollutants to the atmosphere; 

(C) laboratory activities: 

(i) bench-scale, on-site equipment used exclusively for chemical or physical 

analysis for quality control purposes, staff instruction, water or wastewater 

analyses, or non-production environmental compliance assessments; 

(ii) bench-scale experimentation, chemical or physical analyses, training or 

instruction from not-for-profit, non-production educational laboratories; 

(iii) bench-scale experimentation, chemical or physical analyses, training or 

instruction from hospitals or health laboratories pursuant to the determination or 

diagnoses of illness; or 

(iv) research and development laboratory activities provided the activity produces no 

commercial product or feedstock material; 

(D) storage tanks: 

(i) storage tanks used solely to store fuel oils, kerosene, diesel, crude oil, used 

motor oil, lubricants, cooling oils, natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas; 

(ii) storage tanks used to store gasoline or ethanol-based fuels for which there are no 

applicable requirements except Stage I controls under 15A NCAC 02D .0928; 

(iii) storage tanks used solely to store inorganic liquids; or 

(iv) storage tanks or vessels used for the temporary containment of materials 

resulting from an emergency response to an unanticipated release of hazardous 

materials; 

(E) combustion and heat transfer equipment: 

(i) space heaters burning distillate oil, kerosene, natural gas, or liquefied petroleum 

gas operating by direct heat transfer and used solely for comfort heat; 

(ii) residential wood stoves, heaters, or fireplaces; 

(iii) hot water heaters which are used for domestic purposes only and are not used to 

heat process water; 

(F) wastewater treatment processes: industrial wastewater treatment processes or municipal 

wastewater treatment processes for which there are no applicable requirements; 

(G) gasoline distribution: gasoline service stations or gasoline dispensing facilities; 

(H) dispensing equipment: equipment used solely to dispense diesel fuel, kerosene, lubricants 

or cooling oils; 

(I) solvent recycling: portable solvent distillation systems used for on-site solvent recycling 

if: 

(i) The portable solvent distillation system is not: 

(I) owned by the facility, and 

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(II) operated at the facility for more than seven consecutive days; and 

(ii) The material recycled is recycled at the site of origin; 

(J) processes: 

(i) electric motor burn-out ovens with secondary combustion chambers or 

afterburners; 

(ii) electric motor bake-on ovens; 

(iii) burn-off ovens for paint-line hangers with afterburners; 

(iv) hosiery knitting machines and associated lint screens, hosiery dryers and 

associated lint screens, and hosiery dyeing processes where bleach or solvent 

dyes are not used; 

(v) blade wood planers planing only green wood; 

(K) solid waste landfills: municipal solid waste landfills (This Part does not apply to flares 

and other sources of combustion at solid waste landfills; these flares and other 

combustion sources are required to be permitted under 15A NCAC 02Q .0300 unless they 

qualify for another exemption under this Paragraph.); 

(L) miscellaneous: 

(i) motor vehicles, aircraft, marine vessels, locomotives, tractors or other selfpropelled vehicles with internal combustion engines; 

(ii) non-self-propelled non-road engines, except generators, regulated by rules 

adopted under Title II of the Federal Clean Air Act (Generators are required to 

be permitted under 15A NCAC 02Q .0300 unless they qualify for another 

exemption under this Paragraph.); 

(iii) portable generators regulated by rules adopted under Title II of the Federal 

Clean Air Act; 

(iv) equipment used for the preparation of food for direct on-site human 

consumption; 

(v) a source whose emissions are regulated only under Section 112(r) or Title VI of 

the Federal Clean Air Act; 

(vi) exit gases from in-line process analyzers; 

(vii) stacks or vents to prevent escape of sewer gases from domestic waste through 

plumbing traps; 

(viii) refrigeration equipment that is consistent with Section 601 through 618 of Title 

VI (Stratospheric Ozone Protection) of the Federal Clean Air Act, 40 CFR Part 

82, and any other regulations promulgated by EPA under Title VI for 

stratospheric ozone protection, except those units used as or in conjunction with 

air pollution control equipment (A unit used as or in conjunction with air 

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pollution control equipment is required to be permitted under 15A NCAC 02Q 

.0300 unless it qualifies for another exemption under this Paragraph); 

(ix) equipment not vented to the outdoor atmosphere with the exception of 

equipment that emits volatile organic compounds (Equipment that emits volatile 

organic compounds is required to be permitted under 15A NCAC 02Q .0300 

unless it qualifies for another exemption under this Paragraph); 

(x) equipment that does not emit any regulated air pollutants; 

(xi) facilities subject only to a requirement under 40 CFR Part 63 (This Subpart does 

not apply when a control device is used to meet a MACT or GACT emission 

standard; a control device used to meet a MACT or GACT emission standard is 

required to be permitted under 15A NCAC 02Q .0300 unless it qualifies for 

another exemption under this Paragraph); 

(xii) sources for which there are no applicable requirements; 

(xiii) animal operations not required to have control technology under 15A NCAC 

02D .1800 (If an animal operation is required to have control technology, it shall 

be required to have a permit under this Subchapter). 

(2) activities exempted because of size or production rate: 

(A) storage tanks: 

(i) above-ground storage tanks with a storage capacity of no more than 1100 

gallons storing organic liquids with a true vapor pressure of no more than 10.8 

pounds per square inch absolute at 70o F; or 

(ii) underground storage tanks with a storage capacity of no more than 2500 gallons 

storing organic liquids with a true vapor pressure of no more than 10.8 psi 

absolute at 70o F; 

(B) combustion and heat transfer equipment: 

(i) fuel combustion equipment, except for internal combustion engines, firing 

exclusively kerosene, No. 1 fuel oil, No. 2 fuel oil, equivalent unadulterated 

fuels, or a mixture of these fuels or one or more of these fuels mixed with 

natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas with a heat input of less than: 

(I) 10 million Btu per hour for which construction, modification, or 

reconstruction commenced after June 9, 1989; or 

(II) 30 million Btu per hour for which construction, modification, or 

reconstruction commenced before June 10, 1989; 

(Internal combustion engines are required to be permitted under 15A NCAC 02Q .0300 

unless they qualify for another exemption under this Paragraph); 

(ii) fuel combustion equipment, except for internal combustion engines, firing 

exclusively natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas or a mixture of these fuels 

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with a heat input rating less than 65 million Btu per hour (Internal combustion 

engines are required to be permitted under 15A NCAC 02Q .0300 unless they 

qualify for another exemption under this Paragraph); 

(iii) space heaters burning waste oil if: 

(I) The heater burns only oil that the owner or operator generates or used 

oil from do-it-yourself oil changers who generate used oil as household 

wastes; 

(II) The heater is designed to have a maximum capacity of not more than 

500,000 Btu per hour; and 

(III) The combustion gases from the heater are vented to the ambient air; 

(iv) fuel combustion equipment with a heat input rating less than 10 million Btu per 

hour that is used solely for space heating except: 

(I) space heaters burning waste oil, or 

(II) internal combustion engines; 

(v) emergency use generators and other internal combustion engines not regulated 

by rules adopted under Title II of the Federal Clean Air Act, except selfpropelled vehicles, that have a rated capacity of no more than: 

(I) 680 kilowatts (electric) or 1000 horsepower for natural gas-fired 

engines; 

(II) 1800 kilowatts (electric) or 2510 horsepower for liquefied petroleum 

gas-fired engines; 

(III) 590 kilowatts (electric) or 900 horsepower for diesel-fired or kerosenefired engines; or 

(IV) 21 kilowatts (electric) or 31 horsepower for gasoline-fired engines; 

(Self-propelled vehicles with internal combustion engines are exempted under 

Subpart (1)(c)(L)(i) of this Paragraph.) 

(vi) portable generators and other portable equipment with internal combustion 

engines not regulated by rules adopted under Title II of the Federal Clean Air 

Act, except self-propelled vehicles, that operate at the facility no more than a 

combined 350 hours for any 365-day period provided the generators or engines 

have a rated capacity of no more than 750 kilowatt (electric) or 1100 

horsepower each and provided records are maintained to verify the hours of 

operation (Self-propelled vehicles with internal combustion engines are 

exempted under Subpart (1)(c)(L)(i) of this Paragraph.); 

(vii) peak shaving generators that produce no more than 325,000 kilowatt-hours of 

electrical energy for any 12-month period provided records are maintained to 

verify the energy production on a monthly basis and on a 12-month basis; 

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(C) gasoline distribution: bulk gasoline plants with an average daily throughput of less than 

4000 gallons; 

(D) processes: 

(i) graphic arts operations, paint spray booths or other painting or coating 

operations without air pollution control devices (water wash and filters that are 

an integral part of the paint spray booth are not considered air pollution control 

devices), and solvent cleaning operations located at a facility whose facilitywide actual emissions of volatile organic compounds are less than five tons per 

year (Graphic arts operations, coating operations, and solvent cleaning 

operations are defined in 15A NCAC 02Q .0803); 

(ii) sawmills that saw no more than 2,000,000 board feet per year provided only 

green wood is sawed; 

(iii) perchloroethylene dry cleaners that emit less than 13,000 pounds of 

perchloroethylene per year; 

(iv) electrostatic dry powder coating operations with filters or powder recovery 

systems including electrostatic dry powder coating operations equipped with 

curing ovens with a heat input of less than 10,000,000 Btu per hour; 

(E) miscellaneous: 

(i) any source whose emissions would not violate any applicable emissions 

standard and whose potential emissions of particulate, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen 

oxides, volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide before air pollution 

control devices, i.e., potential uncontrolled emissions, are each no more than 

five tons per year and whose potential emissions of hazardous air pollutants are 

below their lesser quantity cutoff except: 

(I) storage tanks, 

(II) fuel combustion equipment, 

(III) space heaters burning waste oil, 

(IV) generators, excluding emergency generators, or other non-selfpropelled internal combustion engines, 

(V) bulk gasoline plants, 

(VI) printing, paint spray booths, or other painting or coating operations, 

(VII) sawmills, 

(VIII) perchloroethylene dry cleaners, or 

(IX) electrostatic dry powder coating operations, provided that the total 

potential emissions of particulate, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, 

volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide from the facility are 

each less than 40 tons per year and the total potential emissions of all 

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hazardous air pollutants are below their lesser quantity cutoff emission 

rates or provided that the facility has an air quality permit. (A source 

identified in Sub-subpart (I) through (IX) of this Part is required to be 

permitted under 15A NCAC 02Q .0300 unless it qualifies for another 

exemption under this Paragraph); 

(ii) any facility whose actual emissions of particulate, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen 

oxides, volatile organic compounds, and carbon monoxide before air pollution 

control devices, i.e., uncontrolled emissions, are each less than five tons per 

year, whose potential emissions of all hazardous air pollutants are below their 

lesser quantity cutoff emission rate, and none of whose sources would violate an 

applicable emissions standard; 

(iii) any source that only emits hazardous air pollutants that are not also a particulate 

or a volatile organic compound and whose potential emissions of hazardous air 

pollutants are below their lesser quantity cutoff emission rates; or 

(iv) any incinerator covered under Subparagraph (c)(4) of 15A NCAC 02D .1201; 

(F) case-by-case exemption: activities that the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of 

the Director: 

(i) to be negligible in their air quality impacts; 

(ii) not to have any air pollution control device; and 

(iii) not to violate any applicable emission control standard when operating at 

maximum design capacity or maximum operating rate, whichever is greater. 

(d) Because an activity is exempted from being required to have a permit does not mean that the activity is 

exempted from any applicable requirement or that the owner or operator of the source is exempted from 

demonstrating compliance with any applicable requirement. 

(e) Emissions from stationary source activities identified in Paragraph (c) of this Rule shall be included in 

determining compliance with the toxic air pollutant requirements under 15A NCAC 02D .1100 or 02Q .0700 

according to 15A NCAC 02Q .0702 (exemptions from air toxic permitting). 

(f) The owner or operator of a facility or source claiming an exemption under Paragraph (c) of this Rule shall 

provide the Director documentation upon request that the facility or source is qualified for that exemption. 

(g) If the Director finds that an activity exempted under Paragraph (c) of this Rule is in violation of or has violated a 

rule in 15A NCAC 02D, he shall revoke the permit exemption for that activity and require that activity to be 

permitted under this Subchapter if necessary to obtain or maintain compliance. 

History Note: Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(4); 143-215.108; 

Temporary Adoption Eff. March 8, 1994 for a period of 180 days or until the permanent rule 

becomes effective, whichever is sooner; 

Eff. July 1, 1994; 

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Amended Eff. April 1, 1999; July 1, 1998; July 1, 1997; November 1, 1996; 

Temporary Amendment Eff. December 1, 1999; 

Amended Eff. May 1, 2013; January 1, 2009; July 1, 2007; June 29, 2006; July 18, 2002; 

July 1, 2000. 

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A-36
CHAPTER III 

REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS 

Introduction 

The Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, Division of Air Quality, held a public 

hearing on January 15, 2013 at 6:00pm in the Kannapolis, NC. 

The hearing considered the proposed amendment to Rule 15A NCAC 02Q .0102, Activities 

Exempted From Permit Requirements. 

 The proposed effective date for these rules is projected to be May 1, 2013. 

A public notice announcing this hearing was mailed to each person on the official mailing list for 

rule-making hearings. The public notice was also published in the North Carolina Register at 

least 15 days before the public hearing and in the Charlotte Observer, the Wilmington Star News, 

the Asheville Citizen Times, the Winston Salem Journal, and the Raleigh News and Observer at 

least 30 days prior to the public hearing. 

III-1 A-37



Transcript

A transcript of the January 15, 2013 hearing has not been prepared; however, an audio 

recording of the proceeding will be kept on file with the Division of Air Quality for one 

year from the date of the final actions by the Environmental Management Commission. 

A list of those attending the hearing as follows: 

Hearing Officer 

Mr. Benne C. Hutson, member of the Environmental Management Commission 

Staff Members 

 

Ms. Joelle Burleson, DAQ, DENR 

Mr. Glenn Sappie, DAQ, DENR 

Mr. Patrick Knowlson, DAQ, DENR 

Mr. Vladimir Zaytsev, DAQ, DENR 

Mr. Ron Slack, Mooresville Regional Office, DAQ, DENR 

Ms. Melinda Wolanin, Mooresville Regional Office, DAQ, DENR 

Ms. Denise Hayes, Mooresville Regional Office, DAQ, DENR 

Mr. Chuck Greco, Mecklenburg County Local Program 

Members of the General Public 

No members of the General Public appeared at the hearing. 

III-5 A-41
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III-6 A-42
IV-1 

CHAPTER IV 

EXHIBITS 

EXHIBIT PAGE

Proposed Regulations as Published in the North Carolina Register and Presented at the 

Hearing

IV- 2

Hearing Officer Comments at the Public Hearing IV- 17

 

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PROPOSED RULES

27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1020 

(C). The owner or operator shall make the information 

documented and maintained under this Paragraph available to 

the Director or the general public pursuant to the requirements in 

40 CFR 70.4(b)(3)(viii).

(o) The reference to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in 

this Rule are incorporated by reference unless a specific 

reference states otherwise. Except for 40 CFR 81.334, the

version of the CFR incorporated in this Rule is that as of May 

16, 2008 and does not include any subsequent amendments or 

editions to the referenced material. 

Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5); 143-

215.108(b).

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notice is hereby given in accordance with G.S. 150B-21.2 that 

the Environmental Management Commission intends to amend 

the rules cited as 15A NCAC 02D .0902,-.0903, .0909, .0951, 

.0961-.0962; 02Q .0102.

Agency obtained G.S. 150B-19.1 certification:

 OSBM certified on: November 5, 2012

 RRC certified on: 

 Not Required

Link to agency website pursuant to G.S. 150B-19.1(c): 

http://www.ncair.org/rules/hearing/

Proposed Effective Date: May 1, 2013

Public Hearing: 

Date: January 15, 2013

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: Kannapolis Train Station, 201 South Main Street, 

Kannapolis, NC 28081

Reason for Proposed Action: 

The proposed amendments are in response to United States 

Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) comments on North 

Carolina’s redesignation demonstration and maintenance plan 

for the North Carolina portion of the Charlotte-Gastonia, NCRock Hill, SC 1997 8-hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality 

Standard (NAAQS) Nonattainment Area. USEPA identified the 

need for adjustment of applicability of the state’s Reasonably

Available Control Technology (RACT) rules to meet the 

requirements of Section 182(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act which 

requires RACT for all sources addressed by Control Technique 

Guidelines (CTGs) in nonattainment areas classified moderate 

and above. The current RACT rules’ applicability is structured 

such that the RACT requirement for sources in CTG categories 

applies to major sources with 100 tons of volatile organic 

compounds or more per year. Amendments to printing related 

and industrial solvent cleaning RACT rules are in response to 

industry associations’ requests for language clarifications and 

flexibilities consistent with the CTGs on which they are based.

15A NCAC 02D .0902 - Applicability, to reflect applicability to 

all sources in a CTG category in order to meet the Clean Air Act 

requirement and thus facilitate the redesignation process and 

include provisions allowing for the shift of requirements to 

contingency measures upon redesignation of the area consistent 

with EPA procedures.

15A NCAC 02D .0909 - Compliance Schedules For Sources In 

Ozone Nonattainment And Maintenance Areas, to update the 

compliance schedule corresponding to the adjustment in 

applicability.

15A NCAC 02D .0951 - RACT For Sources of Volatile Organic 

Compounds, to provide flexibility to comply via the category 

specific rules in the Section or through approved site specific 

alternative determinations.

15A NCAC 02D .0961 - Offset Lithographic Printing and 

Letterpress Printing, in response to industry associations’ 

comments and requests for language clarification and 

flexibilities consistent with the CTGs on which it is based 

including an equivalent rolling, consecutive 12 month 

applicability threshold consistent with the CTG to provide some 

relief from a recordkeeping standpoint, clarifying language, and 

addition of some specificity with respect to recordkeeping. 

15A NCAC 18A 02D .0962 - Industrial Cleaning Solvents, in 

response to industry associations’ comments and requests for 

language clarification and flexibilities consistent with the CTGs 

on which it is are based including an alternate VOC content 

level and compliance options for industrial solvents used for 

cleaning resins, inks, and coatings manufacturing equipment 

consistent with the CTG recommendations.

15A NCAC 02D .0903 - Recordkeeping: Reporting: Monitoring, 

to update cross-references.

15A NCAC 02Q .0102 - Exemptions, to update cross-references.

Procedure by which a person can object to the agency on a 

proposed rule: If you have any objections to the proposed 

rules, please mail a letter including your specific reasons to: Ms. 

Joelle Burleson, Division of Air Quality, 1641 Mail Service 

Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1641.

Comments may be submitted to: Joelle Burleson, Division of 

Air Quality, 1641 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-

1641, phone (919)707-8720, fax (919)707-8720, email 

joelle.burleson@ncdenr.gov.

Comment period ends: February 1, 2013

Procedure for Subjecting a Proposed Rule to Legislative 

Review: If an objection is not resolved prior to the adoption of 

the rule, a person may also submit written objections to the 

Rules Review Commission after the adoption of the Rule. If the 

Rules Review Commission receives written and signed

objections after the adoption of the Rule in accordance with G.S. 

150B-21.3(b2) from 10 or more persons clearly requesting 

review by the legislature and the Rules Review Commission 

approves the rule, the rule will become effective as provided in 

G.S. 150B-21.3(b1). The Commission will receive written 

objections until 5:00 p.m. on the day following the day the 

Commission approves the rule. The Commission will receive 

those objections by mail, delivery service, hand delivery, or 

facsimile transmission. If you have any further questions 

concerning the submission of objections to the Commission, 

please call a Commission staff attorney at 919-431-3000. 

IV-2 A-44
PROPOSED RULES

27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1021 

Fiscal impact (check all that apply).

State funds affected

Environmental permitting of DOT affected

Analysis submitted to Board of Transportation

Local funds affected

Date submitted to OSBM: 

Substantial economic impact (≥$500,000) 

Approved by OSBM

No fiscal note required by G.S. 150B-21.4

CHAPTER 02 - ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

SUBCHAPTER 02D - AIR POLLUTION CONTROL 

REQUIREMENTS

SECTION .0900 - VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

15A NCAC 02D .0902 APPLICABILITY

(a) The rules in this Section do not apply except as specifically 

set out in this Rule.

(b) This Section applies to sources that emit greater than or 

equal to 15 pounds of volatile organic compounds per day. day 

unless specified otherwise in this Section.

(c) Rules .0925, .0926, .0927, .0928, .0931, .0932, .0933, and 

.0958 of this Section apply regardless of the level of emissions 

of volatile organic compounds. compounds unless provisions 

specified in Subparagraph (d)(1) of this Rule are applied. 

(d) This Section does not apply to:

(1) sources that emit less than 800 pounds of 

volatile organic compounds per calendar 

month and that are:

(A) bench-scale, on-site equipment used 

exclusively for chemical or physical 

analysis for quality control purposes, 

staff instruction, water or wastewater 

analyses, or non-production 

environmental compliance 

assessments;

(B) bench-scale experimentation, 

chemical or physical analyses, 

training or instruction from not-forprofit, non-production educational 

laboratories;

(C) bench-scale experimentation, 

chemical or physical analyses, 

training or instruction from hospitals 

or health laboratories pursuant to the 

determination or diagnoses of illness; 

or

(D) research and development laboratory 

activities provided the activity 

produces no commercial product or 

feedstock material; or

(2) emissions of volatile organic compounds 

during startup or shutdown operations from 

sources which use incineration or other types 

of combustion to control emissions of volatile 

organic compounds whenever the off-gas 

contains an explosive mixture during the 

startup or shutdown operation if the exemption 

is approved by the Director as meeting the 

requirements of this Subparagraph.

(e) The following rules of this Section apply to facilities located

statewide:

(1) .0925, Petroleum Liquid Storage in Fixed Roof 

Tanks, for fixed roof tanks at gasoline bulk 

plants and gasoline bulk terminals;

(2) .0926, Bulk Gasoline Plants;

(3) .0927, Bulk Gasoline Terminals;

(4) .0928, Gasoline Service Stations Stage I;

(5) .0932, Gasoline Truck Tanks and Vapor 

Collection Systems;

(6) .0933, Petroleum Liquid Storage in External 

Floating Roof Tanks, for external floating roof 

tanks at bulk gasoline plants and bulk gasoline 

terminals;

(7) .0948, VOC Emissions from Transfer 

Operations;

(8) .0949, Storage of Miscellaneous Volatile 

Organic Compounds; and 

(9) .0958, Work Practices for Sources of Volatile 

Organic Compounds.

(f) Except as provided in Paragraph (e) of this Rule, Thethe

Rules in this Section apply to facilities subject to Section 

182(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act with potential to emit 100 or 

more tons per year of VOC and to facilities with potential to 

emit less than 100 tons per year of volatile organic compounds 

in categories for which the United States Environmental 

Protection Agency has issued Control Technique Guidelines 

with the potential to emit greater than or equal to 100 tons of 

volatile organic compounds per yearthat are located in the 

following moderate nonattainment areas:areas for the 1997 8-

hour ozone standard as designated in 40 CFR 81.334: 

(1) Cabarrus County;

(2) Gaston County;

(3) Lincoln County;

(4) Mecklenburg County;

(5) Rowan County;

(6) Union County; and

(7) Davidson Township and Coddle Creek 

Township in Iredell County.

These facilities are subject to reasonably available control 

technology requirements under this Section and shall comply in 

accordance with Rule .0909 of this Section through use of Rule 

.0951 of this Section.

(g) If any county or part of a county to which this Section 

applies is later designated in 40 CFR 81.334 as 

attainment,attainment and becomes a maintenance area for the 

1997 8-hour ozone standard , all sources in that county or part of 

county subject to Paragraph (f) of this Rule that achieved 

compliance in accordance with Rule .0909 of this Sectionsubject 

to this Section before the redesignation to attainment shall 

continue to comply with this Section. Facilities with potential to 

emit less than 100 tons of volatile organic compounds per year 

for which the compliance date in Rule .0909 of this Section has 

not passed before redesignation of the area to attainment for the 

1997 ozone standard shall comply in accordance with Paragraph 

(h) of this Rule. 

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1022 

(h) If EPA reclassifies a violation of the 1997 ambient air 

quality standard for ozone occurs in the Charlotte-GastoniaRock Hill ozone nonattainment maintenancearea as serious for 

ozone under Section 182 of the federal Clean Air Act, the rules 

in this Section shall apply to facilities in Cabarrus, Gaston, 

Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, and Union Counties and 

Davidson and Coddle Creek townships in Iredell County with 

the potential to emit at least 50 tons of volatile organic 

compounds per year. Within 60 days of the reclassification, area, 

the Director shall initiate technical analysis to determine the 

control measures needed to attain and maintain the 1997 8-hour 

ambient air quality standard for ozone. By the following May 1, 

the Director shall implement the specific stationary source 

control measures contained in this Section that are required as 

part of the control strategy necessary to bring the area into 

compliance and to maintain compliance with the 1997 8-hour 

ambient air quality standard for ozone. The Director shall 

implement the rules in this Section identified as being necessary 

by the analysis by notice in the North Carolina Register. The 

notice shall identify the rules that are to be implemented and 

shall identify whether the rules implemented are to apply in the 

areas listed in Paragraph (f) of this Rule. At least one week 

before the scheduled publication date of the North Carolina 

Register containing the Director's notice implementing rules in 

this Section,the Director shall notice the applicability of these 

Rules to these facilities in the North Carolina Register and shall 

send written notification to all permitted facilities within the 

counties in which the rules are being implemented that are or 

may be subject to the requirements of this Section informing 

them that they are or may be subject to the requirements of this 

Section. (For Mecklenburg County, "Director" means for the 

purpose of notifying permitted facilities in Mecklenburg County, 

the Director of the Mecklenburg County local air pollution 

control program.) Compliance shall be according to Rule .0909 

of this Section.

(i) Sources whose emissions of volatile organic compounds are 

not subject to limitation under this Section may still be subject to 

emission limits on volatile organic compounds in Rules .0524, 

.1110, or .1111 of this Subchapter.

Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5).

15A NCAC 02D .0903 RECORDKEEPING: 

REPORTING: MONITORING 

(a) The owner or operator of any volatile organic compound 

emission source or control equipment shall:

(1) install, operate, and maintain process and 

control equipment monitoring instruments or 

procedures as necessary to comply with the 

requirements of this Section; and

(2) maintain, in writing, data and reports relating 

to monitoring instruments or procedures which 

will, upon review, document the compliance 

status of the volatile organic compound 

emission source or control equipment; such 

data and reports shall, as a minimum, be 

maintained daily.daily unless otherwise 

specified in this Section. 

(b) The owner or operator of any volatile organic compound 

emission source or control equipment subject to the 

requirements of this Section shall comply with the monitoring, 

recordkeeping, and reporting requirements in Section .0600 of 

this Subchapter.

Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5).

15A NCAC 02D .0909 COMPLIANCE SCHEDULES 

FOR SOURCES IN OZONE NONATTAINMENT AND 

MAINTENANCE AREAS

(a) Applicability. With the exceptions in Paragraph (b) of this 

Rule, this Rule applies to all sources located at any facility 

covered by Paragraph Paragraphs (f) or and (h) of Rule .0902 of 

this Section.

(b) Exceptions. This Rule does not apply to sources

facilitiesrequired to comply with the requirements subject to 

rules listedof this Section under Paragraph (e) of in Rule .0902

of this Section. Facilities subject to rules listed in Paragraph (e) 

of Rule .0902 shall comply in accordance with the provisions 

defined in those rules rather than the schedule in Paragraphs (c) 

and (d) of this Rule.

(c) Maintenance area and Charlotte ozone nonattainment area

contingency plan. The owner or operator of any source subject 

to this Rule because of the application of Paragraph (h) of Rule 

.0902 of this Section Paragraph (a) in this Rule shall adhere to 

the following increments of progress and schedules:

(1) if compliance with applicable rules in this 

Section is to be achieved by installing 

emission control equipment, replacing process 

equipment, or modifying existing process 

equipment:

(A) The owner or operator shall submit a 

permit application and a compliance 

schedule within six months after the 

Director notices the implementation 

of rules in the North Carolina 

Register that resolves a violation of 

the ambient air quality standard for 

ozone;

(B) The compliance schedule shall 

contain the following increments of 

progress:

(i) a date by which contracts for 

the emission control system 

and process equipment shall 

be awarded or orders shall 

be issued for purchase of 

component parts;

(ii) a date by which on-site 

construction or installation 

of the emission control and 

process equipment shall 

begin; and

(iii) a date by which on-site 

construction or installation 

of the emission control and 

process equipment shall be 

completed; and

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27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1023 

(C) Final compliance with applicable 

rules in this Section shall be achieved 

within three years after the Director 

notices the implementation of rules in 

the North Carolina Register that 

resolves a violation of the ambient air 

quality standard for ozone.

(2) if compliance with applicable rules in this 

Section is to be achieved by using low solvent 

content coating technology:

(A) The owner or operator shall submit a 

permit application and a compliance 

schedule within six months after the 

Director notices the implementation 

of rules in the North Carolina 

Register that resolves a violation of 

the ambient air quality standard for 

ozone;

(B) The compliance schedule shall 

contain the following increments:

(i) a date by which research and 

development of low solvent 

content coating shall be 

completed if the Director 

determines that low solvent 

content coating technology 

has not been sufficiently 

researched and developed to 

assure compliance;

(ii) a date by which evaluation 

of product quality and 

commercial acceptance shall 

be completed;

(iii)(i) a date by which purchase 

orders shall be issued for 

low solvent content coatings 

and process modifications;

(iv)(ii) a date by which process 

modifications shall be 

initiated; and

(v)(iii) a date by which process 

modifications shall be 

completed and use of low 

solvent content coatings 

shall begin; and

(C) Final compliance with applicable 

rules in this Section shall be achieved 

within three years two years after the 

Director notices the implementation 

of rules in the North Carolina 

Register that resolves a violation of 

the ambient air quality standard for 

ozone.

(3) The owner or operator shall certify to the 

Director within five days after each increment 

deadline of progress defined in this Paragraph, 

whether the required increment of progress has 

been met.

(d) Moderate Nonattainment nonattainment areas. The owner 

or operator of any source subject to this Rule because of the 

application of Paragraph (f) of Rule .0902 of this Section

Paragraph (a) of this Rule shall adhere to the following 

increments of progress and schedules:

(1) if compliance with applicable rules in this 

Section is to be achieved by installing 

emission control equipment, replacing process 

equipment, or modifying existing process 

equipment: 

(A) The owner or operator shall submit a 

permit application and a compliance 

schedule by

August 1, 2007;

(B) The compliance schedule shall 

contain the following increments of 

progress:

(i) a date by which contracts for 

the emission control system 

and process equipment shall 

be awarded or orders shall 

be issued for purchase of 

component parts;

(ii) a date by which on-site 

construction or installation 

of the emission control and 

process equipment shall 

begin; and

(iii) a date by which on-site 

construction or installation 

of the emission control and 

process equipment shall be 

completed; and 

(C) For facilities with potential to emit 

100 tons or more of volatile organic 

compounds per year, Finalfinal

compliance with applicable rules in 

this Section shall be achieved no later 

than April 1, 2009;2009.

(D) For facilities with potential to emit 

less than 100 tons of volatile organic 

compounds per year, final compliance 

with applicable rules in this Section 

shall be achieved no later than May 1, 

2016.

(2) if compliance with applicable rules in this 

Section is to be achieved by using low solvent 

content coating technology:

(A) The owner or operator shall submit a 

permit application and a compliance 

schedule by August 1, 2007; 

(B) The compliance schedule shall 

contain the following increments:

(i) a date by which research and 

development of low solvent 

content coating shall be 

completed if the Director 

determines that low solvent 

content coating technology 

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1024 

has not been sufficiently 

researched and developed;

(ii) a date by which evaluation 

of product quality and 

commercial acceptance shall 

be completed;

(iii)(i) a date by which purchase 

orders shall be issued for 

low solvent content coatings 

and process modifications;

(iv)(ii) a date by which process 

modifications shall be 

initiated; and

(v)(iii) a date by which process 

modifications shall be 

completed and use of low 

solvent content coatings 

shall begin; and

(C) Final compliance with applicable 

rules in this Section shall be achieved 

no later than April 1, 2009.2009;

(D) For facilities with potential to emit 

less than 100 tons of volatile organic 

compounds per year, final compliance 

with applicable rules in this Section 

shall be achieved no later than May 1, 

2015.

(3) The owner or operator shall certify to the 

Director within five days after the deadline, for 

each increment of progress defined in this 

Paragraph, whether the required increment of 

progress has been met.

(e) If the Director requires a test to demonstrate that compliance 

has been achieved, the owner or operator of sources subject to 

this Rule shall conduct a test and submit a final test report within 

six months after the stated date of final compliance.

(f) Sources already in compliance.

(1) Maintenance area and Charlotte ozone 

nonattainment area contingency plan. 

Paragraph (c) of this Rule shall not apply to 

sources any source subject to Paragraph (a) of 

this Rule that is in compliance with applicable 

rules of this Section when the Director notices 

the implementation of rules in the North 

Carolina Register that resolves a violation of 

the ambient air quality standard for ozone and 

that have determined and certified compliance 

to the satisfaction of the Director within six 

months after the Director notices the 

implementation of rules in the North Carolina 

Register that resolves a violation of the 

ambient air quality standard for ozone.

(2) Moderate Nonattainment nonattainment areas. 

Paragraphs Paragraph (d) of this Rule does not 

apply to sources in an area named in Paragraph 

(f) of Rule .0902 of this Section that subject to 

Paragraph (a) of this Rule if they are in 

compliance with applicable rules of this 

Section on March 1, 2007. 

(g) New sources.

(1) Maintenance area and Charlotte ozone 

nonattainment area contingency plan. The 

owner or operator of any new source of 

volatile organic compounds subject to 

Paragraph (a) of this Rule not in existence or 

under construction before the date that the 

Director notices in the North Carolina Register 

in accordance with Paragraph (h) of Rule 

.0902 of this Section the implementation of 

rules in the North Carolina Register that 

resolves a violation of the ambient air quality 

standard for ozone, shall comply with all 

applicable rules in this Section upon start-up 

of the source.

(2) Moderate Nonattainment nonattainment areas. 

The owner or operator of any new source of 

volatile organic compounds subject to 

Paragraph (a) of this Rule not in existence or 

under construction before March 1, 2007 in an 

area identified in Paragraph (f) of Rule .0902

shall comply with all applicable rules in this 

Section upon start-up of the source. 

Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5).

15A NCAC 02D .0951 RACT FOR SOURCES OF 

VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

(a) Facilities required to install RACT pursuant to Rule .0902 of 

this Section shall determine the emissions control level 

according to this Rule. With the exceptions in Paragraph (b) of 

this Rule, this Rule applies to all facilities that use volatile 

organic compounds as solvents, carriers, material processing 

media, or industrial chemical reactants, or in other similar uses, 

or that mix, blend, or manufacture volatile organic compounds 

for which there is no other applicable emissions control rule in 

this Section except Rule .0958 of this Section. If the only other 

applicable emissions control rule for the facility in this Section is 

Rule .0958, then both this Rule and Rule .0958 apply.

(b) This Rule does not apply to architectural or maintenance 

coating.

(c) The owner or operator of any facility to which this Rule 

applies shall:shall comply by either of the following:

(1) install and operate reasonable available control 

technology;technology as defined by category 

specific emission standards defined in this 

Section; or

(2) limit emissions of volatile organic compounds 

from coating lines not covered by Rules .0922, 

.0923, .0924, .0934, .0935, .0936, or .0961 

through .0968 from this Section to no more 

than 6.7 pounds of volatile organic compounds 

per gallon of solids delivered to the coating 

applicator.install and operate reasonable 

available control technology demonstrated to 

the Director and the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency to advance attainment.

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27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1025 

(d) If the owner or operator of a facility chooses to install 

reasonable available control technology under Subparagraph 

(c)(1) (c)(2) of this Rule, the owner or operator shall submit:

(1) the name and location of the facility;

(2) information identifying the source for which a 

reasonable available control technology 

limitation or standard is being proposed;

(3) a demonstration that shows the proposed 

reasonable available control technology 

limitation or standard satisfies the 

requirements for reasonable available control 

technology; and 

(4) a proposal for demonstrating compliance with 

the proposed reasonable control technology 

limitation or standard.

Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5).

15A NCAC 02D .0961 OFFSET LITHOGRAPHIC 

PRINTING AND LETTERPRESS PRINTING

(a) For the purpose of this Rule, the following definitions listed 

in Rules .0101, 0902 of this Sectionapply: and in Paragraph 

(a)(1) through (10) of this Rule shall apply.

(1) "Composite partial vapor pressure" means the 

sum of the partial pressure of the compounds 

defined as volatile organic compounds. 

Volatile organic compounds composite partial 

vapor pressure is calculated as follows:

∑

∑ =

=

++

=

n

i

n

i i

i

c

c

w

w

ii i

c

MW

W

MW

W

MW

W

W VP MW PP

1

1

/))((

Where:

Wi = Weight of the "i" volatile organic 

compound, in grams

Ww = Weight of water, in grams

Wc = Weight of exempt compound, in grams

MWi = Molecular weight of the "i" volatile 

organic compound, in g/g-mole

MWw = Molecular weight of water, in g/gmole

MWc = Molecular weight of exempt 

compound, in g/g-mole

PPc = Volatile organic compounds composite 

partial vapor pressure at 20 degrees Celsius 

(68 degrees Fahrenheit), in mm Hg

VPi = Vapor pressure of the "i" volatile 

organic compound at 20 degrees Celsius (68 

degrees Fahrenheit), in mm Hg

(2) "First installation date" means the actual date 

when this control device becomes operational. 

This date does not change if the control device 

is later redirected to a new press.

(3) "Fountain solution" means water-based 

solution that applies to lithographic plate to 

render the non-image areas unreceptive to the 

ink.

(4) "Heatset" means any operation in which heat is 

required to evaporate ink oils from the printing 

ink, excluding ultraviolet (UV) curing, 

electron beam curing and infrared drying.

(5) "Letterpress printing" means a printing process 

in which the image area is raised relative to the 

non-image area and the paste ink is transferred 

to the substrate directly from the image 

surface.

(6) "Non-heatset" means a lithographic printing 

process where the printing inks are set by 

absorption or oxidation of the ink oil, not by 

evaporation of the ink oils in a dryer. For the 

purposes of this Rule, use of an infrared heater 

or printing conducted using ultraviolet-cured 

or electron beam-cured inks is considered nonheatset.

(7) "Offset lithography" means an indirect method 

of a printing process that uses sheet-fed or web 

method of press feedingwhen and transfers 

inktransferred from the lithographic plate to a 

rubber-covered intermediate "blanket" cylinder 

and then transferred from the blanket cylinder 

to the substrate.

(8) "Press" means a printing production assembly 

composed of one or more units used to 

produce a printed substrate including any 

associated coating, spray powder application, 

heatset web dryer, ultraviolet or electron beam 

curing units, or infrared heating units.

(9) "Sheet-fed printing" means indirect method of

offset lithographic printing when ink 

transferred from the lithographic plate to a 

rubber-covered intermediate "blanket" cylinder 

and then transferred from the blanket cylinder 

to the substrate. individual sheets of paper or 

other substrate are fed to the press.

(10) "Web printing" means offset lithographic

printing when continuous rolls of substrate 

material are fed to the press and rewound or 

cut to size after printing.

(b) This Rule applies to any offset lithographic and any 

letterpress printing operations sources that are not covered by 

Subparagraph (c)(1) of Rule .0966 of this Section and whose 

emissions of volatile organic compounds exceed the threshold

established in Paragraphs (b) and (f) of Rule .0902 of this 

Section and is not covered by Subparagraph (c)(1) of Rule .0966 

of this Section. exceed:

(1) the threshold established in Paragraphs (b) and 

(f) of Rule .0902 of this Section; or

(2) an equivalent level of three tons per 12-

consecutive month rolling period.

(c) Volatile organic compounds content in the fountain solution 

fromfor on-press (as-applied) for heatset web offset lithographic 

printing shall not exceed 1.6 percent alcohol (by weight) in the 

fountain solution or equivalent. This level of control for volatile 

organic compounds shall be achieved by:meet one of the 

following requirements or equivalent level of control as 

determined in permit conditions:

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1026 

(1) reducing the on-press (as-applied) alcohol 

content tocontain 1.6 percent alcohol or 

lessless, (by weight);by weight, as applied, in 

the fountain solution: or

(2) usecontain three percent alcohol or less (by 

weight) less, by weight, the on-press (asapplied) in the fountain solution if the fountain 

solution is refrigerated to below 60 degrees 

Fahrenheit; or

(3) usecontain five percent alcohol substitute or 

less (by weight)less, by weight, the on-press 

(as-applied) and no alcohol in the fountain 

solution.

(d) Volatile organic compounds content in the fountain solution 

fromfor on-press (as-applied) sheet-fed lithographic printing 

shall not exceed five percent alcohol (by weight) in the fountain 

or equivalent. This level of control for volatile organic 

compounds shall be achieved by:meet one of the following 

requirements or equivalent level of control as determined in 

permit conditions:

(1) reducing the on-press (as-applied) alcohol 

content tocontain five percent alcohol or less 

(by weight);less, by weight, on-press (asapplied) in the fountain solution; or

(2) usecontain 8.5 percent alcohol or less (by 

weight) the less, by weight,on-press (asapplied) in the fountain solution if the fountain 

solution is refrigerated to below 60 degrees 

Fahrenheit; or

(3) usecontain five percent alcohol substitute or 

less (by weight) theless, by weight, on-press 

(as-applied) and no alcohol in the fountain 

solution.

(e) Volatile organic compounds content emissions from 

fountain solution from on-press (as-applied) for non-heatset web 

offset lithographic printing shall not exceed five percent alcohol 

substitute (by weight) on-press (as-applied) and no alcohol in the 

fountain solution.

(f) Emissions of volatile organic compounds from any single 

letterpress printing heatset press subject to this Rule shall not 

exceed 25 tons per year. This level of control shall be achieved 

by using petroleum ink oil with volatile organic compounds 

content 31.25 tons per year volatile organic compounds or less 

because of the 20 percent ink oil retention.

(g) EPA Method 25A (40CFR Part 60, Appendix A-7) shall be 

used to determine the volatile organic compounds content of the 

materials used at offset lithographic printing and letterpress 

printing facilities unless the facility maintains records to 

document the volatile organic compounds content of the 

materials from the manufacturer.

(h) Any single letterpress printing heatset dryer owner or 

operator subject to this Rule, who has chosen to use add-on

control for letterpress printing operation rather than to comply 

with the emission limits established in Paragraph (f) of this Rule 

shall install control equipment with:

(1) 90 percent control efficiency for a control 

device whose first installation date was prior 

to July 1, 2010;

(2) 95 percent control efficiency for a control 

device whose first installation date was on or 

after July1,2010.

(i) When the inlet of volatile organic compounds concentration 

is low or there is no identifiable measurable inlet, the control 

device outlet concentration shall be reduced to 20 parts per 

million by volume as hexane on a dry basis.

(j) Volatile organic compounds capture efficiency can be 

demonstrated by showing that the dryer is operating at negative 

pressure relative to the surrounding pressroom. The capture 

efficiency for volatile organic compounds can be assumed to be 

100 percent of the volatile organic compounds (ink oils) 

volatilized in the dryer. Capture efficiency test is not required in 

this situation.

(f) An owner or operator of an individual web offset 

lithographic printing press dryer or letterpressprinting heatset 

press subject to this Rule that emits 25 or more tons per year 

potential emissions of volatile organic compounds shall:

(1) use an enforceable limitation on potential 

emissions to keep individual heatset press 

below 25 tons per year potential to emit 

volatile organic compounds threshold, which 

can be achieved by using inks and coatings 

that contain less than 31.25 tons per year 

volatile organic compound where 20 percent 

retention factor of petroleum ink oil applies, or 

by using other methods established by permit 

conditions; or

(2) use an add-on control system for web offset 

lithographic printing or letterpress printing 

operations that meets one of the following 

requirements:

(A) reduces volatile organic compounds 

emissions from each dryer by at least

90 percent volatile organic 

compounds emissions control 

efficiency established by procedures 

defined in Paragraph (h) of this Rule 

for a control device from heatset

dryers whose first installation date 

was prior to July 1, 2010; or

(B) reduce volatile organic compounds 

emissions from each dryer by at least

95 percent volatile organic 

compounds emissions control 

efficiency established by procedures 

defined in Paragraph (h) of this Rule 

for a control device from heatset 

dryers whose first installation date 

was on or after July 1, 2010; or

(C) maintain a maximum volatile organic 

compounds outlet concentration of 20 

parts per million by volume (ppmv), 

as hexane (C6H14) on a dry basis.

(k)(g) The control limits established in:

(1) Paragraphs (c), (d), and (e), shall not be 

applied to any press with total fountain 

solution reservoir of less than one gallon; and

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27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1027 

(2) Paragraph (d) shall not be applied to sheet-fed 

presses with maximum sheet size 11x 17 

inches or smaller; and

(3) Paragraph (f) Subparagraph (f)(2)shall not be 

applied to a heatset press used for book 

printing, andor to a headset heatset press with 

maximum web width of 22 inches or less.

(h) If the owner or operator of a printing press is required by 

permit conditions to determine:

(1) the volatile organic compounds content, the 

EPA test Method 24 or approved alternative 

methods shall be used;

(2) the control efficiency by measuring volatile 

organic compounds at the control device inlet 

and outlet, the EPA test Methods 18, 25, 25A, 

or approved alternative methods shall be used.

(l) All cleaning materials used in amount more than 110 gallons 

per year for cleaning a press, press parts, or to remove dried ink 

from areas around the press shall contain less than 70 weight 

percent volatile organic compounds or have volatile organic 

compounds composite vapor pressure less than 10 mm Hg at 20 

degrees Celsius.

(i) All test methods defined in Paragraph (h) of this Rule, shall 

be conducted at typical operating conditions and flow rates.

(j) The owner or operator of any facility subject to this Rule 

shall demonstrate compliance with RACT applicability 

requirements by calculating volatile organic compounds 

emissions and keep records of the basis of the calculations 

required by the Rules .0605 and .0903 of this Subchapter. 

Volatile organic compounds emissions from offset lithographic 

printing and letterpress printing shall be determined by permit 

condition requirements or by using the following retention and 

capture efficiency factors:

(1) retention factors are:

(A) 20 percent for heatset petroleum ink 

oils; 

(B) 100 percent for heatset vegetable ink 

oils;

(C) 95 percent for sheet-fed and coldset 

web petroleum ink oils; 

(D) 100 percent for sheet-fed and coldset 

web vegetable ink oils.

(2) retention factor is 50 percent for low volatile 

organic compounds composite vapor pressure 

cleaning materials in shop towels where:

(A) volatile organic compounds 

composite vapor pressure of the 

cleaning material is less than 10 mm 

Hg at 20 oC; and

(B) cleaning materials and used shop 

towels are kept in closed containers. 

(3) Carryover (capture) factors of volatile organic 

compounds from automatic blanket wash and 

fountain solution to offset lithographic heatset 

dryers are:

(A) 40 percent VOC carryover (capture) 

factor for automatic blanket washing 

when the volatile organic compounds 

composite vapor pressure of the 

cleaning material is less than 10mm 

Hg at 20°C.

(B) 70 percent VOC carryover (capture) 

factor for alcohol substitutes in 

fountain solution.

(4) Capture efficiency for volatile organic 

compounds (petroleum ink oils) from oilbased paste inks and oil-based paste varnishes 

(coatings) in heatset web offset lithographic 

presses and heatset web letterpress presses 

shall be demonstrated by showing that the 

dryer is operating at negative pressure relative 

to the surrounding pressroom. As long as the 

dryer is operated at negative pressure, the 

capture efficiency for VOC from the heatset 

lithographic inks and varnishes (coatings) 

formulated with low volatility ink oils is 100 

percent of the VOC (ink oils) volatilized in the 

dryer. Capture efficiency test is not required in 

this situation.

(k) Except as specified in this Paragraph, all cleaning materials 

used for cleaning a press, press parts, or to remove dried ink 

from areas around the press shall meet one of the following 

requirements:

(1) The volatile organic compounds content shall 

be less than 70 percent by weight, or; 

(2) Composite partial vapor pressure of volatile 

organic compounds shall be less than 10 mm 

Hg at 20 degrees Celsius.

No more than 110 gallons per year of cleaning materials that do 

not meet the requirements of Subparagraph (1) or (2) of this 

Paragraph shall be used during any twelve consecutive months.

(l) The owner or operator of any facility subject to this Rule 

shall maintain the following records for a minimum of five 

years:

(1) parametric monitoring for processes and 

control devices as determined and at the 

frequency specified in the permit or by 

Paragraph (f) of this Rule; and

(2) the total amount of each individual or class of 

fountain solution and ink used monthly for the 

printing operations and the percentage of 

volatile organic compounds, alcohol, and 

alcohol substitute as applied in it; and

(3) the total amount of each individual or class of 

cleaning solutions used monthly with vapor 

pressure and the percentage of volatile organic 

compounds as applied in it; and

(4) the total amount of cleaning solutions used 

monthly with vapor pressure and the 

percentage of volatile organic compounds as 

applied which does not meet the vapor 

pressure or percentage of volatile organic 

compounds requirements of Paragraph (k) of 

this Rule; and

(5) temperature of fountain solutions for

lithographic printing presses using alcohol at 

the frequency specified in the permit; and

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1028 

(6) any other parameters required by the permit in 

accordance with the Rules .0903 and .0605 of 

this Subchapter.

(m) The owner or operator of any source subject to this Rule 

shall comply with Rules .0903, and .0958 of this Section.

Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5).

15A NCAC 02D .0962 INDUSTRIAL CLEANING 

SOLVENTS

(a) For the purpose of this Rule, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Organic solvent" means a liquid hydrocarbon, 

such as methyl ethyl ketone or toluene, used to 

dissolve paints, varnishes, grease, oil, or other 

hydrocarbons.

(2) "Solvent cleaning" means the process of 

removing the excess penetrant from the 

surface or a part by wiping, flushing, or 

spraying with a solvent for the penetrant.

(3) “Wipe cleaning” The method of cleaning 

which utilizes a material such as a rag wetted 

with a solvent, prior to a physical rubbing 

process to remove contaminants from surfaces.

(b) This Rule applies applies, with exemptions defined in 

Paragraphs (c) and (d) of this Rule, to sources whose volatile 

organic compound emissions exceed the threshold established in 

Paragraph (b) of Rule .0902 of this Section from the following 

cleaning operations:

(1) spray gun cleaning;

(2) spray booth cleaning;

(3) large manufactured components cleaning;

(4) parts cleaning;

(5) equipment cleaning;

(6) line cleaning;

(7) floor cleaning;

(8) tank cleaning; and

(9) small manufactured components cleaning.

(c) Paragraph (e) of this Rule does not apply to any cleaning 

material used fo r: cleaning operations covered by Rules .0918, 

.0919, .0921, .0923, .0924, .0930, .0934, .0935, .0936, .0961, 

.0963, .0964, .0965, .0966, .0967, and .0968 of this Section. 

(d) Cleaning operations of portable or stationary mixing vats, 

high dispersion mills, grinding mills, tote tanks and roller mills 

for manufacturing of coating, ink, or adhesive shall apply one or 

more of the following methods:

(1) use industrial cleaning solvents that either 

contains less than 1.67 pounds VOC per gallon 

or has an initial boiling point greater than 120 

degrees Celsius, and where the initial boiling 

point exceeds the maximum operating 

temperature by at least 100 degrees Celsius. 

The industrial cleaning solvents shall be 

collected and stored in closed containers; or

(2) implement the following work practices:

(A) maintain the equipment being cleaned 

as leak free; and

(B) drain volatile organic compounds 

containing cleaning materials from 

the cleaned equipment upon 

completion of cleaning; and

(C) store or dispose of volatile organic 

compounds containing cleaning 

materials, including waste solvent, in 

a manner that will prevent 

evaporation into atmosphere; and

(D) store all volatile organic containing 

cleaning materials in closed 

containers; or 

(3) collect and vent the emissions from equipment 

cleaning to an add-on control system defined 

in Paragraph (g) of this Rule; or 

(4) use organic solvents other than those defined 

in Paragraph (d)(1) of this Rule if no more 

than 60 gallons of fresh solvent shall be used 

per month (organic solvent that is reused or 

recycled either onsite or offsite for further use 

in equipment cleaning or the manufacture of 

coating, ink, or adhesive shall not be included 

in this limit).

(c) Cleaning operations covered by Rules .0918, .0919,.0921, 

.0923, .0924,.0930, .0934, .0935, .0936, .0961, .0963, .0964, 

.0965, .0966, .0967, and .0968 of this Section are exempted from 

the requirements of this Rule. 

(d)(e) Any cleaning material of the nine cleaning operations 

listed in Paragraph (b) of this Rule shall have:

(1) volatile organic compounds content that does 

not exceed 0.42 pounds per gallon; or

(2) composite vapor limit of eight millimeters of 

mercury (mmHg) at 20 degrees Celsius.

(e)(f) EPA Method 24 (40CFR Part 60, Appendix A-7) shall be 

used to determine the volatile organic compounds content of 

coating materials used in industrial cleaning solvents operations 

unless the facility maintains records to document the volatile 

organic compounds content of coating materials from the 

manufacturer.

(f)(g) Facilities which have chosen to use add-on control rather 

than to comply with the emission limits established in Paragraph 

(e) of this Rule shall install control equipment with 85 percent 

overall efficiency.

(g)(h) The owner or operator of any facility subject to this Rule 

shall comply with the Rules .0903 and .0958 of this Section.

Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5).

SUBCHAPTER 02Q - AIR QUALITY PERMITS 

PROCEDURES

SECTION .0100 - GENERAL PROVISIONS

15A NCAC 02Q .0102 ACTIVITIES EXEMPTED FROM 

PERMIT REQUIREMENTS

(a) This Rule does not apply to facilities required to have a 

permit under Section .0500 of this Subchapter. This Rule 

applies only to permits issued under Section .0300 of this 

Subchapter.

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27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1029 

(b) If a source is subject to any of the following rules, then the 

source is not exempted from permit requirements, and the 

exemptions in Paragraph (c) of this Rule do not apply:

(1) new source performance standards under 15A 

NCAC 02D .0524 or 40 CFR Part 60, except 

when the following activities are eligible for 

exemption under Paragraph (c) of this Rule:

(A) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart Dc, 

industrial, commercial, and 

institutional steam generating units;

(B) 40 CFR Part 60, Subparts K, Ka, or 

Kb, volatile organic liquid storage 

vessels; 

(C) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart AAA, new 

residential wood heaters; 

(D) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart JJJ, 

petroleum dry cleaners; 

(E) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart WWW, 

municipal solid waste landfills; 

(F) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart IIII, 

stationary compression ignition 

internal combustion engines; or

(G) 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart JJJJ, 

stationary spark ignition internal 

combustion engines;

(2) national emission standards for hazardous air 

pollutants under 15A NCAC 02D .1110 or 40 

CFR Part 61, except asbestos demolition and 

renovation activities, which are eligible for 

exemption under Paragraph (c) of this Rule;

(3) prevention of significant deterioration under 

15A NCAC 02D .0530;

(4) new source review under 15A NCAC 02D 

.0531 or .0532;

(5) sources of volatile organic compounds subject 

to the requirements of 15A NCAC 02D .0900

Section .0900,Volatile Organic Compounds,

that are located in Mecklenburg County 

according to 15A NCAC 02D .0902 (d); 15A 

NCAC 02D .0902(f).

(6) sources required to apply maximum 

achievable control technology (MACT) for 

hazardous air pollutants under 15A NCAC 

02D .1109, .1111, .1112, or 40 CFR Part 63 

that are required to have a permit under 

Section .0500 of this Subchapter;

(7) sources at facilities subject to 15A NCAC 02D 

.1100. (If a source does not emit a toxic air 

pollutant for which the facility at which it is 

located has been modeled, it shall be exempted 

from needing a permit if it qualifies for one of 

the exemptions in Paragraph (c) of this Rule).

(c) The following activities do not need a permit or permit 

modification under Section .0300 of this Subchapter; however, 

the Director may require the owner or operator of these activities 

to register them under 15A NCAC 02D .0200:

(1) activities exempted because of category:

(A) maintenance, upkeep, and 

replacement:

(i) maintenance, structural 

changes, or repairs which do 

not change the capacity of 

such process, fuel-burning, 

refuse-burning, or control 

equipment, and do not 

involve any change in 

quality or nature or increase 

in quantity of emission of 

regulated air pollutants;

(ii) housekeeping activities or 

building maintenance 

procedures, including 

painting buildings, 

resurfacing floors, roof 

repair, washing, portable 

vacuum cleaners, sweeping, 

use and associated storage of 

janitorial products, or 

insulation removal;

(iii) use of office supplies, 

supplies to maintain copying 

equipment, or blueprint 

machines; 

(iv) use of fire fighting 

equipment;

(v) paving parking lots; or

(vi) replacement of existing 

equipment with equipment 

of the same size, type, and 

function that does not result 

in an increase to the actual 

or potential emission of 

regulated air pollutants and 

that does not affect the 

compliance status, and with 

replacement equipment that 

fits the description of the 

existing equipment in the 

permit, including the 

application, such that the 

replacement equipment can 

be operated under that 

permit without any changes 

in the permit;

(B) air conditioning or ventilation: 

comfort air conditioning or comfort 

ventilating systems that do not 

transport, remove, or exhaust 

regulated air pollutants to the 

atmosphere;

(C) laboratory activities:

(i) bench-scale, on-site 

equipment used exclusively 

for chemical or physical 

analysis for quality control 

purposes, staff instruction, 

water or wastewater 

analyses, or non-production 

IV-11 A-53
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27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1030 

environmental compliance 

assessments;

(ii) bench-scale 

experimentation, chemical or 

physical analyses, training or 

instruction from not-forprofit, non-production 

educational laboratories;

(iii) bench-scale 

experimentation, chemical or 

physical analyses, training or 

instruction from hospitals or 

health laboratories pursuant 

to the determination or 

diagnoses of illness; or

(iv) research and development 

laboratory activities 

provided the activity 

produces no commercial 

product or feedstock 

material;

(D) storage tanks:

(i) storage tanks used solely to 

store fuel oils, kerosene, 

diesel, crude oil, used motor 

oil, lubricants, cooling oils, 

natural gas or liquefied 

petroleum gas;

(ii) storage tanks used to store 

gasoline or ethanol-based 

fuels for which there are no 

applicable requirements 

except Stage I controls under 

15A NCAC 02D .0928;

(iii) storage tanks used solely to 

store inorganic liquids; or

(iv) storage tanks or vessels used 

for the temporary 

containment of materials 

resulting from an emergency 

response to an unanticipated 

release of hazardous 

materials;

(E) combustion and heat transfer 

equipment:

(i) space heaters burning 

distillate oil, kerosene, 

natural gas, or liquefied 

petroleum gas operating by 

direct heat transfer and used 

solely for comfort heat;

(ii) residential wood stoves, 

heaters, or fireplaces;

(iii) hot water heaters which are 

used for domestic purposes 

only and are not used to heat 

process water;

(F) wastewater treatment processes: 

industrial wastewater treatment 

processes or municipal wastewater 

treatment processes for which there 

are no applicable requirements;

(G) gasoline distribution: gasoline service 

stations or gasoline dispensing 

facilities;

(H) dispensing equipment: equipment 

used solely to dispense diesel fuel, 

kerosene, lubricants or cooling oils;

(I) solvent recycling: portable solvent 

distillation systems used for on-site 

solvent recycling if:

(i) The portable solvent 

distillation system is not:

(I) owned by the 

facility, and

(II) operated at the 

facility for more 

than seven 

consecutive days; 

and

(ii) The material recycled is 

recycled at the site of origin;

(J) processes:

(i) electric motor burn-out 

ovens with secondary 

combustion chambers or 

afterburners;

(ii) electric motor bake-on 

ovens;

(iii) burn-off ovens for paint-line 

hangers with afterburners;

(iv) hosiery knitting machines 

and associated lint screens, 

hosiery dryers and 

associated lint screens, and 

hosiery dyeing processes 

where bleach or solvent dyes 

are not used;

(v) blade wood planers planing 

only green wood;

(K) solid waste landfills: municipal solid 

waste landfills (This Part does not 

apply to flares and other sources of 

combustion at solid waste landfills; 

these flares and other combustion 

sources are required to be permitted 

under 15A NCAC 02Q .0300 unless 

they qualify for another exemption 

under this Paragraph.); 

(L) miscellaneous:

(i) motor vehicles, aircraft, 

marine vessels, locomotives, 

tractors or other selfpropelled vehicles with 

internal combustion engines;

(ii) non-self-propelled non-road 

engines, except generators, 

regulated by rules adopted 

IV-12 A-54
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27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1031 

under Title II of the Federal 

Clean Air Act (Generators 

are required to be permitted 

under 15A NCAC 02Q 

.0300 unless they qualify for 

another exemption under this 

Paragraph.);

(iii) portable generators regulated 

by rules adopted under Title 

II of the Federal Clean Air 

Act;

(iv) equipment used for the 

preparation of food for direct 

on-site human consumption;

(v) a source whose emissions 

are regulated only under 

Section 112(r) or Title VI of 

the Federal Clean Air Act;

(vi) exit gases from in-line 

process analyzers;

(vii) stacks or vents to prevent 

escape of sewer gases from 

domestic waste through 

plumbing traps;

(viii) refrigeration equipment that 

is consistent with Section 

601 through 618 of Title VI 

(Stratospheric Ozone 

Protection) of the Federal 

Clean Air Act, 40 CFR Part 

82, and any other regulations 

promulgated by EPA under

Title VI for stratospheric 

ozone protection, except 

those units used as or in 

conjunction with air 

pollution control equipment 

(A unit used as or in 

conjunction with air 

pollution control equipment 

is required to be permitted 

under 15A NCAC 02Q 

.0300 unless it qualifies for 

another exemption under this 

Paragraph);

(ix) equipment not vented to the 

outdoor atmosphere with the 

exception of equipment that 

emits volatile organic 

compounds (Equipment that 

emits volatile organic 

compounds is required to be 

permitted under 15A NCAC 

02Q .0300 unless it qualifies 

for another exemption under 

this Paragraph);

(x) equipment that does not emit 

any regulated air pollutants;

(xi) facilities subject only to a 

requirement under 40 CFR 

Part 63 (This Subpart does 

not apply when a control 

device is used to meet a 

MACT or GACT emission 

standard; a control device 

used to meet a MACT or 

GACT emission standard is 

required to be permitted 

under 15A NCAC 02Q 

.0300 unless it qualifies for 

another exemption under this 

Paragraph);

(xii) sources for which there are 

no applicable requirements;

(xiii) animal operations not 

required to have control 

technology under 15A 

NCAC 02D .1800 (If an 

animal operation is required 

to have control technology, 

it shall be required to have a 

permit under this 

Subchapter).

(2) activities exempted because of size or 

production rate:

(A) storage tanks:

(i) above-ground storage tanks 

with a storage capacity of no 

more than 1100 gallons 

storing organic liquids with 

a true vapor pressure of no 

more than 10.8 pounds per 

square inch absolute at 

70o F; or

(ii) underground storage tanks 

with a storage capacity of no 

more than 2500 gallons 

storing organic liquids with 

a true vapor pressure of no 

more than 10.8 psi absolute 

at 70o F;

(B) combustion and heat transfer 

equipment:

(i) fuel combustion equipment, 

except for internal 

combustion engines, firing 

exclusively kerosene, No. 1 

fuel oil, No. 2 fuel oil, 

equivalent unadulterated 

fuels, or a mixture of these 

fuels or one or more of these 

fuels mixed with natural gas 

or liquefied petroleum gas 

with a heat input of less 

than:

(I) 10 million Btu per 

hour for which 

IV-13 A-55
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27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1032 

construction, 

modification, or 

reconstruction 

commenced after 

June 9, 1989; or

(II) 30 million Btu per 

hour for which 

construction, 

modification, or 

reconstruction 

commenced before 

June 10, 1989; 

(Internal combustion engines are 

required to be permitted under 15A 

NCAC 02Q .0300 unless they qualify 

for another exemption under this 

Paragraph);

(ii) fuel combustion equipment, 

except for internal

combustion engines, firing 

exclusively natural gas or 

liquefied petroleum gas or a 

mixture of these fuels with a 

heat input rating less than 65 

million Btu per hour 

(Internal combustion engines 

are required to be permitted 

under 15A NCAC 02Q 

.0300 unless they qualify for 

another exemption under this 

Paragraph);

(iii) space heaters burning waste 

oil if:

(I) The heater burns 

only oil that the 

owner or operator 

generates or used 

oil from do-ityourself oil 

changers who 

generate used oil as 

household wastes;

(II) The heater is 

designed to have a 

maximum capacity 

of not more than 

500,000 Btu per 

hour; and

(III) The combustion 

gases from the 

heater are vented to 

the ambient air;

(iv) fuel combustion equipment 

with a heat input rating less 

than 10 million Btu per hour 

that is used solely for space 

heating except:

(I) space heaters 

burning waste oil, 

or

(II) internal combustion 

engines;

(v) emergency use generators 

and other internal 

combustion engines not 

regulated by rules adopted 

under Title II of the Federal 

Clean Air Act, except selfpropelled vehicles, that have 

a rated capacity of no more 

than:

(I) 680 kilowatts 

(electric) or 1000 

horsepower for natural gasfired engines;

(II) 1800 kilowatts 

(electric) or 2510 

horsepower for liquefied 

petroleum gas-fired engines;

(III) 590 kilowatts 

(electric) or 900 horsepower 

for diesel-fired or kerosenefired engines; or

(IV) 21 kilowatts 

(electric) or 31 horsepower 

for gasoline-fired engines; 

(Self-propelled vehicles with 

internal combustion engines 

are exempted under Subpart 

(1)(c)(L)(i) of this 

Paragraph.)

(vi) portable generators and other 

portable equipment with 

internal combustion engines 

not regulated by rules 

adopted under Title II of the 

Federal Clean Air Act, 

except self-propelled 

vehicles, that operate at the 

facility no more than a 

combined 350 hours for any 

365-day period provided the 

generators or engines have a 

rated capacity of no more 

than 750 kilowatt (electric) 

or 1100 horsepower each 

and provided records are 

maintained to verify the 

hours of operation (Selfpropelled vehicles with 

internal combustion engines 

are exempted under Subpart 

(1)(c)(L)(i) of this 

Paragraph.);

(vii) peak shaving generators that 

produce no more than 

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27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1033 

325,000 kilowatt-hours of 

electrical energy for any 12-

month period provided 

records are maintained to 

verify the energy production 

on a monthly basis and on a 

12-month basis;

(C) gasoline distribution: bulk gasoline 

plants with an average daily 

throughput of less than 4000 gallons;

(D) processes:

(i) graphic arts operations, paint 

spray booths or other 

painting or coating 

operations without air 

pollution control devices 

(water wash and filters that 

are an integral part of the 

paint spray booth are not 

considered air pollution 

control devices), and solvent 

cleaning operations located 

at a facility whose facilitywide actual emissions of 

volatile organic compounds 

are less than five tons per 

year (Graphic arts 

operations, coating 

operations, and solvent 

cleaning operations are 

defined in 15A NCAC 02Q 

.0803);

(ii) sawmills that saw no more 

than 2,000,000 board feet 

per year provided only green 

wood is sawed;

(iii) perchloroethylene dry 

cleaners that emit less than 

13,000 pounds of 

perchloroethylene per year;

(iv) electrostatic dry powder 

coating operations with 

filters or powder recovery 

systems including 

electrostatic dry powder 

coating operations equipped 

with curing ovens with a 

heat input of less than 

10,000,000 Btu per hour;

(E) miscellaneous:

(i) any source whose emissions 

would not violate any 

applicable emissions 

standard and whose potential 

emissions of particulate, 

sulfur dioxide, nitrogen 

oxides, volatile organic 

compounds, and carbon 

monoxide before air 

pollution control devices, 

i.e., potential uncontrolled 

emissions, are each no more 

than five tons per year and 

whose potential emissions of 

hazardous air pollutants are 

below their lesser quantity 

cutoff except:

(I) storage tanks,

(II) fuel combustion 

equipment,

(III) space heaters 

burning waste oil,

(IV) generators, 

excluding 

emergency 

generators, or other 

non-self-propelled 

internal combustion 

engines,

(V) bulk gasoline 

plants,

(VI) printing, paint spray 

booths, or other 

painting or coating 

operations,

(VII) sawmills,

(VIII) perchloroethylene 

dry cleaners, or

(IX) electrostatic dry 

powder coating 

operations, 

provided that the 

total potential 

emissions of 

particulate, sulfur 

dioxide, nitrogen 

oxides, volatile 

organic 

compounds, and 

carbon monoxide 

from the facility are 

each less than 40 

tons per year and 

the total potential 

emissions of all 

hazardous air 

pollutants are 

below their lesser 

quantity cutoff 

emission rates or 

provided that the 

facility has an air 

quality permit. (A 

source identified in 

Sub-subpart (I) 

through (IX) of this 

Part is required to 

be permitted under 

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27:11 NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER DECEMBER 3, 2012

1034 

15A NCAC 02Q 

.0300 unless it 

qualifies for 

another exemption 

under this 

Paragraph);

(ii) any facility whose actual 

emissions of particulate, 

sulfur dioxide, nitrogen 

oxides, volatile organic 

compounds, and carbon 

monoxide before air 

pollution control devices, 

i.e., uncontrolled emissions, 

are each less than five tons 

per year, whose potential 

emissions of all hazardous 

air pollutants are below their 

lesser quantity cutoff 

emission rate, and none of 

whose sources would violate 

an applicable emissions 

standard; 

(iii) any source that only emits 

hazardous air pollutants that 

are not also a particulate or a 

volatile organic compound 

and whose potential 

emissions of hazardous air 

pollutants are below their 

lesser quantity cutoff 

emission rates; or

(iv) any incinerator covered 

under Subparagraph (c)(4) of 

15A NCAC 02D .1201;

(F) case-by-case exemption: activities 

that the applicant demonstrates to the 

satisfaction of the Director:

(i) to be negligible in their air 

quality impacts;

(ii) not to have any air pollution 

control device; and

(iii) not to violate any applicable 

emission control standard 

when operating at maximum 

design capacity or maximum 

operating rate, whichever is 

greater. 

(d) Because an activity is exempted from being required to have 

a permit does not mean that the activity is exempted from any 

applicable requirement or that the owner or operator of the 

source is exempted from demonstrating compliance with any 

applicable requirement.

(e) Emissions from stationary source activities identified in 

Paragraph (c) of this Rule shall be included in determining 

compliance with the toxic air pollutant requirements under 15A 

NCAC 02D .1100 or 02Q .0700 according to 15A NCAC 02Q 

.0702 (exemptions from air toxic permitting).

(f) The owner or operator of a facility or source claiming an 

exemption under Paragraph (c) of this Rule shall provide the 

Director documentation upon request that the facility or source is 

qualified for that exemption.

(g) If the Director finds that an activity exempted under 

Paragraph (c) of this Rule is in violation of or has violated a rule 

in 15A NCAC 02D, he shall revoke the permit exemption for 

that activity and require that activity to be permitted under this 

Subchapter if necessary to obtain or maintain compliance.

Authority G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(4); 

143-215.108.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notice is hereby given in accordance with G.S. 150B-21.2 that 

the Environmental Management Commission intends to amend 

the rule cited as 15A NCAC 02Q .0102.

Agency obtained G.S. 150B-19.1 certification:

 OSBM certified on: March 22, 2012

 RRC certified on: 

 Not Required

Link to agency website pursuant to G.S. 150B-19.1(c):

http://www.ncair.org/rules/hearing/

Proposed Effective Date: May 1, 2013

Public Hearing: 

Date: January 15, 2013

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: Kannapolis Train Station, 201 South Main Street, 

Kannapolis, NC 28081

Reason for Proposed Action: To amend 15A NCAC 02Q 

.0102, Exemptions, to clarify the interaction between Rules 02Q 

.0102, Exemptions and 02Q .0702, Exemptions. The amendment 

is necessary to clarify the interaction between the air toxics rule 

for specific exemptions and the more broadly applicable rules 

regarding sources that are exempt from general permit 

requirements. If the rule clarification is not made, the language 

could be interpreted such that small sources not required to be 

included in an air toxics demonstration or permit would have to 

obtain an air quality permit even though they are already 

exempt from and air toxics demonstration. Subparagraph (b)(7) 

of this rule is proposed for amendment to clarify this interaction.

Procedure by which a person can object to the agency on a 

proposed rule: If you have any objections to the proposed rule, 

please mail a letter including your specific reasons to: Ms. 

Joelle Burleson, Division of Air Quality, 1641 Mail Service 

Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1641.

Comments may be submitted to: Joelle Burleson, Division of 

Air Quality, 1641 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-

1641, phone (919)707-8720, fax (919)707-8720, email 

joelle.burleson@ncdenr.gov

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Hearing Officer's Suggested Hearing Comments 

INTRODUCTION

[Hearing officer]: 

 Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Benne Hutson. I am a member of the North 

Carolina Environmental Management Commission. My role as hearing officer is to listen to all 

relevant comment on these proceedings and report them to the full commission. Sitting with me 

is Ms. Joelle Burleson. She is with the North Carolina Division of Air Quality, Planning Section. 

 Some of the staff from the Division of Air Quality are here to assist. Ms. Burleson, please 

introduce the staff present. 

[Ms. Burleson] (Introduces staff) 

[Hearing officer]: 

 This evening we are conducting three public hearings. During Hearing 1, we will take 

comments concerning amendments to several volatile organic compound (VOC) reasonably 

available control technology (RACT) rules. During Hearing 2, we will take comment on 

amendments to two rules that are part of the North Carolina's New Source Review (NSR) permit 

program. During Hearing 3, we will take comment on an amendment to the Division of Air 

Quality’s permit exemption rule. Fiscal notes have been written for all of the rule amendments 

presented in the hearings tonight and were approved and certified by the Office of State Budget 

and Management. These hearings will be held according to the North Carolina Administrative 

Procedures Act. The public notice for these hearings has been advertised in the North Carolina 

Register and five newspapers in the state. Copies of the notice have been sent to those on the 

official DAQ mailing list. I will enter the public notice, the proposed amendments and the fiscal 

notes into the hearing record without reading them at this time. 

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2

 It would be helpful if any person desiring to comment also submit a written statement for 

inclusion into the hearing record. Once called to speak, please come to the podium and state 

your name clearly, identify the rule or rules you are commenting on, and whom you represent. 

[Hearing 1]:

I will now open the first hearing and take relevant comments on amendments to North Carolina 

volatile organic compound rules in Section .900 of Chapter 2D. 

These proposed amendments respond to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comments on 

North Carolina’s re-designation demonstration and maintenance plan for the Charlotte-GastoniaRock Hill, NC 8-hour Ozone Nonattainment Area. In their comments on North Carolina’s 

submittal, EPA identified the need for an adjustment of applicability of the state’s reasonably 

available control technology (RACT) rules. Section 182(b) (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) 

requires RACT for all sources addressed by Control Technique Guidelines (CTGs) issued by 

EPA in areas classified as moderate nonattainment for ozone. North Carolina’s current RACT 

rule, 15A NCAC 02D .0902, applies only to facilities that have the potential to emit (PTE) 

greater than or equal to 100 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOC) per year located in the 

Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC 8-hour Moderate Ozone Nonattainment Area. The proposed 

amendments bring North Carolina into compliance with federal law by extending this 

applicability to all VOC sources covered by any CTG in the nonattainment area. The 

amendments also reduce daily recordkeeping burden for printing operations and exempt cleaning 

operations of coating, ink, and adhesive manufacturing from VOC content limits in response to 

feedback from the industries. 

Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0902, Applicability, is proposed for amendment to bring North Carolina 

into compliance with federal law by extending RACT applicability to all volatile organic VOC 

sources located in the nonattainment area and covered by any CTGs. Rule 15A NCAC 02D 

.0903 Recordkeeping: Reporting: Monitoring, is proposed for amendment to reflect 

incorporation of the monthly recordkeeping alternative for consistency with the CTG provided in 

Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0961 in response to industry representatives’ comments. Rule 15A 

NCAC 02D .0909, Compliance Schedules for Sources in Nonattainment Areas, is proposed for 

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amendment to clarify compliance schedules for the newly affected facilities. Rule 15A NCAC 

02D .0951 RACT for Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds, is proposed for amendment to 

give affected facilities a choice whether to apply the RACT requirements defined in Section 

.0900 rules or choose RACT requirements demonstrated to the Director to advance attainment. 

Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0961, Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing, is proposed 

for amendment to comply with RACT requirements for VOC emissions from heatset inks, 

fountain solutions, and cleaning materials used in offset lithographic printing operations and for 

VOC emissions from heatset inks used in letterpress printing operations. Rule 15A NCAC 02D 

.0962, Industrial Cleaning Solvents, is proposed for amendment to exempt RACT cleaning 

solvent emission limits applicability for resin, coating, ink, and adhesive mixing, molding, and 

application equipment cleaning of coating, ink, and adhesive manufacturing. Rule 15A NCAC 

02Q .0102 Activities Exempted From Permit Requirements, is proposed for amendment to 

update a cross reference. 

{optional script if there are a large number of speakers} 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

[Hearing officer]: Optional Time Limit 

Many people have requested to speak at this hearing. Due to time constraints, speakers’ 

presentations will be limited to ___ minutes. It would be helpful if speakers would also submit a 

written statement by the close of the comment period for inclusion into the hearing record. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

[Hearing officer]: 

I will now take any comments that you may have. 

[SPEAKERS] 

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[Hearing officer]: 

Is there anyone else who would like to comment? If there are no more comments, then this 

hearing is closed. The hearing record will remain open until February 1, 2013, for additional 

written comments. 

[Hearing 2]: 

I will now open the second hearing and take relevant comments on amendments to Rules 15A 

NCAC 02D .0530, Prevention of Significant Deterioration and 15A NCAC 02D .0531, Sources 

in Nonattainment Areas, to revise North Carolina’s nitrogen oxides (NOx) significance level 

from 140 tons per year to 40 tons per year. Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0530 is also proposed for 

amendment to update the federal cross-reference in the prevention of significant deterioration 

rule to reflect the current federal increments for fine particulate matter promulgated on October 

20, 2010 in the Federal Register (75 FR 64864). 

The EMC amended the prevention of significant deterioration and nonattainment new source 

review permitting rules in 2010 to establish the significance level for NOx for PM2.5 in North 

Carolina at 140 tons per year. As part of its rule review of North Carolina’s state implementation 

plan (SIP), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has determined that, 

while the federal rule allows for a demonstration that NOx is not a significant precursor to 

formation of PM2.5, there is not an allowance for states to establish an alternate significance 

level. As a result, the state significance level must be revised to reflect the federal 40 tons per 

year significance level. 

In 2010, the USEPA added PM2.5 increments under the program. An increment is the maximum 

allowable increase in ambient pollutant concentration. Federal increments were established for 

24-hour and annual averaging periods in Class I, Class II and Class III areas. Adoption of these 

federal increments is required in order for the USEPA to approve North Carolina’s SIP. The 

current date of incorporation in the state rule needs to be updated to reflect the current PM2.5 

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increments for the current annual and 24-hour national ambient air quality standards established 

by the USEPA. 

{optional script if there are a large number of speakers} 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

[Hearing officer]: Optional Time Limit 

Many people have requested to speak at this hearing. Due to time constraints, speakers’ 

presentations will be limited to ___ minutes. It would be helpful if speakers would also submit a 

written statement by the close of the comment period for inclusion into the hearing record. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

[Hearing officer]: 

I will now take any comments that you may have. 

[SPEAKERS] 

[Hearing officer]: 

Is there anyone else who would like to comment? If there are no more comments, then this 

hearing is closed. The hearing record will remain open until February 1, 2013, for additional 

written comments. 

[Hearing 3]: 

I will now open the third hearing and take relevant comments on amendments proposed to clarify 

the interaction between Rules 15A NCAC 02Q .0102, Exemptions and 02Q .0702, Exemptions. 

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The Division of Air Quality identified the need for clarification regarding the interaction of the 

air toxics rule specific exemptions with the more broadly applicable rule regarding sources that 

are exempt from the general requirement to obtain a permit. Rule 02Q .0102 specifies which 

activities are exempt from the requirement to obtain an air quality permit. Rule 02Q .0702 

specifies activities which are exempt from the requirement to obtain a permit to emit toxic air 

pollutants (TAP) and not required to be included in TAP demonstrations. The EMC has 

previously determined through rulemaking that many of the activities currently exempt from the 

general requirement to obtain a permit under 02Q .0102(c) should also be exempt from air toxics 

demonstration and permitting requirements as identified in 02Q .0702(a)(1) through (a)(24). 

Existing language in 02Q .0102(b)(7) needs to be clarified to reflect this interaction relative to 

smaller sources such that small sources not be required to be included in an air toxics 

demonstration or permit retain the exemption from having to obtain an air quality permit. 

{optional script if there are a large number of speakers} 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

[Hearing officer]: Optional Time Limit 

Many people have requested to speak at this hearing. Due to time constraints, speakers’ 

presentations will be limited to ___ minutes. It would be helpful if speakers would also submit a 

written statement by the close of the comment period for inclusion into the hearing record. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

[Hearing officer]: 

I will now take any comments that you may have. 

[SPEAKERS] 

[Hearing officer]: 

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7

Is there anyone else who would like to comment? If there are no more comments, then this 

hearing is closed. The hearing record will remain open until February 1, 2013, for additional 

written comments. 

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A-66
V-1 

CHAPTER V 

COMMENTS DURING THE COMMENT PERIOD 

INDEX OF COMMENTERS 

NAME REPRESENTING PAGE

David Darling, P.E. 

Senior Director, Environmental 

Affairs 

American Coatings Association V-2

Jeff Stoudt, President

The Printing Industry of the 

Carolinas

President

The Printing Industry of the Carolinas

V-3

V-8

R. Scott Davis, Chief Air 

Planning Branch

EPA, Region IV

Marcia Y. Kinter, Vice 

President-Government & 

Business Information

Specialty Graphic Imaging Association V-9

A-67
January 11, 2013 

Ms. Joelle Burleson 

NC DENR, Division of Air Quality 

1641 Mail Service Center 

Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1641 

RE: Volatile Organic Compound Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) 

Rules in 15A NCAC 02D Section .0900 (Specifically .0962 Industrial Cleaning 

Solvents); ACA Comments 

Dear Ms. Burleson: 

The American Coatings Association (ACA) 1 supports the proposed amendments to15A NCAC 02D 

.0962 (Industrial Cleaning Solvents), since these amendments will allow effective cleaning of process 

equipment at coatings, ink, and adhesive manufacturing operations. Further, these amendments are 

consistent with the EPA Industrial Solvent Cleaning Control Technique Guideline (CTG) (and the Bay 

Area Air Quality Management District rules on which the EPA Industrial Solvent Cleaning CTG was 

based on). Cleaning coating, ink and adhesive manufacturing equipment is very important since 

incomplete cleaning of process equipment and tanks can cause cross contamination of manufactured 

product and negatively impact product quality and could result in an off specification product that 

would need to be disposed of. 

In advance, thank you for your consideration of our comments. Please do not hesitate to contact me if 

you have any questions. 

Sincerely,

 

David Darling, P.E. 

Senior Director, Environmental Affairs 

American Coatings Association 

** Sent via email ** 

 

1

The American Coatings Association (ACA) is a voluntary, nonprofit trade association working to advance the needs of 

the paint and coatings industry and the professionals who work in it. The organization represents paint and coatings 

manufacturers, raw materials suppliers, distributors, and technical professionals. ACA serves as an advocate and ally for 

members on legislative, regulatory and judicial issues, and provides forums for the advancement and promotion of the 

industry through educational and professional development services. 

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February 1, 2013 

Ms. Joelle Burleson 

Division of Air Quality 

1641 Mail Service Center 

Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1641 

Dear Ms. Burleson, 

The Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA), representing the interests of facilities 

engaged in the use of screen printing and wide format digital imaging and their associated 

supplier base, submits the following comments to the revisions contained in NAC 02D.0962, 

Industrial Cleaning Solvents and 15A NCAC 02Q .0102, Activities Exempted from Permit 

Requirements. 

Our comments regarding revisions to the Industrial Cleaning Solvent proposal are minimal. We 

request that under Section (c) that you also exempt cleaning operations associated with digital 

printing operations. Appendix C, Summary of NAICS Codes for nonattainment facilities, 

estimated to meet the applicability criteria recommended in this CTG, specifically lists 

commercial printing activities; the CTG does not identify digital printing, 323115, as meeting the 

applicability requirements. 

When the US EPA CTG for Industrial Cleaning Solvents was first drafted, the Agency did not 

consider the impact of this document on new and emerging industry sectors. And, when finally 

released in 2006, the Agency did not address emerging industry sectors. The state rules 

referenced in the CTG did not include digital technologies, and since 2006, we have seen the 

inclusion of digital technologies in both solvent cleaning as well as graphic arts air pollution 

control standards. Specifically, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in its recently 

adopted revisions to their graphic arts rule, Regulation 8, Rule 20, exempted digital printing 

operations and presses from all VOC control requirements, including those associated with 

cleaning solvents. So that this burgeoning technology is not crippled, SGIA recommends that 

digital operations be exempted from state’s proposed regulations for cleaning solvents. The US 

EPA understood during the development of the final CTG that not all industry sectors were 

adequately represented during the development of the 1994 document. Further, in the CTG, the 

US EPA states that “the recommendations contained in this CTG are based on data and 

information currently available to EPA. These general recommendations may not apply to a 

particular situation based upon the circumstances of a specific source.” The data and 

information used by the US EPA was collected in 1994 and only addressed the nine specific 

industry sectors the proposal lists in Section (b). 

V-9 A-75
Adoption of this exemption would align North Carolina with other air pollution control districts 

that have undertaken adoption of CTG, most notably Illinois and Connecticut. 

15A NCAC 02Q .0102, Activities Exempted from Permit Requirements, references Graphic Arts 

operations as an exempt activity. SGIA respectfully requests that the Department amend its 

definition of Graphic Arts operations as found in 15 NCAC 02Q.080 to include both screen 

printing and digital imaging operations as follows: 

"Graphic arts operation" means the application of inks to form words, designs, or pictures to a 

substrate, usually by a series of application rolls each with only partial coverage and usually 

using letterpress, offset lithography, screen printing, digital imaging technologies, rotogravure, 

or flexographic process.”

(Emphasis added) 

By revising this definition, the Department is truly covering all graphic arts operations in the 

state and offering these facilities the same permitting flexibility enjoyed by other printing 

processes. 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on these important rulemakings. If you have any 

questions regarding these comments or if you would like to further discuss, please do not hesitate 

to contact me directly. 

Sincerely, 

Marcia Y. Kinter 

Vice President-Government & Business Information 

Specialty Graphic Imaging Association 

703-359-1313 

marcik@sgia.org 

V-10 A-76
VI-I 

CHAPTER VI 

INDEX OF ATTACHMENTS 

ATTACHMENTS PAGE

Economic Analysis

Links to Referenced Background Materials

VI-2

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OSBM Certified 11-05-2012 1 

 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS 

Rule Citation Number: 15A NCAC 02D .0902, Applicability, 15A NCAC 02D .0903 

 Recordkeeping: Reporting: Monitoring, 15A NCAC 02D .0909, 

Compliance Schedules for Sources in Nonattainment Areas, 02D .0951 

RACT For Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds, Rule 15A NCAC 02D 

.0961, Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing, Rule 15A 

NCAC 02D .0962, Industrial Cleaning Solvents, 15A NCAC 02Q .0102 

Activities Exempted From Permit Requirements. 

Rule Topic: VOC RACT applicability (513) and clarifications (511) for Sources in 

Nonattainment Areas 

DENR Division: Division of Air Quality 

Agency Contact: Joelle Burleson, Rule Development Branch Supervisor 

 Division of Air Quality (DAQ) 

(919) 707-8720 

Joelle.Burleson@ncdenr.gov

Analyst: Vladimir Zaytsev 

(919) 707-8702 

vladimir.zaytsev@ncdenr.gov

Impact Summary: State government: No

Local government: No

Substantial impact: No

Federal government: No

Authority: G.S. 143-215.3(a)(1); 143-215.107(a)(5);

Necessity: These amendments are necessary to meet EPA requirements for re-designation of the 

Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill Area for attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone standard 

and to receive EPA approval for the State Implementation Plan (SIP). 

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

These proposed rule amendments respond to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comments on 

North Carolina’s re-designation demonstration and maintenance plan for the Charlotte-GastoniaRock Hill, NC 8-hour Ozone Nonattainment Area. In their comments on North Carolina’s submittal, 

EPA identified the need for an adjustment of applicability of the state’s reasonably available control 

technology (RACT) rules. Section 182(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires RACT for all sources 

addressed by Control Technique Guidelines (CTGs) issued by EPA in areas classified as moderate 

nonattainment for ozone. North Carolina’s current RACT rule, 02D .0902, applies only to facilities 

that have the potential to emit (PTE) greater than or equal to 100 tons of volatile organic 

compounds (VOC) per year located in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC 8-hour Moderate Ozone 

Nonattainment Area. The proposed amendments bring North Carolina into compliance with federal 

law by extending this applicability to all VOC sources covered by any CTG in the nonattainment area. 

VI-2 A-78
OSBM Certified 11-05-2012 2 

This proposal also amends rule 02D .0909 to clarify compliance schedules for the newly affected 

facilities, makes conforming changes to 02D .0951, and a corresponding update to related language 

in 02Q .0102. 

Amendments to 02D .0962, which addresses RACT for industrial solvent cleaning, are included, in 

response to industry comments. These amendments provide compliance alternatives for coatings, 

inks, adhesives, and resins manufacturers that are consistent with the underlying solvent cleaning 

CTG recommendations. Amendments to 02D .0961, and corresponding update to Rule .0903, that 

address RACT for lithographic and letterpress printing are included to clarify existing language and 

add an equivalent alternative applicability threshold consistent with the CTG. 

The Division of Air Quality anticipates EPA will approve the re-designation request and maintenance 

plan once the proposed applicability change has been made. Upon approval of the maintenance 

plan and re-designation request, EPA will publish a notice in the Federal Register designating the 

area as having achieved attainment with the 1997 ozone standard. In extreme circumstances, failure 

to adopt these rules could lead to more federal regulation and, eventually, potential sanctions on 

highway transportation funding. 

The Clean Air Act requires facilities that are already in compliance with RACT shall continue to 

comply with the RACT requirements even after the area becomes attainment. For the most likely 

scenario, the division estimates that this rule change will have no direct impacts on affected parties. 

If, as expected, re-designation occurs prior to the compliance date of the amendments, then the

proposed rule changes will apply only under the contingency plan and would become applicable 

only if: (1) the area later fails to meet the 1997 standard and (2) implementation of the proposed 

amendments would assist in bringing the area back into attainment as part of the contingency plan. 

This important administrative correction fixes the SIP inadequacy and would generate no direct 

costs and some indirect benefits. Based on current knowledge of the federal approval procedures, 

this is the most probable outcome. 

The impacts estimated in this analysis were developed for a worst-case scenario that is detailed in 

the risk analysis section. Although such impacts could be substantial, they are highly unlikely and not 

expected to occur. 

Under the worst-case scenario, DAQ estimates private industry would incur annual costs of up to 

$9.7 million, and cost-savings of $18.4 million. Combined annual impacts amount to net cost-savings 

of up to $8.8 million (with potential costs and benefits attributed to different entities). There are no 

impacts on the expenditure of state funds. The North Carolina Division of Air Quality would not 

experience new costs associated with these proposed rule changes. Local governments operate 

three coating and adhesive facilities and these may incur costs up to $39,000 annually. The federal 

government operates one coating and adhesive facility that may incur costs up to $3,600 annually to 

comply with the new regulations. The general public may benefit from cleaner air, and workers in 

facilities that use VOC materials may be exposed to fewer toxics if solvent switching is the 

compliance mechanism of choice. These benefits are not quantified because they are not expected 

to occur under the most likely scenario. 

All of the estimates in the risk analysis were made using worst-case scenario assumptions that: (1) 

all VOC emissions from affected facilities are coming only from sources of VOC emissions covered by 

control techniques guidelines (CTG), (2) all affected facilities are currently not meeting RACT 

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OSBM Certified 11-05-2012 3 

requirements, (3) EPA does not re-designate the area to attainment status prior to the compliance 

date, and (4) there is a violation of the 1997 ozone standard. In reality, even if EPA does not redesignate the area or if there is a future violation of the 1997 ozone standard, DAQ expects 

compliance costs to be much lower because many facilities may already be meeting RACT 

requirements or not have emissions covered by CTG. In addition, the current section .0900 provides 

a couple of simple, low-cost options for facilities that would need to achieve compliance with these 

new RACT requirements. 

The anticipated effective date of these amendments is May 1, 2013. 

II. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

These amendments would revise the applicability of the volatile organic compound (VOC) 

reasonably available control technology (RACT) rules to meet all Clean Air Act and EPA 

requirements for re-designation of the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill Area for attainment of the 1997 

8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to finalize NC SIP (State 

Implementation Plan) approval by EPA. 

On November 15, 2011, EPA determined that the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC, 8-hour Moderate 

Ozone Nonattainment Area had attained the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. This determination 

(known as a Clean Data Determination) was based upon complete, quality-assured, qualitycontrolled, and certified ambient air monitoring data from 2008–2010. This determination means 

the division could request that EPA change its designation from nonattainment to attainment, 

making the area a maintenance area. The state must amend the current rules to extend applicability 

of the RACT rules to facilities in Control Technique Guideline (CTG) categories with less than 100 

tons per year of VOC emissions in order to receive EPA approval of the re-designation. 

A “nonattainment” classification means that air quality in a particular region does not meet (or 

“attain”) a federal air quality standard. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA sets limits on how much 

pollution can be in the air. These pollution limits are called National Ambient Air Quality Standards 

(NAAQS). There are NAAQS for six common air pollutants including ground-level ozone (O3).

Ground level ozone, which we breathe, can harm our health. Even relatively low levels of ozone can 

cause health effects. People with lung disease, children, older adults, and people who are active 

outdoors may be particularly sensitive to ozone. 

The Clean Air Act requires EPA to review its standards based on scientific evidence every five years 

to ensure they still effectively protect human health and the environment. When an area’s 

monitored air pollution exceeds the NAAQS, EPA designates it as a nonattainment area. This 

designation is determined by a formula that uses the number of times the standard is exceeded 

each year. The formula includes three years of data to ensure that an area isn’t designated as 

nonattainment because of one unusual year. 

When an area is designated as a nonattainment area for ground-level ozone, the state is required to 

develop a SIP and submit it to EPA. A SIP is a plan for restoring air quality and bringing the area back 

into attainment status as quickly as possible. The SIP must define what actions will be taken to 

control air pollution, how these actions will lead to attainment, and project when air quality will 

meet the relevant standards. EPA then evaluates the SIP for approval. 

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If a state doesn't complete a SIP to improve air quality, the EPA may impose a federal plan (Federal 

Implementation Plan, or FIP). A federal plan may require solutions that are not the best to fit a 

particular area. 

Nonattainment areas that don't clean up their air pollution could receive cuts in federal 

transportation funding if new highway projects could add to the air pollution problem. EPA could 

also withhold all or part of the grant funds it provides to the state to support air quality monitoring, 

planning, and control programs. The Division cannot estimate the probability that EPA would impose 

such sanctions, but the Division recognizes that such a situation could have significant financial 

consequences for the state if it were to occur. 

Once monitoring data show air quality has improved, the state can request that EPA re-designate an 

area from nonattainment to attainment, making it a maintenance area. A maintenance area is an 

area that has been re-designated to attainment for a NAAQS. EPA can only approve this request if 

the following conditions are met: (1) air quality monitoring data shows the area meets the standard; 

(2) reductions in the area’s emissions are permanent and enforceable; (3) the SIP developed for the 

area meets the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act and is fully approved by EPA; (4) EPA fully 

approves a 10-year maintenance plan for the area; and (5) the area meets requirements of the 

Clean Air Act for infrastructure SIPs and nonattainment areas. 

North Carolina has already met most of the requirements for EPA approval. Nevertheless, the EPA 

noted that in order to receive SIP approval DAQ must amend the RACT rule applicability 

requirements to cover facilities that have PTE VOC emissions of less than 100 tons per year. This 

rulemaking is being undertaken to meet the CAA requirement and ensure approval of the state’s 

SIP. 

The following section outlines the proposed changes to the existing RACT rules that are necessary to 

receive SIP approval from the EPA. Unless otherwise noted, none of the proposed rule changes 

would apply under the scenario that DAQ believes is the most likely (i.e. EPA re-designates the 

Charlotte-Gastonia nonattainment area to a maintenance area). The impacts associated with these 

proposed rule changes would only occur under either of the following highly unlikely scenarios: 1) 

the EPA does not re-designate the area as a maintenance area or 2) the maintenance area fails at 

some future date and the DAQ director chooses to implement the proposed changes as part of a 

contingency plan to re-attain maintenance-area status. The impacts under these unlikely scenarios 

are outlined in detail in the risk analysis section of this fiscal note (Section VI). 

There are five proposed changes to Rule 15A NCAC 02D.0902 Applicability for Sources in 

Nonattainment Areas: 

1. The first set of changes in Paragraph (f) will extend RACT to apply to all sources addressed 

by CTGs in the Charlotte-Gastonia nonattainment area and clarify the provision that certain 

rules continue to apply statewide. A statement added to the end of Paragraph (f) clarifies 

the applicable RACT requirements and references the rules for achieving compliance. 

In Paragraph (g) “subject to this Section before the re-designation to attainment” is 

replaced with “subject to Paragraph (f) of this Rule that achieved compliance in accordance 

with Rule .0909 of this Section” and “Facilities with the potential to emit less than 100 tons 

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of volatile organic compounds per year for which the compliance date in Rule .0909 of this 

Section has not passed before re-designation of the area to attainment for the 1997 ozone 

standard shall comply in accordance with Paragraph (h) of the Rule” in Paragraph (g) is 

added to define the range of applicable facilities in accordance with Section 182(b)(2) of 

the Clean Air Act and allow for transition of the requirements to contingency measures 

upon re-designation of the area consistent with EPA procedures. 

2. This proposal would remove outdated language in Paragraph (h) to address a past potential 

scenario under which the area might have been bumped to a higher classification with a 

lower applicability threshold. Replacement language will address the contingency plan in 

the event that a violation of the 1997 ozone standard occurs. The phrase “If EPA reclassifies 

the nonattainment area as serious for ozone under Section 182 of the federal Clean Air Act, 

the rules in this Section shall apply to facilities in Cabarrus, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, 

Rowan, and Union Counties and Davidson and Coddle Creek townships in Iredell County 

with the potential to emit at least 50 tons of volatile organic compounds per year. Within 

60 days of the reclassification...” and the phrase “shall notice the applicability of these 

Rules to these facilities in the North Carolina Register and...” are replaced with “If a 

violation of the 1997 ambient air quality standard for ozone occurs in the maintenance 

area, the Director shall initiate technical analysis to determine the control measures 

needed to attain and maintain the 1997 8-hour ambient air quality standard for ozone. By 

the following May 1, the Director shall implement the specific stationary source control 

measures contained in this Section that are required as part of the control strategy 

necessary to bring the area into compliance and to maintain compliance with the 1997 8-

hour ambient air quality standard for ozone. The Director shall implement the rules in this 

Section identified as being necessary by the analysis by notice in the North Carolina 

Register. The notice shall identify the rules that are to be implemented and shall identify 

whether the rules implemented are to apply in the areas listed in Paragraph (f) of this Rule. 

At least one week before the scheduled publication date of the North Carolina Register 

containing the Director's notice implementing rules in this Section,” in Paragraph (h) to 

specify measures required by the CAA in case a violation of the 1997 ambient air quality 

standard for ozone would occur. 

3. The third group of the proposed changes makes several minor clarifications by adding the 

phrase “to facilities located” in Paragraph (e) and the word “located” in Paragraph (f).

4. The phrase “day unless specified otherwise in this Section” was added to Paragraph (b). 

This update was requested by Printing Industries of America. This amendment provides 

some flexibility for alternative compliance options that is specified by the amendment to 

the rule .0961. 

5. Finally, adding the phrase “unless provisions specified in Paragraph (d)(1) of this Rule are 

applied” in Paragraph (c) clarifies interaction of Paragraphs (c) and the exceptions in 

Paragraph (d) that exempt laboratories that emit less than 800 pounds of VOC per month 

from provisions of the Section. 

The Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0903(a)(2), was updated by adding the phrase “unless otherwise specified 

in the Section” to reflect incorporation of the monthly recordkeeping alternative provided in 02D 

.0961 in response to industry representatives’ comments and for consistency with the CTG. 

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There are also five changes to Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0909, Compliance Schedules for Sources in 

Nonattainment Areas: 

1. First, a change would add the word “Moderate” in Paragraph (d), (f) and (g) and delete the 

phrase “and Charlotte ozone nonattainment area” in Paragraphs (f) and (g) to define the 

status of the nonattainment area in accordance with the current 8-Hour Ozone 

Classifications for the 1997 standard. 

2. Subparagraphs (i) and (ii) in Paragraphs (c)(2)(B) and (d)(2)(B) are deleted as unnecessary 

because rules in Section .0900 that were amended in 2010 have already incorporated EPA 

CTG recommendations on VOC content limits. 

3. Paragraph (c)(2)(C) is amended to allow two years for achieving compliance if low solvent 

coating technology is to be used. 

4. Paragraph (d)(1)(C) and (D) are modified to reflect the compliance schedule for the newly 

affected facilities establishing a compliance date of May 1, 2015 for compliance via use of 

solvent coating technology and May 1, 2016 for compliance via control devices. (These dates 

are expected to provide EPA sufficient amount of time to approve the redesignation and 

avoid subjecting these facilities to RACT prior to these occurring.) 

5. Finally, these proposed rule changes also make several minor clarifications to avoid 

ambiguity and confusion. 

In addition, the amendment to Paragraph 2D .0902(h) clarifies that compliance with necessary 

contingency requirements will be initiated only after a violation of the 1997 ambient air quality 

standard for ozone occurs and the measures are determined to be necessary as part of the control 

strategy to bring the area into compliance and maintain compliance with the 1997 ozone standard. 

Amendments to Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0951, RACT for Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds, give 

affected facilities covered by CTG recommended RACT rules of the Section .0900 a choice whether 

to apply the RACT requirements defined in .0900 Section rules or choose RACT requirements 

demonstrated to the Director to advance attainment. 

The current Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0961, Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing, offers 

control options to comply with RACT requirements for VOC emissions from heatset inks, fountain 

solutions, and cleaning materials used in offset lithographic printing operations and for VOC 

emissions from heatset inks used in letterpress printing operations. The division is proposing 

changes to reduce daily recordkeeping burden based on feedback from the industry. 

Following the original adoption of the rule in 2010, the Printing Industry of America, a trade group, 

commented and requested several clarifications of the rule language. The proposed amendments 

are made in response to these comments and include clarification of definitions of “offset 

lithography”, “sheet-fed printing” and “web printing”. The phrase, “listed in rules .0101, .0902 of 

this Section and in Paragraph (a)(1) through (10) of this rule shall apply” is added to Paragraph (a) to 

indicate that some definitions that apply to this rule can be found in rules .0101 and .0901. Wording 

in Paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), and (l) were updated. There are no impacts from these 

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changes to the affected parties other than to eliminate confusion, misunderstanding, and 

typographical errors. 

In addition to the language update in Paragraph (b), the new Subparagraph (b)(2) was added to 

address the Printing Industries of America’s concerns regarding economic and technical feasibility 

of compliance period frequency established on a daily basis. The association noted in its comments 

that the cost of developing a daily recordkeeping system to meet the requirements of the current 

rule is financially impracticable for printing operations. Monthly recordkeeping requirements 

decreases cost to the printing facility by ten-fold when compared to monthly recordkeeping. 

The contention of the printing association regarding higher recordkeeping costs is supported by the 

following facts: 

(1) An accurate determination of process emissions on daily basis requires development and 

maintenance of extremely detailed daily records. The variety, combinations and consumption 

rate of inks alone would make this a costly and burdensome task. A typical facility can easily 

use 20 different inks during a day. However, a particular container of ink opened may take 

several days, weeks, or months to be completely consumed. 

(2) Separate records for material consumption will have to be developed for each material used 

on each press. In the situations where a production run may involve more than one day, the 

press would have to be stopped at the end of each day and all of the input materials such as 

the ink, fountain solution, cleaning solution, coating, and other miscellaneous chemicals that 

were consumed would have to be measured in some fashion. 

(3) The ink consumption rates are better gauged over a longer averaging period because 

consumption based on purchasing can be correlated with measured values. 

Paragraph (f) was updated to clarify a threshold for emission limitations of a single web offset 

lithographic printing press dryer or letterpress printing heatset press. The provisions of the old 

Paragraph (h) were moved to the Paragraph (f) to locate in one paragraph for clarity the threshold 

for add-on control and add-on control provisions. Wording in Paragraph (f) was revised to eliminate 

confusion and the provisions of Paragraph (i) in the current version were moved to new 

Subparagraph (f)(2)(C), in response to industry’s comments, to reflect specific VOC outlet 

concentrations consistent with EPA’s CTG recommendations. 

Paragraphs (g) and (i) in the current version were deleted and all testing requirements were moved 

to the new Paragraphs (h) and (i) to locate all testing requirements in one place. The new 

Paragraphs (h) and (i) define the usage of approved test methods in accordance with CTG 

recommendations. The cost of testing is the same for all test methods; consequently, this change 

wouldn’t impose new costs. 

Paragraph (j) was updated to clarify compliance demonstration with RACT applicability. 

The rest of Paragraph (j) was changed to provide the appropriate emission/retention factors and 

capture efficiencies. Since the applicability threshold is being lowered, the appropriate 

emission/retention factors and capture efficiencies will give many smaller printers an easy way to 

determine applicability. Per industry comments some small printers do not know how to calculate 

VOC emissions, but they do know how much material they purchase and use. The paragraph gives 

these sources the ability to calculate their emissions more readily. The material-use factors have 

been approved by EPA and are consistent with the 1998 Potential to Emit (PTE) Guidance for 

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Specific Source Categories and its accompanying technical support document. 

The language in Paragraph (k) was updated in response to industry’s request to clarify conditions 

when VOC content or vapor pressure limits apply to cleaning materials used for cleaning a press, 

press parts, or to remove dried ink from areas around the press. 

Finally, the new Paragraph (l) was updated to address the industry recommendation of providing 

some specificity regarding recordkeeping and monitoring requirements while retaining facility 

flexibility to address site-specific considerations through the permitting process. 

Proposed amendments to Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0962, Industrial Cleaning Solvents, exempt cleaning 

solvent emissions from RACT applicability by changing 0.42 pounds per gallon of VOC content in 

cleaning material, as recommended for RACT applicability, to 1.67 pounds of VOC per gallon per EPA 

recommendations. These provisions apply only to resin, coating, ink, and adhesive mixing, molding, 

and application equipment cleaning of coating, ink, and adhesive manufacturing as a category with 

specific exemptions under Bay Area Rules 8-4 116 and 8-4-117 on which the CTG was based. 

The Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0962 defines measures for controlling emissions of VOC from the use, 

storage, and disposal of industrial cleaning solvents. These measures include work practice 

standards, limitations on VOC content of the cleaning materials, and an optional alternative limit on 

composite vapor pressure of the cleaning materials. They also allow facilities to include the use of 

add-on controls with an overall emission reduction of at least 85 percent by mass. 

In comments on the existing rule, industry representatives recommended exempting coating, ink, 

and adhesive manufacturing from VOC content limits established in .0962 since 0.42 pounds per 

gallon of VOC content is not feasible for industrial solvent used for cleaning coatings, ink, adhesive 

and resin manufacturing equipment. 

Coatings- and ink-manufacturing facilities have instituted pollution-prevention programs where they 

clean and rinse process equipment with recycled/reclaimed solvents. They use the solvent until it is 

dirty and either reclaim the solvent onsite or send it offsite for reclamation. The reclaimed solvent is 

then used again for cleaning and rinsing process equipment. Reusing solvents is cost effective and 

minimizes the generation and disposal of hazardous wastes. The 50 g/l (same as the 0.42 lb/gal) 

limit would force manufacturers to dispose of all existing solvents and purchase compliant solvent at 

considerable cost. These costs impacts are considered especially problematic by the industry 

representatives given the recent economic downturn. 

Cleaning manufacturing equipment is very important since incomplete cleaning of process 

equipment and tanks can cause cross-contamination of manufactured products, negatively impact 

product quality, and could result in an off-specification product. Chemistries also vary considerably 

from batch to batch of product and are very difficult to clean unless effective cleaning solvents are 

used. The 50 g/l cleaning solvent limit essentially only leaves two compliance options: exempt 

solvents or force the use of caustic cleaning systems. 

While low-VOC solvents are not effective for cleaning equipment used to manufacture current 

coating formulations, these solvents are even less effective at cleaning newer low-VOC products 

now coming into the market. This is especially true for industrial-maintenance coatings that are high 

in solids, involve two components and/or have exotic chemistries. 

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The proposed amendments exclude solvent cleaning operations of specific equipment in the inks, 

coatings, and resins manufacturing sector from the 0.42 pounds per gallon of VOC limit, as long as 

cleaning is conducted using one or more compliance options, including an alternative solvent 

content limit of 1.67 pounds of VOC per gallon, use of a control device, use of solvents with content 

greater than 1.67 pounds/gallon limited to 60 gallons per month, and work practices for solvent 

cleaning in this sector. These options are consistent with those associated with the Bay Area rules 

on which the CTG recommendations are based. 

Finally, Rule 15A NCAC 02Q .0102, Activities Exempted from Permit Requirements. Paragraph (b)(5) 

of the Rule 02Q .0102 is revised to update a cross reference. 

III. COSTS IMPACTS BY AFFECTED PARTIES 

For the most likely scenario, the division estimates that these amendments will have no direct 

impacts on affected parties. If, as expected, re-designation occurs prior to the compliance date of 

the amendments, then the proposed rule changes will apply only under the contingency plan and 

would become applicable only if: (1) the area later fails to meet the 1997 standard and (2) 

implementation of the proposed amendments would assist in bringing the area back into 

attainment as part of the contingency plan. This important administrative correction fixes the SIP 

inadequacy and would generate no direct costs; the only impacts under the most likely scenario 

would be the impacts associated with the EPA’s re-designation. Based on current knowledge of the 

federal approval procedures EPA re-designation is the most probable outcome. 

IV. BENEFITS. 

The primary benefit of this set of amendments is to meet the Clean Air Act requirements and to 

obtain approval of the VOC RACT state implementation plan by EPA. Without the applicability 

amendments, EPA would not be able to approve the re-designation and maintenance plan for the 

Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill 1997 ozone nonattainment area and requirements for moderate 

nonattainment areas such as nonattainment new source review would continue to apply even 

though monitoring data show compliance with the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. The EPA approval 

can mitigate the consequences of a SIP deficiency including possible disapproval and, lacking 

correction within required timeframes, implementation of a federal program. If not eventually 

corrected, potential sanctions on highway transportation funding could be imposed by EPA. 

In the unlikely event that the area is not re-designated or the requirements are determined to be 

necessary in response to a future violation as a contingency measure, the proposed rule changes 

may potentially decrease VOC emissions from printing, solvent coating, and cleaning operations, and 

because many VOCs also are air toxics, the proposed amendments may decrease the emissions of 

air toxics. An added potential co-benefit of lower VOC emissions from the implementation of the 

CTGs and work practice standards includes less exposure to hazardous air pollutants to those 

working at such facilities. 

V. CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES 

Several alternative approaches to address the applicability issue were explored and considered in 

development of the proposed rule changes. 

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Alternative 1 – Retain the Status Quo

Retaining the current rule as is would result in EPA not being able to approve the RACT state 

implementation plan and a disapproval of that portion of the SIP. The state would have 18 months 

to address the SIP deficiency and EPA would have to approve the correction within 24 months from 

the disapproval. At 24 months EPA would be required to implement a federal program. If a 

deficiency occurred and was not corrected and approved within the timeframes, the federal 

government could impose sanctions on highway transportation funding until the state corrects the 

SIP deficiency. As a result EPA would not be able to approve the re-designation request and 

maintenance plan for the North Carolina area of the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill nonattainment 

area despite the fact that monitoring results show compliance with the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. 

The area would continue to be considered moderate nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard and associated requirements, such as nonattainment new source review, would continue 

to apply until such time as the requirements could be met. 

Alternative 2- Include applicability to less than 100 tpy VOC facilities only in contingency measures

Given that the area already has a Clean Data Determination relative to the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard and the fact that North Carolina, like other states in the southeastern United States, has an 

abundance of biogenic VOC emissions and is in a nitrogen oxides (NOx)-limited environment with 

respect to ozone formation, staff explored the possibility of including applicability of the RACT 

requirements for less than 100 tpy sources only in the contingency measures provisions. Based on 

further review of the CAA, EPA re-designation procedures, and discussions with EPA staff, this 

approach would not be consistent with the requirements of the Clean Air Act. As a result EPA would 

not be able to approve the RACT SIP and the re-designation request. Therefore this approach was 

ruled out since it would not successfully address the applicability issue identified by EPA. 

VI. RISK ANALYSIS 

This analysis concludes that there are no direct costs and likely indirect benefits due to the proposed 

amendments under the most likely circumstances. In an effort to identify all possible outcomes, 

worst-case scenario cost estimates were also developed for this analysis. Even though the possibility 

of such outcome is unlikely, these impacts are discussed below in this section. The Division of Air 

Quality does not anticipate any costs or cost-savings to occur as a result of this rulemaking. 

Under the worst-case scenario, DAQ estimates private industry would incur annual costs of up to 

$9.7 million, and cost-savings of $18.4 million. Combined annual impacts amount to net cost-savings 

of up to $8.8 million (with potential costs and benefits attributed to different entities). There are no 

impacts on the expenditure of state funds. The North Carolina Division of Air Quality would not 

experience new costs associated with these proposed rule changes. Local governments operate 

three coating and adhesive facilities and these may incur costs up to $39,000 annually. The federal 

government operates one coating and adhesive facility that may incur costs up to $3,600 annually to 

comply with the new regulations. 

 These cost estimations were made for the worst-case scenario assuming that: (1) all VOC emissions 

from affected facilities are coming only from sources of VOC emissions covered by control 

techniques guidelines (CTG); and (2) all affected facilities are currently not meeting RACT 

requirements. The federal, state, and local costs are part of the aggregated impact. The North 

Carolina Division of Air Quality would not experience new costs or benefits associated with these 

proposed rule changes under the worst-case scenario. 

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If (1) the maintenance area later fails to meet the 1997 standard and (2) the Division of Air Quality 

Director implements the proposed amendments as part of the contingency plan to bring the area 

back into attainment, there would be potential impacts. This scenario is highly unlikely because the 

air monitoring data collected during the last three years has consistently shown compliance with the 

1997 air quality standard for ozone. The Division doesn’t expect any changes in ozone formation 

related to the changes in volatile organic compounds emissions that would affect attainment status. 

In addition North Carolina, like most areas in the southeastern United States, is in what is known as 

a “NOx (nitrogen oxides)-limited” environment with respect to the formation of ground-level ozone. 

Ozone is formed through the photochemical reaction of VOCs, NOx and sunlight in the atmosphere. 

North Carolina has a large amount of biogenic VOCs emitted from trees and other living sources. 

Industrial and government facilities are smaller sources of VOC emissions compared to biogenic 

sources. The amount of NOx available in the atmosphere is far less than needed to react with the 

abundance of VOC in the atmosphere and, as a result, is the limiting factor in how much ozone 

forms. As such, the director would be unlikely to invoke the proposed amendments as part of the 

contingency plan because they would have little impact on ozone reduction. These estimates were 

developed to demonstrate a worst-case scenario. In reality, the expected cost to regulated entities 

is zero. 

The proposed amendments to Rules 15A NCAC 02D .0902, Applicability, 15A NCAC 02D .0909, 

Compliance Schedules for Sources in Nonattainment Areas, Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0951, RACT for 

Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds and Rule 15A NCAC 02Q .0102, Activities Exempted from 

Permit Requirements, have the potential to affect five entities: regulated private facilities, facilities 

operated by local governments, a federal facility, the regulatory programs that oversee this area and 

the general public. The worst-case scenario costs and benefits are presented below, organized by 

entity. 

We adjusted EPA values from 2005 to current dollars by using the producer price index for inflating 

values since these chemicals are inputs to industrial processes. 

The current versions of the rules 02D .0902, .0903, .0909, .0951, .0961, .0962, and 02Q .0102 serve 

as the baseline for these proposed amendments. Under this version all facilities with potential to 

emit less than 100 tpy of VOC emissions located in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill 1997 8-hour 

ozone area are not subject to RACT requirements and are subject to work practice requirements 

under Rule 02D .0958 rule. The current versions of the rules 02D .0902, .0909, .0951, and 02Q .0102 

also include some obsolete language relative to 1-hour ozone NAAQS requirements that has 

become outdated due to revocation of that standard and is no longer enforceable. 

Private Industry

The newly regulated community under the proposed rules includes the owners or operators of 

approximately 150 facilities with potential to emit 100 tpy or less of VOC emissions located in the 

Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill ozone area and covered by CTG documents. However, this list doesn’t 

include the cleaning solvent emissions from cleaning of resin, coating, ink, and adhesive mixing, 

molding, and application equipment of coating, ink, and adhesive manufacturing. Exempting 

cleaning solvent emissions is consistent with EPA recommendations to exclude facilities with 

cleaning operations that are subject to specific rules and exemptions under Bay Area Rule 8-4-117 

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from RACT applicability.1 The cost savings associated with excluding these facilities is estimated 

separately. The Division of Air Quality estimates that more than 95 percent of the affected 

businesses are small businesses, or facilities with 500 or fewer employees. This estimation was 

made using the database presented at www.referenceusagov.com. 

The proposed changes to the Rule .0902 will make facilities with the potential to emit VOC emissions 

less than 100 tpy located in the 8-hour Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill ozone area subject to the RACT 

requirements for sources in categories covered by CTGs. These requirements are established in rules 

.0909, .0918, .0919, .0922, .0923-.0924, .0930, .0931, .0935, .0937, .0943, .0944, .0947-.0949, .0951, 

.0952, .0959, .0961-.0968. 

These rules have established requirements for achieving RACT by offering two alternatives: either by 

using materials with VOC content that is low enough to achieve the limits during application, or by 

reducing the amount of VOC emitted through the use of add-on controls. EPA noted in the CTGs’ 

recommendations that pollution prevention, including product substitution/reformulation, is the 

most prevalent control technique being used by facilities subject to RACT requirements. Add-on 

control systems are available to these facilities, but EPA estimated during the development of the 

2002 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), that only a few facilities 

would install add-on control devices as a result of the standard. The capital cost and annual 

operation cost of add-on control devices usually make them less desirable than other compliance 

options for reducing VOC emissions from spray-coating operations.2

Rule 02D .0902 also includes provisions that allow the requirements to be shifted to contingency 

measures upon re-designation of the area to attainment status. 

The proposed changes to the Rule 02D .0909 will update language to better reflect the 1997 

nonattainment area consistent with updates to the applicability rule and establish a compliance 

schedule for the newly affected sources. 

The amendments to Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0951, RACT for Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds 

give affected facilities covered by CTG recommended RACT rules of Section .0900 a choice whether 

to apply the RACT requirements defined in .0900 Section rules or choose RACT requirements 

demonstrated to the Director to advance attainment. 

The proposed change to the Rule 02Q .0102 corrects a cross-reference and has no effect on cost 

estimation. 

This cost analysis is based on EPA’s control techniques guidelines (CTGs) published between 2006 

and 2008. EPA noted that to develop these recommendations, it conducted a model plant analysis, 

in which it evaluated hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions associated with different kinds of 

coating processes, the emission reduction capabilities of various control options, and the costs of 

such controls. The model plants were developed to represent a range of sizes and emissions. EPA 

figures were reported using 2005 dollars. In this analysis, all EPA figures have been inflated into 

2012 dollars using the Producer Price Index produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for total 

manufacturing industries. This index inflated original 2005 figures by 38.3 percent. 

 

1 Control Techniques Guidelines for Industrial Cleaning Solvents, EPA-453/R-06-001, 2006/09 

2 (Control Techniques Guidelines for Large Appliance Coatings). EPA 453/R-07-004, 2007/09 

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The following assumptions were used to develop an algorithm of cost estimation for the facilities 

that could be affected by these changes in the event that the area is not re-designated prior to the 

proposed compliance date: 

1. All VOC emissions of affected facilities are only from sources covered by control techniques 

guidelines (CTG). 

2. DAQ assumes that the overwhelming majority of the affected facilities are most likely to 

choose the low-VOC materials alternative to implement the levels of control required by these 

rule changes. This assumption was made for two reasons. First, EPA’s final rule “Approval and 

Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designations of Areas for Air Quality Planning 

Purposes; Charlotte- Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC and SC; Determination of Attainment of the 1997 8-

Hour Ozone Standard” published in 40 CFR Part 52 on November 15, 2011,3 indicates that the 

1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) has been achieved without 

add-on control installation. Secondly, according to EPA calculations, the cost of low-VOC 

content material is not significantly greater than the cost of materials with higher-VOC 

contents. Thirdly, the use of add-on controls to reduce emissions from typical application 

processes is a more costly alternative. 

3. Due to the fact that the current rules do not require any VOC reductions from the newly 

affected facilities, DAQ makes an assumption, consistent with EPA assumptions regarding VOC 

emissions reductions, that the facilities have to reduce VOC emissions by 81 percent to comply 

with the RACT requirements. 4

4. DAQ made a logical assumption that the facilities located in Mecklenburg County, for which 

DAQ was unable to obtain relevant data, use the same VOC content material for similar 

production units as the facilities located in Mooresville Region (from which DAQ was able to 

obtain relevant data). 

Emission reductions are calculated separately for each type of operations: (1) industrial cleaning 

solvents; (2) coating and adhesive units; (3) lithographic printing and letterpress printing units; and 

(4) flexible printing units in accordance with EPA recommendations. All costs are calculated as the 

difference between cost of compliance with current rule requirements and a projected cost of 

compliance with the RACT requirements. Current rules require these facilities to maintain certain 

working standards to minimize VOC emissions. However, there are no limits required to maintain 

certain VOC content in material or VOC emissions for the newly affected facilities. 

Cost estimation for the facilities with the Industrial Cleaning Solvents. 

The number of facilities with industrial cleaning solvents affected by these amendments is 

calculated below by using EPA data published in Control Techniques Guidelines for Industrial 

Cleaning Solvents, Appendix D.5

 

3 Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designations of Areas for Air Quality Planning 

Purposes; Charlotte- Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC and SC; Determination of Attainment of the

1997 8-Hour Ozone Standard

4 Memo from William T. Harnett, Director, Air Quality Policy Division to Regional Air Division Directors dated 

May 18, 2006Subject: RACT Qs & As– Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT).

5; 6; 7 Control Techniques Guidelines for Industrial Cleaning Solvents, EPA-453/R-06-001, 2006/09 

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According to this data, there are 154 facilities located in the 8-hour Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill 

ozone area having a total 13,242 ton/yr baseline level of VOC emissions from solvent utilization 

during cleaning operations. This number includes 15 facilities that have potential to emit 100 tons or 

more VOC emissions per year (total actual 2010 emissions of 1,148 ton/yr), which already have been 

in compliance with the RACT requirements since 2010 when the compliance with these 

requirements became effective for such facilities. Thus, only 139 facilities with a total of 12,094 

tons/yr of VOC emissions from solvent utilization during cleaning operations would need to comply 

with RACT requirements under the proposed rules. These facilities are the subject of these cost 

estimations. 

In accordance with EPA methodology, DAQ did not include in this analysis cleaning solvent emissions 

from CAA Section 183(e) sources; cleaning solvent emissions from research and development 

facilities; emissions from manufacturing and assembly of electrical and electronic components; and 

emissions from activities that are covered by provisions of other rules. EPA also excluded sources 

that were exempted under the Bay Area rules in its CTG calculations. Thus, the cost savings 

associated with proposed amendments regarding industrial solvent cleaning of adhesive mixing, 

molding, and application equipment for coating, ink, and adhesive manufacturing are estimated 

separately in this assessment. 

To estimate the cost of compliance for the facilities with the industrial cleaning solvents, DAQ used 

EPA’s assumption that eight percent of all industrial cleaning VOC emissions come from a 

“degreasing” or cold solvent cleaning/stripping classification and the remaining 92 percent comes 

from other solvent cleaning operations. 

Industry association representatives estimated that facilities currently use solvents with an average 

VOC concentration of 500 grams/liter (4.2 lbs/gal) for industrial cleaning operations. The RACT 

requirements limit VOC concentration to 50 grams of VOC per liter (0.42 lbs/gal) of cleaning 

material. However, based on comments from industry representatives, the 50 g/l limit is not feasible 

for industrial solvent used for cleaning coatings, ink, adhesive and resin manufacturing equipment. 

The proposed amendments exclude these operations from the 0.42 lb/gal limit in Rule .0962 for 

consistency with EPA recommendations in the Control Techniques Guidelines for industrial cleaning 

solvents (page 9).6

 The associated cost savings is calculated separately (below) in this assessment. 

For other sources DAQ estimated baseline emissions and emission reductions from parts cleaners 

and other solvent cleaning operations by using EPA’s figures presented in the Control Techniques 

Guidelines for Industrial Cleaning Solvents.

7

Parts Cleaners

The total VOC Emissions from Parts Cleaners used by the facilities with less than 100 tpy potential 

VOC emissions located in the 8-hour Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill ozone area are equal to eight 

percent8

 of all VOC emissions from cleaning operations of all solvent cleaning facilities located in the 

8-hour Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill ozone area: 

12,094 tons/yr x 8% =968 tons/yr 

 

8 , 9 Control Techniques Guidelines for Industrial Cleaning Solvents, 

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VOC emissions from 139 (facilities) x 8% = 11 (part cleaning facilities) 

In accordance with data provided by the American Coating Association (ACA,) the average VOC 

concentration (density) of the solvents used by these facilities is 500 g/liter. After the replacement 

of the organic solvent that these facilities are currently using with a cleaning solution that has 50 

g/liter VOC content (concentration) the VOC emissions would be as follows: 

968 tons/yr * (50 g/liter/500 g/liter) = 96.8 tons/yr 

The actual emission reduction from switching to low-content VOC material is: 

968 tons/yr – 96.8 tons/yr = 871.2 tons/yr 

Using the EPA assumption9 that reduction of each ton of VOC emissions costs on average $2,301, 

the cost of switching to low VOC content solvents for parts cleaners is: 

$2,301/ton reduced * 871.2 tons/yr = $2.0 million 

Other Solvent Cleaning Operations

Other solvent cleaning operations is the method of cleaning a surface by physically rubbing it with a 

material such as a rag, paper, sponge or a cotton swab moistened with a solvent. The total VOC 

emissions from other solvent cleaning operations used by these facilities are equal to 100% - 8% = 

92% of all VOC emissions from cleaning operations: 

12,094 tons/yr x 92% =11,126.5 tons/yr 

In accordance with the industry information, the average VOC concentration (density) of the 

solvents used by these facilities is 500 g/liter. If the facilities replace the organic solvent that they 

are currently using with a cleaning solution that has 50 g/liter VOC content (concentration), the 

controlled emissions would be as follows: 

11,126.5 tons/yr * (50 g/liter/500 g/liter) = 1,112.6 tons/yr 

The actual emission reduction from switching to low content VOC material is: 

11,126.5 tons/yr – 1,112.6 tons/yr = 10,014 tons/yr 

Using the same EPA assumption as above that a reduction of one ton of VOC emissions saves 

companies using other solvent cleaning operations -$1,832.5, the cost savings of switching to low 

VOC content solvents for industrial cleaning operations is: 

-$1,832.5/ton reduced * 10,014 tons/yr = - $18.4 million (savings) 

This is the maximum amount of cost reduction (benefits) associated with the proposed rule changes, 

which assume that none of the regulated parties have already made the switch to reduce costs. The 

actual cost reduction in this scenario is likely to be lower (probably much lower). These savings are 

 

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derived from the significantly lower cost of recycling material with low VOC content material as 

opposed to high-VOC materials. 

In accordance with the ACA information, application of low-VOC content material for industrial 

cleaning will increase the material (acetone) usage by approximately 5 tons/yr. The cost of low-VOC 

content(acetone) material is $500 per ton ( in 2005 dollars) adjusted to $692 (in 2012 dollars). The 

final savings are: 

5 tons * $692 * 139 facilities = $481,000 per year 

This estimation is used for the worst case scenario summary. For industrial cleaning solvents, DAQ 

estimates that the private sector would incur annual costs of up to $2.5 million, [$0.5 million 

(acetone usage) + $2.0 million (part cleaners)] and cost-savings of $18.4 million. Combined annual 

impacts amount to net cost-savings of up to $15.9 million. However, these potential costs and 

benefits would not be evenly distributed, with some facilities incurring net costs and others 

obtaining net benefits. 

These savings are supported by EPA’s study published by the Bay Area AQMD to estimate the cost of 

compliance for the measures recommended in this CTG. According to these estimates, EPA believes 

that affected sources may either incur minimal additional costs or realize a savings on a case-by-case 

basis, depending primarily on facts such as how much they currently spend to operate high-VOC 

content solvent-based parts cleaners, and the cost of organic solvent disposal. The Bay Area AQMD 

studies indicate that there is a cost savings associated with replacing high-VOC cleaning materials 

with low-VOC, water-based cleaning materials. 

The DAQ industrial-cleaning estimates were adjusted and reduced from estimations that EPA 

provided in the CTG. DAQ used 500 g/liter as the current average VOC concentration (density) of the 

solvents as provided by ACA for the inks, coatings, adhesives, and resins manufacturing sector, 

whereas EPA used 900g/liter as the worst case scenario in its example.DAQ is using real data 

provided by the industry. 

Industry representatives identified a concern with the assumption that there would be a similar cost 

savings resulting from application of the solvent cleaning requirements for the inks-, coatings-, 

adhesives-, and resins- manufacturing sector related to mitigating factors at potentially affected 

facilities (discussed in more detail below). 

Cleaning of Resin, Coating, Ink, and Adhesive Mixing, Molding, and Application Equipment in 

Coating, Ink, and Adhesive Manufacturing

Sources that were exempt from the cleaning-solvent requirements under the Bay Area rules, which 

served as the basis for the cleaning-solvent CTG, were not included in the CTG cost calculations. The 

current North Carolina rule did not make a distinction regarding applicability of the cleaning-solvent 

limit to the resin, coating, ink and adhesive manufacturing category. The proposed amendments to 

02D .0962 incorporate the underlying exclusion from the 0.42 lb/gal limit for this subset of sources 

and associated compliance alternatives based on the Bay Area rules. 

To estimate the potential cost reduction associated with excluding cleaning-solvent emissions from 

cleaning of resin, coating, ink, and adhesive mixing, molding, and application equipment in coating, 

VI-17 A-93
OSBM Certified 11-05-2012 17

ink, and adhesive manufacturing from the general 0.42 pounds per gallon of VOC content cleaning 

material limit and establish the 1.67 pounds VOC per gallon limit and other compliance alternatives, 

DAQ is using cost estimates provided by industry representatives in this analysis. 

DAQ initially identified five potentially affected sources in the nonattainment area counties in this 

sector. Further review determined that: one facility has closed; one facility has moved to South 

Carolina; one facility has less than five tons per year emissions and already uses acetone which is 

not considered a VOC relative to ozone formation; one facility produces water-based products; and 

the remaining facility is outside the boundary of the portion of Iredell county that is part of the NAA 

and thus is not subject. Given that one of the two remaining facilities in the resins-, inks-, coatings-, 

and adhesives-manufacturing sector in the current nonattainment area already uses acetone and 

the other produces water based products, it appears that the cost savings described would not be 

realized at this time. 

Cost estimation for the facilities with the coating, adhesive and printing units. 

DAQ estimated the number of facilities affected by the amendments to rule .0902 by analyzing data 

provided by Mooresville Regional Office (MRO) and Mecklenburg County Air Quality local program. 

MRO regulates 77 facilities with total VOC emissions of 636 tons/year and Mecklenburg County has 

73 facilities with total actual VOC emissions of 636 tons/year. These facilities were selected from 

both databases by cross-referencing the following criteria: (1) facilities with VOC emissions more 

than 15 lbs/day (2.74 ton/year) and the potential to emit less than 100 tons/year; (2) facilities with 

the units covered by the CTG. 

These facilities are divided in two categories: (1) printing facilities and (2) coating and adhesive 

facilities, in accordance with EPA recommendations. 

Total VOC Emissions from the Affected Facilities Located in Mooresville Region and 

Mecklenburg County.

Database

Number of Facilities

Total

Emissions (tpy) Total

Printing Coating Printing Coating

Tons 

per 

year

Mooresville 

Region 4 73 77 107 529 636

Mecklenburg 18 55 73 187 449 636

Total 22 128 150 294 978 1,272

Among printing facilities there are twenty one (21) offset lithographic and letterpress printing units 

and one (1) flexible package printing unit. Among coating and adhesive facilities there are 128 units 

with different types of coatings and adhesive applications. Accordingly, there is necessarily some 

uncertainty in material estimation in any prediction of costs and emission impacts associated with 

the fact that the CTG recommendations are based on multiple EPA assumptions. 

Cost estimation for lithographic printing and letterpress printing units

DAQ has chosen to adopt the CTG approach to estimate cost of compliance with the RACT 

requirements for the offset lithographic printing and letterpress printing units. These 

recommendations are based on EPA model plant analysis in which it evaluated VOC emissions 

associated with different kinds of printing processes, the VOC emission reduction capabilities of 

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various control options, and the costs of such controls. The model plants were developed to 

represent a range of sizes and emissions. 

Because of the similarities between offset lithographic printing and letterpress printing, in terms of 

the nature of the processes at issue, the sources of VOC emissions and available control approaches, 

EPA made an assumption that the cost-effectiveness for control of VOC from heatset inks and 

control of VOC from cleaning materials apply equally to the letterpress printing industry. Finally, EPA 

came up with four different numbers for total annual cost of control per facility for four different 

types of model plants.

10

To estimate cost of compliance with the RACT requirements for printing facilities located in the 8-

hour Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill ozone area, DAQ averaged the costs of four different types of 

EPA’s model plants, which equaled $248,525 per facility. 

There are 21 offset lithographic printing and letterpress printing units and one facility with three 

flexible printing units in the ozone area. 

DAQ calculated the cost for 21 lithographic printing and letterpress printing facilities located in the 

1997 8-hour Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill ozone area as: 

21 facilities * $248,525= $5.2 million 

The baseline is the current rule, which requires daily recordkeeping for all printing facilities to 

assure compliance with the 15 lbs-per-day limit. Currently, no printing facilities must comply with 

current recordkeeping rules, as none have a potential to emit more than 100 tons of VOCs per 

year. The proposed amendments to 02D .0961 would allow an equivalent level of three tons per 

12-consecutive month rolling period. The change allows printing facilities to avoid unnecessary 

daily recordkeeping costs. In the worst-case event (if EPA fails to re-designate the area as a 

maintenance area), under the existing rule, all printing facilities would have to maintain daily 

records to assure 15 lbs-per-day limit. 

Printing Industries of America illustrated the financial impracticability for printing operations by 

estimating the average cost of implementing a daily recordkeeping system to meet the 

requirements of the current rule. The estimated average costs are associated with daily 

recordkeeping for an operation with three sheetfed offset lithographic presses. The example is for 

a 6-color 40 inch, 4-color 26 inch, and a 2-color 20 inch press, which are common in commercial 

printing operation. The full cost, based on 2008 data, includes wages, equipment, and all overhead 

with the assumption that the presses are running at an 85-percent utilization rate, which is the 

theoretical maximum utilization rate. Most facilities will use a 70 percent utilization rate for their 

budgeting. 

Average of 1 hour of lost production time per day for each press: 

 Press 001 (6-color) - $505.00/hour 

 Press 002 (4-color) - $264.00/hour 

 Press 003 (2-color) - $ 77.00/hour 

 

10 Control Techniques Guidelines for Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing EPA-453/R-06-002 

2006/09

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 Total: $846.00/hour 

Average total baseline monthly cost associated with daily recordkeeping: 

 $ 846 (Total Per Day Lost Production and Press Operator Costs) 

 x 20 (Average Work Days Per Month) 

 $16,920 (Average Total Monthly Cost) 

The baseline cost is zero because there are no facilities that are currently subject to the daily 

recordkeeping requirements in the current rules. 

 

Under the proposed monthly recordkeeping rule, affected facilities would bear these costs on a 

once-per-month basis, leading to a total cost of: 

$846 (monthly recordkeeping costs) x 21 (number of the affected facilities) x 12 (months) = 

$213,000 

Compared to an alternative baseline of daily recordkeeping for printing facilities, the annual 

savings of switching the average facility from daily to monthly recordkeeping are estimated to be: 

 $4.3 million -$213,000 = $4.1 million (savings relative to an alternative baseline of daily 

recordkeeping for all affected printing facilities) 

Relative to the current baseline for lithographic printing and letterpress printing facilities, the 

proposed rules would impose $5.4 million in additional costs ($5.2 million for RACT compliance costs 

plus $0.2 million for monthly recordkeeping). 

Cost estimation for flexible printing units

Due to insufficient information about flexible printing units in the database, DAQ has chosen to 

adopt the EPA-recommended algorithm to estimate the cost for the flexible package printing units. 

The cost is for a fixed-bed catalytic oxidizer with 95-percent destruction efficiency, which is the 

equipment likely to be used to control emissions to comply with the RACT requirements at a typical 

or average facility with individual presses for flexographic printing. EPA estimated the total capital 

investment (TCI) for the fixed-bed catalytic oxidizer as $471,603 per press.11 The database indicated 

that only one facility with three flexible printing units is affected by these amendments. TCI for three 

presses is: 

$471,603 * 3 = $1.4 million (one-time capital investment) 

The annualized capital recovery factor of 0.10979 was based on 7 percent interest rate and 15 years 

of useful life. The annualized capital cost is: 

$1.4 million * 0.10979 = $155,000 

Finally, EPA estimated the total annual operating cost (TAC) for the high-end scenario as $131,385 

for each press per year and for the low-end scenario as $121,704 for each press per year. In 

accordance with EPA recommendations, the low end scenario is chosen for the solvent use rate of 

 

11 Control Techniques Guidelines for Flexible Package Printing EPA-453/R-06-003 2006/09

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25 ton/yr and the high end is is chosen for the solvent use rate of 100 ton/yr. Consequently, the 

high end TAC cost for the three presses is: 

$131,385 * 3 = $394,000 per year 

The low end TAC for the three presses is: 

 $121,704 * 3 = $365,000 per year 

The total annual cost is: 

$365,000 + $155,000 = $520,000 low end, end 

$394,000 + $155,000 = $549,000 high end 

The high estimate of $549,000 is used for the worst case scenario summary. 

Cost estimation for coating and adhesive units

This cost estimation is based on data provided by the MRO. It includes information on VOC content 

in material that the coating and adhesive facilities use to comply with the current air quality 

regulations. DAQ made an assumption that the facilities located in Mecklenburg County use the 

same VOC content material for similar production units as the facilities located in MRO. 

To calculate the emission reduction, DAQ estimated the average VOC concentration limits required 

to comply with RACT requirements by interpolating VOC concentrations limits established for the 

RACT compliance and the current VOC concentrations by interpolating the data presented by MRO 

and Mecklenburg County. The reduction is calculated in accordance with EPA recommendations12.

The results are presented in the Table below. 

VOC Concentration Limits Reduction Required to Comply with the RACT 

Requirements

Units Current concentration of VOC RACT requirements Reduction

Coating 0.17 

lb/gal

0.07 

lb/gal

574 tons/yr

The emission level required to comply with RACT is calculated as the ratio between projected VOC 

concentrations needed to comply with the RACT requirements and current VOC concentrations 

multiplied by the current emission level from coating and adhesive units: 

978 tons/yr13 * 0.07 lb/gal / 0.17 lb/gal = 402 tons/yr 

Emission reduction is calculated as the difference between the current (table on page 15) and 

required emission level: 

978 tons/yr– 402 tons/yr = 574 tons/yr 

 

13 Total VOC Emissions from the Affected Facilities from the table on page 17 

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EPA estimated that the cost effectiveness to comply with RACT requirements for coating and 

adhesive units is in the range between 0 and $3,596 per ton of reduction depending on coating 

operations. DAQ analyzed data provided by the MRO and Mecklenburg County. It included 

information about specific types of coating operations for each facility. EPA cost effectiveness data 

was then applied to each affected facility with specific coating operation. The results indicated that 

most likely the affected facilities with coating and adhesive units have the range between $553 and 

$2,213. 

The cost of emission reduction for the affected facilities with coating and adhesive units (including 

facilities with local and federal funds) is between: 

574 tons/yr * $553 =$317,000 low end, and 

574 tons/yr * $2,213 = $1.3 million high end 

The high estimate of $1.3 million is used for the worst case scenario summary. 

All estimations are made in accordance with Control Techniques Guidelines for Industrial Cleaning 

Solvents14 recommendations. 

Actual costs could be lower. The current section .0900 provides a couple of simple, low-cost options 

for facilities that would need to achieve compliance with these new RACT requirements. For 

instance, if a facility owner or operator can demonstrate that an alternative operational or 

equipment control is superior to the required control, they may petition the director to allow the 

use of alternative controls for VOC emissions reduction. This option may be useful for facilities with 

flexibility to switch to an alternative operational schedule or to change production levels. For 

example, a facility may choose to change its operational schedule to avoid daily VOC emissions 

above 15 lb/day, or it may change production to lower VOC emissions. 

Alternative controls for RACT also can be an option for facilities that demonstrate compliance with 

the rules in Section .0900 would be technologically or economically infeasible. Such facilities may 

petition the Director to allow the use of alternative operational or equipment controls for the 

reduction of volatile organic compound emissions. This option may be especially attractive to 

facilities with high total capital investments (TCI). EPA guidance15 indicates that a facility may choose 

an alternative, less expensive than add-on control method for RACT compliance. 

Local Government

Of the 128 total coating and adhesives facilities, DAQ identified three facilities operated by local 

governments. The cost of compliance with the RACT requirements for these facilities is calculated 

separately in accordance with the state budget manual. 

Taken together, the three facilities operated by local funds have the potential to emit 29.9 tons of 

VOC per year (27,125 kg/yr). The cost of emission reduction is calculated using the same algorithm 

as the private facilities with coating and adhesive units. 

Local government facilities: 

 

14 Control Techniques Guidelines for Miscellaneous Metal and Plastic Parts Coatings 

15 Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule

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OSBM Certified 11-05-2012 22

29.84 tons/yr * 0.07lb/gal/0.17lb/gal = 12.29 tons/yr 

29.84 tons/yr -12.29 tons/yr = 17.6 tons/yr 

17.6 tons/yr * $553 = $9,700 low end, and 

17.6 tons/yr * $2,213= $39,000 high end 

The high estimate of $39,000 is used for the worst case scenario summary. 

Federal Government 

DAQ identified one coating and adhesives facility operated by a federal entity. The federal facility 

has potential to emit 2.8 tons of VOC per year. The cost of emission reduction is calculated using the 

same algorithm as the private facilities with coating and adhesive units. 

Federal government facility: 

2.8 tons/yr * 0.07 lb/gal/0.17 lb/gal = 1.15 tons/yr 

2.8 tons/yr - 1.15 tons/yr = 1.65 tons/yr 

1.65 tons/yr * $553 = $900 low end and 

1.65 tons/yr * $2,213 = $3,700 high end 

The high estimate of $3,700 is used for the worst case scenario summary. 

North Carolina Division of Air Quality and Mecklenburg County Air Quality Program

In accordance with Rule 15A NCAC 02Q .0203, Permit and Application Fees, no additional permit 

application fees will be required for the affected facilities after these amendments become 

effective. While staff would have to spend some time to incorporate appropriate permit conditions, 

since all these facilities are already permitted and are subject to compliance inspections, changes in 

permit writing procedures or facility inspection schedule caused by these amendments are 

insignificant. No additional DAQ staff would be anticipated, nor would existing staff be expected to 

undertake any significant additional activities. Consequently, DAQ and Mecklenburg County Air 

Quality Program cost/savings for implementing these amendments are negligible. 

General Public

The primary benefit of this set of amendments under the expected scenario is to meet the 

requirements of the CAA and ensure approval of the VOC RACT State Implementation Plan (SIP) by 

EPA. The EPA approval can mitigate the consequences of a SIP deficiency including possible 

disapproval and, lacking correction within required timeframes, implementation of a federal 

program, and if not eventually corrected, potential sanctions on highway transportation funding. In 

addition, without the amendments, EPA would not be able to approve the re-designation and 

maintenance plan for the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill 1997 nonattainment area, and requirements 

for moderate nonattainment areas such as nonattainment new source review would continue to 

apply even though monitoring data show compliance with the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. 

These VOC RACT requirements are unlikely to have a substantial impact on atmospheric ozone 

concentrations because in North Carolina most VOC emissions come from biogenic sources and the 

state, like much of the southeast, is in a NOx-limited environment with respect to ozone formation. 

However, although not their direct purpose, the proposed rule changes (if implemented under one 

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OSBM Certified 11-05-2012 23

of the unexpected scenarios) may provide secondary benefits for manufacturing workers who may 

be exposed to fewer or less toxic chemicals depending on what is currently used if solvent switching 

is the chosen compliance mechanism. Air toxics are a group of chemical air contaminants, defined 

by EPA, that have been associated with wide-ranging and significant adverse health effects, 

including cancer and other serious health effects such as reproductive effects or birth defects, or 

adverse environmental effects. 

The reduction of toxics in manufacturing facilities or in production practices that reduce or eliminate 

the use and emissions of toxic materials into the environment is generally preferable to add-on 

controls. As a possible secondary benefit, these proposed rule changes may lessen potential worker 

exposure to hazardous air pollutants in printing, solvent coatings and cleaning operations. 

Summary of Costs and Benefits Under Unlikely Scenario 

If (1) the maintenance area later fails to meet the 1997 standard and (2) the Division of Air Quality 

Director implements the proposed amendments as part of the contingency plan to bring the area 

back into attainment, there would be potential impacts. Under the worst-case scenario, DAQ 

estimates private industry would incur annual costs of up to $9.7 million, and cost-savings of up to 

$18.4 million. Combined annual impacts amount to net cost-savings of up to $8.8 million (with 

potential costs and benefits attributed to different entities), and up to $28 million when aggregated. 

There are no impacts on the expenditure of State funds. The North Carolina Division of Air Quality 

would not experience new costs associated with these proposed rule changes. Local governments 

operate three coating and adhesive facilities and these may incur costs up to $39,000. The federal 

government operates one coating and adhesive facility that may incur costs up to $3,600 to comply 

with the new regulations. 

These cost estimations were made for the worst-case scenario assuming that: (1) all VOC emissions 

from affected facilities are coming only from sources of VOC emissions covered by control 

techniques guidelines (CTG); and (2) all affected facilities are currently not meeting RACT 

requirements. The annual impacts to state, local and federal government, and the private sector, 

are summarized in the following table. 

Annual Impact of the Worst Case Scenario 

Entity

Number 

of 

Facilities

Annual 

Cost

In Million 

US Dollars

(2012)

(A)

Annual 

CostSavings

In Million 

US Dollars 

(2012)

(B)

Annual Net 

Cost/Benefit

In Million US 

Dollars (2012)

(B)-(A)

Annual 

Aggregate

In Million 

US Dollars 

(2012)

(A)+(B)

Reference 

to 

Estimation 

Description

State 

Government 0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Parts Cleaners 11 $2.0 $0 -$2.0 $2.0 pp. 14-15

Other Solvent 

Cleaning 128 $0.5 $18.4 +$17.9 $18.9 pp. 15-16

Lithographic 

Printing 21 $5.4 $0 -$5.4 $5.4 pp. 17-19

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Flexible 

Printing 1 $0.5 $0 -$0.5 $0.5 Pp. 19-20

Coating & 

Adhesive 124 $1.3 $0 -$1.2 $1.3 pp. 20-21

Local

government 

(Coating & 

Adhesive)

3 $0.039 $0 -$0.039 $0.039 p. 21

Federal 

Government

(Coating & 

Adhesive)

1 $0.004 $0 -$0.004 $0.004 p.21

General Public Unquantifiable minor or no impacts p. 23

Total: 289 $9.7 $18.4 +8.8 $28

To the extent that facilities have already reduced the VOC content of the solvents and coatings they 

use and have already achieved levels in the CTGs, then no additional reductions would be needed 

and the costs and benefits estimated in this assessment would be much higher than would actually 

be realized, resulting in an overestimate of the impact. 

The general public may benefit from cleaner air, and workers in facilities that use VOC materials may 

be exposed to fewer toxics if solvent switching is the compliance mechanism of choice. These 

benefits are not quantified because they are not expected to occur under the most likely scenario. 

Sources of Uncertainty in Estimates

The estimation of the emission reductions associated with the selected control strategies described 

above is subject to important limitations and uncertainties. There are several sources of uncertainty 

that may affect the results of this analysis. 

Due to DAQ lacking a comprehensive database on the facilities that use the industrial cleaning 

solvents for cleaning operations, DAQ estimated the cost of RACT compliance for the facilities with 

industrial cleaning solvents by using the number of affected facilities and the current level of VOC 

emissions from these facilities estimated by EPA and obtained from Control Techniques Guidelines 

for Industrial Cleaning Solvents.

16 EPA noted that this information was determined by first assigning 

the VOC emissions from solvent cleaning operations at each facility from 2002 National Emissions 

Inventory (NEI) database to one of two general groups: parts cleaners, or other solvent cleaning 

operations. The parts cleaner subgroup included emissions from all source classification codes 

(SCCs) with a “degreasing” or cold solvent cleaning/stripping classification.

The EPA estimation that DAQ used for the cost estimations is based on compliance with the RACT 

requirements that are recommended by Alternative Control Techniques (ACT) Document issued in 

February 1994. EPA simply established the baseline as a VOC emission levels which meet RACT 

requirements recommended by the ACT Document issued in February 1994 and calculated the 

 

16 Control Techniques Guidelines for Industrial Cleaning Solvents EPA-453/R-06-001, 2006/09 

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emission reduction as a difference between RACT requirements recommended by the ACT issued in 

1994 and the CTG issued in 2006. While using this difference for the cost reduction calculation, DAQ 

found that the 500 g/liter average VOC concentration (density) of the solvents for the year 2012 

provided by American Coating Association is more reliable number than the 900 g/liter figure used 

by EPA in its example cost estimation as the worst-case scenario in 2006 when CTG was issued. DAQ 

is using the data provided by the industry. 

The second source of uncertainty is completeness of information on VOC units and VOC 

concentrations that affected facilities are using obtained from MRO and Mecklenburg County Air 

Quality local program. In this situation, DAQ made several assumptions described above based on 

staff members’ best judgment and engineering experience to quantify the impacts in these areas. 

There is also uncertainty regarding what share of facilities that could save money by using low-VOC 

content materials have already converted to the lower-cost materials. If a significant number of 

those facilities have made the transition, then the potential cost savings would be substantially 

lower. 

As a general matter, DAQ selected the best-available information from available databases and 

EPA’s CTGs and has set up what it believes is the most reasonable framework for analyzing the cost, 

potential emission changes, and other impacts of regulatory controls. 

VII. CONCLUSION. 

The DAQ is required, under provisions of CAA Section 172(c)(1), to submit a SIP that will lead to 

attainment of the NAAQS for ozone. Section 182(b)(2) of the CAA also provides that North Carolina 

must revise its ozone SIP to include RACT for each category of VOC sources covered by any CTG 

document issued after November 15, 1990, and prior to the date of attainment. 

The proposed rule amendments are needed in order for the state’s SIP to meet the requirements of 

the CAA and receive approval from EPA. North Carolina’s current RACT rule, 02D .0902, applies only 

to facilities that have the potential to emit (PTE) greater than or equal to 100 tons of volatile organic 

compounds (VOC) per year located in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC 8-hour Moderate Ozone 

Nonattainment Area. The proposed amendments bring North Carolina into compliance with federal 

law by extending this applicability to all VOC sources covered by any CTG in the nonattainment area. 

This proposal also amends rule 02D .0909 to clarify compliance schedules for the newly affected 

facilities, makes conforming changes to 02D .0951, and a corresponding update to related language 

in 02Q .0102. In response to comments from industry associations on the existing rules, the 

amendments to 02D .0903, .0961, and .0962 clarify language and provide compliance alternatives 

consistent with the CTGs. 

The Division of Air Quality anticipates no direct costs to result from this rulemaking. In extreme 

circumstances, failure to adopt these rules could lead to more federal regulation and, eventually, 

potential sanctions on highway transportation funding. 

The proposed rules would not result in any immediate costs for regulated facilities. The 

amendments do not require additional permitting or inspection of additional facilities and 

consequently, they would have no economic impact on NCDAQ and Mecklenburg County (Land Use 

and Environmental Services Agency). There are no economic impacts related to permitting for NC 

Department of Transportation projects. 

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OSBM Certified 11-05-2012 26

If (1) the maintenance area later fails to meet the 1997 standard and (2) the Division of Air Quality 

Director implements the proposed amendments as part of the contingency plan to bring the area 

back into attainment, there would be potential impacts. This scenario is highly unlikely because the 

current state of the science regarding atmospheric formation of ground level ozone indicates 

implementing these rules would do little to improve ozone levels. 

Under the worst-case scenario, DAQ estimates private industry would incur annual costs of up to 

$9.7 million, and cost-savings of $18.4 million. Combined annual impacts amount to net cost-savings 

of up to $8.8 million (with potential costs and benefits attributed to different entities), and up to 

$28 million when aggregated. There are no impacts on the expenditure of State funds. The North 

Carolina Division of Air Quality would not experience new costs associated with these proposed rule 

changes. There would be no additional permitting or inspection activity and consequently, this 

scenario would have no economic impact on NCDAQ and Mecklenburg County (Land Use and 

Environmental Services Agency). Local governments operate three coating and adhesive facilities 

and these may incur costs up to $39,000. The federal government operates one coating and 

adhesive facility that may incur costs up to $3,600 to comply with the new regulations. 

Appendix A. Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0902 Amended 

Appendix B. Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0903 Amended 

Appendix C. Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0909 Amended 

Appendix D. Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0951 Amended 

Appendix E. Rule 15A NCAC 02Q .0102 Amended 

Appendix F. Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0961 Amended 

Appendix G. Rule 15A NCAC 02D .0962 Amended 

VI-27 A-103
VI-28

Links to Referenced Background Materials

1. Control Techniques Guidelines for Industrial Cleaning Solvents EPA-453/R-06-001, 

2006/09 

2. Control Techniques Guidelines for Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing

EPA-453/R-06-002 2006/09 

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VII-1 

Chapter VII 

The following documentation of filing and notification is incorporated as part of this hearing record and is 

maintained on file: 

1. ENR 101 Internal Approval Form. 

2. Submission for Notice Form and material submitted to the Office of Administrative 

Hearings. 

3. The public notice as it appears in The North Carolina Register Volume 27, Issue 11, 

pages 1019-1033. 

4. Letters to newspapers requesting that the public notice be published. 

5. Affidavits of Publication from newspaper. 

6. Memorandum transmitting hearing notice and proposal to regional offices for public 

inspection. 

7. Memorandum transmitting hearing notice and proposal to local programs. 

8. Letter notifying EPA of hearing. 

9. Submission of Filing Forms and material filed with Office of Administrative Hearings. 

 10. Letter transmitting hearing record to EPA. 

 11. Executive Order No. 70 Certification Form 

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