United States Environmental Protection Agency

General Permit for New or Modified Minor Sources of Air Pollution in 

Indian Country

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

Questionnaire: Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities

Last Modified: November 14, 2013

Version 1.0

Does the General Permit apply to my facility?

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

eligible for a General Air Quality Permit for True Minor Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities. You 

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

Minor Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities. This questionnaire does not cover all of the General 

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

this program.

Description of Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities

A Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facility is any stationary or portable non-metallic mineral processing facility 

which uses rock crushers, grinding mills, screening operations, bucket elevators, belt conveyors, bagging operations, 

storage bins, storage piles, truck loading stations, or railcar loading stations to process sand, gravel, or mineral aggregate 

or that mines sand and gravel for construction. This Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities Questionnaire is 

for stone quarrying, crushing, and screening facilities that are not major sources of air pollution and that are located, or 

planning to locate, within Indian Country.

 

About this Questionnaire

The questions focus on general information pertaining to your existing or future sand, gravel, rock crushing, and 

screening facility. The questionnaire is not meant to be exhaustive and only requires knowledge of basic facility 

information, including process rates, raw material throughput, and fuel usage. 

You should continue with this Questionnaire if you:

Plan to construct a new, true minor source stone quarrying, crushing, and screening facility within Indian 

Country; 

Plan to modify an existing, true minor source stone quarrying, crushing, and screening facility located within 

Indian Country; 

Have a potential to emit (PTE) less than the New Source Review (NSR) major source thresholds and equal to or 

above the minor NSR applicability thresholds. See the “Does my Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening

Facility Need or Qualify for a Minor Source Permit?” section below; 

Are located in an attainment area for ozone or a marginal or moderate nonattainment area for ozone and, after 

the proposed construction or modification project, your facility’s fuel usage for all combustion sources is 

projected to be less than a combined total of 310,000 gallons of combined fuel consumption in any continuous 

rolling 12-month period; 

Are located in a serious/severe/extreme ozone nonattainment area and, after the proposed construction or 

modification project, your facility’s fuel usage for all combustion sources is projected to be less than a combined 

total of 153,000/80,000/30,000 gallons of diesel fuel over a consecutive 12 month period, respectively; 

After the proposed construction or modification project, your uncontrolled facility is projected to process less 

than 10,500,000 tons of raw material throughput in any continuous rolling 12-month period; 

Do not know whether your facility needs a permit, or if you do not know the attainment status of your area; and 

you want to find out whether or not you should apply for a minor source general permit or a major source 

permit for a stone quarrying, crushing, and screening facility; and 
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Intend to satisfy the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Historic Preservation Act 

(NHPA) according to the method provided in the application documents for the General Air Quality Permit for

True Minor Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities.

 

More Information

The definition of a “modification” and “PTE” can be found at 40 CFR 49.152(d) and in the “Instructions” document. 

Additional information on the applicability of the Indian Country NSR rule can be found at 40 CFR 49.153.

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

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

attainment status. 

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

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

Minor Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities or visit: 

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

Questionnaire for Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities

Part 1: Does my Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facility Need or Qualify for a True 

Minor Source Permit?

The following questions are meant to determine whether or not your stone quarrying, crushing, and screening facility 

qualifies for a general permit.

1. Is the PTE of your facility less than 250 tons per year (tpy) for particulate matter (PM, PM10, or PM2.5), VOC, 

nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulfur dioxide (SO2)? Be sure to include all existing, new, and 

modified emission units.

Yes No

If you answered ‘No,’ yoursource does not qualify for the minor NSR program. Please contact your reviewing 

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

2. Is the PTE of your new facility or the emissions increase from your modified existing facility equal to or above the 

applicable minor NSR thresholds listed below for ANY pollutant? The emissions from your facility may be 

calculated using the PTE calculator provided. Be sure to include all new, modified, or existing emission units 

when determining PTE.

Pollutant Attainment Area Nonattainment Area

CO 10 tpy 5 tpy

PM 10 tpy 5 tpy

PM10 5 tpy 1 tpy

PM2.5 3 tpy 0.6 tpy

SO2 10 tpy 5 tpy

NOX 10 tpy 5 tpy
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Pollutant Attainment Area Nonattainment Area

VOC 5 tpy 2 tpy

Yes No

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

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

question. 

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

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

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

Pollutant Nonattainment Classification NSR Major Source Threshold

Ozone Marginal 100 tpy of VOC or NOX

Moderate 100 tpy of VOC or NOX

Serious 50 tpy of VOC or NOX

Severe 25 tpy of VOC or NOX

Extreme 10 tpy of VOC or NOX

PM10 Moderate 100 tpy

Serious 70 tpy

CO Moderate 100 tpy

Serious 50 tpy

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

Yes No Not Applicable

If you answered ‘No,’ your source does not qualify for the minor NSR program. Please contact your 

reviewing authority to apply for a site-specific permit. If you answered ‘Yes,’ continue on to Part 2 of the 

Questionnaire. 

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

http://www.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/.
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Part 2: What Types of Facilities DO NOT Qualify for this General Air Quality Permit for Stone 

Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities?

The following questions are meant to determine whether or not your stone quarrying, crushing, and screening

facility processes materials that would disqualify it for operating under the General Air Quality Permit for True Minor 

Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities. Please only answer the questions that are applicable to 

your particular stone quarrying, crushing, and screening facility

1. Does your facility process metallic materials, radioactive materials, materials that contain asbestos, or materials 

intended to be used as fuel?

Yes No

2. Does your facility process minerals for structural clay, clay ceramics, brick, lime manufacturing, phosphate 

products, Portland cement, or refractory products? 

Yes No

3. Is your facility a sand and/or gravel processing plant that is classified as an industrial sand and gravel plant (SCC 

3-05-027) AND that uses sand/gravel dryers?

Yes No

If you answered ‘No’ to all of these questions, your facility may qualify for coverage under the True Minor Source 

Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facility General Air Quality Permit, and should continue on to Part 3 of the 

Questionnaire.

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of these questions, your facility likely does not qualify for coverage under the True 

Minor Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facility General Air Quality Permit. Please contact reviewing 

authority to confirm that your facility will not qualify for this permit.

Part 3: Does my Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facility Qualify for a General Air 

Quality Permit?

The following questions are meant to determine whether or not your stone quarrying, crushing, and screening

facility would qualify for the general permit for minor source stone quarrying, crushing, and screening facilities.

1. Will your facility’s maximum raw material throughput be less than 10,500,000 tons in any continuous rolling 12 

month period?

Yes No Not Applicable

2. If the engines used to power the crushers, screeners, and conveyors are stationary engines, will your facility only 

use diesel fuel/biodiesel to power these engines? “Stationary” engines include all internal-combustion engines 

that are used either in a fixed application, or in a portable (or transportable) application in which the engine (and 

any replacement engine that is intended to perform the same or similar function) will stay at a single site for at 

least a full year.

Yes No Not Applicable
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3. If located in an attainment area for ozone or a marginal or moderate nonattainment area for ozone, will the 

facility’s fuel usage for the stationary engines powering the crushers, screeners, and conveyors be less than a 

combined total of 310,000 gallons of diesel fuel over any consecutive 12 month period?

Yes No Not Applicable

4. If located in a serious/severe/extreme ozone nonattainment area, will the facility’s fuel usage for the stationary 

engines powering the crushers, screeners, and conveyors be less than a combined total of 

153,000/80,000/30,000 gallons of diesel fuel over any consecutive 12 month period, respectively?

Yes No Not Applicable

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

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

Yes No No storage tanks at the source

6. Will the facility be located not less than 150 feet from the nearest property boundary and not less than 1,000 

feet from the nearest residence?

Yes No

7. Do you intend to satisfy the ESA and NHPA requirements according to the method provided in the application

documents for the General Air Quality Permit for True Minor Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening

Facilities?

Yes No

Conclusion

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

Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facility General Air Quality Permit. If you believe based upon your answers 

in this questionnaire that your new or modified rock crushing and screening facility qualifies for a General Air Quality 

Permit for True Minor Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities, please contact your reviewing 

authority to obtain a permit application.

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

Crushing, and Screening Facility General Air Quality Permit. Please contact your reviewing authority to confirm that 

your facility will not qualify for a permit.