NSCAPCD 1-2-240 PERMIT TO OPERATE 

NORTHERN SONOMA COUNTY AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT

RULE 240 - PERMIT TO OPERATE

(a) Permit to Operate Required

A person shall not operate or use any stationary source, the use of which may cause the issuance of air 

contaminants or the use of which may reduce or control the issuance of air contaminants, without first 

obtaining a written permit from the Control Officer or except as provided in Rule 240(b).

(b) Temporary Permit to Operate

Upon completion of construction or modification of and before operating or using of any new or 

modified stationary source of air contaminants for which an Authority to Construct had been issued 

pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, the applicant shall notify the Control Officer in writing. Upon 

such notification, the Authority to Construct or modify shall serve as a Temporary Permit for Operation 

of the equipment until the Permit to Operate is granted or denied.

(c) Permit to Operate

The Control Officer shall take final action to grant, grant with conditions, or deny a Permit to Operate for 

any stationary source within 180 calendar days after notification per section 240(b) or for a pre-existing 

source (i.e. a source without an Authority to Construct) within 90 calendar days after receipt of 

application for Permit to Operate. The Control Officer shall grant a Permit to Operate for any stationary 

source only after he has determined that, in his judgment, all source construction and modifications 

were completed in accordance with the Authority to Construct granted pursuant to this Chapter. Failure 

to act within the specified time period can be deemed by the Applicant to be a denial of the Permit to 

Operate for appellate purposes. No Permit to Operate shall be granted for any stationary source 

constructed without authorization as specified in Rule 200(a) until the information required is presented 

to the Control Officer, an emission analysis is performed, and the source is altered, if necessary, and 

made to conform with the standards set forth in Rule 230 and elsewhere in this regulation.

(d) Conditional Permit (reletter from 240(c) to 240(d) only, it does not provide text.)

The Control Officer may issue a Permit to Operate or Use, subject to conditions which will assure the 

operation of any stationary source within the applicable standards set forth in these regulations, in 

which case, the conditions shall be specified in writing. Commencing operation under such a Permit to 

Operate shall be deemed acceptance of all the conditions so specified. The Control Officer shall impose 

conditions on a Permit to Operate such as he deems necessary to ensure that the stationary source will

be operated in the manner specified in conducting the emission analysis of Rule 220 and in granting the 

approval required by Rule 230.

The Control Officer may condition a Permit to Operate so as to prohibit a new stationary source which is 

a replacement for an existing stationary source from operating, unless the operation of the existing 

source is terminated.
The Control Officer may at any time issue a Permit to Operate with revised conditions if the applicant 

demonstrates that the equipment can operate within the standards of these regulations under the 

revised conditions. 

(e) Compliance Verification

As a condition of a Permit to Operate, the Control Officer may require that the owner provide, install, 

calibrate, maintain, and operate continuous recording instruments to measure emission rate to the 

atmosphere and/or to measure air contaminant concentrations at specific emission points or at 

locations adjacent to the plant property line. The Control Officer shall forego the requirements of this 

subsection 240(e) if the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Control Officer that there is no 

practical or reasonable achievable technology available to accomplish the monitoring requirement. 

(1) Said permit conditions may, in addition, require:

(A) That the measuring instruments meet minimum standards of measurement accuracy, 

calibration procedure and calibration frequency as specified by the Control Officer.

(B) That the recording section of such measuring instruments shall be installed in a location 

subject to frequent operator surveillance or be equipped with suitable alarm devices.

(2) The information recorded shall be summarized and reported to the District in the manner and 

form as prescribed by the Control Officer.

(3) Emission data obtained from owners or operators of stationary sources will be correlated with 

applicable emission limitations and other control measures and will be available to the public 

during normal business hours at the District Office, or submitted to EPA or ARB, upon request.

(4) Monitoring records shall be retained by the owner for a period of not less than two years.

(5) District personnel are to inspect and confirm calibration of measuring instruments, as necessary.

(6) Any violation of an emission standard, ambient air quality standard, or breakdown of emission 

measuring instruments, is to be reported to the District in accordance with the provisions of 

Rule 540, Equipment Breakdown.

(f) Mandatory Monitoring Requirements (reletter from (e) to (f), no rule change. Copied from existing 

SIP)

Monitoring instruments shall be provided, installed, calibrated, maintained and continuously operated 

by the owner of the following stationary source categories to measure air contaminant emissions or 

opacity from sources for which there is an applicable federal, state, or local emission standard. 

(1) Fossil-fuel fired steam generators with a heat input of 250 million British Thermal Units (63 

million kilogram calories) or more per hour with a use factor of at least 30% per year.

a. Oxides of nitrogen.

b. Carbon dioxide or oxygen.

c. Opacity except: where gaseous fuel is the only fuel burned, or where oil or a mixture of gas 

and oil is the only fuel burned and the source is able to comply with the applicable 

particulate matter and opacity regulations without collection equipment, and where the 

source has not been found since December 31, 1970, through administrative or judicial 

proceedings, to be in violation of Regulation 1 of the North Coast Air Basin.

d. Sulfur dioxideSO2, if control equipment is used.

(2) All sulfur recovery plants and sulfuric acid plants, sulfur dioxide.
(3) Nitric Acid Plants.

a. All new nitric acid plants, oxides of nitrogen.

b. All existing nitric acid plants of greater than 300 tons per day production capacity, the 

production capacity being expressed as 100 percent acid, oxides of nitrogen. 

(4) CO boilers of regenerators of fluid catalytic cracking units; CO boilers of fluid cokers if feed rate 

is greater than 10,000 barrels (1,500,000 liters) per day.

a. Sulfur dioxideSO2. 

b. Opacity. 

Kraft Pulp Mills, total reduced sulfur (TRS) from kraft recovery furnaces and lime kilns. 

All monitoring calibrations, reporting requirements and specifications shall be in accordance with the 

requirements of Appendix B D of this Regulation 1 of the California North Coast Air Basin.

(g) Permit Denial (reletter from (f) to (g) only, no rule change)

The Control Officer shall deny a Permit to Operate for any new or modified stationary source of air 

contaminants which does not meet the approval requirements specified in Rule 230. In the event of 

such denial, the Control Officer shall notify the applicant in writing of the reasons therefore. Service of 

this notification may be made in person or by mail, addressed to the applicant at the address set forth 

on the application, and such service may be proved by the written acknowledgement of the persons 

served or affidavit of the person making the service. The Control Officer shall not grant a Permit to 

Operate until the applicant has satisfied the requirements which were the basis for the denial.

(h) Review of Permits (reletter from (g) to (h) only, no rule change)

Concurrent with the annual renewal fee due date the Control Officer can require each permit to be 

reviewed to determine that permit conditions are adequate to ensure compliance with, and the 

enforceability of, district rules and regulations applicable to the article, machine, equipment, or 

contrivance for which the permit was issued or modified, or which have subsequently been adopted and 

made retroactively applicable to an existing article, machine, equipment or contrivance, by the district 

board and, if the conditions are not consistent, require that the permit be revised to specify the permit 

conditions in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations.

The Control Officer may at any time require from an applicant for, or holder of, any Permit to Operate, 

such information, analyses, plans or specifications as will disclose the nature, extent, quantity or degree 

of air contaminants which are or may be discharged into the atmosphere. If the holder of said permit 

within 30 days willfully fails and refuses to furnish to the Control Officer information, analyses, plans, 

specifications, or test data requested, the Control Officer may suspend the Permit to Operate. The 

Control Officer shall serve notice in writing of such suspension and the reasons therefore on the 

permittee.

(i) Posting of Permit to Operate (reletter from (h) to (i) only, no rule change)

A person who has been granted a Permit to Operate any stationary source, shall display such Permit to 

Operate, an approved facsimile, or other approved identification bearing the permit number in such a 

manner as to be clearly visible and accessible at a location near the source. In the event that the Permit 
to Operate cannot be so placed, the Permit to Operate shall be maintained readily available at all times 

on the operating premises.

(j) Transfer (reletter from (i) to (j) only, no rule change)

Any permit or written authorization issued hereunder shall not be transferable, 

by operation of law or otherwise, from one location to another, or from one person to another, unless 

such transfer is specified as a condition of permit issuance.