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 for Requesting Coverage under the General Air Quality Permit for 

New or Modified True Minor Source Sawmill Facilities in Indian Country

Last Modified: July 2, 2014

Version 1.0

Does the General Permit apply to my facility?

This questionnaire is intended to help you, the facility owner or operator, determine whether you are eligible for a 

General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified True Minor Source Sawmill Facilities. (You are not required to complete 

it and this questionnaire is not necessary to apply for a General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified True Minor 

Source Sawmill 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 Sawmill Facilities

A sawmill facility is an operation that processes raw timber into dimensional lumber for shipping and eventual sale. A 

sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber 

exits on the other end. Sawmill activities include sawing, planing, sanding, chipping and drying wood. Sawmill operations 

can include the drying of wood in kilns. 

About this Questionnaire

The questions focus on general information pertaining to your existing or future sawmill 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 sawmill facility within Indian country; 

 Plan to modify an existing, true minor source sawmill 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 Sawmill Facility Need or Qualify for a Minor 

Source Permit?” section below; 

 Have a total boiler maximum heat input capacity of less than 30 million British thermal units (MMbtu)/hour (hr) 

for all boilers, if located in an ozone attainment, unclassifiable, attainment/unclassifiable area or marginal, 

moderate, or serious ozone nonattainment area ; 

 Have a total boiler maximum heat input capacity of less than 10 MMbtu/hr for all boilers, if located in a severe 

or extreme ozone nonattainment area ; 

 Have only natural gas-fired boilers, if located in a severe or extreme ozone nonattainment area; 

 Are located in a marginal/moderate/serious/severe/extreme ozone nonattainment area and, after the proposed 

construction or modification project, your facility’s volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from kiln drying 

and surface coating operations are projected to be less than 80/40/20/8 tons over a consecutive 12 month 

period, respectively; 

 Are located in an ozone attainment, unclassifiable, or attainment/unclassifiable area and, after the proposed 

construction or modification project, your facility’s VOC emissions from kiln drying and surface coating 

operations are projected to be less than 80 tons over a consecutive 12 month period; 

 Have a facility in which the combined maximum engine power of all emergency engines is less than 600 

horsepower (hp); 

 Have a new or modified true minor source sawmill facility that will not be a major source of hazardous air 

pollutants (HAP); 
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 Have a new or modified true minor source sawmill facility that does not chemically treat or process wood (other 

than the removal of water from the wood in kilns and minor surface coating operations); 

 Do not know whether your facility needs a permit, or do not know the attainment status of your area and want 

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

permit for a sawmill facility; and 

 Intend to satisfy the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Historic Preservation Act 

(NHPA) according to the procedures attached to the Request for Coverage under the General Air Quality Permit

for New or Modified True Minor Source Sawmill 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 Minor NSR rule can be found at 40 CFR 49.153.

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

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

attainment status. 

Information on any available voluntary consensus standards that can used as alternatives to the emissions measurement 

standards in the General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified True Minor Source Sawmill Facilities can be found in:

“Voluntary Consensus Standard Results for General Permits and Permits by Rule for the Indian Country Minor New 

Source Review Program; 40 CFR Part 49, Subparts 156(c) and 162,” from Robin Segall, Acting Group Leader, 

Measurement Technology Group, to Laura McKelvey, Community and Tribal Programs Group, February 7, 2014, 

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

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 E to the General Air Quality Permit for New or 

Modified True Minor Source Sawmill Facilities or by visiting: http://www.epa.gov/air/tribal/tribalnsr.html

Questionnaire for Sawmill Facilities

Part 1: Does my Sawmill Facility Need a True Minor Source Permit?

The following questions are meant to determine whether or not your sawmill facility needs a true minor source permit.

1. Is your facility a minor source of HAP? If the PTE of your facility is less than 10 tons per year (tpy) for a single HAP 

and less than 25 tpy for any combination of HAPs, your source is a minor source of HAPs. The emissions from 

your facility may be calculated using the PTE calculator provided at 

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

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.
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2. Is the PTE of your facility less than 250 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.

3. 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 of the seven pollutants listed in the table below? The 

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

http://www.epa.gov/air/tribal/tribalnsr.html. Be sure to include all 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

VOC 5 tpy 2 tpy

Yes No

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

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

question. 

4. 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
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Pollutant Nonattainment Classification NSR Major Source Threshold

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. 

Part 2: Does my Facility Qualify for Coverage under the General Air Quality Permit for New or 

Modified True Minor Source Sawmill Facilities?

The following questions are meant to determine whether or not your sawmill facility would qualify for coverage 

under the General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified True Minor Source Sawmill Facilities.

1. Is your facility located in a marginal/moderate/serious/severe/extreme ozone nonattainment area and, after the 

proposed construction or modification project, are your facility’s annual VOC emissions from kiln drying and surface 

coating operations (as calculated) projected to be less than 80/80/40/20/8 tons over a consecutive 12 month period, 

respectively?

Yes No Not Applicable

2. Is your facility located in an ozone attainment, unclassifiable, or attainment/unclassifiable area and, after the 

proposed construction or modification project, your facility’s annual VOC emissions from kiln drying and surface 

coating operations (as calculated) projected to be less than 80 tons over a consecutive 12 month period?

Yes No Not Applicable

3. After the proposed construction or modification project, will your facility process less than 25,000,000 boardfeet of lumber per year?

Yes No

4. After the proposed construction or modification project will emissions of HAPs be below the major source 

thresholds for HAPs (25 tpy for combined HAPs and 10 tpy for a single HAP)?

Yes No

5. Will your facility only treat or process wood through drying wood in a kiln? (That is, your facility does not 

chemically treat or process wood for wood preservation or the production of composite wood products.)

Yes No
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6. If located in an ozone attainment, unclassifiable, attainment/unclassifiable area or marginal, moderate, or 

serious ozone nonattainment area, is the total maximum heat input capacity of all the combustion units less 

than 30 MMBtu/hour?

Yes No Not Applicable

7. If located in a severe or extreme ozone nonattainment area, is the total maximum heat input capacity of all the 

combustion units less than 10 MMBtu/hr?

Yes No Not Applicable

8. If located in a severe or extreme ozone nonattainment area are all boilers natural gas-fired boilers?

Yes No Not Applicable

9. Is the combined maximum engine power of all emergency engines at your facility less than 600 hp?

Yes No Not Applicable

10. Will your planar mill operation be conducted within an enclosed structure?

Yes No Not Applicable

11. Will all planar mill operations venting to the atmosphere be controlled by a baghouse (fabric filters)?

Yes No Not Applicable

12. Will all outdoor sawmill operations be covered and all drop points controlled by a cyclone or baghouse?

Yes No Not Applicable

13. Will all indoor sawmill operations venting to the atmosphere be controlled by a baghouse (fabric filters)?

Yes No Not Applicable

14. 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

15. Do you intend to satisfy the ESA and NHPA requirements according to the procedures attached to the Request 

for Coverage under the General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified True Minor Source Sawmill Facilities?

 Yes No
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Conclusion

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

General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified True Minor Source Sawmill Facilities. 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 New or Modified True Minor Source Sawmill 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 General Air 

Quality Permit for New or Modified True Minor Source Sawmill Facilities. Please contact your reviewing authority to 

confirm that your facility will not qualify for a permit.