California Code of Regulations › Title 17 - Public Health › Division 3 - Air Resources › Chapter 1 - Air Resources Board › Subchapter 7.5 - Airborne Toxic Control Measures › Section 93101.5 - Airborne Toxic Control Measure to Reduce Emissions of Hexavalent Chromium and Nickel from Thermal Spraying

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) Applicability
This Airborne Toxic Control Measure (ATCM) shall apply to
					 each thermal spraying operation at a stationary source that uses materials
					 containing chromium, chromium compounds, nickel, or nickel compounds. This ATCM
					 does not apply to portable thermal spraying operations.
(b) Definitions
For the purposes of this section, the following definitions
					 shall apply:
(1) "Air Pollution
				  Control System" means equipment that is installed for the purpose of collecting
				  and containing emissions of airborne particles from thermal spraying processes.
				  "Air Pollution Control System" includes, but is not limited to, enclosures,
				  exhaust hoods, ductwork, fans/blowers, particulate control devices, and exhaust
				  stacks/vents.
(2) "Control Device"
				  means a device that reduces emissions of particulate matter. "Control Device"
				  includes, but is not limited to, dry filter cartridges, HEPA filters, water
				  curtains, cyclones, baghouses, and scrubbers.
(3) "Detonation Gun Spraying" means a thermal
				  spraying process in which the coating material is heated and accelerated to the
				  workpiece by a series of detonations or explosions from oxygen-fuel gas
				  mixtures.
(4) "Dry Filter System"
				  means a dry particulate filter control system that uses filter media to remove
				  particulate emissions from the exhaust air stream.
(5) "Enclosure" means a structure, such as a
				  booth, that surrounds a thermal spraying process and captures and contains
				  particulate emissions and vents them to a control device. Enclosures may have
				  permanent or temporary coverings on open faces.
(6) "Existing Thermal Spraying Operation"
				  means a thermal spraying operation that is in operation before January 1,
				  2005.
(7) "Flame Spraying" means a
				  thermal spraying process in which an oxygen/fuel gas flame is the source of
				  heat for melting the surfacing material.
(8) "High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA)
				  Filter" means a disposable, dry filter that has a minimum particle collection
				  efficiency of 99.97 percent when tested with a mono-disperse 0.3 um test
				  aerosol.
(9) "Hexavalent chromium"
				  means the form of chromium with a valence state of +6.
(10) "High-Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) Spraying"
				  means a thermal spray process in which particles are injected into a
				  high-velocity jet formed by the combustion of oxygen and fuel.
(11) "Independent Tester" means a person who
				  engages in the testing of stationary sources to determine compliance with air
				  pollution laws or regulations and who meets all of the following criteria:
(A) The independent tester is not owned in
				  whole or in part by the owner/operator of the thermal spraying operation;
				  and
(B) The independent tester has
				  not received gross income from the owner/operator of the thermal spraying
				  operation in excess of $100,000 or in excess of 10% of the tester's annual
				  revenues, other than as a result of source test contracts; and
(C) The independent tester has not
				  manufactured or installed any emission control device or monitor used in
				  connection with the specific source to be tested; and
(D) When conducting the compliance test, the
				  independent tester does not use any employee or agent who:
1. holds a direct or indirect investment of
				  $1,000 or more in the owner/operator of the thermal spraying operation;
				  or
2. has directly received income
				  in excess of $250 from the owner/operator of the thermal spraying operation in
				  the previous 12 months; or
3. is a
				  director, officer, partner, employee, trustee, or holds any position of
				  management in the owner/operator of the thermal spraying
				  operation.
(12)
				  "Initial Startup" means the first time a new thermal spraying operation begins
				  production or the first time additional or modified thermal spraying operations
				  begin operating at a modified source. If such production or operation occurs
				  prior to the operative date of this section, "Initial Startup" means the
				  operative date of this section. "Initial Startup" does not include operation
				  solely for testing of equipment or subsequent startup of permit units following
				  malfunction or shutdown.
(13)
				  "Intake Area" means the area of the opening(s) in an enclosure from which
				  make-up air is drawn from outside the enclosure during normal
				  operations.
(14) "Inward Face
				  Velocity" means the airflow into an enclosure that prevents escape of
				  contaminated air from the enclosure. Inward face velocity is measured in feet
				  per minute, in accordance with Appendix 2.
(15) "Leak" means the release of any
				  particulate matter from any opening in the emission collection system/device
				  other than the intended exhaust or emission point of that emission control
				  system/device.
(16) "Location"
				  means one or more contiguous or adjacent properties. Contiguous or adjacent
				  properties are properties with two or more parcels of land in actual physical
				  contact, or separated solely by a public roadway or other public
				  right-of-way.
(17) "Modification"
				  means:
(A) any existing thermal spraying
				  operation that did not use materials containing chromium, chromium compounds,
				  nickel or nickel compounds before January 1, 2005, but begins using any of
				  these materials on or after January 1, 2005; or
(B) any physical change in, change in the
				  method of operation of, or addition to an existing permit unit that requires an
				  application for an authority to construct and/or a permit to operate issued by
				  the permitting agency. Routine maintenance and/or repair is not considered a
				  physical change. A "change in the method of operation" of equipment, unless
				  previously limited by an enforceable permit condition, shall not include:
1. an increase in the production rate, unless
				  such increase will result in an increase in emissions that causes a move from a
				  lower tier to a higher tier in subsection (c)(1)(A) Table 1 or Table 2 of this
				  regulation; or
2. an increase in
				  the hours of operation; or
3. a
				  change in ownership of a source; or
(C) the replacement of components for which
				  the fixed capital cost exceeds 50 percent of the fixed capital cost that would
				  be required to construct a comparable new source.
(18) "Modified Thermal Spraying Operation"
				  means any thermal spraying operation which has undergone a
				  modification.
(19) "New Thermal
				  Spraying Operation" means any thermal spraying operation that begins initial
				  operations on or after January 1, 2005. "New Thermal Spraying Operation" does
				  not include the installation of a new permit unit at an existing thermal
				  spraying operation or the modification of an existing thermal spraying
				  operation.
(20) "Operating
				  Parameter" means a parameter established for a control device or process
				  parameter which, if achieved by itself or in combination with one or more other
				  operating parameter values, determines that an owner or operator is in
				  compliance with the applicable emission limitation or standard.
(21) "Permit Unit" means any article,
				  machine, piece of equipment, device, process, or combination thereof, which may
				  cause or control the release of air emissions of hexavalent chromium or nickel
				  from a thermal spraying operation and which requires a permit to operate issued
				  by a permitting agency.
(22)
				  "Permitting Agency" means the local air pollution control or air quality
				  management district.
(23) "Plasma
				  Spraying" means a thermal spraying process in which an electric arc is used to
				  ionize a gas and produce a plasma jet that melts and propels the coating
				  material to the workpiece.
(24)
				  "Point Source" means a permit unit that releases air pollutants through an
				  intended opening such as, but not limited to, a stack, chimney, or
				  vent.
(25) "Portable Thermal
				  Spraying Operation" means a thermal spraying operation that is temporarily used
				  for field applications at offsite locations. A thermal spraying operation is
				  not a "Portable Thermal Spraying Operation" if the thermal spraying operation
				  or its replacement resides at the same location for more than 30 consecutive
				  days.
(26) "Potential to Emit"
				  means the maximum capacity of a stationary source to emit a regulated air
				  pollutant based on its physical and operational design. Any physical or
				  operational limitation on the capacity of the stationary source to emit a
				  pollutant, including air pollution control equipment and restrictions on hours
				  of operation or on the type or amount of material combusted, stored, or
				  processed, shall be treated as part of its design only if the limitations are
				  listed as enforceable conditions in an air permit issued by the permitting
				  agency.
(27) "Sensitive Receptor"
				  means any residence including private homes, condominiums, apartments, and
				  living quarters; education resources such as preschools and kindergarten
				  through grade twelve (k-12) schools; daycare centers; and health care
				  facilities such as hospitals or retirement and nursing homes. A sensitive
				  receptor includes individuals housed in long term care hospitals, prisons, and
				  dormitories or similar live-in housing.
(28) "Stationary Source" means any building,
				  structure, facility or installation which emits any affected pollutant directly
				  or as a fugitive emission. "Building, structure, facility, or installation"
				  includes all pollutant emitting activities which meet all of the following
				  criteria:
(A) are under the same ownership or
				  operation, or which are owned or operated by entities which are under common
				  control; and
(B) belong to the same
				  industrial grouping either by virtue of falling within the same two-digit
				  standard industrial classification code or by virtue of being part of a common
				  industrial process, manufacturing process, or connected process involving a
				  common raw material; and
(C) are
				  located on one or more contiguous or adjacent properties.
(29) "Substantial Use" of an Authority to
				  Construct means one or more of the following:
(A) the equipment that constitutes the source
				  has been purchased or acquired;
(B)
				  construction activities, other than grading or installation of utilities or
				  foundations, have begun and are continuing; or
(C) a contract to complete construction of
				  the source within one year has been entered into.
(30) "Thermal Spraying Operation" means one
				  or more of several processes in which metallic or nonmetallic surfacing
				  materials are deposited in a molten or semi-molten condition on a substrate to
				  form a coating. The surfacing material may originate in the form of powder,
				  rod, or wire before it is heated, prior to spraying and deposition. Thermal
				  spraying processes include: detonation gun spraying, flame spraying,
				  high-velocity oxy-fuel spraying, plasma spraying, and twin-wire electric arc
				  spraying. For the purposes of this section, "Thermal Spraying Operation"
				  includes only those operations that are conducted at stationary sources and use
				  materials containing chromium, chromium compounds, nickel, or nickel compounds.
				  "Thermal Spraying Operation" does not include portable thermal spraying
				  operations.
(31) "Twin-Wire
				  Electric Arc Spraying" means a thermal spraying process where two electrically
				  conducting wires are brought close together to create an electric arc. The
				  molten material formed in the arc is then projected by a compressed gas stream
				  towards a work piece on which it forms a coating.
(32) "Volume Source" means a permit unit,
				  either controlled or uncontrolled, from which air pollutants undergo initial
				  dispersion within a building or structure prior to their release into the
				  outdoor ambient air. "Volume Source" also includes a thermal spraying process
				  that is conducted outside of a building or structure and releases pollutants
				  directly into the outdoor ambient air.
(33) "Water Curtain" means a particulate
				  control system that utilizes flowing water (i.e., a conventional water curtain)
				  or a pumpless system to remove particulate emissions from the exhaust air
				  stream.