Texas Administrative Code › Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 115 - CONTROL OF AIR POLLUTION FROM VOLATILE ORGANIC › Subchapter B - GENERAL VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND SOURCES › Division 2 - VENT GAS CONTROL › Section 115.127 - Exemptions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) For all persons
					 in the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, and
					 Houston-Galveston-Brazoria areas, the following exemptions apply. In cases
					 where vent gas streams emanating from multiple process locations are combined,
					 compliance with the exemptions of this section is determined after the
					 combination of the streams but prior to the combined stream entering a control
					 device, if present.
(1) A vent gas stream
					 from a low-density polyethylene plant is exempt from the requirements of §
												115.121(a)(1)
					 of this title (relating to Emission Specifications) if no more than 1.1 pounds
					 of ethylene per 1,000 pounds of product are emitted from all the vent gas
					 streams associated with the formation, handling, and storage of solidified
					 product.
(2) The following vent gas
					 streams are exempt from the requirements of §
												115.121(a)(1)
					 of this title:
(A) a vent gas stream having a
					 combined weight of volatile organic compounds (VOC) equal to or less than 100
					 pounds in any continuous 24-hour period;
(B) a vent gas stream specified in §
													115.121(a)(1)
					 of this title with a concentration of VOC less than 612 parts per million by
					 volume (ppmv);
(C) a vent gas
					 stream which is subject to §
													115.121(a)(2)
					 or (3) of this title; and
(D) a vent gas stream which qualifies for
					 exemption under paragraphs (3), (4)(B), (4)(C), (4)(D), (4)(E), or (5) of this
					 subsection.
(3) The
					 following vent gas streams are exempt from the requirements of
					 §115.121(a)(2)(B) - (E) of this title:
(A) a vent gas stream having a combined
					 weight of VOC equal to or less than 100 pounds in any continuous 24-hour
					 period;
(B) a vent gas stream from
					 any air oxidation synthetic organic chemical manufacturing process with a
					 concentration of VOC less than 612 ppmv; and
(C) a vent gas stream from any liquid phase
					 polypropylene manufacturing process, any liquid phase slurry high-density
					 polyethylene manufacturing process, and any continuous polystyrene
					 manufacturing process with a concentration of VOC less than 408 ppmv.
(4) For synthetic organic chemical
					 manufacturing industry (SOCMI) reactor processes and distillation operations,
					 the following exemptions apply.
(A) Any
					 reactor process or distillation operation that is designed and operated in a
					 batch mode is exempt from the requirements of §
													115.121(a)(2)(A)
					 of this title. For the purposes of this subparagraph, batch mode means any
					 noncontinuous reactor process or distillation operation which is not
					 characterized by steady-state conditions, and in which the addition of
					 reactants does not occur simultaneously with the removal of products.
(B) Any reactor process or distillation
					 operation operating in a process unit with a total design capacity of less than
					 1,100 tons per year, for all chemicals produced within that unit, is exempt
					 from the requirements of §
													115.121(a)(2)(A)
					 of this title.
(C) Any reactor
					 process or distillation operation vent gas stream with a flow rate less than
					 0.388 standard cubic feet per minute or a VOC concentration less than 500 ppmv
					 is exempt from the requirements of §
													115.121(a)(2)(A)
					 of this title.
(D) Any distillation
					 operation vent gas stream which meets the requirements of 40 Code of Federal
					 Regulations (CFR) §60.660(c)(4) or §60.662(c) (concerning Subpart
					 NNN--Standards of Performance for VOC Emissions From SOCMI Distillation
					 Operations, December 14, 2000) is exempt from the requirements of §
													115.121(a)(2)(A)
					 of this title.
(E) Any reactor
					 process vent gas stream which meets the requirements of
					 40 CFR
					 §60.700(c)(2) or §
													60.702(c)
					 (concerning Subpart RRR--Standards of Performance for VOC Emissions From SOCMI
					 Reactor Processes, December 14, 2000) is exempt from the requirements of §
													115.121(a)(2)(A)
					 of this title.
(5)
					 Bakeries are exempt from the requirements of §
												115.121(a)(3)
					 and §
												115.122(a)(3)
					 of this title (relating to Emission Specifications and Control Requirements) if
					 the total weight of VOC emitted from all bakery ovens on the property, when
					 uncontrolled, is less than 25 tons per calendar year.
(6) A vent gas stream is exempt from this
					 division if all of the VOCs in the vent gas stream originate from a source(s)
					 for which another division within Chapter 115 (for example, Storage of Volatile
					 Organic Compounds) has established a control requirement(s), emission
					 specification(s), or exemption(s) which applies to that VOC source category in
					 that county.
(7) A combustion unit
					 exhaust stream is exempt from this division provided that the unit is not being
					 used as a control device for any vent gas stream which is subject to this
					 division and which originates from a non-combustion source.
(8) As an alternative to complying with the
					 requirements of this division (or, in the case of bakeries, as an alternative
					 to complying with the requirements of §
												115.121(a)(1)
					 and §
												115.122(a)(1)
					 of this title) for a source that is addressed by a Chapter 115 contingency rule
					 (i.e., one in which Chapter 115 requirements are triggered for that source by
					 the commission publishing notification in the
Texas Register
that implementation of the contingency rule is necessary), the owner or
					 operator of that source may instead choose to comply with the requirements of
					 the contingency rule as though the contingency rule already had been
					 implemented for that source. The owner or operator of each source choosing this
					 option shall submit written notification to the executive director and any
					 local air pollution control program with jurisdiction. When the executive
					 director and the local program (if any) receive such notification, the source
					 will then be considered subject to the contingency rule as though the
					 contingency rule already had been implemented for that source.