Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-400 - General regulations for air pollution sources › Section 173-400-131 - Issuance of emission reduction credits

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)
Applicability.
The owner or
			 operator of any source may apply to the permitting authority for an emission
			 reduction credit (ERC) if the source proposes to reduce its actual emissions
			 rate for any contaminant regulated by state or federal law for which the
			 emission requirement may be stated as an allowable limit in weight of
			 contaminant per unit time for the emissions units involved.
(2)
Time of application.
The
			 application for an ERC must be made prior to or within one hundred eighty days
			 after the emission reduction has been accomplished.
(3)
Conditions.
An ERC may be
			 authorized provided the following conditions have been demonstrated to the
			 satisfaction of the permitting authority.
(a)
			 The quantity of emissions in the ERC shall be less than or equal to the old
			 allowable emissions rate or the old actual emissions rate, whichever is the
			 lesser, minus the new allowable emissions rate. The old actual emissions rate
			 is the average emissions rate occurring during the most recent
			 twenty-four-month period preceding the request for an ERC. An alternative
			 twenty-four-month period from within the previous five years may be accepted by
			 the permitting authority if the owner or operator of the source demonstrates to
			 the satisfaction of the permitting authority that the alternative period is
			 more representative of actual operations of the unit or source.
(b) The ERC application must include a
			 description of all the changes that are required to accomplish the claimed
			 emissions reduction, such as, new control equipment, process modifications,
			 limitation of hours of operation, permanent shutdown of equipment, specified
			 control practices, etc.
(c) The
			 reduction must be: Greater than otherwise required by an applicable emission
			 standard, order of approval, or regulatory order and be permanent,
			 quantifiable, and federally enforceable.
(d) The reduction must be large enough to be
			 readily quantifiable relative to the source strength of the emissions unit(s)
			 involved.
(e) No part of the
			 emission reductions claimed for credit shall have been used as part of a
			 determination of net emission increase, nor as part of an offsetting
			 transaction under WAC
			 173-400-113(4) or 173-400-830, nor as part of a
			 bubble transaction under WAC
			 173-400-120.
(f) No part of the emission reduction was
			 included in the emission inventory used to demonstrate attainment or for
			 reasonable further progress in an amendment to the state implementation
			 plan.
(g) Concurrent with or prior
			 to the authorization of an ERC, the applicant shall receive (have received) a
			 federally enforceable regulatory order or permit that establishes total
			 allowable emissions from the source or emissions unit of the contaminant for
			 which the ERC is requested, expressed as weight of contaminant per unit
			 time.
(h) The use of any ERC shall
			 be consistent with all other federal, state, and local requirements of the
			 program in which it is used.