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TITLE 30ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
PART 1TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
CHAPTER 101GENERAL AIR QUALITY RULES
SUBCHAPTER HEMISSIONS BANKING AND TRADING
DIVISION 4DISCRETE EMISSION CREDIT PROGRAM
RULE §101.372General Provisions

(a) Applicable pollutants.

  (1) A discrete emission credit may be generated from a reduction of a criteria pollutant, excluding lead, or a precursor of a criteria pollutant.

  (2) A discrete emission credit generated from the reduction of one pollutant or precursor may not be used to meet the requirements for another pollutant or precursor, except as provided in §101.376 of this title (relating to Discrete Emission Credit Use).

(b) Eligible generator categories. Eligible categories include the following:

  (1) point source facilities;

  (2) mobile sources;

  (3) any facility, including area sources, or mobile source associated with actions by federal agencies under 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 93, Subpart B, Determining Conformity of General Federal Actions to State or Federal Implementation Plans; and.

  (4) area source facilities, including those comprised of multiple emission points as allowed under §101.370(12) of this title (relating to Definitions). Credit generation from grouped emission points cannot exceed the lower of the group’s actual emissions in the SIP emissions year or the historical adjusted emissions. Facilities comprised of grouped emission points may include equipment that was not operational during the SIP emissions year or the historical adjusted emissions years as long as the emissions from the group were present during the SIP emissions year. Characteristics that may be considered to determine if emission points qualify for consideration as a single facility for the purposes of generating emission credits, include but are not limited to:

    (A) source classification codes;

    (B) primary standard industrial classification code;

    (C) location, origin of, characteristics of, and controls on the emissions;

    (D) the generation period; and

    (E) other credit calculation-related characteristics, such as fuel, equipment type, emissions reduction strategy, and quantification protocol.

(c) Ineligible generator categories. The following categories are not eligible to generate discrete emission credits:

  (1) residential area sources;

  (2) on-road mobile sources that are not part of an industrial, commercial, nonprofit, institutional, or municipal/government fleet; and

  (3) mobile sources within a nonattainment area that do not primarily operate within that nonattainment area with the exception of marine and locomotive sources that use capture and control emissions reduction systems.

(d) Discrete emission credit requirements.

  (1) A discrete emission reduction credit (DERC) is a certified emission reduction that:

    (A) must be real, quantifiable, and surplus at the time the DERC is generated;

    (B) must occur after the year used to determine the state implementation plan (SIP) emissions for a facility in a nonattainment area; and

    (C) must occur at a facility with SIP emissions for a facility in a nonattainment area.

  (2) To be creditable as a mobile discrete emission reduction credit, an emission reduction must meet the following:

    (A) the reduction must be real, quantifiable, and surplus at the time it is created;

    (B) the reduction must have occurred after the SIP emissions year for a mobile source in a nonattainment area; and

    (C) for a mobile source in a nonattainment area, the mobile source must have operated during the SIP emissions year.

  (3) Emission reductions from a facility or mobile source certified as discrete emission credits under this division cannot be recertified in whole or in part as emission credits under another division within this subchapter.

(e) Protocol.

  (1) All generators or users of discrete emission credits must use a protocol which has been submitted by the executive director to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval, if existing for the applicable facility or mobile source, to measure and calculate baseline emissions. If the generator or user wishes to deviate from a protocol submitted by the executive director, EPA approval is required before the protocol can be used. Protocols shall be used as follows.

    (A) The owner or operator of a facility subject to the emission specifications under §§117.110, 117.310, 117.410, 117.1010, 117.1210, 117.1310, 117.2010, 117.2110, or 117.3310 of this title (relating to Emission Specifications for Attainment Demonstration; Emission Specifications for Eight-Hour Attainment Demonstration; and Emission Specifications) shall use the testing and monitoring methodologies required under Chapter 117 of this title (relating to Control of Air Pollution from Nitrogen Compounds) to show compliance with the emission specification for that pollutant.

    (B) The owner or operator of a facility subject to the control requirements or emission specifications under Chapter 115 of this title (relating to Control of Air Pollution from Volatile Organic Compounds) shall use the testing and monitoring methodologies required under Chapter 115 of this title to show compliance with the applicable requirements.

    (C) For area sources, except as specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph, the owner or operator of a facility subject to the requirements under Chapter 106 of this title (relating to Permits by Rule) or a permit issued under Chapter 116 of this title (relating to Control of Air Pollution by Permits for New Construction or Modification) shall use the testing and monitoring methodologies required under Chapter 106 of this title or a permit issued under Chapter 116 of this title to demonstrate compliance with the applicable requirements.

    (D) The executive director may approve the use of a methodology approved by the EPA to quantify emissions from the same type of facility.

    (E) Except as specified in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph, if the executive director has not submitted a protocol for the applicable facility or mobile source to the EPA for approval, the following applies:

      (i) the amount of discrete emission credits from a facility or mobile source, in tons, will be determined and certified based on quantification methodologies at least as stringent as the methods used to demonstrate compliance with any applicable requirements for the facility or mobile source;

      (ii) the generator shall collect relevant data sufficient to characterize the facility's or mobile source's emissions of the affected pollutant and the facility's or mobile source's activity level for all representative phases of operation in order to characterize the facility's or mobile source's baseline emissions;

      (iii) the owner or operator of a facility with a continuous emissions monitoring system or predictive emissions monitoring system in place shall use this data in quantifying emissions;

      (iv) the chosen quantification protocol must be made available for public comment for a period of 30 days and must be viewable on the commission's website;

      (v) the chosen quantification protocol and any comments received during the public comment period must, upon approval by the executive director, be submitted to the EPA for a 45-day adequacy review; and

      (vi) quantification protocols may not be accepted for use with this division if the executive director receives a letter objecting to the use of the protocol from the EPA during the 45-day adequacy review or the EPA proposes disapproval of the protocol in the Federal Register.

  (2) If the monitoring and testing data specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection is missing or unavailable, the generator or user shall determine the facility's emissions for the period of time the data is missing or unavailable using the most conservative method for replacing the data and these listed methods in the following order:

    (A) continuous monitoring data;

    (B) periodic monitoring data;

    (C) testing data;

    (D) manufacturer's data;

    (E) EPA Compilation of Air Pollution Emission Factors (AP-42), September 2000; or

    (F) material balance.

  (3) When quantifying actual emissions in accordance with paragraph (2) of this subsection, the generator or user shall submit the justification for not using the methods in paragraph (1) of this subsection and submit the justification for the method used.

(f) Credit application. Beginning January 1, 2018, a credit application must be submitted through the State of Texas Environmental Reporting System unless the applicant receives prior approval from the executive director for an alternative means of application submission.

(g) Credit certification.

Cont'd...

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