| (a) Applicable pollutants.
(1) An emission credit may be generated from a reduction
of a criteria pollutant, excluding lead, or a precursor of a criteria
pollutant for which an area is designated nonattainment.
(2) An 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 by §101.306(d)
of this title (relating to Emission Credit Use).
(b) Eligible generator categories. The following categories
are eligible to generate emission credits:
(1) point source facilities;
(2) mobile sources;
(3) any facility, including both point and 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 §101.300(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 state implementation plan (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, controls
on the emissions; and
(D) 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 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 that are not primarily operated
within a specific nonattainment area with the exception of marine
and locomotive sources that use capture and control emissions reduction
systems.
(d) Emission credit requirements.
(1) An emission reduction credit (ERC) is a certified
emission reduction that:
(A) must be enforceable, permanent, quantifiable, real,
and surplus;
(B) must be surplus at the time it is created, as well
as when it is used; and
(C) must occur after the state implementation plan
(SIP) emissions year for the facility.
(2) Mobile emission reduction credits (MERCs) are certified
reductions that meet the following requirements:
(A) reductions must be enforceable, permanent, quantifiable,
real, and surplus;
(B) the certified reduction must be surplus at the
time it is created, as well as when it is used;
(C) in order to become certified, the reduction must
have occurred after the SIP emissions year; and
(D) the reduction must be from a mobile source that
operated during the SIP emissions year.
(3) Emission reductions from a facility or mobile source
that are certified as emission credits under this division cannot
be recertified in whole or in part as credits under another division
within this subchapter.
(e) Protocol.
(1) All generators or users of emission credits shall
use a protocol that 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 must
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, or 117.2110 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 requirements 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) 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 or mobile source.
(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 requirements apply:
(i) the amount of emission credits from a facility
or mobile source, in tons per year, 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 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 adopts 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 certification.
(1) The amount of emission credits in tons per year
will be determined and certified to the nearest tenth of a ton per
year. Credits will not be issued for a facility, fugitive emissions
from aggregated facilities, or aggregated mobile sources that cannot
generate at least 0.1 ton per year of credit after all adjustments
are applied. Fugitive emissions or mobile source emissions aggregated
to meet the requirement that emission reductions be certified for
at least 0.1 ton per year must Cont'd... |
