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TITLE 30ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
PART 1TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
CHAPTER 115CONTROL OF AIR POLLUTION FROM VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SUBCHAPTER ESOLVENT-USING PROCESSES
DIVISION 3FLEXOGRAPHIC AND ROTOGRAVURE PRINTING
RULE §115.432Control Requirements

(a) In the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria areas, as defined in §115.10 of this title (relating to Definitions), the following control requirements apply. Beginning March 1, 2013, this subsection no longer applies to flexible package printing lines in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria areas that are required to comply with the requirements in subsection (c) of this section.

  (1) The owner or operator shall limit the volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions from solvent-containing ink used on each packaging rotogravure, publication rotogravure, flexible package, and flexographic printing line by using one of the following options.

    (A) The owner or operator shall apply low solvent ink with a volatile fraction containing 25% by volume or less of VOC solvent and 75% by volume or more of water and exempt solvent.

    (B) The owner or operator shall apply high solids solvent-borne ink containing 60% by volume or more of nonvolatile material (minus water and exempt solvent).

    (C) The owner or operator shall operate a vapor control system to reduce the VOC emissions from an effective capture system by at least 90% by weight. The design and operation of the capture system for each printing line must be consistent with good engineering practice and must achieve, as demonstrated to the satisfaction of the executive director, upon request, of at least the following weight percentages:

      (i) 75% for a publication rotogravure process;

      (ii) 65% for a packaging rotogravure process;

      (iii) 60% for a flexographic printing process; or

      (iv) for a flexible package printing process, the overall control efficiency in clause (ii) or (iii) of this subparagraph, depending on the type of press used.

  (2) A flexographic and rotogravure printing line that becomes subject to paragraph (1) of this subsection by exceeding the exemption limits in §115.431(a) of this title (relating to Exemptions) is subject to the provisions of this subsection even if throughput or emissions later fall below exemption limits unless emissions are maintained at or below the controlled emissions level achieved while complying with paragraph (1) of this subsection and one of the following conditions is met.

    (A) The project that caused the throughput or emission rate to fall below the exemption limits in §115.431(a) of this title must be authorized by a permit, permit amendment, standard permit, or permit by rule required by Chapter 116 of this title (relating to Control of Air Pollution by Permit for New Construction or Modification) or Chapter 106 of this title (relating to Permits by Rule). If a permit by rule is available for the project, the owner or operator shall continue to comply with paragraph (1) of this subsection for 30 days after the filing of documentation of compliance with that permit by rule.

    (B) If authorization by permit, permit amendment, standard permit, or permit by rule is not required for the project, the owner or operator shall provide the executive director 30 days notice of the project in writing.

  (3) Any capture efficiency testing of the capture system must be conducted in accordance with §115.435(a) of this title (relating to Testing Requirements).

(b) In Gregg, Nueces, and Victoria Counties, the owner or operator shall limit the VOC emissions from solvent-containing ink used on each packaging rotogravure, publication rotogravure, flexible package, and flexographic printing line by using one of the following options.

  (1) The owner or operator shall apply low solvent ink with a volatile fraction containing 25% by volume or less of VOC solvent and 75% by volume or more of water and exempt solvent.

  (2) The owner or operator shall apply high solids solvent-borne ink containing 60% by volume or more of nonvolatile material (minus water and exempt solvent).

  (3) The owner or operator shall operate a vapor control system to reduce the VOC emissions from an effective capture system by at least 90% by weight. The design and operation of the capture system for each printing line must be consistent with good engineering practice and must achieve an overall control efficiency, as demonstrated to the satisfaction of the executive director, upon request, of at least the following weight percentages:

    (A) 75% for a publication rotogravure process;

    (B) 65% for a packaging rotogravure process;

    (C) 60% for a flexographic printing process; or

    (D) for a flexible package printing process, the overall control efficiency in subparagraph (B) or (C) of this paragraph, depending on the type of press used.

(c) Beginning March 1, 2013, in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria areas, the following control requirements apply to each flexible package printing line.

  (1) The owner or operator shall limit the VOC emissions from coatings, as defined in §101.1 of this title (relating to Definitions), applied on each flexible package printing line by using one of the following options. These limits are based on the daily weighted average, as defined in §115.430(b) of this title (relating to Applicability and Definitions).

    (A) The owner or operator shall limit the VOC emissions from the coatings to 0.80 pound of VOC per pound of solids applied. The VOC emission limit can be met through the use of low-VOC coatings or a combination of coatings and the operation of a vapor control system.

    (B) The owner or operator shall limit the VOC emissions from the coatings to 0.16 pound of VOC per pound of coating applied. The VOC emission limit can be met through the use of low-VOC coatings or a combination of coatings and the operation of a vapor control system.

    (C) The owner or operator shall operate a vapor control system that achieves an overall control efficiency of at least 80% by weight.

  (2) A flexographic and rotogravure printing line that becomes subject to paragraph (1) of this subsection by exceeding the exemption limits in §115.431(a) of this title is subject to paragraph (1) of this subsection even if throughput or emissions later fall below exemption limits unless emissions are maintained at or below the controlled emissions level achieved while complying with paragraph (1) of this subsection and one of the following conditions is met.

    (A) The project that caused the throughput or emission rate to fall below the exemption limits in §115.431(a) of this title must be authorized by a permit, permit amendment, standard permit, or permit by rule required by Chapter 116 of this title or Chapter 106 of this title. If a permit by rule is available for the project, the owner or operator shall continue to comply with paragraph (1) of this subsection for 30 days after the filing of documentation of compliance with that permit by rule.

    (B) If authorization by permit, permit amendment, standard permit, or permit by rule is not required for the project, the owner or operator shall provide the executive director 30 days notice of the project in writing.

  (3) An owner or operator applying coatings in combination with a vapor control system to meet the VOC emission limits in paragraph (1)(A) or (B) of this subsection shall use the following equation to determine the minimum overall control efficiency necessary to demonstrate equivalency. Control device and capture efficiency testing must be performed in accordance with the testing requirements in §115.435(a) of this title.

Attached Graphic

(d) The owner or operator of a flexible package printing process shall implement the following work practices for cleaning materials:

  (1) keep all cleaning solvents and used shop towels in closed containers; and

  (2) convey cleaning solvents from one location to another in closed containers or pipes.


Source Note: The provisions of this §115.432 adopted to be effective February 19, 1990, 15 TexReg 549; amended to be effective July 17, 1991, 16 TexReg 3728; amended to be effective August 1, 1992, 17 TexReg 4683; amended to be effective May 27, 1994, 19 TexReg 3703; amended to be effective August 29, 2001, 26 TexReg 6303; amended to be effective December 29, 2011, 36 TexReg 8897

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