<<Prev Rule

Texas Administrative Code

Next Rule>>
TITLE 30ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
PART 1TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
CHAPTER 115CONTROL OF AIR POLLUTION FROM VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SUBCHAPTER CVOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND TRANSFER OPERATIONS
DIVISION 2FILLING OF GASOLINE STORAGE VESSELS (STAGE I) FOR MOTOR VEHICLE FUEL DISPENSING FACILITIES
RULE §115.222Control Requirements

A vapor balance system will be assumed to comply with the specified emission limitation of §115.221 of this title (relating to Emission Specifications) if all of the following conditions are met.

  (1) The container is equipped with a submerged fill pipe as defined in §101.1 of this title (relating to Definitions). The path through the submerged fill pipe to the bottom of the tank must not be obstructed by a screen, grate, or similar device whose presence would preclude the determination of the submerged fill pipe's proximity to the tank bottom while the submerged fill tube is properly installed.

  (2) A vapor-tight return line is connected before gasoline can be transferred into the storage container.

  (3) No avoidable gasoline leaks, as detected by sight, sound, or smell, exist anywhere in the liquid transfer or vapor balance systems.

  (4) The vapor return line's cross-sectional area is at least one-half of the product drop line's cross-sectional area.

  (5) In the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bexar County, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria areas and in the covered attainment counties, as defined in §115.10 of this title (relating to Definitions), the only atmospheric emission during gasoline transfer into the storage container is through a storage container vent line equipped with a pressure-vacuum relief valve set to open at a pressure of no more than eight ounces per square inch (3.4 kiloPascals (kPa)).

  (6) After unloading, the tank-truck tank is kept vapor-tight until the vapors in the tank-truck tank are returned to a loading, cleaning, or degassing operation and discharged in accordance with the control requirements of that operation.

  (7) The gauge pressure in the tank-truck tank does not exceed 18 inches of water (4.5 kPa) or vacuum exceed six inches of water (1.5 kPa).

  (8) No leak, as defined in §101.1 of this title, exists from potential leak sources when measured with a hydrocarbon gas analyzer.

  (9) In the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bexar County, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria areas, any storage tank installed after November 15, 1993, which is required to install Stage I control equipment must be equipped with a dual-point vapor balance system, as defined in §115.10 of this title. In addition, any modification to a storage tank existing prior to November 15, 1993, requiring excavation of the top of the storage tank must be equipped with a dual-point vapor balance system, even if the original installation utilized coaxial Stage I connections.

  (10) In the covered attainment counties, any storage tank installed after December 22, 1998, which is required to install Stage I control equipment must be equipped with a dual-point vapor balance system, as defined in §115.10 of this title. In addition, any modification to a storage tank existing prior to December 22, 1998, requiring excavation of the top of the storage tank must be equipped with a dual-point vapor balance system, even if the original installation utilized coaxial Stage I connections. The control requirements in this paragraph no longer apply to affected storage tanks located in the Bexar County area beginning January 1, 2025.

  (11) Any gasoline dispensing facility that no longer meets an exemption in §115.227 of this title (relating to Exemptions) because of an increase in throughput shall have 120 days to come into compliance with the provisions of this section and will remain subject to the provisions of this section, even if its gasoline throughput later falls below exemption limits. However, if gasoline throughput exceeds the exemption limit due to a natural disaster or emergency condition for a period not to exceed one month, upon written request, the executive director may grant a facility continued exempt status.


Source Note: The provisions of this §115.222 adopted to be effective February 19, 1990, 15 TexReg 549; amended to be effective July 17, 1991, 16 TexReg 3720; amended to be effective August 1, 1992, 17 TexReg 4683; amended to be effective December 3, 1993, 18 TexReg 8538; amended to be effective May 22, 1997, 22 TexReg 4213; amended to be effective July 21, 1999, 24 TexReg 5488; amended to be effective April 13, 2005, 30 TexReg 2069; amended to be effective October 2, 2014, 39 TexReg 7745; amended to beeffective May 16, 2024, 49 TexReg 3292

Link to Texas Secretary of State Home Page | link to Texas Register home page | link to Texas Administrative Code home page | link to Open Meetings home page