Virginia Law

A. No owner or other person shall begin actual construction or reconstruction of any major source of hazardous air pollutants without first obtaining from the department a permit to construct and operate or to reconstruct and operate such source.

B. The department may combine the requirements of and the permits for emissions units within a stationary source subject to the new source review program into one permit. Likewise the department may require that applications for permits for emissions units within a stationary source required by any provision of the new source review program be combined into one application.

C. All provisions contained in the permit shall be federally enforceable upon the effective date of issuance of the permit, except for those provisions that are established to address plans, programs, or regulatory requirements that are enforceable only by the Commonwealth.

D. Nothing in the regulations of the board shall be construed to prevent the department from granting permits for programs of construction or reconstruction in planned incremental phases. In such cases, all net emissions increases from all emissions units covered by the program shall be added together for determining the applicability of this article.

E. The MACT emission limitations and requirements established according to this article shall be effective as required by 9VAC5-80-1450 I, consistent with the principles established in subsection F of this section, and supported by the information listed in 9VAC5-80-1440. The owner shall comply with the requirements in 9VAC5-80-1450 J and 9VAC5-80-1490, and with all applicable requirements in Subpart A of 40 CFR Part 63.

F. The following general principles shall govern preparation by the owner of each permit application or other application for stationary sources requiring a case-by-case MACT determination concerning construction or reconstruction of a major source, and all subsequent review of and actions taken concerning such an application by the department:

1. The MACT emission limitation or MACT requirements recommended by the applicant and approved by the department shall not be less stringent than the emission control which is achieved in practice by the best controlled similar source, as determined by the department.

2. Based upon available information, the MACT emission limitation and control technology (including any requirements under subdivision 3 of this subsection) recommended by the applicant and approved by the department shall achieve the maximum degree of reduction in emissions of hazardous air pollutants which can be achieved by utilizing those control technologies that can be identified from the available information, taking into consideration the costs of achieving such emission reduction and any non-air quality health and environmental impacts and energy requirements associated with the emission reduction.

3. The applicant may recommend a specific design, equipment, work practice, or operational standard, or a combination thereof, and the department may approve such a standard if the department specifically determines that it is not feasible to prescribe or enforce an emission limitation. The phrase "not feasible" means any situation in which the department determines that:

a. A hazardous air pollutant or pollutants cannot be emitted through a conveyance designed and constructed to emit or capture such pollutant, or that any requirement for, or use of, such a conveyance would be inconsistent with the Regulations for the Control and Abatement of Air Pollution.

b. The application of measurement methodology to a particular class of sources is not practicable due to technological and economic limitations.

4. If the administrator has either proposed a MACT emission standard or made a presumptive MACT determination for the source category which includes the constructed or reconstructed major source, the department shall consider the MACT emission limitations and requirements of the proposed standard or presumptive MACT determination in determining the MACT emission limitation applicable to the constructed or reconstructed major source.

G. The provisions of subsection F of this section shall not apply to new, major process or production units, provided the process or production unit satisfies the criteria in subdivisions 1 through 6 of this subsection:

1. All hazardous air pollutants emitted by the process or production unit that would otherwise be controlled under the requirements of this article will be controlled by emission control equipment which was previously installed at the same site as the process or production unit;

2. a. The department has determined within a period of five years prior to the fabrication, erection, or installation of the process or production unit that the existing emission control equipment represented best available control technology (BACT) or lowest achievable emission rate (LAER), determined in accordance with 9VAC5-50-280 (BACT) or 9VAC5-50-270 (LAER), for the category of pollutants which includes those hazardous air pollutants to be emitted by the process or production unit; or

b. The department determines that the control of hazardous air pollutant emissions provided by the existing equipment will be equivalent to that level of control currently achieved by other well-controlled similar sources (i.e., equivalent to the level of control that would be provided by a current BACT or LAER determination);

3. The department determines that the percent control efficiency for emissions of hazardous air pollutants from all sources to be controlled by the existing control equipment will be equivalent to the percent control efficiency provided by the control equipment prior to the inclusion of the new process or production unit;

4. The department has provided notice and an opportunity for public comment concerning its determination that criteria in subdivisions 1 through 3 of this subsection apply and concerning the continued adequacy of any prior BACT or LAER determination;

5. If any commenter has asserted that a prior BACT or LAER determination is no longer adequate, the department has determined that the level of control required by that prior determination remains adequate; and

6. Any emission limitations, work practice requirements, or other terms and conditions upon which the above determinations by the department are predicated will be construed by the department as applicable requirements under the federal operating permit program and either have been incorporated into any existing federal operating permit for the stationary source or will be incorporated into such permit upon issuance.