9VAC5-80-420. Standard requirements.
A. The following requirements apply to affected sources and affected units subject to this article:
1. The designated representative of each affected source and each affected unit at the source shall:
a. Submit a complete acid rain permit application (including a compliance plan) under this article in accordance with the deadlines specified in 9VAC5-80-430 C; and
b. Submit in a timely manner a complete reduced utilization plan if required under 40 CFR 72.43; and
c. Submit in a timely manner any supplemental information that the department determines is necessary in order to review an acid rain permit application and issue or deny an acid rain permit.
2. The owners and operators of each affected source and each affected unit at the source shall:
a. Operate the unit in compliance with a complete acid rain permit application or a superseding acid rain permit issued by the department; and
b. Have an acid rain permit.
B. The following monitoring requirements apply to affected sources and affected units subject to this article:
1. The owners and operators and, to the extent applicable, designated representative of each affected source and each affected unit at the source shall comply with the monitoring requirements as provided in 40 CFR Part 75 and § 407 of the federal Clean Air Act.
2. The emissions measurements recorded and reported in accordance with 40 CFR Part 75 and § 407 of the federal Clean Air Act shall be used to determine compliance by the unit with the acid rain emissions limitations and emissions reduction requirements for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides under the acid rain program.
3. The requirements of 40 CFR Parts 75 and 76 shall not affect the responsibility of the owners and operators to monitor emissions of other pollutants or other emissions characteristics at the unit under other applicable requirements of the federal Clean Air Act and other provisions of the federal operating permit for the source.
C. The following requirements regarding sulfur dioxide limitations and allowances apply to affected sources and affected units subject to this article:
1. The owners and operators of each source and each affected unit at the source shall:
a. Hold allowances, as of the allowance transfer deadline, in the unit's compliance subaccount after deductions under 40 CFR 73.34(c) not less than the total annual emissions of sulfur dioxide for the previous calendar year from the unit; and
b. Comply with the applicable acid rain emissions limitation for sulfur dioxide.
2. Each ton of sulfur dioxide emitted in excess of the acid rain emissions limitations for sulfur dioxide shall constitute a separate violation of the federal Clean Air Act.
3. An affected unit shall be subject to the requirements under subdivision 1 of this subsection as follows:
a. Starting January 1, 1995, an affected unit under 9VAC5-80-380 A 2; or
b. Starting on or after January 1, 1995, in accordance with 40 CFR 72.41 and 72.43, an affected unit under 40 CFR 72.6(a)(2) or (3) that is a substitution or compensating unit; or
c. Starting January 1, 2000, an affected unit under 40 CFR 72.6(a)(2) that is not a substitution or compensating unit; or
d. Starting on the later of January 1, 2000, or the deadline for monitor certification under 40 CFR Part 75, an affected unit under 9VAC5-80-380 A 3 that is not a substitution or compensating unit.
4. Allowances shall be held in, deducted from, or transferred among allowance tracking system accounts in accordance with the acid rain program.
5. An allowance shall not be deducted, in order to comply with the requirements under subdivision 1 a of this subsection, prior to the calendar year for which the allowance was allocated.
6. An allowance allocated by the administrator under the acid rain program is a limited authorization to emit sulfur dioxide in accordance with the acid rain program. No provision of the acid rain program, the acid rain permit application, the acid rain permit, or the written exemption under 9VAC5-80-390 and 9VAC5-80-400 and no provision of law shall be construed to limit the authority of the United States to terminate or limit such authorization.
7. An allowance allocated by the administrator under the acid rain program does not constitute a property right.
D. The owners and operators of the source and each affected unit at the source shall comply with the acid rain applicable emissions limitation for nitrogen oxides.
E. The following excess emissions requirements apply to affected sources and affected units subject to this article:
1. The designated representative of an affected unit that has excess emissions in any calendar year shall submit a proposed offset plan to the administrator, as required under 40 CFR Part 77, and to the department.
2. The owners and operators of an affected unit that has excess emissions in any calendar year shall:
a. Pay to the administrator without demand the penalty required, and pay to the administrator upon demand the interest on that penalty, as required by 40 CFR Part 77; and
b. Comply with the terms of an approved offset plan as required by 40 CFR Part 77.
F. The following recordkeeping and reporting requirements apply to affected sources and affected units subject to this article:
1. Unless otherwise provided, the owners and operators of the source and each affected unit at the source shall keep on site at the source each of the following documents for a period of five years from the date the document is created. This period may be extended for cause, at any time prior to the end of five years, in writing by the administrator or department.
a. The certificate of representation for the designated representative for the source and each affected unit at the source and all documents that demonstrate the truth of the statements in the certificate of representation in accordance with 40 CFR 72.24, provided that the certificate and documents shall be retained on site at the source beyond such five-year period until such documents are superseded because of the submission of a new certificate of representation changing the designated representative.
b. All emissions monitoring information in accordance with 40 CFR Part 75, provided that to the extent that 40 CFR Part 75 provides for a three-year period for recordkeeping, the three-year period shall apply.
c. Copies of all reports, compliance certifications, and other submissions and all records made or required under the acid rain program.
d. Copies of all documents used to complete an acid rain permit application and any other submission under the acid rain program or to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the acid rain program.
2. The designated representative of an affected source and each affected unit at the source shall submit the reports and compliance certifications required under the acid rain program, including those under 9VAC5-80-470 and 9VAC5-80-490 P and 40 CFR Part 75.
G. The following requirements concerning liability apply to affected sources and affected units subject to this article:
1. Any person who knowingly violates any requirement or prohibition of the acid rain program, a complete acid rain permit application, an acid rain permit, or a written exemption under 9VAC5-80-390 or 9VAC5-80-400, including any requirement for the payment of any penalty owed to the United States, shall be subject to enforcement by the administrator pursuant to § 113(c) of the federal Clean Air Act and by the department pursuant to §§ 10.1-1316 and 10.1-1320 of the Code of Virginia.
2. Any person who knowingly makes a false, material statement in any record, submission, or report under the acid rain program shall be subject to criminal enforcement by the administrator pursuant to § 113(c) of the federal Clean Air Act and 18 USC § 1001 and by the department pursuant to §§ 10.1-1316 and 10.1-1320 of the Code of Virginia.
3. No permit revision shall excuse any violation of the requirements of the acid rain program that occurs prior to the date that the revision takes effect.
4. Each affected source and each affected unit shall meet the requirements of the acid rain program.
5. Any provision of the acid rain program that applies to an affected source including a provision applicable to the designated representative of an affected source shall also apply to the owners and operators of such source and of the affected units at the source.
6. Any provision of the acid rain program that applies to an affected unit including a provision applicable to the designated representative of an affected unit shall also apply to the owners and operators of such unit. Except as provided under 9VAC5-80-460 Phase II repowering extension plans, 40 CFR 72.41 (substitution plans), 72.43 (reduced utilization plans), 72.44 (Phase II repowering extensions), 74.47 (thermal energy plans), and 40 CFR Part 76 (NOX averaging plans), and except with regard to the requirements applicable to units with a common stack under 40 CFR Part 75 including 40 CFR 75.16, 75.17, and 75.18, the owners and operators and the designated representative of one affected unit shall not be liable for any violation by any other affected unit of which they are not owners or operators or the designated representative and that is located at a source of which they are not owners or operators or the designated representative.
7. Each violation of a provision of the acid rain program regulations by an affected source or affected unit, or by an owner or operator or designated representative of such source or unit, shall be a separate violation of the federal Clean Air Act.
H. No provision of the acid rain program, an acid rain permit application, an acid rain permit, or a written exemption under 9VAC5-80-390 or 9VAC5-80-400 shall be construed as:
1. Except as expressly provided in Title IV of the federal Clean Air Act, exempting or excluding the owners and operators and, to the extent applicable, the designated representative of an affected source or affected unit from compliance with any other provision of the federal Clean Air Act, including the provisions of Title I of the federal Clean Air Act relating to applicable National Ambient Air Quality Standards or the implementation plan;
2. Limiting the number of allowances a unit can hold, provided that the number of allowances held by the unit shall not affect the source's obligation to comply with any other provisions of the federal Clean Air Act;
3. Requiring a change of any kind in any state law regulating electric utility rates and charges, affecting any state law regarding such state regulation, or limiting such state regulation, including any prudence review requirements under such state law;
4. Modifying the Federal Power Act or affecting the authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Federal Power Act; or
5. Interfering with or impairing any program for competitive bidding for power supply in a state in which such program is established.
Statutory Authority
§ 10.1-1308 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from Virginia Register Volume 12, Issue 25, eff. October 15, 1996; amended, Virginia Register Volume 17, Issue 4, eff. January 1, 2001; Volume 39, Issue 5, eff. November 23, 2022.