North Carolina Proposes New Air Permit Exemptions

North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality has issued a proposed rule to simplify the rule outlining activities exempted from permit requirements.  The proposed language would exempt from permitting facilities with actual emissions of less than five tons per year of each of the following:  volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, or toxic air pollutants.  To determine applicability, a facility would be asked to determine actual emissions of each pollutant emitted.  If actual emissions are less than 5 tons for each of the aforementioned, then the facility is exempt from permitting.  However, a facility’s actual emissions of all these pollutants combined exceed 10 tons per year, and then a permit is required.  The state is also proposing a registration permit for facilities whose combined emissions are greater than 5 tons but less than 25 tons.  In a comment submitted to the Department, SGIA indicated overall support for the changes as outlined by the Department to Rule 15A NCAC02Q.0102, Activities Exempted from Permit Requirements; however, we requested that the Department clarify that the permit exemptions will also apply to those facilities using screen and/or digital imaging technologies as their chosen print processes. The current definition for graphic arts, as contained in 15A NCAC 02Q.0803 does not reference either of these technologies.  SGIA continues to support the Department’s move to simplify the state air permitting system for these small and very small facilities; however, we need to ensure that the requirements will apply to both screen and digital facilities.   Sign up to receive the most up-to-date regulatory and legislative information about specialty imaging.