SECTION 115.781. General Monitoring and Inspection Requirements

(a) The owner or operator shall identify the components of each process unit in highly-reactive volatile organic compound (HRVOC) service that is subject to this division (relating to Fugitive Emissions). Such identification must allow for ready identification of the components, and distinction from any components that are not subject to this division. The components must be identified by one or more of the following methods:

(1) a plant site plan;

(2) color coding;

(3) a written or electronic database;

(4) designation of process unit boundaries;

(5) some form of weatherproof identification; or

(6) process flow diagrams that exhibit sufficient detail to identify major pieces of equipment, including major process flows to, from, and within a process unit. Major equipment includes, but is not limited to, columns, reactors, pumps, compressors, drums, tanks, and exchangers.

(b) Each component in the process unit must be monitored according to the requirements of Subchapter D, Division 3 of this chapter (relating to Fugitive Emission Control in Petroleum Refining, Natural Gas/Gasoline Processing, and Petrochemical Processes in Ozone Nonattainment Areas), except that the following additional requirements apply.

(1) The exemptions of §115.357(1) - (12) of this title (relating to Exemptions) do not apply.

(2) The leak-skip provisions of §115.354(7) and (8) of this title (relating to Monitoring and Inspection Requirements) do not apply.

(3) The emissions from blind flanges, caps, or plugs at the end of a pipe or line containing HRVOC; connectors; heat exchanger heads; sight glasses; meters; gauges; sampling connections; bolted manways; hatches; agitators; sump covers; junction box vents; covers and seals on volatile organic compound water separators; and process drains must be monitored each calendar quarter (with a hydrocarbon gas analyzer).

(4) All components for which a repair attempt was made during a shutdown must be monitored (with a hydrocarbon gas analyzer) and inspected for leaks within 30 days after startup is completed following the shutdown.

(5) All process drains equipped with water seal controls, as defined in §115.140 of this title (relating to Industrial Wastewater Definitions), must be inspected weekly to ensure that the water seal controls are effective in preventing ventilation, except that daily inspections are required for those seals that have failed three or more inspections in any 12-month period. Upon request by the executive director, United States Environmental Protection Agency, or any local program with jurisdiction, the owner or operator shall demonstrate (e.g., by visual inspection or smoke test) that the water seal controls are properly designed and restrict ventilation.

(6) All process drains not equipped with water seal controls must be inspected monthly to ensure that all gaskets, caps, and/or plugs are in place and that there are no gaps, cracks, or other holes in the gaskets, caps, and/or plugs. In addition, all caps and plugs must be inspected monthly to ensure that they are tightly fitting.

(7) An unsafe-to-monitor or difficult-to-monitor component for which quarterly monitoring is specified may instead be monitored as follows.

(A) An unsafe-to-monitor component is a component that the owner or operator determines is unsafe to monitor because monitoring personnel would be exposed to an immediate danger as a consequence of conducting the monitoring. Components that are unsafe to monitor must be identified in a list made immediately available upon request. If an unsafe-to-monitor component is not considered safe to monitor within a calendar year, then it must be monitored as soon as possible during safe-to-monitor times.

(B) A difficult-to-monitor component is a component that cannot be inspected without elevating the monitoring personnel more than two meters above a permanent support surface or that requires a permit for confined space entry as defined in 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §1910.146. A difficult-to-monitor component for which quarterly monitoring is specified may instead be monitored annually.

(8) All pressure relief valves in gaseous service that are not equipped with a rupture disk upstream of the relief valve with a pressure-sensing device between the rupture disk and the pressure relief valve must be monitored for fugitive leaks each calendar quarter (with a hydrocarbon gas analyzer).

(9) A leak is defined as a screening concentration greater than 500 parts per million by volume above background as methane for all components. If the owner or operator elects to use the alternative work practice in §115.358 of this title (relating to Alternative Work Practice), a leak is defined as specified in §115.358 of this title, including any leak detected using the alternative work practice on a component that is subject to the requirements of this division but not specifically selected for alternative work practice monitoring.

(10) Monitored screening concentrations must be recorded for each component in gaseous or light liquid service. Notations such as "pegged," "off scale," "leaking," "not leaking," or "below leak definition" may not be substituted for hydrocarbon gas analyzer results. For readings that are higher than the upper end of the scale (i.e., pegged) even when using the highest scale setting or a dilution probe, record a default pegged value of 100,000 parts per million by volume. This requirement does not apply to monitoring using an optical gas imaging instrument in accordance with §115.358 of this title.

(c) Pumps, compressors, and agitators must be:

(1) inspected visually each calendar week for liquid dripping from the seals; or

(2) equipped with an alarm that alerts the operator of a leak.

(d) If securing the bypass line valve in the closed position to comply with §115.783(1)(B) of this title (relating to Equipment Standards), the seal or closure mechanism must be visually inspected to ensure the valve is maintained in the closed position and the vent stream is not diverted through the bypass line:

(1) on a monthly basis; and

(2) after any maintenance activity that requires the seal to be broken.

(e) For any pressure relief device that has vented directly to the atmosphere (uncontrolled), the associated vent must be monitored (with a hydrocarbon gas analyzer) and inspected within 24 hours after actuation and the results recorded in accordance with §115.786 of this title (relating to Recordkeeping Requirements). If the associated vent is considered unsafe to monitor, then the vent must be monitored as soon as possible during safe-to-monitor times. If the associated vent is considered difficult to monitor, it must be monitored within 15 days after a release. This requirement does not supersede any monitoring requirements found in §115.725 of this title (relating to Monitoring and Testing Requirements).

(f) As an alternative to the requirements of subsection (b)(3) of this section for blind flanges, caps, or plugs at the end of a pipe or line containing HRVOC, sight glasses, meters, gauges, connectors, bolted manways, heat exchanger heads, hatches, and sump covers, the owner or operator may elect to monitor all of these components in a process unit by April 1, 2006, and then conduct subsequent monitoring at the following frequencies.

(1) The owner or operator may monitor the components once per year (i.e., 12-month period), if the percent leaking blind flanges, caps, or plugs at the end of a pipe or line containing HRVOC, sight glasses, meters, gauges, connectors, bolted manways, heat exchanger heads, hatches, and sump covers in the process unit was 0.5% or greater, but less than 2.0%, during the last required annual or biennial monitoring period.

(2) The owner or operator may monitor the components once every two years, if the percent leaking blind flanges, caps, or plugs at the end of a pipe or line containing HRVOC, sight glasses, meters, gauges, connectors, bolted manways, heat exchanger heads, hatches, and sump covers was less than 0.5% during the last required monitoring period. An owner or operator may comply with this paragraph by monitoring at least 40% of the components in the first year and the remainder of the components in the second year. The percent leaking connectors, bolted manways, heat exchanger heads, hatches, and sump covers will be calculated for the total of all monitoring performed during the two-year period.

(3) If the owner or operator of a process unit in a biennial leak detection and repair program calculates less than 0.5% leaking blind flanges, caps, or plugs at the end of a pipe or line containing HRVOC, sight glasses, meters, gauges, connectors, bolted manways, heat exchanger heads, hatches, and sump covers from the two-year monitoring period, the owner or operator may monitor the components one time every four years. An owner or operator may comply with the requirements of this paragraph by monitoring at least 20% of the components each year until all connectors, bolted manways, heat exchanger heads, hatches, and sump covers have been monitored within four years.

(4) If a process unit complying with the requirements of paragraph (3) of this subsection using a four-year monitoring interval program has greater than or equal to 0.5% but less than 1.0% leaking blind flanges, caps, or plugs at the end of a pipe or line containing HRVOC, sight glasses, meters, gauges, connectors, bolted manways, heat exchanger heads, hatches, and sump covers, the owner or operator shall increase the monitoring frequency to one time every two years. An owner or operator may comply with the requirements of this paragraph by monitoring at least 40% of the components in the first year and the remainder of the components in the second year. The owner or operator may again elect to use the provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection when the percent leaking components decreases to less than 0.5%.

(5) If a process unit complying with requirements of paragraph (3) of this subsection using a four-year monitoring interval program has greater than or equal to 1.0% but less than 2.0% leaking blind flanges, caps, or plugs at the end of a pipe or line containing HRVOC, sight glasses, meters, gauges, connectors, bolted manways, heat exchanger heads, hatches, and sump covers, the owner or operator shall increase the monitoring frequency to one time per year. The owner or operator may again elect to use the provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection when the percent leaking components decreases to less than 0.5%.

(6) If a process unit complying with requirements of paragraph (3) of this subsection using a four-year monitoring interval program has 2.0% or greater leaking blind flanges, caps, or plugs at the end of a pipe or line containing HRVOC, sight glasses, meters, gauges, connectors, bolted manways, heat exchanger heads, hatches, and sump covers, the owner or operator shall increase the monitoring frequency to quarterly. The owner or operator may again elect to use the provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection when the percent leaking components decreases to less than 0.5%.

(g) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the owner or operator shall use dataloggers and/or electronic data collection devices during all monitoring required by this section. The owner or operator shall transfer electronic data from electronic datalogging devices to an electronic or hard copy database within seven days of monitoring.

(1) For all monitoring events in which an electronic data collection device is used, the collected monitoring data must include the identification of each component and each calibration run, the maximum screening concentration detected, the time of monitoring (i.e., the time that the organic vapor concentration is read or recorded for each component), a date stamp, an operator identification, an instrument identification, and calibration gas concentrations and certification dates.

(2) The owner or operator may use paper logs where necessary or more feasible (e.g., small rounds (less than 100 components), re-monitoring following component repair, or when dataloggers are broken or not available), and shall record, at a minimum, the information required in paragraph (1) of this subsection. The owner or operator shall transfer any manually recorded monitoring data to the electronic or hard copy database within seven days of monitoring.

(3) Each change to the database regarding the monitored concentration, date and time read, repair information, addition or deletion of components, or monitoring schedule must be detailed in a log or inserted as a notation in the database. All such changes must include the name of the person who made the change, the date of the change, and an explanation to support the change.

(h) For any components that the owner or operator elects to use the alternative work practice in §115.358 of this title, the following provisions apply.

(1) The frequency for monitoring any components listed in this section must be the frequency determined according to §115.358 of this title, except as specified in paragraph (3) of this subsection.

(2) The alternative monitoring schedules allowed under subsection (f) of this section are not allowed.

(3) If the owner or operator elects to use the alternative work practice in §115.358 of this title to satisfy the hydrocarbon gas analyzer monitoring requirements of subsections (b)(4) or (e) of this section, the time limitations specified in subsections (b)(4) and (e) of this section on performing the monitoring continue to apply.

(4) If the component is within a class of equipment (e.g., valves, flanges, etc.) that the owner or operator has elected to monitor using the alternative work practice in §115.358 of this title and the component meets all other conditions specified in §115.358 of this title for acceptable use of the alternative work practice, then the component may not be classified as difficult-to-monitor under subsection (b)(7)(B) of this section unless in order to image the component as required by §115.358 of this title the monitoring personnel would have to be elevated more than two meters above a permanent support surface or would require a permit for confined space entry as defined in 29 CFR §1910.146 (December 1, 1998). If the component does qualify as difficult-to-monitor using the alternative work practice in §115.358 of this title, the owner or operator may use either Method 21 in 40 CFR Part 60, Appendix A-7 (October 17, 2000) or the alternative work practice at the monitoring frequency specified in subsection (b)(7)(B) of this section.

(5) An owner or operator electing to use the alternative work practice in §115.358 of this title may still classify a component as unsafe-to-monitor as allowed under subsection (b)(7)(A) of this section if the component cannot be safely monitored using either a hydrocarbon gas analyzer or the alternative work practice.

(6) For any components subject to subsection (b)(3) of this section that are not subject to Method 21 monitoring under 40 CFR Parts 60, 61, 63, or 65, but the owner or operator is using the alternative work practice in §115.358 of this title to satisfy a Method 21 monitoring requirement under this chapter, the owner or operator may choose to comply with the following in lieu of the annual Method 21 monitoring in §115.358(f) of this title.

(A) For any leak detected using the alternative work practice in §115.358 of this title, the owner or operator must perform a Method 21 test on the component to determine the leak concentration. The Method 21 test must be performed no later than one business day after the leak is detected using the alternative work practice in §115.358 of this title.

(B) To qualify for this option, the percent leaking components of all the components selected for this option must be less than 2.0%.

(C) The owner or operator shall perform a Method 21 test on each component selected for this option according to the frequencies specified in subsection (f) of this section. If the Method 21 test required under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph for any leak detected is within the same calendar year as the normally scheduled Method 21 test required under this subparagraph, the owner or operator may use the Method 21 test performed for subparagraph (A) of this paragraph to satisfy the requirements of this subparagraph.

(D) If the owner or operator elects to follow the alternative schedules for annual Method 21 testing under this paragraph, the owner or operator shall provide notice of electing this option with the notification required under §115.358(g) of this title.

Source Note: The provisions of this §115.781 adopted to be effective January 17, 2003, 28 TexReg 113; amended to be effective November 13, 2003, 28 TexReg 9835; amended to be effective December 23, 2004, 29 TexReg 11623; amended to be effective June 24, 2010, 35 TexReg 5293