SECTION 116.10. General Definitions

Unless specifically defined in the Texas Clean Air Act (TCAA) or in the rules of the commission, the terms used by the commission have the meanings commonly ascribed to them in the field of air pollution control. In addition to the terms which are defined by the TCAA, and in §101.1 of this title (relating to Definitions), the following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Best available control technology (BACT)--An air pollution control method for a new or modified facility that through experience and research, has proven to be operational, obtainable, and capable of reducing or eliminating emissions from the facility, and is considered technically practical and economically reasonable for the facility. The emissions reduction can be achieved through technology such as the use of add-on control equipment or by enforceable changes in production processes, systems, methods, or work practice.

(2) Dockside vessel--Any water-based transportation, platforms, or similar structures which are connected or moored to the land.

(3) Dockside vessel emissions--Those emissions originating from a dockside vessel that are the result of functions performed by onshore facilities or using onshore equipment. These emissions include, but are not limited to:

(A) loading and unloading of liquid bulk materials;

(B) loading and unloading of liquified gaseous materials;

(C) loading and unloading of solid bulk materials;

(D) cleaning and degassing of liquid vessel compartments; and

(E) abrasive blasting and painting.

(4) Facility--A discrete or identifiable structure, device, item, equipment, or enclosure that constitutes or contains a stationary source, including appurtenances other than emission control equipment. A mine, quarry, well test, or road is not a facility.

(5) Federally enforceable--All limitations and conditions which are enforceable by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including:

(A) those requirements developed under Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 60 and 61 (40 CFR Parts 60 and 61);

(B) Chapter 113, Subchapter C of this title (relating to National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Source Categories (FCAA, §112, 40 CFR Part 63));

(C) requirements within any applicable state implementation plan (SIP);

(D) any permit requirements established under 40 CFR §52.21;

(E) any permit requirements established under regulations approved under 40 CFR Part 51, Subpart I, including permits issued under the EPA-approved program that is incorporated into the SIP and that expressly requires adherence to any permit issued under such program; or

(F) any permit requirements established under Subchapter E of this chapter (relating to Hazardous Air Pollutants: Regulations Governing Constructed or Reconstructed Major Sources (FCAA, §112(g), 40 CFR Part 63)).

(6) Grandfathered facility--Any facility that is not a new facility and has not been modified since August 30, 1971.

(7) Lead smelting plant--Any facility which produces purified lead by melting and separating lead from metal and nonmetallic contaminants and/or by reducing oxides into elemental lead. Raw materials consist of lead concentrates, lead-bearing ores or lead scrap, drosses, or other lead-bearing residues. Additional processing may include refining and alloying. A facility which only remelts lead bars or ingots for casting into lead products is not a lead smelting plant.

(8) Maximum allowable emissions rate table (MAERT)--A table included with a preconstruction permit issued under this chapter that contains the allowable emission rates established by the permit for a facility.

(9) Modification of existing facility--Any physical change in, or change in the method of operation of, a facility in a manner that increases the amount of any air contaminant emitted by the facility into the atmosphere or that results in the emission of any air contaminant not previously emitted. The term does not include:

(A) insignificant increases in the amount of any air contaminant emitted that is authorized by one or more permits by rule under Chapter 106 of this title (relating to Permits by Rule);

(B) maintenance or replacement of equipment components that do not increase or tend to increase the amount or change the characteristics of the air contaminants emitted into the atmosphere;

(C) an increase in the annual hours of operation unless the existing facility has received a preconstruction permit or has been exempted, under the TCAA, §382.057, from preconstruction permit requirements;

(D) a physical change in, or change in the method of operation of, a facility that does not result in a net increase in allowable emission of any air contaminant and that does not result in the emission of any air contaminant not previously emitted, provided that the facility:

(i) has received a preconstruction permit or permit amendment or has been exempted under the TCAA, §382.057, from preconstruction permit requirements no earlier than 120 months before the change will occur; or

(ii) uses, regardless of whether the facility has been exempted under the TCAA, §382.057, an air pollution control method that is at least as effective as the BACT that the commission required or would have required for a facility of the same class or type as a condition of issuing a permit or permit amendment 120 months before the change will occur;

(E) a physical change in, or change in the method of operation of, a facility where the change is within the scope of a flexible permit or a multiple plant permit; or

(F) a change in the method of operation of a natural gas processing, treating, or compression facility connected to or part of a natural gas gathering or transmission pipeline which does not result in an annual emission rate of any air contaminant in excess of the volume emitted at the maximum designed capacity, provided that the facility is one for which:

(i) construction or operation started on or before September 1, 1971, and at which either no modification has occurred after September 1, 1971, or at which modifications have occurred only under Chapter 106 of this title; or

(ii) construction started after September 1, 1971, and before March 1, 1972, and which registered in accordance with TCAA, §382.060, as that section existed prior to September 1, 1991.

(10) New facility--A facility for which construction is commenced after August 30, 1971, and no contract for construction was executed on or before August 30, 1971, and that contract specified a beginning construction date on or before February 29, 1972.

(11) New source--Any stationary source, the construction or modification of which is commenced after March 5, 1972.

(12) Nonattainment area--A defined region within the state which is designated by the EPA as failing to meet the national ambient air quality standard for a pollutant for which a standard exists. The EPA will designate the area as nonattainment under the provisions of FCAA, §107(d).

(13) Public notice--The public notice of application for a permit as required in this chapter.

(14) Qualified facility--An existing facility that satisfies the criteria of either paragraph (9)(D)(i) or (ii) of this section.

(15) Source--A point of origin of air contaminants, whether privately or publicly owned or operated.

Source Note: The provisions of this §116.10 adopted to be effective July 8, 1998, 23 TexReg 6973; amended to be effective September 4, 2000, 25 TexReg 8668; amended to be effective June 12, 2002, 27 TexReg 4954; amended to be effective September 12, 2002, 27 TexReg 8546; amended to be effective October 7, 2010, 35 TexReg 8944