N.J. Admin. Code § 7:27-1.4

Current through Register Vol. 57, No. 1, January 6, 2025

Section 7:27-1.4 - Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Air contaminant" means any substance, other than water or distillates of air, present in the atmosphere as solid particles, liquid particles, vapors, or gases.

"Air pollution" means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of substances in quantities which are injurious to human, plant or animal life or to property or unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property throughout the State and in such territories of the State as shall be affected thereby and excludes all aspects of employer-employee relationship as to health and safety hazards.

"Assertedly confidential information" means information which is the subject of a confidentiality claim, for which a confidentiality determination has not been made.

"ASTM" means the American Society for Testing and Materials.

"British thermal unit" or "BTU" means the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one avoirdupois pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at 39.1 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Carbon monoxide" or "CO" means a gas comprised of molecules consisting of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom.

"CFR" means the Code of Federal Regulations.

"Claimant" means any person who submits a confidentiality claim under this subchapter.

"Class confidentiality determination" means a confidentiality determination made by the Department under N.J.A.C. 7:27-1.17, for a class of information.

"Commissioner" means the State Commissioner of Environmental Protection who is the chief administrative officer of the State Department of Environmental Protection.

"Confidential copy" means a record (or copy thereof) submitted to or obtained by the Department, containing information which the claimant asserts is confidential information.

"Confidential information" means information which the Department determines, in accordance to the procedures at N.J.A.C. 7:27-1.6 et seq., to have satisfied all of the following substantive criteria:

1. The claimant has asserted a confidentiality claim with respect to the information, in compliance with the procedures required by N.J.A.C. 7:27-1.6 through 1.8, and such confidentiality claim has not expired by its terms, been waived or withdrawn;

2. The claimant has shown that disclosure of the information would be likely to cause substantial damage either to the claimant's competitive position or to national security;

3. The claimant has taken reasonable measures to protect the confidentiality of the information, and intends to continue to take such measures;

4. The information is not, and has not been, available or otherwise disclosed to other persons whether by the claimant (except in a manner which protects the confidentiality of the information) or without the consent of the claimant (other than by subpoena or by discovery based on a showing of special need in a judicial proceeding in which the claimant was required to disclose the information to such other persons, as long as the information has not become available to persons not involved in the proceeding);

5. The information is not contained in materials which are routinely available to the general public, including without limitation, initial and final orders in contested case adjudications, press releases, copies of speeches, pamphlets and educational materials;

6. The claimant has not waived the confidentiality claim for the information; and

7. No law, regulation (including, without limitation, N.J.A.C. 7:27-1.18 or any other regulations of the Department), or order by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction specifically requires disclosure of the information or provides that the information is not confidential information.

"Confidentiality claim" or "claim" means, with respect to information that a person is required either to submit to the Department or to allow the Department to obtain, a written request by such person, meeting the requirements of N.J.A.C. 7:27-1.6 et seq., that the Department treat such information as confidential information.

"Confidentiality determination" means a determination by the Department that assertedly confidential information is or is not confidential information.

"Contract" means an agreement between the Department and a contractor, for which the Department has determined that it is necessary for the contractor to have access to confidential information to enable the contractor to perform the duties required by such agreement.

"Contractor" means a person, other than an employee of the Department, who has entered into an agreement with the Department to perform services or to provide goods for the Department.

"Control apparatus" means any device which prevents or controls the emission of any air contaminant directly or indirectly into the outdoor atmosphere.

"Department" means the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

"Distillates of air" means helium (He), nitrogen (N₂), oxygen (O₂), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), and xenon (Xe).

"Emissions information" means, with reference to any source operation, equipment, or control apparatus:

1. Information necessary to determine the identity, amount, frequency, concentration, or other characteristics (to the extent related to air quality) of any air contaminant which has been emitted by the source operation, equipment or control apparatus;

2. Information necessary to determine the identity, amount, frequency, concentration, or other characteristics (to the extent related to air quality) of any air contaminant which, under an applicable standard or limitation, the source operation was authorized to emit (including, to the extent necessary for such purposes, a description of the manner or rate of operation of the source operation), or any combination of the foregoing; and

3. A general description of the location and/or nature of the source operation to the extent necessary to identify the source operation and to distinguish it from other source operations (including, to the extent necessary for such purposes, a description of the device, installation, or operation constituting the source operation).

The following list includes specific data fields which the Department considers to constitute emissions information. This list is not exhaustive and, therefore, other data might be found, in a proper case, to constitute emissions information:

Facility Identification

Plant name and related point identifiers

Address

City

County

AQCR (Air Quality Control Region)

MSA, PMSA, CMSA (Metropolitan Statistical Areas)

State

Zip Code

Ownership and point of contact information

Locational Identifiers:

Latitude & Longitude or UTM Coordinates

SIC Code (Standard Industrial Classification)

Emission point, device or operation description, information

SCC Code (Source Classification Codes)

Emissions Parameters

Emission type (for example, nature of emissions such as CO, particulate or a specific toxic compound, and origin of emissions such as process vents, storage tanks or equipment leaks)

Emission rate (for example, the amount released to the atmosphere over time such as pounds per hour or tons per year)

Release height (for example, height above ground level where the air contaminant is emitted to the atmosphere)

Description of terrain and surrounding structures (for example, the size of the area, with adjacent structures and terrain descriptions such as mountainous, urban, or rural)

Stack or vent diameter at point of emissions (for example, the inside diameter of vent at the point of emission to the atmosphere)

Release velocity

Release temperature

Frequency of release (for example, how often a release occurs in events per year)

Duration of release (for example, the time associated with a release to the atmosphere)

Concentration (for example, the amount of an emission stream constituent relative to other stream constituents, expressed as parts per million (ppm), volume percent, or weight percent)

Density of the emissions stream or average molecular weight (for example, density expressed as fraction or multiple of the density of air; molecular weight)

Boiler or process design capacity (for example, the hourly gross heating value of fuel input to a boiler at its maximum design rate or maximum pounds per hour product rate)

Emission estimation method (for example, the method by which an emission estimate has been calculated such as material balance, stack test, use of AP-42 emission factors, etc.)

Percent space heat (for example, the percent of fuel used for space heating)

Hourly maximum design rate (for example, the greatest operating rate that would be expected for a source in a one hour period)

Control apparatus information (for example, type of primary and secondary control apparatus, capture efficiency, and control efficiency)

"EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"Equipment" means any device capable of causing the emission of an air contaminant either directly or indirectly to the outdoor atmosphere, and any stack or chimney, conduit, flue, duct, vent or similar device connected or attached to, or serving the equipment. This term includes, but is not limited to, a device in which the preponderance of the air contaminant emitted is caused by a manufacturing process.

"Final public copy" means a copy of a record submitted to or obtained by the Department, identical to the confidential copy except that any confidential information has been blacked out; provided, however, that if the record is not in a form in which the confidential information can be concealed by blacking out, the "final public copy" shall be a copy of such record from which such confidential information has been deleted, containing notations stating where deletions have been made.

"Garbage" means animal and vegetable matter originating in houses, kitchens, restaurants and hotels, produce markets and similar places.

"Lead" or "Pb" means elemental lead or any compound containing lead.

"Open burning" means any fire from which the products of combustion are emitted directly into the open air, and are not by design directed through a stack or chimney.

"Ozone" or "O[3]" means a gas comprised of molecules consisting of three oxygen atoms.

"Person" means and includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense includes this State, the United States, any other state of the United States and any foreign country or government; lawfully owning or possessing property within this State.

"Preliminary public copy" means a copy of a record held by the Department, identical to the confidential copy except that any assertedly confidential information has been blacked out; provided, however, that if the record is not in a form in which confidential information can be concealed by blacking out, the "preliminary public copy" shall be a copy of such record from which such confidential information has been deleted, containing notations stating where deletions have been made.

"Refuse" means garbage, rubbish and trade waste.

"Requester" means a person who has made a request to the Department to inspect or copy records which the Department possesses or controls.

"Responsible official" means one of the following:

1. For a corporation:

i. A president, secretary, treasurer, or vice-president of the corporation, who is in charge of a principal business function;

ii. Any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or

iii. A duly authorized representative of the person in 1i or ii above, if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities applying for or subject to a preconstruction permit or certificate, or an operating permit, and either:

(1) The facilities for which the representative is responsible employ more than 250 persons or have gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding $ 25 million (in second quarter 1980 dollars); or

(2) The delegation of authority to the representative is approved in writing in advance by the Department;

2. For a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or the proprietor, respectively;

3. For a municipality, State, Federal, or other public agency: either a principal executive officer or ranking elected official. For the purposes of this subchapter, a principal executive officer of a Federal agency includes the chief executive officer having responsibility for the overall operations of a principal geographic unit of the agency (for example, a Regional Administrator of EPA); or

4. For affected facilities under Title IV of the Clean Air Act:

i. The designated representative in so far as actions, standards, requirements, or prohibitions under Title IV of the Clean Air Act or the regulations promulgated thereunder are concerned; and

ii. The designated Title IV representative for any other purposes under 40 CFR Part 70.

"Rubbish" means solids not considered to be highly flammable or explosive including but not limited to rags, old clothes, leather, rubber, carpets, wood, excelsior, paper, ashes, tree branches, yard trimmings, furniture, tin cans, glass, crockery, masonry and other similar materials.

"Salvage operation" means any business, trade or industry engaged in whole or in part in salvaging or reclaiming any product or material, including, but not limited to, metals, chemicals, shipping containers or drums.

"Source operation" means any process or any identifiable part thereof that emits or can reasonably be anticipated to emit any air contaminant either directly or indirectly into the outdoor atmosphere.

"Stack or chimney" means a flue, conduit or opening permitting particulate or gaseous emissions into the open air, or constructed or arranged for such purpose.

"State" means the State of New Jersey.

"Substantial damage" means damage which is material and of real worth, value or effect. This term does not include damage which is speculative, contingent, or nominal.

"Substantiation" means information which a claimant submits to the Department in support of a confidentiality claim pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-1.11.

"Sulfur dioxide" or "SO[2]" means a gas comprised of molecules consisting of one sulfur atom and two oxygen atoms.

"Trade waste" means solid or liquid material or rubbish resulting from construction, building operations, or the prosecution of any business, trade or industry including, but not limited to, plastic products, cartons, paint, grease, oil and other petroleum products, chemicals, cinders and other forms of solid or liquid waste material.

"USC" means United States Code.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:27-1.4

Amended by R.1993 d.129, effective 3/15/1993 (operative April 20, 1993).
See: 24 N.J.R. 3459(a), 25 N.J.R. 1231(b).
Added definition for "CFR", "Department", "State" and "USC".
Amended by R.1993 d.128, effective 3/15/1993 (operative April 20, 1993).
See: 24 N.J.R. 2979(a), 25 N.J.R. 1254(a).
Added definitions "assertedly confidential information", "claimant", "class confidentiality determination", "confidential copy", "confidential information", "confidentiality claim", "confidentiality determination", "contract", "contractor", "control apparatus", "equipment", "final public copy", "preliminary public copy", "requester", "source operation" and "substantial damage".
Amended by R.1994 d.313, effective 6/20/1994 (operative July 26, 1994).
See: 25 N.J.R. 3339(a), 26 N.J.R. 2600(a).
Amended by R.1994 d.502, effective 10/3/1994 (operative October 31, 1994).
See: 25 N.J.R. 3963(a), 25 N.J.R. 4836(a), 26 N.J.R. 793(a), 26 N.J.R. 3943(b).
Amended by R.1998 d.231, effective 5/4/1998 (operative June 12, 1998).
See: 29 N.J.R. 3521(a), 30 N.J.R. 1563(b).
Inserted "British thermal unit" or "BTU", "Carbon monoxide" or "CO", "Lead" or "Pb", "Ozone" or "O[3]", and "Sulfur dioxide" or "SO[2]"; and deleted "Preconstruction permit".

Amended by 55 N.J.R. 14(a), effective 1/3/2023