N.J. Admin. Code § 7:27-22.16

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 7:27-22.16 - Operating permit contents

(a) The Department will include in each operating permit, drafted for, or issued to, a facility, emission limitations and standards, including any operational requirement necessary to assure compliance with all applicable requirements which apply to a source operation or a group of source operations or to the facility as a whole at the time of permit issuance.

(b) For each significant source operation at the facility, or, if applicable, for each group of source operations or for the entire facility, the operating permit shall:

1. Specify each applicable requirement and each associated permit condition, including any emission limitations and standards and any operational requirements;

2. Cite to the specific legal authority, including any State or Federal rule or regulation or any permit, which establishes the applicable requirement and any associated permit conditions;

3. Identify any difference in form between the permit condition and the applicable requirement upon which the permit condition is based;

4. Specify the compliance assurance method (including a reference, if applicable, to where the method is published) required to be used to determine compliance with the permit condition; and

5. Specifically designate as not being Federally enforceable any permit condition based on an applicable state requirement.

(c) If any other applicable Federal requirement is more stringent than an applicable requirement of EPA's acid deposition control regulations, both requirements shall be set forth in the operating permit pursuant to (b) above and both shall be enforceable by the Department and EPA.

(d) An operating permit may contain an alternative emission limit pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.3(m), if:

1. The applicant has proposed the alternative emission limit in the application for the operating permit;

2. The applicant has proposed procedures that ensure that the alternative emissions limit is quantifiable, accountable, enforceable, and based on replicable procedures;

3. The Department has determined, based on an equivalency demonstration provided by the applicant, that the alternative emissions limit proposed by the applicant is equivalent to, or more stringent than, that contained in an applicable requirement; and

4. The Department determines that the alternative emission limit is consistent with the SIP.

(e) The Department shall incorporate into each operating permit the provisions of any effective preconstruction permit and operating certificate issued for the facility, or any part thereof, if the preconstruction permit or operating certificate was:

1. Issued prior to the date the applicant submitted the application for the operating permit to the Department, and included by the applicant in the application; or

2. Issued subsequent to the date the application was submitted to the Department and prior to the date the Department issues the draft operating permit.

(f) Each operating permit shall contain a severability clause which ensures the continued validity of all other permit conditions in the event of a challenge to any part of the operating permit.

(g) Each operating permit shall include, but not be limited to, the following statements:

1. The permittee shall comply with all conditions of the operating permit including the approved compliance plan. Any noncompliance with a permit condition constitutes a violation of the New Jersey Air Pollution Control Act N.J.S.A. 26:2C-1 et seq., or the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq., or both, and is grounds for enforcement action; for termination, revocation and reissuance, or for modification of the operating permit; or for denial of an application for a renewal of the operating permit;

2. It shall not be a defense for a permittee in an enforcement action that it would have been necessary to halt or reduce the permitted activity in order to maintain compliance with the conditions of its operating permit;

3. This operating permit may be modified, terminated, or revoked for cause by EPA pursuant to 40 CFR 70.7(g) and revoked or reopened and modified for cause by the Department pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.25;

4. The permittee shall furnish to the Department, within a reasonable time, any information that the Department may request in writing to determine whether cause exists for modifying, revoking and reissuing, or terminating this operating permit; or to determine compliance with the operating permit;

5. The filing of an application for a modification of an operating permit, or of a notice of planned changes or anticipated noncompliance, does not stay any operating permit condition;

6. The operating permit does not convey any property rights of any sort, or any exclusive privilege;

7. Upon request, the permittee shall furnish to the Department copies of records required by the operating permit to be kept;

8. No permittee shall allow any air contaminant, including an air contaminant detectable by the sense of smell, to be present in the outdoor atmosphere in a quantity and duration which is, or tends to be, injurious to human health or welfare, animal or plant life or property, or which would unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property. This shall not include an air contaminant which occurs only in areas over which the permittee has exclusive use or occupancy. Conditions relative only to nuisance situations, including odors, are not considered Federally enforceable;

9. The Department and its authorized representatives shall have the right to enter and inspect any facility subject to this subchapter, or portion thereof, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-1.31; and

10. The permittee shall pay fees to the Department pursuant to this chapter.

(h) An operating permit may contain operating scenario(s) pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.27, provided that:

1. The applicant has proposed the operating scenarios in the application for the operating permit; and

2. The Department is satisfied, based on the information provided by the applicant, that each source operation included in the operating scenario:

i. Will not exceed the maximum allowable emission limit established in the operating permit for each air contaminant; and

ii. Will comply with all applicable requirements.

(i) For any operating scenario included, the operating permit shall contain permit conditions, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. The permittee shall maintain contemporaneous records at the facility of any changes from one operating scenario to another; and

2. The permittee shall ensure that operation under each such operating scenario complies with all permit conditions, applicable requirements, and the requirements of this chapter.

(j) An operating permit may contain provisions for emissions trading program(s) pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.28A, such as a facility-specific emissions averaging program within one or more groups of source operations, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.28B.

(k) For any authorization of emissions trading included, the operating permit shall contain permit conditions sufficient to ensure that operation, notwithstanding the emissions trading, meets all permit conditions, applicable requirements, and the requirements of this chapter.

(l) The operating permit shall contain provisions for the assertion of an affirmative defense to liability for penalties or other sanctions for violating certain provisions or conditions of the operating permit. The affirmative defense shall be available for a violation of a provision or condition of the operating permit only if:

1. The violation occurred as a result of an equipment malfunction, an equipment start-up or shutdown, or during the performance of necessary equipment maintenance; and

2. The affirmative defense is asserted and established as required by N.J.S.A. 26:2C-19.1 through 19.5 and any implementing rules.

(m) The operating permit shall contain all applicable requirements of the CO[2] Budget Trading Program at N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.28 and 7:27C. The operating permit shall contain sufficient monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements necessary to ensure compliance with applicable requirements of the CO[2] Budget Trading Program at N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.28 and 7:27C.

(n) Each operating permit shall include a compliance plan that includes all of the elements required for a proposed compliance plan pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.9 and 7:27C.

(o) Each operating permit shall contain the following provisions with respect to monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting:

1. Provisions to implement the testing and monitoring requirements of N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.18, the recordkeeping and reporting requirements of N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.19, the monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements of N.J.A.C. 7:27C-8, and all emissions monitoring and analysis procedures or compliance assurance methods required under the applicable requirements, including any procedures and methods promulgated pursuant to 40 CFR 64; and

2. Where the applicable requirement does not require periodic testing or instrumental or noninstrumental monitoring, provisions for periodic monitoring sufficient to yield reliable data from the relevant time period that are representative of the facility's compliance with the permit. Such monitoring requirements shall assure use of terms, test methods, units, averaging periods, and other statistical conventions consistent with the applicable requirement.

(p) Each operating permit will include a permit shield pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.17. If requested by the applicant in the application and approved by the Department, an operating permit shield shall acknowledge that specific provision(s) of potentially applicable requirement(s) do not apply to the facility, cite any such specific provision(s), and state that compliance with the provision(s) is not required.

(q) The operating permit shall contain all applicable requirements at N.J.A.C. 7:27F, Control and Prohibition of Carbon Dioxide Emissions. The operating permit shall contain sufficient monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements necessary to ensure compliance with all applicable requirements at N.J.A.C. 7:27F.

(r) If proposed by the applicant, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:27-22.6(j), and approved by the Department, the operating permit shall include the methods to be used to determine the actual emissions of any significant source operation at the facility.

(s) Each operating permit shall specify an expiration date which shall be no later than five years from the date of issue.

(t) For facilities subject to EPA's acid deposition control program pursuant to Title IV of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. § 7651 et seq., the operating permit shall include a permit condition prohibiting emissions from exceeding any allowances that the source lawfully holds under Title IV of the CAA or the regulations promulgated thereunder.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:27-22.16

Amended by 47 N.J.R. 1937(a), effective 8/3/2015

Amended by 51 N.J.R. 992(a), effective 6/17/2019

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