Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 45-32-3 - Serious Violation3.1. Serious violation means:3.1.a. Any failure or refusal to comply with any final order of the Director issued as provided in the Act;3.1.b. Any violation specifically designated as a serious violation in any rule of the Director;3.1.c. Any violation of any National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) emission, monitoring, or substantial procedural requirements for existing NESHAP standards, Best Available Technology (BAT) provisions under 45CSR27 and promulgated Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) requirements;3.1.d. Any State Implementation Plan (SIP), New Source Performance Standard (NSPS), or NESHAP procedural or monitoring requirements violated repeatedly or chronically including but not limited to failure to test, failure to report, or failure to obtain continuous monitoring data for five percent (5%) or more of the time in a calendar quarter;3.1.e. Any substantive violation of a judicial order;3.1.f. Construction and/or operation of a facility without obtaining any necessary construction and/or operating permit(s) required by rules promulgated under the Act;3.1.g. Avoidance of Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) review while violating an emission limit or permit condition which effects PSD status;3.1.h. Exceedance of a permitted emission standard above the amount that would classify the source as a nonattainment area major source;3.1.i. Any reckless, grossly negligent or willful violation of the Act;3.1.j. Any violation that causes significant harm to humans, animals or plant life;3.1.k. Any violation of an emissions limitation when the amount of such excess emission is significant as defined under any rule promulgated by the Director;3.1.l. Any violation that the Director determines is serious after evaluating the violator's culpability and the gravity of such violation as follows:l.1. Gravity. The Director shall consider and evaluate, where pertinent, and including, but not limited to, the following factors in determining the gravity of a violation: 1.A. Involvement of significant actual or potential harm to the environment or the public health; 1.B. Involvement of toxic or hazardous substances or potential long term effect of the violation; 1.C. The degree to which any emission limitation or ambient standard is exceeded; 1.D. The duration of the violation; 1.E. Program priorities, size of facility, or other pertinent factors; 1.F. Causes a violation of a national ambient air quality standard or a program, plan or an applicable requirement; and l.G. The degree of willfulness of the violation, defiance, or indifference to the applicable requirement.l.2. Culpability. The Director shall consider and evaluate, where pertinent, and include the following factors in determining the culpability of a violator: 2.A. The degree of intent or negligence; 2.B. Whether the case involves false reporting of required information or tampering with monitoring devices; and 2.C. Whether the violator has taken remedial measures or mitigated the harm caused by the violation. l.3. Either the gravity of the violation or the culpability of the violator is sufficient to allow the Director to determine that a violation is serious. Any one factor under either the gravity or culpability factors may be sufficient to allow the Director to determine that the violation is serious. 3.2. Emissions in excess of those allowed under any rule, permit, or order caused by an act of God or another cause over which an alleged violator has no reasonable control shall not be considered a violation unless the alleged violator knows or should have known of the condition and does not immediately report the condition and act promptly to mitigate or cure the condition.