Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

LRAPA staff have drafted revisions to existing rules primarily to address the new DEQ air quality regulations adopted by the Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) on November 18, 2022.  Staff is requesting that the Board approve a public hearing at the April 11, 2024 Board meeting for adoption.  LRAPA is proposing several changes to existing rules to integrate the new DEQ rules with existing LRAPA program rules. Some of the proposed changes to existing rules would amend the LRAPA’s part of the Oregon Clean Air Act State Implementation Plan. 

Summary

LRAPA proposes to update, clarify, improve and streamline Lane County’s air quality permit programs. Three categories of proposed changes include: 

• Policy changes that strengthen the permitting program, streamline the rules and improve the permitting process; 
• Technical changes that clarify the program and rules; and 
• Corrections to typographical errors and non-technical changes. 

 The changes would allow LRAPA to protect air quality with more efficient and effective permitting programs and allow LRAPA to focus resources.  

 The proposed rule changes include the following policy changes: 

• Strengthen the efficacy of the air quality permitting program  

• Prohibit issuance of all approvals for sources that will cause an exceedance of a National Ambient Air Quality Standard; 
• Eliminate Generic Plant Site Emission Limits, which currently often allow greater emissions than a facility is physically capable of emitting and is incompatible with requirements to protect short term air quality standards; 
• Clarify and update the Notice of Intent to Construct rules; 
• Require that sources must construct or modify in accordance with approved plans submitted with their applications; 
• Change permit type if sources are on the wrong permit; 
• Eliminate provisions that currently allow sources to operate without using pollution control devices for 48-hours under the excess emission rules;  
• Clarify LRAPA’s ability to require and use modeling in addition to monitoring (by LRAPA or sources) for NAAQS exceedance verification;  
• Clarify that permittees must comply with all conditions in their permits;  
• Include Table 2, Part 3 Cleaner Air Oregon (CAO) Annual Fees and Table 3 CAO Specific Activity Fees as part of the annual 4% fee increase that currently applies to Parts 1, 2, and 4 of LRAPA Table 2 – section 37-8020; and 
• Establish a new $720 fee applicable to sources or individuals who submit a Notice of Intent to Construct. Create a new fee associated with a Type 2 Notice of Intent to Construct application required by LRAPA’s title 34 identical to the current DEQ Type 2 fee adopted by the EQC in 2020. 
• Streamline rules and make process improvements 
• Change the test method for determining opacity compliance to the more commonly used EPA Method 9 procedure for measuring visible emissions from point sources;  

• Extend permit terms for Simple permits to better allocate LRAPA resources to work on more significant permitting issues; 
• Provide no expiration date for New Source Review permits that must be incorporated into a Title V Operating Permit;  
• Expand the use of short-term activity permits for temporary operations beyond unexpected and emergency activities, providing more flexibility for businesses;  
• Provide a petition process for additional industrial categories to have general permits, rather than source-specific permits; 
• Require more complete applications at permit renewal to ensure LRAPA staff have sufficient information to process the renewal applications;  
• Require additional information to be submitted by a date certain with an opportunity to request more time if needed rather than allowing 90 days for all submittals;  
• Clarify reinstatement procedures for owners or operators whose permits have been terminated because of a late permit renewal application or late payment of fees; 
• Add 1-bromopropane (1-BP) to the state list of Hazardous Air Pollutants to make it consistent with its listing under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act, as recently added by the EPA;  
• Provide flexibility for assessment of Exempt Toxics Emissions Units under the Cleaner Air Oregon program; and 
• Update LRAPA’s federal standards rules in titles 44 and 46 to reflect updated periodic federal delegations from EPA.

Many of the proposed rule changes improve clarity, especially where rules may conflict, and correct cross-references and other errors. The rules also align more closely with DEQ rules adopted by the Environmental Quality Commission. 

LRAPA proposes the LRAPA Board and Environmental Quality Commission approve the proposed rule and rule amendments for incorporation into Oregon’s State Implementation Plan. With the LRAPA Board’s and EQC’s approval, DEQ would submit the proposed rule and rule amendments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be included in and revise the State Implementation Plan required by the Clean Air Act. Both DEQ and EPA Region 10 staff have conducted preliminary reviews of LRAPA’s draft rules, and their comments have been incorporated into the proposed rules. 

Note: See LRAPA’s crosswalk of rules changes, including the rules in the State Implementation Plan, for details. LRAPA staff has drafted a redline-strikeout version with these draft changes seen in Attachment A. The proposed amendments are also summarized in the crosswalk table of Attachment B. The notice of proposed rulemaking for the LRAPA Air Quality Permitting Rules is included at Attachment C.  

Public Participation

LRAPA will accept public comments on this proposed rulemaking starting January 23, 2024 with the public hearing at the LRAPA April 11, 2024 Board meeting.

LRAPA will hold one public hearing on this proposed rulemaking:

Date: April 11, 2024
Start time: 12:15 PM
Street address:1010 Main Street
Room: Large LRAPA Conference Room
City: Springfield, Oregon 97477
Teleconference phone number: +1 253 215 8782
Webinar link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82551664224

Additional Information

To view copies of the notice documents, learn more about this rulemaking, and how to submit comments, you can view the LRAPA website calendar at: LRAPA Calendar.

If you want to receive future email notices about this rulemaking, you must sign up at: https://www.lrapa.org/air-quality-protection/public-calendar/sign-up-for-updates/

You can also obtain more information about this rulemaking by contacting:

LRAPA Rules Coordinator
1010 Main Street
Springfield, Oregon 97477
rules@lrapa.org

Public Notice documents:

Accessibility and Accommodations
People needing special accommodations to participate in LRAPA public hearings such as assistive listening devices or accessible formats such as large print, Braille, electronic documents, or audio tapes, should please contact the LRAPA office as soon as possible, but preferably at least 72 hours in advance.
For people requiring language interpretation services, including qualified ASL interpretation, please contact the LRAPA office as soon as possible, but preferably at least 5 business days in advance so that LRAPA can provide the most comprehensive interpretation services available.
Please contact the LRAPA Non-Discrimination Coordinator at accessibility@lrapa.org or by calling the LRAPA office at 541-736-1056 ext. 233.

Las personas que necesiten acomodaciones especiales para participar en las audiencias públicas de LRAPA, como dispositivos de asistencia auditiva o formatos accesibles como letra grande, Braille, documentos electrónicos o cintas de audio, deben comunicarse con la oficina de LRAPA lo antes posible, pero preferiblemente por lo menos 72 horas de antemano.
Para las personas que requieren servicios de interpretación de idiomas, incluida la interpretación calificada de ASL, comuníquese con la oficina de LRAPA lo antes posible, pero preferiblemente por lo menos 5 días laborales de antemano para que LRAPA pueda proporcionar los mejores servicios de interpretación disponibles.
Comuníquese con la Coordinadora de Antidiscriminatoria de LRAPA en accessibility@lrapa.org o llamando a la oficina de LRAPA al 541-736-1056 ext. 400.