40 CFR § 97.71 - Initial certification and recertification procedures.
(a) The owner or operator of a NOX Budget unit that is subject to an Acid Rain emissions limitation shall comply with the initial certification and recertification procedures of part 75 of this chapter for NOX-diluent CEMS, flow monitors, NOX concentration CEMS, or excepted monitoring systems under appendix E of part 75 of this chapter for NOX. under appendix D for heat input, or under § 75.19 for NOX and heat input, except that:
(1) If, prior to January 1, 1998, the Administrator approved a petition under § 75.17(a) or (b) of this chapter for apportioning the NOX emission rate measured in a common stack or a petition under § 75.66 of this chapter for an alternative to a requirement in § 75.17 of this chapter, the NOX authorized account representative shall resubmit the petition to the Administrator under § 97.75(a) to determine if the approval applies under the NOX Budget Trading Program.
(2) For any additional CEMS required under the common stack provisions in § 75.72 of this chapter or for any NOX concentration CEMS used under the provisions of § 75.71(a)(2) of this chapter, the owner or operator shall meet the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section.
(b) The owner or operator of a NOX Budget unit that is not subject to an Acid Rain emissions limitation shall comply with the following initial certification and recertification procedures. The owner or operator of such a unit that qualifies to use the low mass emissions excepted monitoring methodology under § 75.19 of this chapter or that qualifies to use an alternative monitoring system under subpart E of part 75 of this chapter shall comply with the following procedures, as modified by paragraph (c) or (d) of this section. The owner or operator of a NOX Budget unit that is subject to an Acid Rain emissions limitation and that requires additional CEMS under the common stack provisions in § 75.72 of this chapter or uses a NOX concentration CEMS under § 75.71(a)(2) of this chapter shall comply with the following procedures.
(1) Requirements for initial certification. The owner or operator shall ensure that each emission monitoring system required by subpart H of part 75 of this chapter (which includes the automated data acquisition and handling system) successfully completes all of the initial certification testing required under § 75.20 of this chapter by the applicable deadline in § 97.70(b). In addition, whenever the owner or operator installs an emission monitoring system in order to meet the requirements of this part in a location where no such emission monitoring system was previously installed, initial certification in accordance with § 75.20 of this chapter is required.
(2) Requirements for recertification. Whenever the owner or operator makes a replacement, modification, or change in a certified emission monitoring system that may significantly affect the ability of the system to accurately measure or record NOX mass emissions or heat input rate or to meet the requirements of § 75.21 of this chapter or appendix B to part 75 of this chapter, the owner or operator shall recertify the emission monitoring system in accordance with § 75.20(b) of this chapter. Furthermore, whenever the owner or operator makes a replacement, modification, or change to the flue gas handling system or the unit's operation that may significantly change the stack flow or concentration profile, the owner or operator shall recertify the continuous emissions monitoring system in accordance with § 75.20(b) of this chapter. Examples of changes that require recertification include: replacement of the analyzer, complete replacement of an existing continuous emission monitoring system, or change in location or orientation of the sampling probe or site.
(3) Certification approval process for initial certification and recertification—(i) Notification of certification. The NOX authorized account representative shall submit to the Administrator, the appropriate EPA Regional Office and the permitting authority written notice of the dates of certification in accordance with § 97.73.
(ii) Certification application. The NOX authorized account representative shall submit to the Administrator, the appropriate EPA Regional Office and the permitting authority a certification application for each emission monitoring system required under subpart H of part 75 of this chapter. A complete certification application shall include the information specified in subpart H of part 75 of this chapter.
(iii) Except for units using the low mass emission excepted methodology under § 75.19 of this chapter, the provisional certification date for a monitor shall be determined in accordance with § 75.20(a)(3) of this chapter. A provisionally certified monitor may be used under the NOX Budget Trading Program for a period not to exceed 120 days after receipt by the Administrator of the complete certification application for the monitoring system under paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section. Data measured and recorded by the provisionally certified monitoring system, in accordance with the requirements of part 75 of this chapter, will be considered valid quality-assured data (retroactive to the date and time of provisional certification), provided that the Administrator does not invalidate the provisional certification by issuing a notice of disapproval within 120 days of receipt of the complete certification application by the Administrator.
(iv) Certification application formal approval process. The Administrator will issue a written notice of approval or disapproval of the certification application to the owner or operator within 120 days of receipt of the complete certification application under paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section. In the event the Administrator does not issue such a notice within such 120-day period, each monitoring system that meets the applicable performance requirements of part 75 of this chapter and is included in the certification application will be deemed certified for use under the NOX Budget Trading Program.
(A) Approval notice. If the certification application is complete and shows that each monitoring system meets the applicable performance requirements of part 75 of this chapter, then the Administrator will issue a written notice of approval of the certification application within 120 days of receipt.
(B) Incomplete application notice. A certification application will be considered complete when all of the applicable information required to be submitted under paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section has been received by the Administrator. If the certification application is not complete, then the Administrator will issue a written notice of incompleteness that sets a reasonable date by which the NOX authorized account representative must submit the additional information required to complete the certification application. If the NOX authorized account representative does not comply with the notice of incompleteness by the specified date, then the Administrator may issue a notice of disapproval under paragraph (b)(3)(iv)(C) of this section. The 120-day review period shall not begin prior to receipt of a complete certification application.
(C) Disapproval notice. If the certification application shows that any monitoring system or component thereof does not meet the performance requirements of this part, or if the certification application is incomplete and the requirement for disapproval under paragraph (b)(3)(iv)(B) of this section has been met, then the Administrator will issue a written notice of disapproval of the certification application. Upon issuance of such notice of disapproval, the provisional certification is invalidated by the Administrator and the data measured and recorded by each uncertified monitoring system shall not be considered valid quality-assured data beginning with the date and hour of provisional certification (as defined under § 75.20(a)(3) of this chapter). The owner or operator shall follow the procedures for loss of certification in paragraph (b)(3)(v) of this section for each monitoring system that is disapproved for initial certification.
(D) Audit decertification. The Administrator may issue a notice of disapproval of the certification status of a monitor in accordance with § 97.72(b).
(v) Procedures for loss of certification. If the Administrator issues a notice of disapproval of a certification application under paragraph (b)(3)(iv)(C) of this section or a notice of disapproval of certification status under paragraph (b)(3)(iv)(D) of this section, then:
(A) The owner or operator shall substitute the following values, for each hour of unit operation during the period of invalid data specified under § 75.20(a)(4)(iii), § 75.20(b)(5), § 75.20(h)(4), or § 75.21(e) and continuing until the date and hour specified under § 75.20(a)(5)(i) of this chapter:
(1) For units that the owner or operator intends to monitor or monitors for NOX emission rate and heat input rate or intends to determine or determines NOX mass emissions using the low mass emission excepted methodology under § 75.19 of this chapter, the maximum potential NOX emission rate and the maximum potential hourly heat input of the unit; and
(2) For units that the owner or operator intends to monitor or monitors for NOX mass emissions using a NOX pollutant concentration monitor and a flow monitor, the maximum potential concentration of NOX and the maximum potential flow rate of the unit under section 2 of appendix A of part 75 of this chapter.
(B) The NOX authorized account representative shall submit a notification of certification retest dates and a new certification application in accordance with paragraphs (b)(3)(i) and (ii) of this section.
(C) The owner or operator shall repeat all certification tests or other requirements that were failed by the monitoring system, as indicated in the Administrator's notice of disapproval, no later than 30 unit operating days after the date of issuance of the notice of disapproval.
(c) Initial certification and recertification procedures for low mass emission units using the excepted methodologies under § 75.19 of this chapter. The owner or operator of a gas-fired or oil-fired unit using the low mass emissions excepted methodology under § 75.19 of this chapter and not subject to an Acid Rain emissions limitation shall meet the applicable general operating requirements of § 75.10 of this chapter and the applicable requirements of § 75.19 of this chapter. The owner or operator of such a unit shall also meet the applicable certification and recertification procedures of paragraph (b) of this section, except that the excepted methodology shall be deemed provisionally certified for use under the NOX Budget Trading Program as of the date on which a complete certification application is received by the Administrator. The methodology shall be considered to be certified either upon receipt of a written notice of approval from the Administrator or, if such notice is not provided, at the end of the Administrator's 120 day review period. However, a provisionally certified or certified low mass emissions excepted methodology shall not be used to report data under the NOX Budget Trading Program prior to the applicable commencement date specified in § 75.19(a)(1)(ii) of this chapter.
(d) Certification/recertification procedures for alternative monitoring systems. The NOX authorized account representative of each unit not subject to an Acid Rain emissions limitation for which the owner or operator intends to use an alternative monitoring system approved by the Administrator under subpart E of part 75 of this chapter shall comply with the applicable certification procedures of paragraph (b) of this section before using the system under the NOX Budget Trading Program. The NOX authorized account representative shall also comply with the applicable recertification procedures of paragraph (b) of this section. Section 75.20(f) of this chapter shall apply to such alternative monitoring system.