Or. Admin. Code § 340-245-0005 - Purpose and Overview

(1) This statement of purpose and overview is an aid to understanding the rules in OAR 340-245-0010 through 340-245-8010 that follow, and is not for the purpose of regulation or compliance.

(2) Purpose. The purpose of Oregon's risk-based toxic air contaminant permitting program, known as Cleaner Air Oregon, is to:

(a) Prioritize and protect the health and well-being of all Oregonians with a special focus on sensitive populations such as children;

(b) Analyze public health risk due to toxic air contaminant emissions from industrial and commercial sources based on verified science and data;

(c) Consider similar regulations in other states and jurisdictions and use a science-based, consistent and transparent process for communicating and addressing risks from industrial and commercial emissions of toxic air contaminants, provide regulatory predictability to businesses and the communities they are a part of; and

(d) Reduce exposure to industrial and commercial toxic air contaminant emissions while supporting an environment where businesses and communities can thrive.

(3) Overview.

(a) OAR 340-245-0010, Applicability and Jurisdiction, OAR 340-245-0020, Definitions, and OAR 340-245-0022, Abbreviations and Acronyms, describe which sources the risk-based toxic air contaminant permitting program applies to and specifies definitions, abbreviations and acronyms to be used in the program;

(b) OAR 340-245-0030, Submittal and Payment Deadlines, provides the deadlines by which owners or operators must submit risk assessment compliance information when required by DEQ under this division. That rule generally provides owners or operators more time to submit the more complex assessments;

(c) OAR 340-245-0040, Emissions Inventory, authorizes DEQ to require a source to submit an inventory of all of its toxic air contaminant emissions to be used in a risk assessment and to submit periodic emissions inventory updates;

(d) OAR 340-245-0050, Risk Assessment Procedures, includes requirements and procedures for the owners and operators of sources to undertake any of the four levels of risk assessment to demonstrate compliance and determine what requirements apply. The first level of risk assessment is a conservative estimate that is likely to overestimate risk. As the levels progress from Level 1 to Level 4, the assessments become more complex but also provide increasingly more site-specific and refined risk estimates. An owner or operator can choose to start with any level of risk assessment;

(e) OAR 340-245-0060, Toxic Emissions Units, explains how TEUs are analyzed and regulated in the context of assessing and regulating risk from an entire source. This rule includes the criteria for a TEU to be designated exempt or aggregated because it poses very low risk and the requirements for approval of new and modified TEUs;

(f) OAR 340-245-0100, Toxic Air Contaminant Permit Addenda, includes the procedural requirements for obtaining a permit addendum or a new operating permit under these rules. A Toxic Air Contaminant Permit Addendum will amend the source's Air Contaminant Discharge Permit or Title V Operating Permit until the requirements in the addendum can be incorporated into the source's operating permit, but will remain separate for a source that has a General Air Contaminant Discharge Permit;

(g) OAR 340-245-0110, Source Risk Limits, explains how risk limits will be set in Toxic Air Contaminant Permit Addenda or in operating permits with conditions required under this division;

(h) OAR 340-245-0120, Community Engagement, contains requirements for community engagement meetings and other aspects of community engagement;

(i) OAR 340-245-0130, Risk Reduction Plan Requirements, specifies how an owner or operator of an existing source must develop a plan to reduce risk, if required to do so, because the source risk exceeds the TBACT Level or the Risk Reduction Level. Risk can be reduced using a variety of methods as long as they are enforceable as permit conditions and achieve the required level of risk reduction. Provisions for Voluntary Risk Reduction are included in this rule;

(j) OAR 340-245-0140, Pollution Prevention, explains how the owner or operator of a source must perform a pollution prevention analysis when required under OAR 340-245-0130;

(k) OAR 340-245-0150, Postponement of Risk Reduction, specifies how an owner or operator of a source may request postponement of risk reduction due to financial hardship;

(l) OAR 340-245-0200, Risk Estimates, explains how the owner or operator of a source must perform the calculations required in this division. This rule explains how calculations should be rounded to evaluate compliance with Source Risk Limits;

(m) OAR 340-245-0210, Modeling and Risk Assessment Work Plan Requirements, contains air quality modeling and work plan requirements for owners or operators of sources that are required to assess risk;

(n) OAR 340-245-0220, TBACT and TLAER Procedures, explains how the owner or operator of a source must perform, respectively, a Toxics Best Available Control Technology or Toxics Lowest Achievable Emission Rate analysis;

(o) OAR 340-245-0230, Toxic Air Contaminant Monitoring Requirements, allows an owner or operator of a source to perform air monitoring to determine actual concentrations of toxic air contaminants in the ambient air around a source;

(p) OAR 340-245-0310 Process for Updating Risk-Based Concentrations and 340-245-0320, Standards and Criteria for Noncancer Risk Action Levels for Existing Sources, describe the process of how the RBCs may be updated and assignment of hazard index values based on health effects;

(q) OAR 340-245-0400, Cleaner Air Oregon Fees, specifies the permitting fees that apply to sources subject to the rules in this division; and

(r) OAR 340-245-8010 Tables 1-3, include the established Risk Action Levels, Risk-Based Concentrations and the Level 1 Risk Assessment Dispersion Factor Tables.

(4) The long-term goal of Cleaner Air Oregon is to achieve a 50% reduction in the number of existing sources posing either an excess cancer risk of more than 25 in a million or a Hazard Index of more than 1 by the year 2034.

(5) This program supplements requirements in OAR chapter 340, division 244, Oregon Federal Hazardous Air Pollutant Program, and division 246, Oregon State Toxic Air Contaminant Program. This program includes four levels of risk assessment and allows sources to choose any level of assessment to assess risk.

Notes

Or. Admin. Code § 340-245-0005

DEQ 197-2018, adopt filed 11/16/2018, effective 11/16/2018; DEQ 8-2020, amend filed 04/24/2020, effective 4/24/2020; DEQ 18-2021, amend filed 11/17/2021, effective 11/17/2021

Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 468.020, 468.065, 468A.025, 468A.040, 468A.050, 468A.070, 468A.155, Or Laws 2018, ch. 102, § 7, 468A.135, 468A.337 & 468A.345

Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 468.065, 468A.010, 468A.015, 468A.025, 468A.035, 468A.040, 468A.050, 468A.070, 468A.155, Or Laws 2018, ch. 102, § 7, 468A.337, 468A.345, 468A.335 & 468A.343