30 Tex. Admin. Code § 101.300 - Definitions
Unless specifically defined in the Texas Clean Air Act or in § 3.2 or § 101.1 of this title (relating to Definitions), the terms used by the commission have the meanings commonly ascribed to them in the field of air pollution control. In addition, the following words and terms, when used in this division, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Activity--The amount of activity at a
facility or mobile source measured in terms of production, use, raw materials
input, vehicle miles traveled, or other similar units that have a direct
correlation with the economic output and emission rate of the facility or
mobile source.
(2) Actual
emissions--The total emissions during a selected time period, using the
facility's or mobile source's actual daily operating hours, production rates,
or types of materials processed, stored, or combusted during that selected time
period.
(3) Area source--Any
facility included in the agency emissions inventory under the area source
category.
(4) Baseline
emissions--The facility's emissions, in tons per year, before implementation of
an emission reduction calculated as the lowest of the facility's historical
adjusted emissions or state implementation plan emissions.
(5) Certified--Any emission reduction that is
determined to be creditable upon review and approval by the executive
director.
(6) Curtailment--A
reduction in activity level at any facility or mobile source.
(7) Emission credit--An emission reduction
credit or mobile emission reduction credit.
(8) Emission rate--The facility's rate of
emissions per unit of activity.
(9)
Emission reduction--A reduction in actual emissions from a facility or mobile
source.
(10) Emission reduction
credit--A certified emission reduction, expressed in tenths of a ton per year,
that is created by eliminating future emissions and quantified during or before
the period in which emission reductions are made from a facility.
(11) Emission reduction strategy--The method
implemented to reduce the facility's or mobile source's emissions beyond that
required by state or federal law, regulation, or agreed order.
(12) Facility--As defined in §
116.10 of this title (relating to
General Definitions). Original equipment and replacement-in-kind equipment that
are the same or functionally equivalent are considered the same facility. For
the purpose of generating an emission reduction credit at an area source,
multiple emissions points with common characteristics may be grouped in order
to be considered as a single unit equivalent to a facility as long as the total
grouping has emissions equal to or greater than 0.1 tons per year (tpy), even
if emission points within the group have emissions of less than 0.1
tpy.
(13) Generator--The owner or
operator of a facility or mobile source that creates an emission
reduction.
(14) Historical adjusted
emissions--The emissions occurring before implementation of an emission
reduction strategy and adjusted for any local, state, or federal requirement,
calculated using the following equation.
(15) Mobile emission reduction
credit--A certified emission reduction from a mobile source or group of mobile
sources, expressed in tenths of a ton per year, that is created by eliminating
future emissions and quantified during or before the period in which reductions
are made from that mobile source or group of mobile sources.
(16) Mobile source--A source included in the
agency's emissions inventory under the mobile source category.
(17) Mobile source baseline activity--The
level of activity of a mobile source based on an estimate for each year for
which the credits are to be generated. After the initial year, the annual
estimates should reflect:
(A) the change in
the mobile source emissions to reflect any deterioration in the emission
control performance of the participating source;
(B) the change in the number of mobile
sources resulting from normal retirement or attrition, and the replacement of
retired mobile sources with newer and/or cleaner mobile sources;
(C) the change in usage levels, hours of
operation, or vehicle miles traveled in the participating population;
and
(D) the change in the expected
useful life of the participating population.
(18) Mobile source baseline emissions--The
mobile source's actual emissions, in tons per year, occurring prior to a mobile
emission reduction strategy calculated as the lowest of the historical adjusted
emissions or state implementation plan emissions.
(19) Mobile source baseline emission
rate--The mobile source's rate of emissions per unit of mobile source baseline
activity during the mobile source baseline emissions period.
(20) Permanent--An emission reduction that is
long-lasting and unchanging for the remaining life of the facility or mobile
source. Such a time period must be enforceable.
(21) Point source--A facility included in the
agency's emissions inventory under the point source category.
(22) Primarily operated--When the activity is
at least 75% within a specific nonattainment area.
(23) Projection-base year--The year of the
emissions inventory used to project or forecast future-year emissions for
modeling point sources in a state implementation plan revision.
(24) Protocol--A replicable and workable
method of estimating emission rate or activity level used to calculate the
amount of emission reduction generated or credits required for facilities or
mobile sources.
(25)
Quantifiable--An emission reduction that can be measured or estimated with
confidence using replicable methodology.
(26) Real reduction--A reduction in which
actual emissions are reduced. Emissions reductions that result from any of the
following are not considered a real reduction:
(A) lowering the allowable emission limit in
a permit without a physical change or change in method of operation;
(B) shifting a vent gas stream or other
pollution or waste stream to another site;
(C) a mobile source that is not capable of
being operated as intended; or
(D)
a change in an emissions factor or emissions calculation equation.
(27) Shutdown--The permanent
cessation of an activity producing emissions at a facility or mobile
source.
(28) Site--As defined in
§
122.10 of this title (relating to
General Definitions).
(29) State
implementation plan--A plan that provides for attainment and maintenance of a
primary or secondary national ambient air quality standard as adopted in 40
Code of Federal Regulations Part 52, Subpart SS.
(30) State implementation plan (SIP)
emissions--SIP emissions are determined as follows.
(A) For point sources, SIP emissions are
facility-specific values based on the emissions data in the state's annual
emissions inventory (EI) for the year used to develop the projection-base year
inventory for the modeling included in an attainment demonstration (AD) SIP
revision, used for the attainment inventory for a maintenance plan SIP
revision, or used in an EI SIP revision, as applicable under subparagraph
(B)(i) - (iii) of this paragraph. For area and mobile sources, SIP emissions
are calculated values based on actual operations during the latest triennial
National Emissions Inventory (NEI) year used to support an AD SIP revision,
used for the attainment inventory for a maintenance plan SIP revision, or used
in an EI SIP revision, as applicable under subparagraph (B)(i) - (iii) of this
paragraph. For point, area, and mobile sources located in a nonattainment area
without an applicable SIP as determined under subparagraph (B)(i) - (iii) of
this paragraph, SIP emissions are based on the year of the most recent NEI
submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) preceding
that area's nonattainment designation for the current National Ambient Air
Quality Standard (NAAQS).
(B) The
applicable SIP revision must be for the nonattainment area where the facility
is located, or for mobile sources where the mobile source is primarily
operated, and must be for the criteria pollutant, or include the precursor
pollutant, for which the applicant is requesting credits. The applicable SIP
revision is:
(i) an AD SIP revision or a
maintenance plan SIP revision, whichever was most recently submitted to the EPA
for the current NAAQS;
(ii) if the
SIP revisions identified in clause (i) of this subparagraph have not been
submitted to the EPA, an AD SIP revision or a maintenance plan SIP revision,
whichever was most recently submitted to the EPA for an earlier NAAQS issued in
the same averaging time and the same form as the current NAAQS; or
(iii) if the SIP revisions identified in
clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph have not been submitted to the EPA,
the most recent EI SIP revision submitted to the EPA.
(C) The total amount of SIP emissions
available for credit generation will be set for area, non-road mobile, and
on-road mobile source categories.
(i) Total
creditable area source emissions are 75% of the total area source emissions
excluding residential area sources in the applicable SIP revision.
(ii) Total creditable non-road mobile source
emissions are 75% of the total non-road mobile source emissions in the
applicable SIP revision.
(iii)
Total creditable on-road mobile source emissions are 85% of the total on-road
mobile source emissions in the applicable SIP revision.
(D) The SIP emissions for a facility or
mobile source may not exceed any applicable local, state, or federal
requirement.
(E) The year used to
determine SIP emissions is as specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph,
unless a different year is specifically identified otherwise by the commission
in the most recent SIP revision adopted after December 31, 2017.
(31) Strategic emissions--A
facility's or mobile source's new allowable emission limit, in tons per year,
following implementation of an emission reduction strategy.
(32) Surplus--An emission reduction that is
not otherwise required of a facility or mobile source by any applicable local,
state, or federal requirement and has not been otherwise relied upon in the
state implementation plan.
(33)
User--The owner or operator of a facility or mobile source that acquires and
uses emission credits to meet a regulatory requirement, demonstrate compliance,
or offset an emission increase.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.