OAR 340-226-0120: Highest and Best Practicable Treatment and Control: Operating and Maintenance Requirements

(1) Operational, Maintenance and Work Practice Requirements: (a) Where DEQ has determined that specific operational, maintenance, or work practice requirements are appropriate to ensure that the owner or operator of a source is operating and maintaining air pollution control devices and emission reduction processes at the highest reasonable efficiency and effectiveness to minimize emissions, DEQ will establish such requirements by permit condition or notice of construction approval; (b) Operational, maintenance, and work practice requirements include: (A) Flow rates, temperatures, pressure drop, ammonia slip, and other physical or chemical parameters related to the operation of air pollution control devices and emission reduction processes; (B) Monitoring, record-keeping, testing, and sampling requirements and schedules; (C) Maintenance requirements and schedules; and (D) Requirements that components of air pollution control devices be functioning properly. (2) Emission Action Levels: (a) Where DEQ has determined that specific operational, maintenance, or work practice requirements considered or required under section (1) are insufficient to ensure that the owner or operator is operating and maintaining air pollution control devices and emission reduction processes at the highest reasonable efficiency and effectiveness, DEQ may establish, by permit or Notice of Construction approval, specific emission action levels in addition to applicable emission standards. An emission action level will be established that ensures an air pollution control device or emission reduction process is operated at the highest reasonable efficiency and effectiveness to minimize emissions; (b) If emissions from a source equal or exceed the applicable emission action level, the owner or operator of the source must: (A) Take corrective action as expeditiously as practical to reduce emissions to below the emission action level; (B) Maintain records at the plant site for two years which document the exceedance, the cause of the exceedance, and the corrective action taken; (C) Make such records available for inspection by DEQ during normal business hours; and (D) Submit such records to DEQ upon request. (c) DEQ will revise an emission action level if it finds that such level does not reflect the highest reasonable efficiency and effectiveness of air pollution control devices and emission reduction processes; (d) An exceedance of an emission action level that is more stringent than an applicable emission standard is not a violation of such emission standard. (3) In determining the highest reasonable efficiency and effectiveness for purposes of this rule, DEQ considers operational variability and the capability of air pollution control devices and emission reduction processes. If the performance of air pollution control devices and emission reduction processes during startup or shutdown differs from the performance under normal operating conditions, DEQ determines the highest reasonable efficiency and effectiveness separately for these operating modes. NOTE: This rule is included in the State of Oregon Clean Air Act Implementation Plan that EQC adopted under OAR 340-200-0040