EL DORADO COUNTY AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

RULE 216 - ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

216.1 General Requirements

  1. Regulated Organic Compounds. For the purpose of this Rule, an "organic compound" is any chemical compound of carbon which is either a gas or a liquid with a vapor pressure greater than 1.5 psia under actual conditions of storage or use, except:
  1. Emission Calculation. Mass emission rates for organic compounds shall be calculated as total carbon:
    1. Total carbon for an individual organic compound shall be calculated as that portion of the mass of said compound which is attributable to its carbon atoms, as determined from the molecular structure of said compound.
    2. For an emission stream whose mass flow rate of an organic compound can be observed or calculated from measured or monitored process parameters of source operation, the total carbon emission for said compound shall be the product of the mass emission rate of said organic compound multiplied by the total carbon proportion as determined in 216.1.B.1.
    3. For an emission stream for which the individual mass flow rates of all the entrained organic compounds cannot be determined as in 216.1 B.1 and 2, total carbon shall be either measured per Method 25 as described in 40 CFR part 60 Appendix A, or calculated from volumetric measurement by the formula:

216.2 Emission Standards for Organic Compounds

  1. Applicability. This rule shall apply to all facilities, uses, handling, and storage of organic compounds not in existence before March 1, 1984, and not specifically regulated or exempted elsewhere in these Rules and Regulations.
  2. Standards. No person shall operate any machinery, process, or operation which has the potential to emit organic compounds unless:
    1. For any machinery process or operation in which organic compounds are heated, baked, heat cured, heat polymerized, or exposed to flame, emissions of organic compounds shall not exceed 15 pounds per day or 3 pounds in any one hour, unless said emissions are reduced by at least 85 percent.
    2. For any machinery process or operation conducted at or below ambient temperatures, emissions of organic compounds shall not exceed 40 pounds per day or 8 pounds in any one hour, unless said emissions are reduced by at least 85 percent.
    3. The owner or operator has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Air Pollution Control Officer that said machinery, process, or operation cannot be controlled to the degree required in 216.2.B.1 or 2, in which case said machinery process or operation shall be equipped with Best Available Control Technology as specified by the Air Pollution Control Officer.
  3. No person shall dispose or allow the release of organic compounds from storage or transfer operations in excess of 1.5 gallons of liquid or an equivalent amount of vapor per day, if such disposal or release permits the evaporation or mixing of said organic compounds in the atmosphere.
  4. The owner or operator of any source subject to this rule shall supply to the Air Pollution Control Officer, at the time of application for any Authority to Construct, or Permit to Operate, a complete accounting of all organic compounds used, stored, processed, or produced by the operation of said source.
  5. If, in the opinion of the Air Pollution Control Officer, any source, equipment, process, or activity subject to this rule has the potential to create fugitive organic compound emissions, no permit to operate shall be granted until the applicant has prepared, and the Air Pollution Control Officer approved, a fugitive emission control plan.
  6. All equipment, processes, operations, and emission control devices subject to this rule shall be equipped with such gauges, sensors, instruments, and recorders as the Air Pollution Control Officer determines to be necessary to verify that said air pollution control devices are functioning in compliance with these Rules and any applicable conditions on a permit to operate.

216.3 Exemptions.
The following equipment, operations, and exhaust and ventilation systems which serve them are exempt from the requirements of this Rule.

  1. Non-commercial activities or facilities located on premises which are solely used as a residence for not more than two families or households.
  2. Stationary storage containers of less than 250 gallons capacity.
  3. Internal combustion engines and their accessories.
  4. Agricultural, horticultural, or public health spraying or other application of insecticides, herbicides, and pesticides.
  5. Preparation of foods for human consumption.
  6. Manufacture or repair of "fiberglass" or polyester-resin reinforced plastic structures, provided that said resins are not oven-cured.
  7. Storage or transfer of compressed or liquified fuel gases.
  8. Kilns used for firing of ceramics, if heated by gaseous fuels or electricity.
  9. Laboratory equipment which the Air Pollution Control Officer determines is being used for research or bench-scale operations, and is not part of any commercial production process or operation.
  10. Fuels, lubricants, and hydraulic fluids necessary to the operation of machinery, and not used as feed stocks, reagents, or otherwise involved in or consumed by any process or operation.
  11. Space heating and heat transfer operations.
  12. Presses used for curing rubber or plastics.
  13. Equipment used exclusively for steam cleaning.
  14. Any single use or operation which annually consumes a total volume of organic compounds which is less than the total emissions permitted by this rule, unless said use or operation is part of a larger process or operation which would otherwise be subject to these Rules and Regulations.
  15. Printing and graphic arts operations.