By Qaiser Baig If your air permit or industrial equipment ownership requires monitoring and maintenance, it is critical that you are in compliance with those requirements.  Environmental agency officials are watching!

Best Case Example

Recently, one of our Indiana clients in the automotive supply industry received a violation letter from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) for failing to conduct daily pressure drop monitoring.  In this case, the monitoring likely was completed, however, the technician mistakenly wrote his initials instead of the monitored value in the logbook.  Small errors like this are why we suggest that all plant EHS Managers review monitoring logs daily as well as considering backup monitoring.  A daily review of the log might have caught the oversight and another reading could have been taken later that day.  Fortunately, in this case, IDEM only issued a violation letter.  No fines were assessed.

Worse Case Example

In another case, a different Indiana client was not so lucky.  Not only did IDEM send a violation letter for failing to perform mandatory monitoring, but also required the company to sign an Agreed Order and pay a fine.  Why did this situation result in a fine and the previous one did not?  In this case, there were other violations cited. One of these other violations was a failure to take corrective action when a monitored value was out of range.  Having a monitored value out of range by itself is not necessarily a violation, but not taking corrective action to restore it to the proper range will likely result in a violation.

Emergency Generator Regulations

In addition, the company was cited for failure to conduct required equipment maintenance.  In some cases, IDEM gives the permittee some latitude in how they develop and implement preventative maintenance.  What was different about this situation?  In this instance, the equipment in question was an emergency generator.    Why is this important?  In addition to being a very common piece of equipment at facilities, the engine portion of the generator is typically subject to Federal Clean Air Act rules for stationary engines.  Many states (including Indiana) typically regard emergency generators as exempt from state-level air permitting.  This means that the federal maintenance rules can apply to a facility with a stationary emergency generator even if the business is not required to hold an air permit for their operations. Two provisions of the Clean Air Act, the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS Subparts IIII and JJJJ) and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP Subpart ZZZZ), require owners to perform engine maintenance and keep records.  In this case, IDEM cited the permittee for not maintaining records of the required engine maintenance.  Since these were federal (not state) requirements, IDEM was not in a position to give the permittee latitude.  Therefore, the agency issued a violation and assessed a fine. Emergency generators are common equipment at manufacturing plants since they provide backup power, operate a fire pump, or keep the lights on in an emergency. It is important for EHS Managers to realize the equipment can be subject to federal requirements.  The regulatory agency delegated to enforce the rules can and will cite and penalize a business for failing to implement them.

Further Information

Cornerstone’s air permit experts can help determine any gaps in an industrial facility’s regulatory compliance before the state or federal inspector shows up at your door.  Contact us at info@corner-enviro.com or through our website at https://www.cornerstone-ehs.com/contact-us/  

Qaiser Baig is a Senior Environmental Engineer who holds professional engineering licenses in Indiana and Michigan.  He provides Cornerstone’s clients with senior level air permitting and air compliance projects, including preparation of permit applications, negotiation of permit conditions, resolution of compliance issues, report preparation, and analysis of state and federal regulations.