A High-Level Look at the SCAQMD Permitting Process

If you're permitting equipment with the SCAQMD, the whole process comes down to one question: can that equipment meet every rule that applies to it. The application is how you prove it can. The approving engineer reads your submittal, checks the equipment against the applicable rules, and decides.

Knowing how that review runs tells you where applications stall and how to keep yours moving. Here's the process end to end.

1. You submit the application

We've covered the three components of a complete permit application before, so we won't repeat the detail here. As a refresher, they are:

1. Complete permitting forms
2. Permit-processing fees
3. Engineering evaluation

We've seen cases where an applicant got a permit just by submitting forms and fees. All that did was force the engineer to chase down the applicant for the information that belonged in the engineering evaluation. The applicant still had to provide it, and leaving it out only created back-and-forth with the permitting engineer. More often, leaving out the engineering evaluation gets the whole application kicked back to you, stalling the project. The agency can also reject an application for insufficient information. If you want the permit issued quickly, make the application as complete as you can before it goes in.

2. The Air District does an initial review

Once your application is with the SCAQMD, an engineer does a rough pass to confirm it has all three components and the correct fees. If anything is off, it comes right back to you: the engineer tells you what's missing (wrong forms, inaccurate fees, and the like), and you start over. That cycle repeats until the engineer has a complete application. These engineers are estimated to spend nearly 20 percent of their time chasing missing information. That's time your project sits idle, so submit it correctly the first time.

3. The Air District processes the application

Reaching this step means you've submitted a complete air-permit application. The engineer now reviews the data to confirm your equipment or process can comply with the agency's rules.

4. You receive and review the draft permit

If the engineer finds that compliance is possible, you receive a draft permit shortly after. It contains the equipment descriptions and the draft permit conditions that will apply to the equipment. Review every condition on the draft permit. You'll have to comply with them once the final permit is issued. If a condition doesn't sit well with you, you can negotiate it. (See point 3 in 3 best practices for permit conditions.)

5. You receive the final permit

Once you and the agency agree on the conditions, the final permit is issued. You're authorized to start construction or operation of the equipment, as long as you operate within the permit conditions. For what to do next, see our list of 8 essential facts to know once the SCAQMD issues your air permit.

If you want the permit issued without the back-and-forth, the application has to go in complete the first time. We prepare SCAQMD permit applications that do. Contact us and we'll get yours handled.

About Grant T. Aguinaldo, PhD

Grant provides techno-economic-regulatory modeling, analysis, and decision support on §45Z, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), and the decarbonization of the economy. He also leads air permitting projects across all of California's major air districts and in other states across the U.S. He is a Lead Verifier for California GHG and LCFS, and Washington GHG.