What is Title V?

Title V is a federal operating permit program for major sources of air pollution, and it gets its name from the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act. Title V made significant changes to the way that facilities comply with air quality regulations. Some of these changes include:

• Changes to the way permits are issued to these new “Title V facilities.”
• Changes to the role of the EPA and the public with respect to enforcing air quality regulations.
• Increases to the amount of monitoring, reporting and record keeping needed to demonstrate compliance at these Title V facilities.

There is no doubt that Title V changed the way facilities comply with air quality regulations. In addition, Title V also adds another layer of complexity and risk to facilities holding Title V permits. In this resource page, we briefly discuss the Title V program. Along the way, we offer tips and tricks to comply with the program.

Title V Applicability

Generally, there are 5 ways to become subject to Title V.

• Major source of air pollution
• Acid rain facility
• Solid waste incineration facility
• Subject to a new source performance standard (NSPS) that requires a Title V permit.
• Subject to a national emission standard for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) that require a Title V permit.

Of this list, the most common way that a facility will become subject to Title V though being a major source of air pollution.

Major Source of Air Pollution

In order to become a major source of air pollution, a facility must either have a potential to emit (PTE) or reported actual emissions in excess of the specified major source thresholds. These major source thresholds can be found in Rule 3001, and the numerical value of these thresholds differ from region to region. Because the region managed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is classified as “extreme non-attainment” for ozone, the SCAQMD has the lowest major source thresholds for NOX and VOC in the nation. If your facility is subject to Title V, your facility must prepare and submit an application for an initial Title V permit in a timely manner (usually 180 days after becoming subject to the regulation).

Title V Implementation

Even though Title V is a federal program, the regulation required state and local agencies to development the regulations to implement the program. For a large part of Southern California, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), has been delegated the authority to implement the Federal Title V program by the EPA. Within the SCAQMD, all of the Title V rules can be found in Regulation XXX (30). These rules will outline the requirements for: applicability, compliance, permit applications, as well as permits revisions for SCAQMD’s implementation of the program.

The Title V Permit

A key component of the Title V program, is the Title V permit. This permit is a single document incorporates all of a facility's individual permits into one, and this new permit is called the facility permit or the Title V permit. As part of this new permit, a Title V facility will be responsible for the legacy conditions from its previous permits, as well as, the additional conditions needed to comply with Title V. A Title V permit is good for a period of either 5 or 12 years, in the case of the solid waste incineration facilities. During the term of a Title V permit, you may need to revise your permit to include or remove equipment or permit conditions. Revisions can be submitted during the term of your permit, but it does not change the expiration date of the permit. That date is set at the time of issuance and can only be moved during a permit renewal.

Compliance With Title V

Compliance with Title V requires facilities to monitor their process, keep records and file reports. This monitoring, reporting and record keeping framework is what we call the "Title V Trifecta." The best way to understand your responsibilities under Title V is to simply by review and understand the conditions your permit. In particular, look in sections D, H, K and E. This is where you will find all of the requirements of what you can, do and cannot do, in order to stay in compliance. Now, when reviewing your permit, you need be looking for a few things. Number one. Be sure that the equipment listed on your permit matches what’s out there in the field. Number two. Be sure that you understand all of the different types of conditions in your permit. Know what types of records need to be kept, to demonstrate compliance with each condition. Know what parameter needs to be monitored, in order to demonstrate compliance with each condition. All of the monitoring and record keeping will require you to keep documentation. This can be a technical report, inspection record, or even an laboratory result. Now when it comes to these records, most of the time, you will not need to submit the actual data records to the AQMD, however, these records must be kept on site for 5 years, and they must be made available to an inspector upon request. In terms of reporting, all of the reporting requirements can be found in Table 1 of the TGD. As shown in the Table, there are 4 types of reports that must be submitted under Title V.

• Deviation Reports
• Semi-Annual Monitoring Reports
• Annual Compliance Certifications
• Progress Reports.

Given all of the different monitoring, reporting and record keeping that must be completed, the development of a robust tracking system is key to the success of your Title V program.

Resources for Title V Compliance

SCAQMD Draft Technical Guidance Document SCAQMD Periodic Monitoring Guidelines SCAQMD Title V Permitting Program