The Department of Environmental Protection  has posted three documents on its website regarding the implementation of the final “Additional RACT Requirements for Major Sources of NOx and VOCs” (RACT II), promulgated by the Environmental Quality Board on April 23, 2016 (46 Pa.B. 2036). 

The Federal Clean Air Act requires a reevaluation of Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements each time the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency promulgates a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) including the 1997 and 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

The RACT II regulation must be implemented statewide because the entire Commonwealth is treated as a moderate ozone nonattainment area in the Ozone Transport Region.

An owner or operator of a major NOx-emitting facility” or a “major VOC-emitting facility as defined in 25 Pa. Code § 121.1 must demonstrate compliance with the RACT II requirements by Jan. 1, 2017. 

If an owner or operator is proposing to install a control device to meet a presumptive RACT emission limitation or RACT emission limitation determined on a case-by-case basis, the owner or operator may petition DEP for an alternative compliance schedule to go beyond the Jan. 1, 2017, compliance deadline.

The petition for an alternative compliance schedule or alternative RACT requirement must be submitted to the appropriate DEP regional office by no later than Oct. 24, 2016.

The implementation documents include a fact sheet, an overview and implementation presentation, and responses to frequently asked questions (FAQ) on RACT II implementation. 

The documents are available on DEP’s Air Quality Permit Information webpage.

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(Reprinted from the June 23 DEP News. Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

6/27/2016