Air Quality Permitting Requirements
Types of Permits
If you are located in Northern Nevada Public Health’s jurisdiction ( Washoe County), there are a few different permit types that will apply to you depending on your facilities emissions.
Title V permitting – reserved for very large operations. If you believe that you will be a title V source you should contact NNPH to discuss your operation. Typically for facilities that emit more than 100 tons per year for any one regulated pollutant or emit more than 25 tons per year total hazardous air pollutants or emit more than 10 tons per year of any one hazardous air pollutant.
Minor source permits – required for sources that emit equal to or greater than 2 pounds per day of criteria air pollutants and or 1 pound per day of hazardous air pollutants source permits are applicable to a wide variety of businesses in Washoe County including auto body shops, manufacturing facilities, concrete plants, rock crushing facilities, etc.
Dust control permit – required when there is a surface Area Disturbance of equal to or greater than 1 acre of land.
Asbestos – For sources that are renovating or demolishing at Regulated Facilities where there may be disturbance of suspect asbestos containing materials.
Mineral processing (non metallic) – For sources that will be crushing / screening non metallic minerals (portable, stationary, rented)
Typical facilities that require a permit to operate include, but are not limited to:
- Gas, oil or solid fuel burning boilers, furnaces or large process ovens
- Commercial fuel storage facilities or gas stations
- Paint and surface coating operations
- Degreasers, dry cleaners or other processes using solvents
- Aggregate, concrete or mineral products processing or mining
- Analytical labs, chemical processing operations, assay labs
- Printing press facilities
- Sawing, grinding or sanding operations
- Remediation soil or water treatment operations
- Industrial facilities which emit air pollutants
- Marijuana cultivation and processing operations
Application Tips
What will I need to prepare my application?
The permit application process requires very specific information about your facility and processes. The following questions should help you to get started gathering some of the necessary information for the permit application. Once you have figured out what application(s) you will need, all the different NNPH application forms can be found here.
Are you going to be doing any new construction that could disturb an area equal to or greater than 1 acre?
· If yes, then you will need to fill out a dust control permit application along with the proper title V or minor source permit.
Which pieces of equipment release emissions?
· It is a good idea to make a list of all of the pieces of equipment that release emissions so that you know which ones will be included in the application.
Have you calculated your facility’s potential to emit (PTE)?
· When calculating your facilities emissions you will need to determine the potential to emit. The PTE is determined by calculating emissions based on a hypothetical scenario of your facility running 7 days a week for 24 hours a day and 365 days a year with NO control technology. This PTE will be used to determine if you are emitting more or less than the permitting thresholds and if you will need a permit. In Washoe County if you are emitting 2 pounds per day or more of a criteria air pollutant and or 1 pound per day of a hazardous air pollutant you will need to obtain a permit.
Do you have a flow diagram?
· A flow diagram is required to be submitted with your permit application if you have multiple emission units. This can be a simple diagram relating each piece of equipment and visualizing the “flow” of your facility. A great tool to use for this task is Lucid Chart. This is a free tool.
What are the boundaries of your piece of property?
· Here you will show the boundaries of your facility. In this step you will also show if your facility is located within 1,000 feet of a school, hospital, or residential area. NNPH has created a guidance document on how to properly map your facility that can be found here.
Are you purchasing a business with an existing air quality permit?
· Northern Nevada Public Health does allow the transfer of permit ownership as long as there are no major modifications to the business. This is great because if you are buying a business with an existing permit you will not need to go through the permitting process yourself! In order to complete this change of ownership you will need to fill out this application here.
What are the fees and how do I pay them?
To see the most up to date NNPH fee schedule you can visit the NNPH website here. These fees are subject to change so it is important to check the NNPH website incase fees have changed since your last payment. To make a payment to NNPH you can use the Accela Citizen Access portal found here. Link to payment instructions and basic info of using Accela citizen access can be found here.
For More Information & Assistance
Contact the Northern Nevada Public Health Air Quality Management Division