On December 1, 2011 the Illinois Pollution Control Board adopted new rules which will allow for the registration of small sources in lieu of obtaining a construction or operating permit for such small sources in Illinois. The new regulations adopted at 35 Il Adm. Code Section 201.175 will become effective shortly, and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is working on forms and procedures for implementing the new program, referred to as Registration of Smaller Sources (ROSS). The Rule provides that small sources subject to ROSS must by June 30, 2013 submit an initial registration and fee ($235) to IEPA, and thereafter, unless there is a change to its status under ROSS, the source must pay an annual ($235) registration fee again.
To qualify for ROSS, a source must meet the following criteria: (1) it must not need to obtain a Title V permit or NESHAP permit under Illinois law; (2) must not be required by U.S. EPA to have a permit; (3) must have actual emissions of less than 5 tons per year combined, of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and volatile organic material; (4) the source must have actual emissions of less than 0.5 tons per year of HAPS; (5) the source must have actual emissions less than 0.05 tons per year of lead; (6) the facility must have actual emissions less than 0.05 tons per year of mercury; and (7) the source must not have an emission unit subject to the NESHAPS MACT standards, other than as categorized as an “area source.”
In calculating its actual emissions of pollutants, a source is only required to consider emissions from units that are not entitled to the 35 Il Adm. Code Section 201.146 exemptions. The recordkeeping and recording requirements applicable to ROSS facilities, describe the means of calculating actual emissions of regulated pollutants. ROSS requires that a source must notify IEPA in writing within 45 days of any change to the source which affects the ROSS status. Sources that are currently subject to the small source permit program in Illinois and which are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the permit and are entitled to ROSS status need only to notify the Agency at the time of its annual fee payment due date of its change in status to a ROSS source.