General Permit Information

Asphalt Kettle Operations

This general permit covers business that operate asphalt kettles for roofing and pavement applications.

This general permit covers facilities that meet the following criteria:

• The facility uses no more than 6,000 tons of asphalt per 12 consecutive month period;
• The maximum manufacturer's heat input rating of any single piece of fuel burning equipment shall be less than 10 million Btu/hr;
• The maximum combined heat input rating for all fuel burning equipment at the facility as a whole shall be less than 30 million Btu/hr;
• The facility only uses natural gas, butane, or propane as fuels for external fuel burning equipment excluding asphalt kettles;
• The facility uses only natural gas, butane, propane, and ultra-low sulfur diesel as fuels for asphalt kettles;
• All internal combustion engines used meet the definition of a non-road engine.

This general permit does not cover the following operations:

• The use and application of cutback and emulsified asphalt or tar materials for the paving, construction, or maintenance of highways, streets, roads, parking lots, and driveways, and to the application of such materials onto soil and earthworks.
• If there are any other equipment or operations requiring an air quality permit other than listed above.

Dry Cleaning Operations

This general permit covers facilities which conduct dry cleaning operations. The facilities may also have fuel burning equipment, internal combustion engines, and/or separator wastewater treatment. 

The facilities shall meet all of the following criteria:

• Dry cleaning operations use perchloroethylene (PCE) and/or petroleum solvents;
• All dry cleaning operations are conducted in dry-to-dry machines;
• The usage of PCE no more than 1,100 gallons per any 12 month period;
• The use of petroleum solvents is no more than 5,500 gallons per any 12 month period;
• The facility does not use any solvent that contains n-propyl bromide (nPB), CAS number 106-95-5;
• External fuel burning equipment complies with the following:
  • The permittee uses only natural gas, butane, or propane as fuel for boilers and heaters;
  • The maximum heat input rating for any single piece of external fuel burning equipment at the site is less than 10 million Btu/hr (MMBtu/hr); and
  • The maximum combined heat input rating for all fuel burning equipment at the facility (excluding internal combustion engines) is less than 29.0 MMBtu/hr.
• Stationary internal combustion engines (ICE) comply with the following:
  • The engines are used only for emergency purposes (i.e. backup generators);
  • The engines are never used for peak shaving purposes;
  • The engines are fueled by either gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, natural gas, butane, or propane; and
  • The total combined rating of all stationary ICE greater than 50.0 bhp does not exceed 250 bhp, and each emergency engine shall not exceed 500 hours of operation per any 12 consecutive month period.

Fuel Burning Operations

This general permit covers facilities with external fuel burning equipment that meet all of the following:

• External fuel burning and emergency internal combustion engines are the only activities at the site that require an air quality permit;
• All external fuel burning equipment uses only natural gas as fuel;
• The maximum heat input rating for any single piece of external fuel burning equipment at the site is less than 10 million BTU/hr;
• The maximum combined heat input rating for all fuel burning equipment (excluding internal combustion engines) at the facility as a whole is less than 41.5 million BTU/hr;
• The total horsepower rating of all internal combustion engines is 250 horsepower or less, the engines are used only for emergency purposes, the engines are never used for peak shaving purposes, and the engine(s) are fueled by either gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, natural gas, butane, or propane. 

This general permit does not cover the following operations:

• Incinerators, crematories, or burn-off ovens;
• Dryers, cement and lime kilns;
• Direct-fired process heaters;
• Medical waste incinerators;
• Prime reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE);
• Combustion equipment used in power plant operations for the purpose of supplying greater than one third of the electricity to any utility power distribution system for sale;
• Combustion equipment associated with nuclear power plant operations;
• Water heaters used for the sole purpose of heating hot water for comfort or for radiant heat.

Gasoline Dispensing Operations

This general permit covers gasoline dispensing facilities that meet all of the following criteria:

• There are no activities at the site requiring an air quality permit other than gasoline dispensing, cold batch-loading solvent cleaners and fuel burning equipment;
• Solvent usage does not exceed 50 gallons per 12 month period;
• Fuel burning units such as boilers and heaters only burn only natural gas, propane, or butane, and the combined rating of all units does not exceed 10.0 million Btu/hr;
• The amount of gasoline received facility-wide does not exceed the following limits:

Graphic Arts Operations

This general permit covers businesses that perform graphic arts/printing operations, including but not limited to digital, screen, gravure, letterpress, flexographic and lithographic printing processes, including related coating and laminating processes. The facility may also have fuel burning equipment and/or internal combustion engines.

This general permit covers facilities that meet the following criteria:

• Emit less than 20 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from graphic arts, related coating operations, and fuel burning equipment per any 12-consecutive month period;
• The total VOC emissions from all graphic arts and related coating operations prior to control must be less than 4,200 pounds per month;
• Each fuel burning unit such as a boiler or heater must be rated at less than 10 million Btu/hr of heat input, and burn only natural gas, propane, or butane;
• The maximum combined heat input rating of all units shall not exceed 30 million Btu/hr;
• The total combined rating of all internal combustion engines shall not exceed 640 brake horsepower, the engines are used only for emergency purposes, the engines are never used for peak shaving purposes, and the engines are fueled by either gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, natural gas, butane, or propane; and
• The facility must not conduct any other operations requiring an air quality permit other than printing operations.

This general permit does not cover the following operations:

• Circuitry printing and other associated printing performed for labeling, logo, or identification purposes on a printed circuit, its substrate, its immediate covering, or its immediate encapsulant by a circuitry printer;
• Coating applications that are considered coating operations but are not performed in association with a printing operation;
• Printing conducted on office and personal printers such as ink jet, bubble jet, and laser printers;
• Facilities that utilize a VOC control device. Using an emissions to control solvent emissions involves a case by case engineering review and a general permit cannot be used at a facility that uses such a system.

Stationary Dust-Generating Operations

This general permit covers facilities that meet the following criteria:

• Businesses with routine dust-generating operations disturbing 0.10 acre or more that are not engaged in any other regulated activities;
• Residential property with dust-generating operations disturbing 0.10 acre up to 10 acres, excluding construction projects;
• Bulk material handling including hauling, transporting, stacking, loading/unloading operations, and storage piles;
• Composting, mulching, or green waste handling;
• Inert landfill operations;
• Land clearing using mechanized equipment;
• Landfill (closed) general maintenance;
• Landscape and decorative rock, gravel, and sand distribution;
• Landscaping using mechanized equipment; or
• Weed abatement by discing or blading.

This general permit does not cover the following operations:

• Portable sources;
• Concrete batch plants; 
• Non-metallic mineral mining and processing plants;
• Hot mix asphalt plants;
• Facilities with regulated operations other than routine dust generating activities; or
• Dust generating activities subject to a dust control permit.

Stationary Emergency Internal Combustion Engines

This general permit covers facilities that meet all of the following criteria:

• All stationary emergency internal combustion engines (ICE) are used only for emergency or standby purposes.
• None of the ICE at the facility are ever used for peak shaving purposes.
• All ICE are fueled by either gasoline, diesel or biodiesel, natural gas, butane, or propane.
• The facility has a potential to emit in excess of 2,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides or carbon monoxide from all stationary emergency ICE, boilers, and heaters. This is calculated at 100 hours of run-time per engine and 8,760 hours for boilers and heaters.
• All boilers and heaters are fueled by either natural gas, butane, or propane.
• The facility meets either Option 1 or Option 2:

Option 1:

• The total combined rating of all stationary emergency ICE does not exceed 2,000 brake horsepower; and
• The total combined heat input rating of all boilers and heaters does not exceed 6.0 million Btu/hr.

Option 2:

• The total combined potential NOx emissions of emergency engines and fuel-burning equipment is less than 20 tons per year. Engine emissions are calculated at 500 hours of operation per year and fuel-burning equipment emissions are calculated at 8,760 hours of operation per year; and
• The maximum rating of any single stationary emergency ICE at the site does not exceed 3,000 bhp; and
• The total combined heat input rating of all boilers and heaters does not exceed 10.0 million Btu/hr.

Facilities with water and/or wastewater lift stations that meet all other requirements in this section are eligible for this general permit, as long as the requirements of Maricopa County Rule 320 (Odors and Gaseous Air Contaminants) are met.  

 This general permit does not cover the following operations:

• Other equipment or operations requiring an air quality permit besides those listed in this general permit.
• A stationary emergency ICE operated as a non-road engine.
• Any non-emergency engine.
• Stationary emergency ICE at a nuclear power plant that must run for safety reasons and/or operational tests.

Surface Coating and/or Abrasive Blasting Operations

This general permit covers businesses that perform surface coating (Rule 336), abrasive blasting (Rule 312) or both. This includes the coating of: cans, coils, metal furniture, large appliances, fabric, film, plastic parts and products, and/or the following coating operations: powder, air-dried, baked, silicone release, and strippable booth. The facility may also have fuel burning equipment, internal combustion engines, and cold batch-loaded solvent cleaners.

This general permit covers facilities that meet all of the following criteria:

• The combined use of coatings, solvents, and cleaning materials under Rule 336 is less than 3,750 gallons per 12 month period.
• The total amount of blast media used may not exceed 1,000 tons in any 12 month period.
• Each fuel burning unit such as a boiler or heater must be rated at less than 10 million Btu/hr of heat input, burn only natural gas, propane, or butane, and the combined rating of all units must be less than 41.5 million Btu/hr.
• The total horsepower rating of all internal combustion engines is 250 horsepower or less, the engine(s) are used only for emergency purposes, the engine(s) are never used for peak-shaving purposes, and the engine(s) are fueled by either gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, natural gas, butane, or propane.

This general permit does not cover the following operations:

• Coating operations more specifically regulated by a County Rule, other than Rule 336,
• Aerospace coating operations (Rule 348),
• Marine vessel exterior refinishing,
• Polyester coatings applied to polyester composites,
• Printing and graphic arts coating (Rule 337),
• Semiconductor manufacturing (Rule 338),
• Coating a highway vehicle or mobile equipment (Rule 345),
• Coating wood furniture (Rule 342),
• Coating wood millwork (Rule 346),
• Facilities that utilize a VOC control device,
• Facilities that use a burn-off oven (Rule 313)

Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Refinishing Operations

This general permit covers vehicle and mobile equipment refinishing facilities that meet the following criteria:

• The combined use of coatings, solvents and cleaning materials is less than 4,430 gallons per twelve-month period.
• The facility may also have fuel burning equipment, internal combustion engines, cold batch-loaded solvent cleaners, and/or non-retail gasoline dispensing.
• Each fuel burning unit such as a boiler or heater must be rated at less than 10 million Btu/hr of heat input, burn only natural gas, propane, or butane, and the combined rating of all units must be less than 29 million Btu/hr.
• Any non-retail gasoline dispensing operation must not exceed 120,000 gallons of throughput per 12-month period and the gasoline dispensed is never re-sold.
• The total horsepower rating of all internal combustion engines is 250 horsepower or less, the engine(s) are used only for emergency purposes, the engine(s) are never used for peak-shaving purposes, and the engine(s) are fueled by either gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, natural gas, butane, or propane.

This general permit does not cover the following operations:

• Coating anything other than vehicle or mobile equipment,
• Paint stripping using methylene chloride,
• Retail gasoline dispensing.

Wood Furniture, Fixture and Millwork Operations

What requirements must the facility meet to qualify for this general permit?

This general permit covers woodworking facilities that meet the following criteria:

• Wood coating operations emit less than 10 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) per any 12 month period.
• VOC emissions from all adhesive application and related processes must total no more than 3 tons per any 12 month period.
• The facility generates no more than 450 tons of sawdust in any 12-month period.
• The facility does not use any paint strippers that contain methylene chloride.
• The maximum accumulative power rating of all stationary internal combustion engines must be less than 250 bhp.
• If the facility has abrasive blasting operations, it must be self-contained and vented inside a building with the exhaust directed away from any building opening.
• Any external fuel burning equipment must burn only natural gas, propane, or butane, and the combined heat input rating for all fuel burning equipment must be less than 2 million Btu/hour.

This general permit does not cover the following operations:

• Coating items other than wood furniture or wood millwork
• Printing and graphic arts coating
• Facilities that utilize a VOC control device
• If there are any other operations at the facility other than woodworking and wood furniture coating.