EnviroScience, Inc. can assist facilities with air compliance matters by delivering comprehensive services that begin with conducting an Air Emission Inventory.
By conducting an Air Emission Inventory, EnviroScience can provide the following:
- Conduct a site visit to identify individual air emissions sources.
- Prepare a summary of estimated potential and actual emissions for criteria air pollutants for comparison to the Title V regulatory pollutant thresholds. These include volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (S02), and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).
- Determine the applicability of a Title V Operating Permit.
- Determine applicability to state-specific permits, e.g., Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Permit to Install and Operate (PTIO) requirements, permit by rule (PBR) exemptions, and/or de minimis air sources.
- Prepare an emissions inventory that summarizes all sources, their applicability to regulations, and recommendations to further demonstrate compliance (e.g., agency notification and recordkeeping).
- Assist in the permit by rule, PTIO, and other state-specific permit applications.
As part of this Air Emission Inventory evaluation process, EnviroScience is experienced with estimating air emissions, including USEPA’s Storage Tank Emissions Calculation Software (TANKS 4.0) and methods specified in USEPA’s Compilation of Air Pollutant Emissions Factors (AP-42).
Emissions Inventory Contribution to Air Quality Management
All Title V permitted facilities are required to submit annual Air Emissions Inventories to their state and the USEPA. Minor air emission facilities are subject to individual state requirements for further permitting determinations and reporting.
Consistency between the federal and state governments is established by using this air emission information along with other emissions data to create the National Emissions Inventory (NEI), which provides the database of annual air emissions estimates for criteria pollutants, criteria precursors, and hazardous air pollutants from point, nonpoint, and mobile air emissions sources. The NEI is used to determine sources of air pollutants, which serves as the basis for regulatory actions. The NEI provides essential information for mathematical models that estimate air quality. Regulators can predict how potential regulatory actions affect air quality by applying the estimated emissions reductions to the emissions inventory data in air quality models.
An updated version of the NEI is released every three years. These periodic updates of the help to establish emission trends over time. Likewise, regulators can use inventories to inform the public about potential sources of pollution.
According to USEPA, “An air emissions inventory includes estimates of the emissions from various pollution sources in a geographical area. It should include all pollutants associated with air quality problems in the area. As an example, an emissions inventory to support the management of ground-level ozone should include sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and of volatile organic compounds (VOC).”
For more information, check out the USEPA AEI website.