Air permit regulations generally apply to stationary sources that emit regulated pollutants.
What Is A Stationary Source?
The term “stationary” generally means located at a single location or site and not intended to be relocated to another location or site. “Source” may refer to either a single emission unit such as a piece of equipment, or a group of two or more emission units that are necessary to produce a specific product or products or to perform an activity, located on contiguous or adjacent properties, and owned by the same person or under common control.
For example, air pollution permitting requirements may be applicable to a source if there is a stack, vent or dust collector, if solvents, paints, inks or adhesives are used, if fuel is burned, or if smoke or dust are created. Common types of facilities that have air permits include but are not limited to large industrial boilers and electric generating units; grain elevator and milling operations; painting or powder coating operations; printing operations; landfill operations; petroleum or chemical processing and storage operations; gravel and stone crushing operations; coal mining and processing operations; lumber mills and woodworking operations; degreasing operations; and portable sources such as hot-mix asphalt plants and ready-mix concrete batch plants that can be relocated.
The type of permit any particular source needs will be determined by its potential to emit and source category, its types of equipment and operations, and the area’s air quality where it is located.
Who Does Not Need An Air Permit?
Some stationary sources have such a low potential to emit that they are exempt from permit regulations. However, these small sources may still be subject to other state and/or federal air pollution control regulations.
Assistance is available from IDEM’s Office of Air Quality (OAQ). In addition, IDEM’s Compliance and Technical Assistance Program (CTAP) offers free and confidential compliance assistance to help small businesses identify permitting requirements and other regulations that may apply to their business.
Air pollution emissions from on-road vehicle engines and non-road vehicle/equipment engines such as lawn mowers, called mobile sources, are not subject to air permit regulations. However, mobile sources must comply with other regulations under U.S. EPA mobile source programs.