Compliance - Breakdowns

Upset or Breakdown?

Have you discovered something has gone wrong at your facility and you are out of compliance with your permit? Not sure what to do or what your options are? The easiest solution may be to shut down immediately, but with production schedules this may not be practical. The District Rules and Regulations have provisions that may provide for some temporary relief. District Rule 5.2, UPSET/BREAKDOWN CONDITIONS: EMERGENCY VARIANCE, defines procedures that allow for temporary relief when an upset/breakdown has occurred.

What qualifies as an "upset/breakdown?"

An upset/breakdown condition is defined as an unforseeable failure or malfunction of any air pollution control equipment or related operating equipment which causes a violation of any emission limitation or permit condition, so long as the failure is not the result of neglect, is not intentional, is not the result of improper maintenance, is not a recurrent breakdown of the same equipment, and the failure does not create a public nuisance.

What should you do if you have an "upset/breakdown?"

The first thing to do is to notify the District that an upset/breakdown has occurred, as soon as reasonably possible. Verbal notification (530-757-3650) shall occur no later than 1 hour after the detection of the breakdown. The verbal notification shall be followed by a written notification (initial breakdown form can be faxed to 530-757-3670) no later than 4 hours after the detection of the breakdown. If the breakdown occurs when the District cannot be contacted, the report shall be made at the commencement of the next regular working day.

What relief can you get?

If the breakdown persists only until the end of the production run or 24 hours (whichever is sooner), the occurrence constitutes a violation of the applicable requirement, however the District may elect to take no enforcement action, provided that the notification requirements were met and that appropriate corrective measures are undertaken to bring the operation back into compliance in a timely manner.

Within 1 week after an upset/breakdown condition has been corrected, the operator is required to follow up with written notification (breakdown follow up report) detailing what the cause of the problem was, what action has been taken to correct the problem, verifying that the condition has been corrected, and providing estimates of the emissions released during the breakdown.

Variance option

If the equipment can not be brought back into compliance before the start of the next production run or within 24 hours (whichever is sooner), in lieu of shutdown the next option available to the facility would be to apply for an emergency variance which can grant relief for up to 15 days, or until an interim or regular variance hearing can be held. An emergency variance hearing can be held in a timely manner. If the owner/operator can present evidence so that the Hearing Board Chair can make certain findings regarding the breakdown, the Hearing Board Chair can grant permission to operate despite being in violation of a district regulation, while steps are taken to bring the source into compliance with the regulation.

Questions?

The District wants to work in a cooperative manner with all sources so that the outcome benefits all parties but most importantly, the quality of our air is not compromised. For questions regarding upset/breakdowns, contact Dave Smith or Susan McLaughlin at (530) 757-3650.