§ 60.612a - What standards and associated requirements must I meet?

§ 60.612a What standards and associated requirements must I meet?

(a) You must comply with the emission limits and standards specified in Table 1 to this subpart and the requirements specified paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section for each vent stream on and after the date on which the initial performance test required by §§ 60.8 and 60.614a is completed, but not later than 60 days after achieving the maximum production rate at which the affected facility will be operated, or 180 days after the initial start-up, whichever date comes first. The standards in this section apply at all times, including periods of startup, shutdown and malfunction. As provided in § 60.11(f), this provision supersedes the exemptions for periods of startup, shutdown and malfunction in the general provisions in subpart A of this part.

(b) The following release events from an affected facility are a violation of the emission limits and standards specified in table 1 to this subpart.

(1) Any relief valve discharge to the atmosphere of a vent stream.

(2) The use of a bypass line at any time on a closed vent system to divert emissions to the atmosphere, or to a control device or recovery device not meeting the requirements specified in § 60.613a.

(c) You may designate a vent stream as a maintenance vent if the vent is only used as a result of startup, shutdown, maintenance, or inspection of equipment where equipment is emptied, depressurized, degassed, or placed into service. You must comply with the applicable requirements in paragraphs (c)(1) through (3) of this section for each maintenance vent. Any vent stream designated as a maintenance vent is only subject to the maintenance vent provisions in this paragraph (c) and the associated recordkeeping and reporting requirements in § 60.615a(g), respectively.

(1) Prior to venting to the atmosphere, remove process liquids from the equipment as much as practical and depressurize the equipment to either: A flare meeting the requirements of § 60.619a, as applicable, or using any combination of a non-flare control device or recovery device meeting the requirements in Table 1 to this subpart until one of the following conditions, as applicable, is met.

(i) The vapor in the equipment served by the maintenance vent has a lower explosive limit (LEL) of less than 10 percent.

(ii) If there is no ability to measure the LEL of the vapor in the equipment based on the design of the equipment, the pressure in the equipment served by the maintenance vent is reduced to 5 pounds per square inch gauge (psig) or less. Upon opening the maintenance vent, active purging of the equipment cannot be used until the LEL of the vapors in the maintenance vent (or inside the equipment if the maintenance is a hatch or similar type of opening) is less than 10 percent.

(iii) The equipment served by the maintenance vent contains less than 50 pounds of total VOC.

(iv) If, after applying best practices to isolate and purge equipment served by a maintenance vent, none of the applicable criterion in paragraphs (c)(1)(i) through (iii) of this section can be met prior to installing or removing a blind flange or similar equipment blind, then the pressure in the equipment served by the maintenance vent must be reduced to 2 psig or less before installing or removing the equipment blind. During installation or removal of the equipment blind, active purging of the equipment may be used provided the equipment pressure at the location where purge gas is introduced remains at 2 psig or less.

(2) Except for maintenance vents complying with the alternative in paragraph (c)(1)(iii) of this section, you must determine the LEL or, if applicable, equipment pressure using process instrumentation or portable measurement devices and follow procedures for calibration and maintenance according to manufacturer's specifications.

(3) For maintenance vents complying with the alternative in paragraph (c)(1)(iii) of this section, you must determine mass of VOC in the equipment served by the maintenance vent based on the equipment size and contents after considering any contents drained or purged from the equipment. Equipment size may be determined from equipment design specifications. Equipment contents may be determined using process knowledge.