Bureau of Air Quality

General Announcements

General Announcement for AQ Permit Holders
Effective January 16, 2021, all air quality applications, Permits, Requests for Determinations and initial Asbestos Notifications will be subject to new and/or increased fees. The Saturday, January 16, 2021 effective date is the result of a three-year regulatory process and will be finalized upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on that date. These fees were last updated in January 2005 and will address the long-term disparity between revenue and expenditures in DEP's Air Quality Program. Any air quality application, Requests for Determination or initial Asbestos Notification received on or after January 16, 2021 must be accompanied by the appropriate new or updated fee. The final rulemaking also includes an Annual Maintenance Fee (replacing the annual administrative fee) due each year for Natural Minor, Synthetic Minor and TV permitted facilities. This maintenance fee does not replace the annual TV emission fees due September 1 by most TV facilities. The Annual Maintenance Fees for calendar year 2021 are due on or before March 17, 2021, 60 days after the January 16, 2021 final rulemaking publication. Subsequent maintenance fees are due annually no later than December 31 for the next calendar year. The maintenance fees are $8,000 for TV Permitted Facilities, $4,000 for Synthetic Minor Permitted facilities and $2,000 for Natural Minor Permitted facilities. Information regarding the Annual Maintenance fee, including a transmittal fee form to be submitted with the fee, will be coming in separate website and email notifications in the near future. The new air quality regulations can be found on the Pennsylvania Bulletin website.

Facilities will soon be able to pay Air Quality Annual Operating Permit Maintenance Fees online through DEP’s ePermitting application on Greenport. More information can be found here.

Proposals Open for Comment:

None currently open.

Recent Department Comments to EPA or other Proposals:

• Comments on EPA's interim final rulemaking "Good Neighbor Plan for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) (July 31, 2023).” (PDF)
• Comments on EPA proposed amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Ethylene Oxide Emissions from Commercial Sterilization Facilities. (PDF)
• Comments on EPA’s Proposed Rulemaking entitled “Federal Implementation Plan Addressing Regional Ozone Transport for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard.” (April 6, 2022). (PDF)
• Attachment 1 (MS XLS)
• Attachment 2 (MS XLS)
• Attachment 3 (MS XLS)
  
• Comments on the EPA’s Proposed Disapproval of Interstate Transport Requirements for the 2008 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards; New York and New Jersey (November 3, 2021) (PDF)
• Comments on Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Potential Future Regulation Addressing Pyrolysis and Gasification Units
• Ozone Transport Commission Recommendation that EPA Require Daily Limits for Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides from Certain Sources in Pennsylvania (January 15, 2021)
• Interim PFAS Destruction and Disposal Guidance; Notice of Availability for Public Comment (PDF)
• Comments on Reclassification of Major Sources as Area Sources Proposed Rule
• Comments on the Reconsideration of Supplemental Finding and Residual Risk and Technology Review for Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units: NESHAPs (PDF)
• Comments on the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule published by the US EPA on August 31, 2018 (PDF)
• Comments on the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule for 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks (PDF)
  • Supplemental Comments on the Proposed Ruling (PDF)
• Comments on CARB proposed amendments to LEV III GHG emission regulation (PDF)
• Proposed Withdrawal of the Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry (Mar 9, 2018) (PDF)
• Comments on EPA's Proposed Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Update for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS (Dec. 3, 2015) (PDF)
• Proposed Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New and Modified Sources; Source Determination Proposed Rule, and Draft Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry (September 18, 2015) (PDF)
  

Marcellus Shale Long-Term Air Monitoring Project Report

The Department of Environmental Protection undertook a project to examine the impacts from air emissions from unconventional gas production within Washington County. Data was collected over a one-year period in 2012-2013 and results were subjected to a series of analyses conducted by DEP, DOH and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Air quality measurements were collected from 5 Washington County sites, and an additional comparison was performed using data from an air monitoring station in Adams County. Air quality was monitored for ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide and methane. Additionally, the air was tested for over 60 toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Continuous meteorological data was also collected.

The air data was compared to National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), ATSDR public health comparison values, Air Quality Index (AQI) indicators, and background values found in Pennsylvania. The data was also subjected to a screening-level risk quantification for hazardous air pollutants. The report from ATSDR can be found here.

• Project Report (PDF)
• Project Supporting Data (MS XL)

Analysis of Data: Long-Term Particulate Matter Monitoring (Bath Borough, PA)

The department initiated continuous, 24-hour ambient air monitoring for total suspended particulate (TSP), sulfate and select metals at a location near the Keystone Cement Company production facility in East Allen Township, Northampton County, PA in 1995. Sampling was initiated to monitor the facility's particulate emissions in the ambient air and to evaluate the potential health effects on the community. Upon completion of the sampling in 2015, the data was analyzed and compared to health-based screening values. The findings from the analysis can be found in the following report.

Find the Information you Want

Look for these links in the menu to your right, or visit the Air Quality Functions page to find out what we do and who to talk to:

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Advisory Groups —

The Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee, Small Business Compliance Advisory Committee, and the Climate Change Advisory Committee meeting times and materials.

Automobiles —

The Clean Vehicles program, emissions inspection, diesel idling and retrofits, and general automobile emissions information.

Business Topics —

Asbestos, Continuous Emission Monitoring, Emission Inventory, Small Business Assistance, and Source Testing information.

General Information —

Information on the Bureau of Air Quality, other links, Open Burning, and ragweed pollen.

Monitoring Topics —

Acid Rain and Mercury in rain, the Air Quality Index, and ambient monitoring of pollutants in the air.

Permits —

Plan Approvals, Operating Permits, General Permits, Requests for Determination, Emission Reduction Credits, and the control of carbon emissions from power plants.

Pollutants —

The different types of pollutants, their standards in ambient air and as emissions, the amounts being emitted from sources and the transport of pollutants between regions.

Regulations and Clean Air Plans —

Revisions to the State Implementation Plan, attainment of standards around the state, existing and proposed regulations, and Control Techniques Guidelines.