(a) Circumvention.
(1) No owner or operator subject to the provisions of this part shall build, erect, install, or use any article, machine, equipment, or process to conceal an emission that would otherwise constitute noncompliance with a relevant standard. Such concealment includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) The use of diluents to achieve compliance with a relevant standard based on the concentration of a pollutant in the effluent discharged to the atmosphere; and
(2) The fragmentation of an operation for the purpose of avoiding regulation by a relevant standard.
(b) Prohibited activities.
(1) No owner or operator subject to the provisions of this part shall operate any regulated source in violation of the requirements of this part except under the following provisions:
(i) An extension or waiver of compliance granted by the Administrator under an applicable part; or
(ii) An extension of compliance granted under an applicable part by a State with an approved permit program; or
(iii) An exemption from compliance granted by the President under section 112(i)(4) of the Act.
(2) After the effective date of an approved permit program in a State, no owner or operator of a regulated source in that State who is required under an applicable part to obtain a title V permit shall operate such source except in compliance with the provisions of this part and the applicable requirements of the permit program in that State.
(3) An owner or operator of a regulated source who is subject to an emission standard promulgated under this part or a referencing part shall comply with the requirements of that standard by the date(s) established in the applicable subpart(s) (including this subpart) regardless of whether the following criteria are met:
(i) A title V permit has been issued to that source; or
(ii) If a title V permit has been issued to that source, whether such permit has been revised or modified to incorporate the emission standard.
(c) Severability. Notwithstanding any requirement incorporated into a title V permit obtained by an owner or operator subject to the provisions of this part, the provisions of this part are federally enforceable.