A. Upon the effective date of permitting rules promulgated pursuant to the Oklahoma Clean Air Act, it shall be unlawful for any person to construct any new source, or to modify or operate any new or existing source of emission of air contaminants except in compliance with a permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality, unless the source has been exempted or deferred or is in compliance with an applicable deadline for submission of an application for such permit.
B. The Department shall have the authority and the responsibility, in accordance with rules of the Environmental Quality Board, to implement a comprehensive permitting program for the state consistent with the requirements of the Oklahoma Clean Air Act. Such authority shall include but shall not be limited to the authority to:
1. Expeditiously issue, reissue, modify and reopen for cause, permits for new and existing sources for the emission of air contaminants, and to grant a reasonable measure of priority to the processing of applications for new construction or modifications. The Department may also revoke, suspend, deny, refuse to issue or to reissue a permit upon a determination that any permittee or applicant is in violation of any substantive provisions of the Oklahoma Clean Air Act, or any rule promulgated thereunder or any permit issued pursuant thereto;
2. Refrain from issuing a permit when issuance has been objected to by the Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with Title V of the Federal Clean Air Act;
3. Revise any permit for cause or automatically reopen it to incorporate newly applicable rules or requirements if the remaining permit term is greater than three (3) years; or incorporate insignificant changes into a permit without requiring a revision;
4. Establish and enforce reasonable permit conditions which may include, but not be limited to:
5. Require, if necessary, at the expense of the permittee or applicant:
6. Issue:
7. Require, at a minimum, that emission control devices on stationary sources be reasonably maintained and properly operated;
8. Require that a permittee certify that the facility is in compliance with all applicable requirements of the permit and to promptly report any deviations therefrom to the Department;
9. Issue permits to sources requiring permits under Title V of the Federal Clean Air Act for a term not to exceed five (5) years, except that solid waste incinerators may be allowed a term of up to twelve (12) years provided that the permit shall be reviewed no less frequently than every five (5) years;
10. Specify requirements and conditions applicable to the content and submittal of permit applications; set by rule, a reasonable time in which the Department must determine the completeness of such applications; and
11. Determine the form and content of emission inventories and require their submittal by any source or potential source of air contaminant emissions.
C. Rules of the Board may set limits below which a source of air contaminants may be exempted from the requirement to obtain a permit or to pay any fee. Any source so exempted, however, shall remain under jurisdiction of the Department and shall be subject to any applicable rules or general permit requirements. Such rules shall not prohibit sawmill facilities from open burning any wood waste resulting from the milling of untreated cottonwood lumber in areas that have always attained ambient air quality standards.
D. To ensure against unreasonable delay on the part of the Department, the failure of the Department to act in either the issuance, denial or renewal of a permit in a reasonable time, as determined by rule, shall be deemed to be a final permit action solely for purpose of judicial review under the Administrative Procedures Act, with regard to the applicant or any person who participated in the public review process. The Supreme Court or the district court, as the case may be, may require that action be taken by the Department on the application without additional delay. No permit, however, may be issued by default.
E. The Department shall notify, or require that any applicant notify, all states whose air quality may be affected and that are contiguous to the State of Oklahoma, or are within fifty (50) miles of the source of each permit application or proposed permit for those sources requiring permits under Title V of the Federal Clean Air Act, and shall provide an opportunity for such states to submit written recommendations respecting the issuance of the permit and its terms and conditions.
F. No person, including but not limited to the applicant, shall raise any reasonably ascertainable issue in any future proceeding, unless the same issues have been raised and documented before the close of the public comment period on the draft permit.
G. A change in ownership of any facility or source subject to permitting requirements under this section shall not necessitate any action by the Department not otherwise required by the Oklahoma Clean Air Act. Any permit applicable to such source at the time of transfer shall be enforceable in its entirety against the transferee in the same manner as it would have been against the transferor, as shall any requirement contained in any rule, or compliance schedule set forth in any variance or order regarding or applicable to such source. Provided, however, no transferee in good faith shall be held liable for penalties for violations of the transferor unless the transferee assumes all assets and liabilities through contract or other means. For the purposes of this subsection, good faith shall be construed to mean neither having actual knowledge of a previous violation nor constructive knowledge which would lead a reasonable person to know of the violation. It shall be the responsibility of the transferor to notify the Department in writing within thirty (30) days of the change in ownership.
H. Operating permits may be issued to new sources without public review upon a proper determination by the Department that:
1. The construction permit was issued pursuant to the public review requirements of the Code and rules promulgated thereunder; and
2. The operating permit, as issued, does not differ from the construction permit in any manner which would otherwise subject the permit to public review.
Added by Laws 1992, c. 215, § 12, emerg. eff. May 15, 1992. Amended by Laws 1993, c. 145, § 49, eff. July 1, 1993. Renumbered from § 1-1813 of Title 63 by Laws 1993, c. 145, § 359, eff. July 1, 1993. Amended by Laws 1994, c. 373, § 16, eff. July 1, 1994; Laws 1995, c. 285, § 2, eff. July 1, 1996; Laws 1999, c. 284, § 1, emerg. eff. May 27, 1999; Laws 2000, c. 6, § 7, emerg. eff. March 20, 2000; Laws 2004, c. 83, § 1, emerg. eff. April 13, 2004; Laws 2004, c. 381, § 4, emerg. eff. June 3, 2004.
NOTE: Laws 1999, c. 131, § 2 repealed by Laws 2000, c. 6, § 33, emerg. eff. March 20, 2000.