Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
The state of Massachusetts is part of the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC), therefore projects outside the named nonattainment areas in state that exceed 100 tons of NOx and VOC may be required to offset their emissions with Emission Reduction Credits.
Dukes County is only county in Massachusetts in nonattainment. This region is currently designated as a Marginal nonattainment area for ozone under the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
Under the federal nonattainment New Source Review (NSR) permitting program, new or modified major stationary sources of ozone precursors—nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC)—are required to obtain Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs) to offset any proposed emission increases. The offset ratio for marginal nonattainment area for ozone is 1.1 to 1. That means if 100 tpy of NOx are emitted from a proposed new or modified major facility must obtain 110 tpy of ERCs to offset the increase in NOx emissions.
| Pollutant | New Major Source Emission Rates | Major Modification to existing Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nitrogen oxides (NOx) | ≥100 tons/year | ≥40 tons/year |
| Volatile Organic compounds (VOC) | ≥100 tons/year | ≥40 tons/year |
Facilities that were emitting NOx or VOC may be eligible to generate Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs) with a permanent reduction of those emissions generating from a shutdown or installation of control technology or process change.
If your company has a new project that exceeds thresholds or had a facility with permanent reduction of emissions at any level, please reach out to see how Emissions Experts can assist.