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This Web site provides information on the air permitting process of the
Clean Air Act. It also allows on-line viewing of permits, engineering reports, and
correspondence from regional, state and local air agencies.
Each year in the U.S., industrial operations emit nearly 100 million tons of pollutants
into the air. These include pollutants that make breathing difficult, form urban smog, impair
visibility, and attack ecosystems. Some of these pollutants can cause cancer or other
serious health effects. Some of the many pollutants emitted into the air each year are sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen dioxides, carbon monoxide, benzene, mercury and dioxin. Many of the sources
of this air pollution are large facilities, such as petroleum refineries and chemical plants, that
can have literally thousands of potential emission points. Other pollution sources can be smaller,
such as gasoline filling stations, drycleaning operations, and paint spray booths. Several of
these air pollution sources, particularly the larger sources, are required by federal measures to
reduce emissions and to obtain air pollution permits to ensure compliance.
Federal Operating Permits -- Existing industrial sources are required to obtain an"operating permit".
The operating permit program is a national permitting system that consolidates all of the air pollution
control requirements into a single, comprehensive "operating permit" that covers all aspects of a source's
year-to-year air pollution activities.
Federal New Source Construction Permits -- Air pollution permits are also required for businesses that
build new pollution sources or make significant changes to existing pollution sources. These are
sometimes referred to as "preconstruction" or "new source review" permits. These permits are required to
ensure that large new emissions do not cause significant health or environmental threats and that new
pollution sources are well-controlled.
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