Title V Air Operating Permits

Part 70 of EPA's rules sets the minimum elements of the State operating permit programs that Title V of the Clean Air Act calls for (40 CFR 70.1(a)); where EPA runs the program, EPA is the permitting authority (40 CFR 70.2). Each source the part covers "shall have a permit to operate that assures compliance by the source with all applicable requirements" (40 CFR 70.1(b)).

What puts a property on this record

The regulation says which sources must be permitted, not which are listed.

Sources covered. Any major source; any source, area sources included, subject to a Clean Air Act section 111 or 112 standard or other requirement, though not solely because of section 112(r); any affected source under the acid rain program; and any source in a category EPA designates (40 CFR 70.1(d), 70.3(a)).
Major source. A stationary source, or a group under common control on contiguous or adjacent properties in one industrial grouping, whose actual or potential emissions reach a threshold: under section 112, for pollutants other than radionuclides, "10 tons per year (tpy) or more of any hazardous air pollutant" listed, 25 tpy of a combination, or a lesser amount EPA sets by rule; under section 302, 100 tpy of a pollutant subject to regulation; and lower thresholds under part D of title I, as in some nonattainment areas. The definition also sets rules for counting fugitive emissions and oil and gas wells (40 CFR 70.2).
Exemptions. Until EPA completes a rulemaking on them, a State may exempt nonmajor sources, other than affected sources and certain incineration units; for nonmajor sources under section 111 or 112 standards published after July 21, 1992, EPA decides on exemption when it sets each standard. Sources covered only by the residential wood heater or the asbestos demolition and renovation standards are exempt (40 CFR 70.3(b)(1), (2), (4)).

What a listing shows, and what it does not

The regulation does not say what a listing holds. The application gives the source's processes and products; its emissions by emissions unit, apart from insignificant activities on a list EPA has approved, which are still named where exempted for size or production rate, and never leaving out what is needed to decide or impose a requirement or to figure the fee; fuels and raw materials where needed to set emissions; its control equipment; the requirements that apply; and a compliance plan, with a schedule for any requirement not met (40 CFR 70.5(c)). The permit sets emission limits and monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting terms, for no more than five years for most sources (40 CFR 70.6(a)).

Monitoring reports are due at least every six months, and "All instances of deviations from permit requirements must be clearly identified in such reports"; deviations, with their probable cause and the measures taken, are also reported promptly, as the permitting authority defines prompt (40 CFR 70.6(a)(3)(iii)). Compliance certifications, at least yearly, identify each deviation (40 CFR 70.6(c)(5)).

Part 70 deals with air emissions and air requirements; it says nothing of releases to soil, groundwater or surface water. A source without a Title V permit may still emit, since nonmajor sources may be exempted (40 CFR 70.3(b)(1)).

In a Phase I ESA

These permits are not a standard source of Table 2, and Table 3, the standard's examples of additional records, does not name them (E1527-21, 8.2.2, Table 2, Table 3). Additional records are checked when the environmental professional judges them reasonably ascertainable, useful, accurate and complete enough for the purpose of the records review, and generally obtained in initial site assessments for the type of transaction involved, under local good commercial and customary practice (E1527-21, 8.2.4).

Before the site visit, the owner, the key site manager if one is identified, and the user if not the owner are asked whether documents such as air permits exist (E1527-21, 10.8, 10.8.1). The standard puts regulatory compliance outside its scope (E1527-21, 13.1.5.14). Its hazardous substances take in the hazardous air pollutants that Clean Air Act section 112 lists (E1527-21, 3.2.36).

For a source at the subject property, the answer turns on the processes, fuels and raw materials the permit file describes, where hazardous substances and petroleum products were stored and handled, and what the site visit and interviews show of tanks, drums, stains and drains (E1527-21, 9.4.11, 9.4.12, 9.4.15, 9.4.20, 9.4.21, 9.4.23). Where they show a release that left hazardous substances or petroleum products present or likely present at the subject property, the condition is listed in the Conclusions as a recognized environmental condition (REC) unless judged a de minimis condition or a historical REC, and the professional should give an opinion on additional investigation, if any (E1527-21, 3.2.20, 3.2.39, 3.2.73, 12.7, 12.8). See hazardous substances stored and used at an operating business.

A listing of the subject property, or of another site inside the approximate minimum search distance, gets the professional's judgment on its significance (E1527-21, 8.1.10). See adjoining or nearby property.

What the federal rule says

The inquiry rule does not name air permits. For the subject property, its list includes:

Records of activities, conditions, or incidents likely to cause or contribute to releases or threatened releases as defined in § 312.1(c)

40 CFR 312.26(b)(2), edition revised as of July 1, 2025

Its examples include records and permits for landfills, storage tanks and hazardous waste handlers, and spill reporting records (40 CFR 312.26(b)(2)). The rule lets the procedures of E1527-21 be used to comply with its sections 312.23 through 312.31 (40 CFR 312.11(a)).

Where the record is kept

The permitting authority is the agency EPA has authorized, or EPA where it runs the program (40 CFR 70.2). A State program must be able to make public the applications, compliance plans, permits and the monitoring and certification reports, except information entitled to confidential treatment, which a permit's own contents are not (40 CFR 70.4(b)(3)(viii)). The source keeps monitoring data and support information for at least 5 years (40 CFR 70.6(a)(3)(ii)(B)). For EPA's public compliance records of air sources, see ECHO.

This page is general reference for environmental professionals. It does not classify any property. ASTM E1527-21 is the standard and is not reproduced here; the judgment of the environmental professional on the facts governs.