What is the air toxics facility data?
On April 6, 2016, Governor Kate Brown launched the Cleaner Air Oregon program. Through this program, the Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon Health Authority are working together to support healthier communities in our state. As part of this effort, DEQ and OHA are updating Oregon's air toxics program to use a health risk-based approach to protecting public health.
DEQ required simple and standard Air Contaminant Discharge Permit holders and Title V permit holders to submit air toxics emissions data (their "emissions inventory") on 187 EPA Hazardous Air Pollutants by May 1, 2017; subsequent time extensions were granted through June.
Permit holders will report information related to any additional state-specific CAO pollutants by Sept. 1, 2017, if not included within the first submittal.
The bulk of general and basic ACDP permit holders (in general, smaller facilities) were only required to submit production information and DEQ will be estimating their emissions, with completion expected by the end of 2017.
The emissions inventory is an estimation of air toxics emissions submitted by DEQ air permit holders regarding 633 identified air toxics. Any one facility will likely only emit a subset of the 633 pollutants based on the production processes located there.
How is DEQ making this information available? Will it change?
The information submitted by permit holders is uploaded to a webdrawer, an online tool DEQ is using to streamline public records requests for emissions inventory data. Because of the different submittal deadlines, information will be added to the webdrawer over time. People accessing the database may need to continue checking the webdrawer to ensure the information they are seeking is complete.
For many permit holders this is the first time their emissions of air toxics will be reviewed by DEQ. This emissions inventory data is unverified by DEQ and anticipated to be of varying quality, as submitted by the permit holders. The emissions inventory data may contain significant over or under estimations of actual emissions.
Emissions inventory estimates are very likely to change with additional review and analysis.
Emissions inventory estimates are not health risk estimates.
How will the emissions inventory data be used?
DEQ will work with permit holders to identify and refine the emissions estimates as appropriate.
Once estimates become more refined (early 2018) DEQ, in consultation with OHA, will use the data to prioritize facilities for inclusion in the first tier of facilities subject to the CAO permitting program.
The emissions inventory is currently in preliminary or raw form. This raw emissions inventory data submitted by facilities is not of adequate quality to trigger any immediate regulatory response.
Raw emissions inventory data may not produce an accurate estimate of the potential risk posed from a facility's emissions.
This information will go through many steps of refinement and is subject to change.