Air Definitions

The Air Management program has its own unique terminology which might be confusing. This page supplies all of the common terms and definitions used in the discussion of the air emission inventory.

A- annual thruput, average hourly thruput
C- capture efficiency, CFR, control efficiency, criteria air pollutant
D- device, device code, device id, device name, dismantle date, DNR
E- EPA
F- facility, facility identification (FID) number
H- hazardous air pollutant
I- installation date
M- material codes, max hourly thruput
N- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code; NR 410.04, Wis. Adm. Code; NR 438, Wis. Adm. Code
O- operator
P- POTW, Process, Process Code, Process ID
R ROG
S- SCC, source, source code, SIC, stream
T- total control efficiency
W - WDNR

A

Annual thruput

The actual annual process throughput or the actual amount of fuel burned during the calendar year.

Avg Hourly Thruput

The actual annual process throughput divided by the number of hours per day you operated and then divided by the number of days in 2005 you operated.

C

Capture Efficiency

Capture efficiency is the weight per unit time of an air contaminant entering a capture system and delivered to a control device divided by the weight per unit time of the air contaminant generated by the source, expressed as a percentage.

CFR

The Code of Federal Regulations, or CFR, contains the detailed regulations, written by Federal Agencies, to implement the provisions of laws passed by Congress. Regulations in CFR have the force of Federal law.

Control Efficiency

Control efficiency is the percentage by which a control device or technique reduces the emissions from a stationary source.

Criteria Air Pollutant

Criteria air pollutant is an air contaminant for which an ambient air quality standard is set in ch. NR 404, Wis. Adm. Code (exit DNR). Although lead has an ambient air quality standard, it is considered a hazardous air contaminant in Wisconsin because Wisconsin does not have industries in which lead is a primary air pollutant.

D

Device

A physical object (e.g., a piece of equipment) that does one of the following:

Produces air emissions.
controls (destroys) air emissions
passes air emissions through it (e.g., a stack)

Examples: boiler, paint booth, stockpile, crusher, haul roads, storage tank, stack

Device code

Indicates the "type" of device in the device section of CRS. A device code can be boiler, generator, generic, etc.

Device ID

A device id is an identification tag for the device (e.g B01, P10, S15).

Device name

A device name is a longer description of the device, used to help you identify the device.

Dismantle date

The date that the device was (or is going to be) permanently dismantled.

DNR

The State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Also known as WDNR.

E

EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, is also called USEPA, for United States Environmental Protection Agency. Established in 1970 by presidential executive order, it brings together parts of various government agencies involved with the control of pollution.

F

Facility

An establishment-residential, commercial, institutional or industrial-which emits or causes emissions of an air contaminant.

H

Hazardous Air Pollutant

Hazardous air pollutant means any air contaminant for which no ambient air quality standard is set (with the exception of lead) in ch. NR 404, Wis. Adm. Code, and which the department determines may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness, or may pose a significant threat to human health or the environment. Hazardous air pollutants include, but are not limited to, substances listed in Tables 1 to 5 in s. NR 445.04, Wis. Adm. Code.

I

Installation date

The date the device was first installed.

M

Material code

A material code describes the primary material associated with the proces.

Max Hourly Thruput

The maximum rate at which throughput could possibly be consumed or the maximum rate at which fuel could possibly be burned.

N

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code

NAICS industries are identified by a 6-digit code, in contrast to the 4-digit Source Industrial Classification (SIC) code. The longer code accommodates the larger number of sectors and allows more flexibility in designating subsectors. It also provides for additional detail not necessarily appropriate for all three NAICS countries (United States, Canada, Mexico). The international NAICS agreement fixes only the first five digits of the code. The sixth digit, where used, identifies subdivisions of NAICS industries that accommodate user needs in individual countries. Thus, 6-digit U.S. codes may differ from counterparts in Canada or Mexico, but at the 5-digit level they are standardized.

For more information regarding NAICS go to http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html (exit DNR).

NR 410.04, Wis. Adm. Code

NR 410.04, Wis. Adm. Code, (exit DNR) establishes air emission fees and a dispute mechanism for air emission fees.

ch. NR 438, Wis. Adm. Code

Chapter NR 438, Wis. Adm. Code, (exit DNR) establishes emission reporting requirements for facilities in Wisconsin.

O

Operator

Operator means any person who leases, controls, operates, or supervises a facility, an air contaminant source, or air pollution control equipment.

P

POTW

A POTW, Publicly Owned Treatment Works, is a municipal sewage or liquid industrial waste treatment device or system owned by the State or a municipality.

Process

The series of actions or operations that occur at a device (or what happens at a device). Examples of processes include: 1) the burning of fuel in a boiler, 2) the filling and emptying of a storage tank, 3) the controlling of pollutants in a collector, 4) the burning of natural gas in an incinerator.

Process code

Indicates the type of process (ex. external combustion, filtering).

Process ID

An identification tag for the process.

R

ROG

Before the Clean Air Act was amended in 1990, volatile organic compounds included chlorofluorocarbons. The Clean Air Act regulates chlorofluorocarbons as a separate entity. In order to avoid confusion, USEPA changed the term VOC to ROG after the Clean Air Act was amended.

Under ch. NR 438, Wis. Adm. Code, you are required to report all VOC(ROG) emissions as currently defined in s. NR 400.02(100). This definition specifically excludes, by name, various chlorofluorocarbons and related chlorofluorocarbon compounds, acetone, and other compounds which have been determined to have negligible photochemical reactivity.

S

SCC

SCC (Source Classification Codes) are eight digit numbers used to assign USEPA emission factors to pieces of equipment that generate air emissions. The eight digits signify different levels of specificity.

The four levels of source descriptions for SCCs are associated with the first 1, 3, 6, and 8 characters.

The first level uses only the first character and provides only the most general information on the category of the emissions.

The second level of description is associated with the first three characters, and subdivides the five major categories above into major industry groups. For example, 1-01 indicates External Combustion in Utility Boilers, and 1-02 indicates External Combustion in Industrial Boilers. The Manufacturing Processes category (3-) is currently divided into 21 industry classes, such as Chemical Manufacturing (3-01), Food and Agriculture (3-02), and Primary Metal Production (3-03).

The third level of description requires the first six characters to be specified, and it identifies a specific industry or emission source category, e.g., Cotton Ginning (3-02-004), or Primary Copper Smelting (3-03-005). The three characters which have been added to the industry class description (the first three characters) usually indicate the major product, raw material, or fuel used.

The fourth level of description is associated with the full eight character code. The addition of two more characters beyond the third level specifies the particular emitting process within the third-level source category. For example, SCC 3-03-005-06 specifies the Ore Concentrate Dryer emission source at a Primary Copper Smelting facility (3-03-005).

An eight-character code may correspond to a particular boiler type, process heater, process vent, or fuel. A single emission point may have two or more SCCs if it uses more than one material or burns more than one type of fuel, but most emission points will be described by one SCC.

For more information on Source Classification Codes (SCC) go to http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/codes/index.html#scc (exit DNR)

Source

An establishment--residential, commercial, institutional or industrial--which emits or causes emissions of air contaminants. Equivalent to a facility

Source Code

The source code describes the production or service process associated with generation of waste.

Standard Industrial Classification Code (SIC)

The SIC code is a four-digit coding system developed by the federal Census Bureau and Office of Management and Budget, that categorizes the principal product or group of products produced or distributed, or services rendered at a site's physical location.

USEPA requested States use the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) for reporting because this system is less general than the four digit SIC. Consequently both air and hazardous waste request information for SIC and NAICS. For more information regarding SIC go to http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/codes/index.html#sic (exit DNR).

Stream

An air "stream" identifies the air emission flows between processes. For example, the flow between a boiler and a stack is identified as the "stream" between the boiler and the stack.

T

Total Control Efficiency

Total control efficiency for a control is the capture efficiency, if greater than zero, multiplied by the control efficiency, expressed as a percentage.

W

WDNR

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

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Last Revised: Thursday January 08 2009