Air permit search glossary

The following terms are used in searches or displayed in results for DNR's Air Permit Search Tool.

County: Name of county where source is located and selected from drop down list on main search page.

City: Name of city where source is located and specified in the City: text box on the main search page. If no results are returned or the results are not as expected, please check the spelling or try alternative spelling. For example: specifying “LaCrosse” will not return a result, but specifying “La Crosse” (with a space between “a” and “C”) returns several results. A portion of the name of the city may also be used to search. For example: “Crosse”.

Facility Name: Name of the company. All results for a particular facility will be returned as specified in the text box. If no results are returned for a particular facility or the results are not as expected, please check the spelling or try alternative spelling.

FID: Facility Identification number and a unique 9-digit number assigned to each facility by DNR. A company may have several facilities in Wisconsin, but each facility will only have one FID associated with it. The name of a company may have changed, however the FID number will not change. If all 9 digits are specified, the search will return an exact match. If a partial FID number is specified, the search will return all entries that contain the partial FID number provided.

Milestone: These are the dates for key events that are tracked by the Air Program during the review of a permit application. The available milestones that may be selected from the drop-down list are:

Application received in FULL — the date the DNR receives the minimum amount of information in the air permit application.

Application found COMPLETE — the date the DNR determines an air permit application contains the necessary information to process the permit.

Notice to Public – Start of Public Comment Period — the date the public notice is published in a newspaper serving the locality where the source is located. The first day of the public comment period, which lasts 30 days, is the day after publication.

Permit proposed to EPA — the date a proposed operation permit for a Part 70 source is submitted to US EPA for review. USEPA has 45 days to complete its review although it may complete its review in less than 45 days.

Permit authority issues permit — the date DNR issues the permit.

To perform a Milestone search, both a beginning and an end date must be provided in the “Date From:” and “Date To:” boxes respectively.

From Date: The starting date of the date range for when a permit reaches a particular milestone. Applicable only when a milestone is specified for a search. The acceptable formats are mm/dd/yyyy, mm.dd.yyyy, and mm-dd-yyyy.

To Date: The ending date of the date range for when a permit reaches a particular milestone. Applicable only when a milestone is specified for a search. The acceptable formats are mm/dd/yyyy, mm.dd.yyyy, and mm-dd-yyyy. A value must also be provided in the Date From: field (see before).

Permit No.: The number assigned to an application and the permit when it is issued. See Permit Type for more information. The DNR also assigns a permit number to exemptions to facilitate uniform tracking of permit activity at a source.

Permit Type: Indicates if the permit application is for construction/modification of a new source or operation of an existing source.

Construction Permits — a construction permit allows a facility to construct one or more new emissions units or modify one or more existing emissions units. A construction permit also allows a facility to initially operate the newly constructed or modified sources. Under a construction permit, a company is typically granted 18 months in which to construct, which may be extended for an additional 18 months if requested by the source, for a total of 36 months. Authorization to construct may be valid beyond the 36 month period for some long term projects and the duration is specified in the permit. The DNR will also issue an operation permit (or revise the operation permit) to include the conditions of the construction permit. Construction permits are further divided in the following subcategories:

Construction: This type of permit is for the construction of one or more new emissions units at a facility.

NSR – Modification: This type of permit is for modification of one or more existing emission units at a facility.

NSR – Revision: This type of permit revises limitations or requirements in a construction permit. Revisions typically include changes that are small enough (as defined by the regulations) to not be considered a modification of the source.

Registration Construction Permit: Registration construction permits, along with registration operation permits, are issued for stationary sources with low actual or potential emissions of air pollutants. A facility may be granted coverage under a registration permit if the source demonstrates it qualifies for a registration permit.

GCP: a GCP or a General Construction Permit is issued for a specific source category (such as crushers). The review stages for a GCP are very similar to other permits, except the review is for a source category rather than a specific facility. An individual source may be issued a GCP after demonstrating it can meet the eligibility criteria for obtaining the GCP. However, the individual application does not need to go through the review stages (such as public comment period) since the original GCP already went through those stages.

Operation Permits — an operation permit allows a facility to operate one or more existing emissions units. A source may not operate unless it holds a valid operation permit or has submitted a complete application for renewal of an existing operation permit. Operation permits typically remain in effect for 5 years, after which it must be renewed. Operation permits are further divided in the following subcategories:

FOP (Federal Operation Permit): issued to a source that is considered a Part 70 source (Part 70 refers to the Code of Federal Regulations at 40 CFR Part 70). These are also referred to as Title V sources (Title V refers to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990). Part 70 sources include major sources of emissions of criteria pollutants or hazardous air pollutants, and some smaller sources of pollution as defined in the regulations.

FOP – Renewal: is the renewal of an existing Federal Operation Permit. Operation permits for Part 70 sources expire after 5 years and a source may not operate unless a complete application for renewal has been submitted to the Department.

FOP – Revision: revises limitations or requirements contained in an existing Federal Operation Permit. A revision expires on the same date the original operation permit was slated to expire, and as with a regular operation permit, a source needs to submit a complete renewal application in order to continue operation after the permit expires.

FESOP (Federally Enforceable State Operation Permit): issued to a source requests a “cap” on emissions. These types of sources are called synthetic minor sources since the emission rates of pollutants generated by these sources are limited or “capped” to less than the major source threshold for the pollutants by limitations in the permit. Sources often elect to do this to avoid other requirements. These permits are remain valid for 5 years, and need to be renewed every 5 years.

FESOP Renewal: the renewal of a FESOP. Operation permits expire after 5 years and a source may not operate unless a complete application for renewal has been submitted to the Department.

FESOP – Revision: revises limitations or requirements contained in a FESOP. A revision expires on the same date the original operation permit was slated to expire, and as with a regular operation permit, a source needs to submit a complete renewal application in order to continue operation after the permit expires.

SOP (State Operation Permit): issued to a source that is considered a natural minor source. For a source to be considered a natural minor source, the potential to emit of emissions or PTE of all pollutants must be less than the respective applicable major source thresholds (100 tons per year for criteria pollutants, 10 TPY for any federally regulated hazardous air pollutant and 25 tons per year for the aggregate of all federally regulated hazardous air pollutants).The Potential to Emit or PTE is calculated taking into account applicable limits that are enforceable in a practicable manner.

SOP Renewal: the renewal of a SOP. Operation permits expire after 5 years and a source may not operate unless a complete application for renewal has been submitted to the Department.

SOP – Revision: revises limitations or requirements contained in a SOP. A revision expires on the same date the original operation permit was slated to expire, and as with a regular operation permit, a source needs to submit a complete renewal application in order to continue operation after the permit expires.

GOP (General Operation Permit): issued for a specific source category (such as crushers). The review stages for a GOP are very similar to other permits, except the review is for a source category rather than a specific facility. An individual source may be issued a GOP after demonstrating it can meet the eligibility criteria for obtaining the GOP. However, the individual application does not need to go through the review stages (such as public comment period) since the original GOP already went through those stages.

Registration Operation Permit: a stationary source with low actual or potential emissions of air pollutants may be granted coverage under a registration operation permit if it demonstrates it qualifies for a registration permit.

Con-OP: allows a facility to continue operating newly constructed or modified sources after the construction permit has expired. After the implementation of the requirements of Clean Air Act, it took some time to review and issue all the operation permit application. During this time, since many sources did not have an operation permit, a permit type was needed to allow operation of sources with construction permits and Con-OP permits were used for this purpose. However, all major and synthetic minor sources have been issued an operation permit and this permit type is no longer assigned to new application. Its use in the search page is for informational purpose only.

Elective Operation Permit: a source may be exempt from obtaining an operation permit, however may decide obtain an operation permit anyway. An elective operation permit is issued to these sources.

Facility Type: Refers to the type of permit(s) (Title V or Non-Title V) for a facility. The requirements in a Title V permit are defined in Title V of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. These permits are also known as Federal Operation Permits or FOPs. Most large sources and some smaller sources of air pollution are required to obtain a Title V permit. For more information, please refer to US EPA’s information page [exit DNR] on Title V permit.

Responsible Official: The Responsible Official for a permitted source is the person responsible for the overall operation of a manufacturing, production or operating facility. In an emergency, this person has the authority to shut down the facility if needed. The term “Responsible Official” is defined in s. NR 400.02(136), Wis. Adm. Code.

DNR Contact: This space lists the staff at DNR’s Air Management Program who may be contacted for questions about a permit.

Review Engineer: staff person responsible for reviewing the permit application.

Compliance Engineer: staff person responsible for verifying compliance with the permit requirements.

Supervisor: Air Management supervisor responsible for the region where the source is located.

Please note that for some permits (particularly for the older ones) the contacts listed may no longer be with the DNR. In these cases, please contact one of the other staff listed.

|| Air Permit Search Help || Air Permit Search || Permits & Modeling ||