Maintenance, Startup, Shutdown (MSS) or Startup, Shutdown, Malfunction (SSM) - Excessive Emissions - Need to Report? Need to Permit?

摘要

Acronyms are a necessary part of the environmental community. But they only serve us well when their meanings are commonly understood. Take the acronyms MSS and SSM - terms used frequently and interchangeably in air quality "regulatory-speak". Even though they sound alike they mean different things and their meanings can change from one regulatory jurisdiction to the next; some states think of SSM as startups, shutdowns, and malfunctions, while others refer to SSM as startup, shutdown, and maintenance. These acronyms have one thing in common, however - they refer to emissions in excess of routine amounts - emissions which could be construed as exceeding a regulatory standard or permit limit. This paper will explore the origins of the regulatory determination of whether such emissions are authorized (i.e. exempt from enforcement) or not. State programs will be reviewed and discussed showing the many different ways the issue is approached from the standpoint of routine excess emissions or emissions due to upsets, their reportability to an agency, including them in New Source Review (NSR) permits to authorize them, and bringing enforcement action if they are deemed to be avoidable or allowing enforcement discretion where they are deemed to be unavoidable.