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Air pollution can pose hazards to the public health or the environment. The purpose of this article is to reduce the potential risk of harm to the public health, safety, and welfare or to the environment from releases of air contaminants from buildings, structures, facilities, devices, processes or other air pollution sources within the city.
(Added Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1)
Editor's note – Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1, repealed former § 11-4-600, which pertained to opacity limitations.
For purposes of this Article II, the following definitions shall apply:
"Air contaminant" means any individual substance or matter, including but not limited to smoke, soot, fly ash, dust, cinders, dirt, acids, fumes, oxides, gases, vapors, odors, toxic or radioactive substances, volatile organic compounds, ozone, waste, particulate, solid, liquid or gaseous matter, or any other material, which is a component of or precursor to air pollution.
"Air pollution" means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of any air contaminants that (1) endanger the health, safety or welfare of the public; (2) cause or may cause injury, detriment, nuisance or annoyance to the public or damage to business or property; or (3) leave the premises on which they originated so as to interfere with the reasonable and comfortable use and enjoyment of property.
"Automobile or truck sales lot" means any land area used or intended to be used for the display or sale of passenger automobiles or commercial vehicles.
"Combustion equipment" means any equipment or device which generates heat or energy by burning solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel or other material, and which emits or has the potential to emit air contaminants. Combustion equipment includes, but is not limited to, boilers, furnaces, ovens, incinerators, and generators.
"Dwelling unit" means a single unit of a building providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.
"Equipment" shall have the meaning ascribed to the term "process equipment."
"Emission source" means any and all sources of air pollution, whether privately or publicly owned or operated. Emission source includes, but is not limited to, all types of business, commercial and industrial plants, work shops and stores, and power plants and stations, buildings and other structures of all types, including multiple-family residences, apartment houses, office buildings, hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals, churches and other institutional buildings, automobiles, trucks, construction equipment, underground or above ground storage tanks, tractors, buses and other motor vehicles, garages, vending and service locations or stations, railroad locomotives, ships, boats and other waterborne craft, portable fuel-burning equipment, refuse dumps and piles and all stacks, vents and other chimney outlets from any of the foregoing.
"Emission unit" means any part or activity at a stationary source that emits or has the potential to emit any air pollution.
"Facility" means any commercial, industrial, or residential establishment which contains one or more regulated areas or units of regulated equipment. A facility may consist of more than one building or structure where all lots are contiguous and the parts of the facility are functionally related.
"Fumes" means gases, vapors or particulate matter that are of such character as to cause air pollution.
"Open burning" means the combustion of any matter in such a way that the products of the combustion are emitted into the open air without originating in or passing through equipment for which a permit could be issued under Section 9(b) of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, as amended.
"Particulate matter" means material, other than water, which is suspended in or discharged into the atmosphere in finely divided form as a liquid or solid.
"Pollution control device" means any equipment or device used to eliminate, prevent, reduce or control the emission of air contaminants to the outdoor atmosphere. Pollution control devices include, but are not limited to, scrubbers, dust collectors, thermal oxidizers, cyclones, mist collectors, catalytic converters, and electrostatic precipitators.
"Process area" means any location within a facility where chemical, industrial, commercial, or manufacturing operations are conducted, and which emits or has the potential to emit air contaminants. Activities conducted in a process area include, but are not limited to, motor vehicle repairs, grinding, sawing, sanding, cutting, buffing, packaging, assembling, machining, blending, coating, plating, or mixing.
"Process equipment" means any equipment or device used in any industrial, commercial, or manufacturing operations for the mechanical, thermal, or chemical treatment or processing of a raw material, product, or byproduct, and which emits or has the potential to emit air contaminants. Process equipment includes, but is not limited to, tanks, kettles, converters, CNC machines, kilns, ovens, non-residential food preparation units vented to the outdoor atmosphere via a hood, crucibles, stills, dryers, roasters, crushers, grinders, blenders, mixers, reactors, regenerators, separators, filters, spray booths, columns, classifiers, screeners, quenchers, cookers, washers, scrubbers, mills, condensers, absorbers, balers, compactors, unfired pressure vessels, indirect fired vessels, unit heaters, infra red heaters, makeup air units with heating elements, agitators, and sedimentation and classification devices. Process equipment also includes, but is not limited to, equipment or devices required for water conditioning, treatment of industrial and municipal wastes, metallurgical processing, pulp and paper production, food processing, dry cleaning, petrochemical production and other similar operations.
"Regulated equipment or area" means any combustion equipment, pollution control device, process equipment, or process area.
"Residential heating plant" means equipment that generates heat, including, but not limited to, hot water heaters, furnaces, stoves, and space heaters, for a dwelling unit, a sleeping unit, or a residential building containing three or fewer dwelling units or sleeping units, or shacks and other temporary buildings, including those used by the railroad and construction industries.
"Sleeping unit" means a single unit of a building that provides rooms or spaces for one or more persons, includes permanent provisions for sleeping and can include provisions for living, eating, and either sanitation or kitchen facilities but not both. Such rooms and spaces that are part of a dwelling unit occupied by a single household are not sleeping units.
"Smoke" means small gas-borne particles other than water that form a visible plume in the air from any emission source.
"Stage II vapor recovery system" means a system for gasoline vapor recovery from the fueling of motor vehicles.
"Stationary emission source" means an emission source which is not self-propelled.
(Added Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-21-17, p. 61755, Art. IV, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 10-27-21, p. 39543, Art. VI, § 2)
Editor's note – Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1, repealed former § 11-4-610, which pertained to the emission of particulate matter.
Part B. Permitting (11-4-620 et seq.)
(a) Air pollution control permit required.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this article or in rules promulgated thereunder, no person shall install or operate in any way any regulated equipment or area without a valid air pollution control permit issued by the Commissioner.
(2) No person shall replace or relocate any regulated equipment or area requiring an air pollution control permit without receiving a new air pollution control permit from the Commissioner.
(3) No person shall repair or modify any regulated equipment or area requiring an air pollution control permit, if such repair or modification will increase the quantity or change the nature of air contaminants emitted from such regulated equipment or area, without receiving a new air pollution control permit from the Commissioner.
(b) Posting. Air pollution control permits shall be posted in a conspicuous place at or near the regulated equipment or area for which they are issued.
(c) Exceptions. An air pollution control permit shall not be required for any of the following equipment or under the following circumstances:
(1) Residential heating plants;
(2) Indoor fireplaces;
(3) Self-service laundry washers and dryers;
(4) Air conditioners and refrigerators;
(5) Gas-fired cooking equipment;
(6) Residential emergency or standby generators serving buildings of four or fewer dwelling units;
(7) Bench-scale laboratory equipment used exclusively for chemical or physical analysis;
(8) Repair, replacement, modification, or relocation specifically authorized or required under applicable federal or state law; provided, however, that in the case of such a repair or modification, the owner or operator shall notify the Commissioner in writing at least seven days prior to commencing the repair or modification;
(9) Repair, replacement, modification, or relocation necessitated by an emergency before permission can be obtained, if the Commissioner subsequently determines that such action was taken based on a reasonable belief that an emergency had arisen, and that serious consequences would have resulted if the action was deferred; or
(10) Other equipment or circumstances exempted by the Commissioner in accordance with rules promulgated pursuant to this article.
(d) Termination. Any air pollution control permit issued prior to the installation of any regulated equipment or area shall become void, and all fees paid for such permit shall be forfeited, if installation is not completed within one year from the date of issuance of the air pollution control permit, or any extended period allowed by the Commissioner in writing.
(e) Permit application content. The owner of any regulated equipment or area requiring an air pollution control permit shall file an application in a form prescribed by the Commissioner and provide all requested information.
(f) Other laws and regulations. The permitting requirements of this section do not in any way limit the authority of the Commissioner to enforce any environmental laws or regulations otherwise applicable to a regulated equipment or area installed or operating in the city.
(Added Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. II, § 6; Amend Coun. J. 10-27-21, p. 39543, Art. VI, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 11-7-22, p. 54948, Art. III, § 5)
Editor's note – Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1, repealed former § 11-4-620, which pertained to emission testing.
(a) The commissioner shall grant an air pollution control permit only if the commissioner has determined that:
(1) the owner or operator of the regulated equipment or area for which a permit is sought is not currently in violation of any substantive standards set forth in Part C of this article or any regulations promulgated pursuant to this article; and
(2) any control equipment or technology to be utilized to control the emission of air contaminants is appropriate for the facility's operations and throughput; provided, however, any control equipment or technology permitted by state or federal law or regulation shall be considered appropriate.
(b) The commissioner shall have authority to impose conditions necessary to achieve the purposes of this article upon any permit issued pursuant to this section. Violation of any permit condition shall be considered to be a violation of this section.
(c) Any person whose application for an air pollution control permit is denied, or upon whom permit conditions are imposed pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, may appeal to the commissioner for a hearing on the denial or conditions by submitting a written request for a hearing within 15 days of the date of the letter denying the permit application or granting the application with conditions. The commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, shall commence the hearing within 30 days of receiving a hearing request, unless a later date is scheduled with the mutual consent of the parties. Failure to timely request a hearing in accordance with this paragraph shall constitute a waiver of the opportunity for a hearing.
(Added Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. II, § 6)
Editor's note – Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1, repealed former § 11-4-630, which prohibited atmospheric pollution.
The owner or operator of any regulated equipment or area subject to an air pollution control permit that is dismantled or discontinued shall notify the commissioner in writing of that dismantling or discontinuance within thirty days of its occurrence.
(Added Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1)
Editor's note – Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1, repealed former § 11-4-640, which pertained to public nuisance abatement.
Every applicant for an air pollution control permit shall pay a permit fee of $150.00 per piece of a regulated equipment or area permitted, except that if the regulated equipment or area is installed pursuant to a building permit issued under Chapter 14A-4 of this Code and the required permit fees are paid in accordance with that chapter, no additional fee is required to obtain an air pollution control permit.
(Added Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-10-19, p. 100029, Art. II, § 98)
Editor's note – Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1, repealed former § 11-4-650, which pertained to remedies.
(a) Certificate of operation required. Except as otherwise provided in this article or in rules promulgated thereunder, no person shall cause or allow the operation of any regulated equipment or area requiring an air pollution control permit under Section 11-4-620 of this Code without a valid certificate of operation issued by the Commissioner. An application for a certificate of operation shall be made to the Department in a form prescribed by the Commissioner. Facilities shall be categorized based on the potential or actual emissions of the facility for which the certificate of operation is sought as identified in Section 11-4-680 of this chapter.
(b) Scope of certificate of operation. A single certificate of operation shall be issued for a facility, which may encompass regulated equipment or areas requiring more than one air pollution control permit.
(c) Posting. Certificates of operation shall be posted in a conspicuous place at the facility for which they are issued.
(d) Duration and renewal. A certificate of operation shall be valid for one year from the date of issuance unless a shorter period is specified by the commissioner, subject to annual renewal as set forth in Section 11-4-690.
(e) Exceptions. A certificate of operation shall not be required from the department for facilities operating only the following equipment:
(1) Emergency or standby generators;
(2) Boilers or furnaces; or
(3) Other equipment exempted by the commissioner in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article.
(Added Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 10-27-21, p. 40504, Art. II, § 4)
Editor's note – Coun. J. 10-7-09, p. 73413, § 1, repealed former § 11-4-660, which pertained to required compliance and instruction.
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