A. Which Emissions Do I Report?
B. What Forms Do I Use?
C. What Is the Difference Between Permitted and Non-Permitted Equipment?
D. Why Do I Need to Provide Information for Both Permitted and Non-Permitted Equipment?
E. How Do I Report My Facility's Status Change?
F. What If I Have Multiple Locations?
G. Can I Receive Credits For Recycled Organic Liquid Waste?
H. Do I Report Vehicle Emissions?
I. How Long Do I Keep a Copy of My AQMD Forms?
J. What If I Wish to Use VOC Contents Different Than the Default Values?
K. What If I Wish to Use Rule-Based Emission Factors Rather Than The Default Values?
L. Where Do I Report Emissions From Miscellaneous Activities?
M. What Do I Need to Include in My Return Packet?
N. Am I a RECLAIM Facility?
O. Do I Report RECLAIM Emissions on Forms B1, B1U, B2, B2U, B4, B4U, E1, E1U, or other appropriate forms?
P. How do I report emissions if my facility become a RECLAIM facility at a time other than the first day of the reporting year?
Q. How Do I Report Emissions From My Wave Soldering Machine?
R. Do I Report Emissions From Portable Equipment Registered Under the Statewide Portable Equipment Registration Program (PERP)?
S. How Do I Calculate Organic Waste Credits For a Process Which is Vented to a Control Device?
T. What is Certified Laboratory mentioned on Form WT, Form W and Form WU?
U. As a Furniture Stripping Facility, Do I Have to Pay Fees for the Use of Methylene Chloride?
V. How are emission from Charbroilers and Deep Fat Frying Operations Reported?
W. What is the Overall Control Efficiency?
X . How Do I Prepare My Report if I use the Software Reporting Program?
Y. How Do I Prepare My Report if I use Paper Forms?
Z. Do I need to report total Particulate Matter (PM) or PM10?
AA. What do Rich-Burn or Lean-Burn Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) mean?
AB. What Does Horsepower (HP) Mean?
AC. What is the Difference Between Two-Stroke Internal Combustion (IC) Engine and Four-Stroke IC Engine?
AD. What is BTU/HR (British Thermal Unit per Hour)?
AE. What are the Worker and Residential Receptor Distance?
AF. What is SCR and SNCR? 

AG. What are architectural coatings?
                                                                                                                                                              

All operating equipment which requires an AQMD permit, even if applications have not been submitted or written permits yet issued, is considered permitted equipment for Annual Emissions Reporting.  Equipment or processes that are not required to have an AQMD permit are considered non-permitted equipment.  A list of equipment or processes that are not required to have an AQMD permit can be found in AQMD Rule 219. Equipment/emissions exempt pursuant to Rule 219 must have separate records to clearly demonstrate that the fuels or the materials were used exclusively in non-permitted equipment in order to report the emissions on “non-permitted” equipment forms (“U” forms).  If you do not have records to clearly document these non-permitted emissions, you must report this information on the “permitted” equipment forms.  You may obtain a copy of AQMD Rule 219 (Equipment not Requiring a Written Permit) by contacting the AQMD Public Information Center at (909) 396-3600 or using the AQMD web site at www.aqmd.gov.

For previously exempt equipment under Rule 219 (i.e., equipment being deleted from the Rule 219 list), the equipment is considered permitted equipment from January 1, or July 1, whichever is sooner after Rule 219 is amended to exclude this equipment from exemption, even if applications have not been submitted or written permits yet issued. Fuel and material use data for such equipment should be reported on the “permitted” equipment forms.

In addition, equipment, processes, and operations which are directly related to permitted equipment or processes are considered permitted, even though they themselves may not require a specific permit.  For example, emissions from materials used in preparing surfaces before being sprayed in a permitted spray booth are considered permitted emissions and should also be reported on the “permitted” emission forms.

Beginning with reporting cycle 2001-2002 Annual Emissions Reporting Program, non-permitted emissions are subject to emission fees as per AQMD Rule 301(e)(2) and authorized under Health and Safety Code (Section 40522.5).   

Non-permitted emissions subject to emission fees include emission sources that do not specifically require an AQMD permit but are regulated by AQMD rules and regulations (e.g., Reg. XI rules, Reg. IV prohibitory rules, etc.).  For example, emissions from solvent cleaning operations subject to Rule 1171 which are classified as non-permitted emissions are now subject to emission fees.

Emissions data from your equipment and processes, both permitted and non-permitted, are used to compile the emission inventory for this region. This information is required by state and federal air quality management programs. The emission inventory forms the basis for air quality planning and analysis which is an important component of our region’s Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP).  Therefore, under AQMD Rule 301(e), you are required to report all emissions from your facility.  

Note: If your six-digit facility ID number begins with an “8” (800000 series), you should file a single emission report for each 800000 series ID.  The 800000 series “unitized” ID numbers are issued to large facilities such as refineries with equipment at contiguous or adjacent locations.  If you have an 800000 series ID and have received multiple packets for various sub-portions of your facility, please call the Help and Appointment Hotline.

Yes, you can.  In order for you to receive credits for the liquid hazardous waste shipped out for recycling or disposal, you must complete Form W, WU and/or WT.  You must list all waste shipments from your facility and submit a copy of the waste manifest for each shipment.  A 50% credit for the organic waste solvents or applicable TAC substances will be given. You may qualify for higher credits if you submit a copy of waste (chemical) analysis performed by a certified laboratory for each shipment. In the absence of a certified lab analysis, auto body shops and car dealers can apply a 70% standard default solvent percent to their recycled clean-up solvent waste and claim 100% waste credit. You cannot report waste credits that exceed your reported emissions. Verify that you have calculated waste credits correctly. Refer to Appendix E for more guidance. Waste material should directly correspond to emitting materials. If the emitting equipment has a control device, please refer to Question S.

No, do not include fuel usage or emissions from company “fleet” vehicles such as on-road motor vehicles (cars, trucks, and vans) or off-road vehicles and mobile equipment (forklifts, bulldozers, and tractors).  However, you must report emissions from portable IC engines which are not registered with the state (See Question R).

You are recommended to keep a copy of your report for at least five years, as well as the records and calculations used in preparing this report, for your files and for use in the event of an AQMD audit.

You are required to use the best available data to report the VOC content whether it is higher or lower than the default value. AQMD recognizes and encourages the use of VOC data from the supplier Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). You must provide copies of the MSDS used in preparing your annual emission reports.  Commercial grade generic organic chemicals used as solvents and thinners have their densities as the emission factors (VOC content).  In these instances the values in Appendix B are adequate.

The three-digit general Material Codes in Appendix B should be used on B3 and B3U forms in conjunction with the MSDS.  However, if the MSDS cannot be secured nor an equivalent reliable reference provided, you may use VOC values provided in Appendix B. The VOC values in Appendix B are default factors that should only be used when more accurate values are unavailable.

You are required to use emission factors which most accurately reflect emissions from your equipment whether it is higher or lower than the default values. You may use rule-based factors, permit limit factors, or BACT factors as long as your equipment complies with the corresponding rule, permit, or BACT level. Except for Rule 1162, for which you may contact District staff at (714) 596-7456 Hotline for more information. You must submit a list of equipment by rule number and by permit number that complies with the rule or permit limit, or complies with the BACT levels.

If you have any stationary source emissions from miscellaneous activities at your facility not specifically addressed on any other form, please use Form B4 or Form B4U.  Select and enter an appropriate “activity code” listed in Appendix F for your miscellaneous activities. Enter the requested data and quantify the respective emissions in the assigned columns.

Please refer to Section 12, “What to Submit”.

Only certain facilities are included in the RECLAIM program based on their NOx and/or SOx emissions. RECLAIM facilities are required to report their emissions on a daily, monthly, and/or quarterly basis depending on the type/size of the facility. RECLAIM facilities already know that they are in the RECLAIM program because of the AQMD requirements. However, please contact our Hotline if you are in doubt. 

RECLAIM NOx and/or SOx emissions are reported on Form CR ONLY. DO NOT DOUBLE-REPORT RECLAIM NOx and/or SOx emissions on Forms B1, B1U, B2, B2U, B4, B4U, E1, E1U, or other forms. Non-RECLAIM emissions (emissions that are not subject to RECLAIM requirements) should be reported on the appropriate forms as instructed in the AER Program. The non-RECLAIM emissions are TAC, ROG, PM, CO, NOx from emergency flares, and SOx from equipment that burn natural gas only. For RECLAIM facilities, on detail criteria forms, replace NOx (and/or SOx) emissions that are subject to RECLAIM requirements with “0” (zero) to avoid double-reporting NOx (and/or SOx) emissions.

A facility is not officially a RECLAIM facility until the initial issuance date of the RECLAIM Facility Permit. The facility should report emissions as a non-RECLAIM facility for the portion of the year prior to the effective date of the RECLAIM Facility permit. From the effective date of the RECLAIM Facility Permit forward, the facility should report emissions as a RECLAIM facility.

The wave soldering machine results in trace emissions of lead which need not be reported.  However, for flux used in your wave soldering machine, you should report the organic gas emissions based on the VOC content of the flux and the particulate matter emissions based on the oil and resin content (from MSDS) of the flux on Form B4. If you need help calculating these emissions, please call the Hotline.

No. Once the PERP registration is issued, registered equipment would be subject to the reporting requirements of the Statewide PERP program and would not be required to report their emissions under the AQMD Annual Emission Reporting Program anymore. Facilities with registered portable equipment must provide a copy of the registration certification as supporting documentation. For RECLAIM facilities, emissions from registered portable equipment included in RECLAIM emissions (APEP report) are subtracted from this total (on Form CR) for fee purposes.

Method 2:  If your waste records provide the amount of material that was generated from the process which is vented to the control device but did not go through the control device, enter this amount on Form B3 without applying the control efficiency and report the corresponding organic waste (from the manifest) on Form W without incorporating the control efficiency.  Report the remainder of the material that went through the control device as a separate entry on B3 and apply the control efficiency.

A certified laboratory is a laboratory certified by the California State Department of Health Services for the Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP) specifically for the field of testing referred to as “Organic Chemistry of Hazardous Waste”.

Yes.  Methylene Chloride used for furniture stripping as well as any other application must be reported on Form TAC and fees paid based on the new fee rates.  The exemption previously provided for furniture stripping facilities emitting less than 8 tons per year has expired.

Emissions (PM and VOC) from charbroilers and deep fat fryers operated by restaurants and eatery establishments directly servicing consumers (e.g. fast foods, cafeteria, etc.) should not be reported under the AER program since these emissions are classified as area sources and are calculated using specific methodologies. However, for commercial and large operations of packaged foods, PM and VOC emissions should be reported on Form B4 or B4U (contact Help Hotline for emission factors if needed). For these facilities, emissions from burning of fuel are reported on Form B1 and B1U.

Use decimal fraction to report efficiencies. If your Control Efficiency is in percent, convert percent to decimal fraction (e.g. 0.85 for 85%, 0.925 for 92.5%).

14.   For on-line submittals (generated by either reporting systems): make sure to mail Forms X, S, A/CF and on-line submittal confirmation. For diskette submittal: make sure to mail Forms X, S, A/CF and submittal data diskette (in a protective cover). In both cases, include all supporting documentation required by the AQMD.

In the AER program, you are required to report total PM emissions from your processes and equipment. If you only have PM₁₀ values available, multiply PM₁₀ by an appropriate factor (contact the helpline for assistance)  to convert to total PM.

The Horsepower (HP) is the engine rating specified by the engine manufacturer and listed on the engine nameplate and/or equipment specification manual and/or it may be listed on the equipment permit description.

The four-stroke engine is probably the most common IC engine type.  A four-stroke (cycle) IC engine completes its power cycle (intake, compression, power, and exhaust) in two revolutions of the crankshaft as compared to one revolution for the two-stroke (cycle) IC engine. This information could be found on your AQMD permit description and/or equipment specification manual.

BTU/HR is the rating of the burner (e.g., for a boiler) specified by the equipment manufacturer, and normally listed on the nameplate and/or equipment specification manual.  It specifies the amount of heat released by burning fuels in combustion equipment.

If you are an AB2588 facility filing its quadrennial toxic emission inventory, list your closest worker and residential receptor distance on Form X (if you are using paper forms), or in Interview (if you are using the software).

AF. What is SCR and SNCR?

Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) are control systems for stationary source combustion equipment to reduce Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions resulted from the combustion gases. SCR and SNCR systems use ammonia (NH₃) or Urea (and NH₃ derivative) as reducing agents. With both reducing agent, some NH₃ remains after the NOx reduction, and it is emitted in the flue gas. This NH₃ emission is termed “NH₃ slip”.

AG. What are architectural coatings?

Architectural coatings are any coating applied to stationary structure and their appurtenances, to mobile homes, to pavements, or to curbs (see Rule 1113).  For example, painting pipes that are connected to the stationary structures and delivers products are considered architectural coating.

Commonly, architectural coatings are pre-formulated and supplied in ready-to-use forms; therefore no thinning or reformulation needed.  Architectural coatings used in manufacturing or production must be reported in the AER program.  For example, window shutters (wood surface), doors (wood or metal surface), mobile homes or parts (metal, wood, ceramic, etc).