TITLE 12 CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Section 9. Prevention and Control of Air Pollution, 12-9-1 through 12-9-70.

ARTICLE 1 AIR QUALITY

12-9-7. Permit required; application; issuance; revocation, suspension, or amendment.

1. No person shall, and it shall be unlawful and a violation of this article to, construct, install, modify, own, or operate any facility or stationary source or any equipment, device, article, or process capable of causing or contributing to the emission of air contaminants from such source or facility or designed to prevent air pollution from such facility or source unless permitted by and in compliance with a permit from the director. A permit shall be issued to an applicant on evidence satisfactory to the director of compliance with this article and any standards, limitations, requirements, or rules and regulations pursuant to this article.Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the director shall not issue a Title V permit to a facility or source if the administrator objects in writing and in a timely manner to the issuance of such permit.
2. Applications for permits shall be submitted in such manner, on such forms, and contain such information as the director prescribes and which he deems necessary to make a determination of compliance with this article and the rules and regulation promulgated pursuant to this article.The director may develop and require the use of standard application forms and establish evaluation criteria for expediently determining the completeness of such applications; provided, however, that the director at a minimum shall establish forms and criteria necessary to comply with the federal act.In addition to any other criteria established by the director, all permit applications shall be accompanied by:
   1. A compliance plan containing such schedules, reports, plans, documentation, and other information as may be required by the rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to this article and such additional information as the director may require to demonstrate a source's or facility's compliance or proposed compliance with the requirements of this article and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article; and
   2. Any and all applicable fees for processing the permit application and any other fee which the source or facility must pay pursuant to this article.
3. Permits shall be issued as follows:
   1. Title V permits shall be issued for a fixed term not to exceed five years, except where a shorter term is provided for by this article or the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article.A single permit may be issued for a facility with multiple sources of air contaminants; provided, however, that the permit requires each source to comply with this article and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article;
   2. Permits issued by the director in accordance with 42 U.S.C. Section 7651, et seq., to reduce the adverse effects of acid deposition through the reduction of annual emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides within the state shall be for a fixed term of five years;
   3. Permits issued for solid waste combustion incinerators shall be issued for a fixed term of 12 years.The director shall review the permit every five years to determine if such permit needs to be amended, revised, or modified;
   4. The board may provide by rule or regulation authority for the director to issue, after notice and opportunity for public hearing, a general permit covering numerous similar sources. Any general permit shall comply with all requirements applicable to permits under 42 U.S.C. Section 7661, et seq., as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto. No facility or source covered by a general permit shall be relieved from the obligation to file an application pursuant to the requirements of this article; and
   5. All other permits shall be issued for a term as provided for by this article and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article.
4. The director shall provide to the administrator a copy of each Title V permit proposed to be issued and issued as a final permit.
5. The director may revoke, suspend, or amend any permit issued, for cause, including but not limited to the following:
   1. Violation of any condition of such permit or failure to comply with a final order of the director;
   2. Failure to comply with any applicable rules or regulations in effect pursuant to this article;
   3. Obtaining a permit by misrepresentation, failure to disclose fully all relevant facts, failure to inform the division of modifications affecting emissions, or failure to inform the division of changes in operation which affect emissions and which are required to be reported to the division pursuant to this article and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article; or
   4. Modifications which affect emissions.
6. The director may amend or modify any permit issued, for cause, including but not limited to the following:
   1. Modifications which affect emissions; or
   2. Application by the permittee requesting modification or amendment of the permittee's permit.
7. Except as provided elsewhere in this article, possession of an approved Title V permit shall constitute compliance with the applicable emission limitations or standards of performance or rules and regulations or with any other provision of this article or rules or regulations adopted pursuant to or in effect under this article, to the extent specifically enumerated and provided in such permit.
8. Any permit issued by the director or any modification, revocation, suspension, or amendment of a permit shall become final unless a petition for hearing is filed in accordance with Code Section 12-9-15.
9. Failure by the director to make a decision to issue, deny, or review a permit within 18 months from the date a completed permit application is received shall be considered a refusal to issue, and the permittee may request review in accordance with Code Section 12-9-15.If the permittee does not request such review within 30 days after the expiration of such 18 month period, the permit shall be denied as a final agency action; provided, however, that for initial permit applications submitted pursuant to subsection (j) of this Code section, the director shall have three years from the submission deadline to process and issue or deny all completed permit applications.Of the completed applications submitted pursuant to subsection (j) of this Code section the director shall, at a minimum, process one-third of the applications in the first year, one-third of the applications in the second year, and the remaining applications in the third year.
10. Every person in possession of an air quality permit issued pursuant to this article prior to July 1, 1992, and who is required to obtain a Title V permit and any person without such permit who has or intends to construct, install, modify, own, or operate any stationary facility or source or any equipment, device, article, or process capable of causing or contributing to the emission of air contaminants from such source or designed to prevent air pollution from said source and which is required to obtain a Title V permit shall submit a completed permit application pursuant to this article to the director within one year after the date this article and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article are approved by the administrator as complying with the federal act.

(Ga. L. 1978, p. 275, § 9; Code 1981, §12-9-8; Ga. L. 1992, p. 918, § 2; Code 1981, §12-9-7, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2886, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 91, § 12.)