Permitting

Notice of Construction/Order of Approval

A permit is required of any new or modified air pollution source prior to construction or making operational modifications (including equipment, process, or design changes) that affect the level of air contaminants emitted. This permit is obtained through the Notice of Construction program.

The list of activities requiring a Notice of Construction/Order of Approval, as well as the types of sources that are exempt, are detailed in Regulation I, Section 6.03 (PDF 0.1MB). If you are unsure which forms apply to your activity, our technical staff is available to assist you.

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Application Guidelines

Click here for detailed Notice of Construction permit application instructions. In summary, the permit process involves the following steps:

Step 1: Submit a complete Notice of Construction application. This must include:

1. General Info (Form P)

2. Environmental Checklist  (Required unless another government agency has required one, in which case please include that agency’s “Determination of Nonsignificance.”)

3. $1,000 filing fee (nonrefundable). The Agency will not process applications received without the filing fee.

4. Source-specific information, as outlined below (PDF files).

   • Abrasive Blasting
   • Adsorbers
   • Air Strippers (Soil and Groundwater Remediation)
   • Asphalt Batch Plants
   • Baghouses and Cartridge-Type Dust Collectors
   • Boilers, Process Heaters, Space Heaters
   • Coffee roasting
   • Composting
   • Concrete Batch Plants
   • Condensers
   • Cyclones
   • Demisters, Mist Eliminators
   • Electroplating and Anodizing
   • Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP)
   • Ethylene Oxide Sterilizers and Fumigation Devices
   • Evaporators
   • Flares
   • Gas Turbines, Reciprocating Engines
   • Incinerators, Crematories, Burn-off Ovens
   • Melting Furnaces, Kilns, Baking Ovens, Roasting Ovens, Curing Ovens
   • Nonmetallic Mineral Processing Plants (includes Rock Crushers)
   • Organic Liquid Storage Tanks
   • Other Process Equipment
   • Printing
   • Sanding and Powderizing
   • Soil and groundwater remediation
   • Solvent metal cleaners
   • Spray coating
   • Spray Towers, Bubble-Cap Plate Columns, Packed Bed Scrubbers
   • Surface Coating
   • Thermal and Catalytic Oxidizers
   • Thermal Desorption (Soil and Groundwater Remediation)
   • Vapor Degreasers and Cold Solvent Cleaning Tanks
   • Venturi Scrubber

Step 2:    Within 30 days of submitting a Notice of Construction application and filing fee, air agency engineers will review applications to determine whether they are complete, or whether additional information is needed. The applicant will be assessed a fee for this review.

Step 3:    Within 60 days of receiving a complete application, the Clean Air Agency will either issue the permit – known as an Order of Approval - or deny the application in writing. In some cases, an additional 30-day public comment period may be required, pursuant to WAC 173-400-171.

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Operation & Maintenance Plans

Registered sources are required to develop and implement an Operation & Maintenance plan to assure continuous compliance with air quality regulations. The plan should include inspections, monitoring and recording of equipment performance, control measures, responses to defective or malfunctioning equipment, procedures for proper operation of equipment, and a record of all actions in the plan.  See Regulation I, Section 5.05(c) (PDF).

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Confidentiality

You may request information be kept confidential if it relates to processes unique to your company that could adversely affect the competitive position of your business if released to the public or to a competitor. These items must be clearly identified in your application.

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Questions?

For more information, please contact Steve Van Slyke.