Michigan Concrete Association - Air Permit and Crystalline Silica Exemptions

	Certification Program Descriptions and Directories For Home Owners For Commercial Builders Success Stories Technical Tips Human Resources Environmental Issues

3130 Pine Tree Rd.
Lansing, MI 48911
phone: 800.678.9622
fax: 517.393.1791

Air Permit and Crystalline Silica Exemptions

Air Permit Exemptions
We are pleased to announce that the MCA and its environmental counsel, Joseph E. Quandt, have successfully negotiated permit exemptions for members under Michigan's Air Pollution Control Act.

As you may or may not know, certain member facilities may be regulated under the Michigan Air Pollution Control Act. The cost of compliance evaluations alone could easily exceed $5,000 per facility. If it were to be determined that a facility was regulated (and many are), a permit would be required for the operation of a ready-mix concrete facility. This permit would require continuous monitoring and further compliance obligations.

Since most ready-mix facilities employ rather generic batching and aggregate usage, the MCA began a dialogue with the MDEQ to discuss if a general permit for the ready-mix industry might be appropriate. During discussions with MDEQ permit engineers, it became apparent that it may be appropriate to address an exemption for ready-mix facilities which perform operations within certain specifically identified operating parameters.

Accordingly, in late January of this year, a draft permit exemption was approved by the MDEQ Air Quality Division. This exemption will allow facilities which batch less than 200,000 cubic yards of concrete to qualify for the exemption so long as certain fugitive dust control measures are undertaken. After review by several key members of the MCA Board of Directors, it was determined that operational flexibility within the permit exemption does exist for our members.

This permit exemption will allow our members to: ·

eliminate the necessity of expensive compliance evaluations ·
eliminate the necessity of permit applications or individual requests for exemption ·
provide maximum operational flexibility with minimal control impediments

The MDEQ is currently in the process of drafting an administrative rule for promulgation which would exempt ready-mix concrete facilities under certain conditions. Please contact Joe Quandt, the MCA's environmental counsel for more details and a copy of the draft permit exemption conditions.

Crystalline Silica Exemption
The MCA's political action consultant, Mr. George Carr, became aware that the MDEQ intended to promulgate an administrative rule establishing crystalline silica, an integral component of ready-mix concrete, as a toxic air contaminant under the Michigan Air Pollution Control Act and its rules. This rule, if promulgated as originally drafted, would have had disastrous effects upon the ready-mix concrete industry. In fact, it is estimated that the cost of crystalline silica evaluations alone would run in excess of $5,000 per evaluation per facility. Mr. Carr worked closely with our environmental counsel, Joseph Quandt on drafting an exemption proposal for ready-mix concrete facilities from these proposed rules.

We are pleased to announce to our membership that the MDEQ accepted this exemption and accordingly, ready-mix facilities are now exempt from the crystalline silica monitoring and compliance requirements.