Online Mineral Processing Tool for Air Quality Permitting

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

Air quality permitting for mineral processing operations requires an evaluation of the potential to emit regulated air pollutants to the atmosphere. Air pollutants are emitted from a multitude of equipment and activities. Given the unique configuration of each processing plant and varying numerical factors used to calculate potential air emissions, maintaining accurate and consistent methodologies across all permitted operators creates significant challenges for a regulatory agency. Additionally, the complex nature of emissions calculations for mineral processing operations often results in confusion and errors on the part of permit applicants. Conventional practices include preparing applications based on overly simplified calculations, which can misrepresent potential emissions, or highly tailored calculations, which can conflict with the county's standard practices and result in inconsistent treatment across its customers. The development of an online application tool that incorporates acceptable methodologies and provides a platform to select from dropdown menus and perform calculations automatically has proven useful to everyone involved. Benefits include reducing the time and effort associated with preparing and processing applications, and meeting the county's minimal standards upon submittal.