1/12/1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Responsibility for air quality monitoring, permitting, and enforcement lies with the state Department of Environmental Regulation. In this capacity, DER regulates all industries having air emissions. With respect to Macho, DER will address Macho's air emissions at both the plant construction and operation phases. During the 'site plan review process, staff has coordinated extensively with DER staff to ensure that the air emission issue will be considered in adequate detail. ANALYSIS: Based upon the site plan submittal and additional information provided by Macho officials, staff has identified the various characteristics of the proposed use. According to this information, the process used in Macho's manufacturing activity involves the dipping of the products into a liquid vinyl paint. The products are then conveyed through a heat -tunnel to dry the coating. It is in the dipping and drying procedure that volatile organic,compounds (VOCs) are released. Emissions of -VOC's are regulated by the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (FDER). Because air quality is a complex technical issue, county staff rely heavily upon the expertise of the DER staff in such matters. In fact, county LDRs do not include any air quality standards or criteria. However, county LDR's do require site plan projects to comply with the requirements of FDER, as well as other jurisdictional agencies [reference LDR 914.10(1)]. Presently, there is no pollution control equipment at Macho Products' existing facility in Palm Bay. This accounts for press references to Macho as a major polluter in Brevard County. At its proposed facility in Indian River County, Macho will have state of the art pollution control equipment which will significantly reduce the volume of emissions. Attachment #1, which is a letter from the president of Macho Products, Inc., provides additional details on the manufacturing process and the steps taken by Macho Projects, Inc. to reduce emissions of VOCs produced in its manufacturing process. Throughout the review of this site plan application, county staff has been in close contact with the DER staff in both the Tallahassee and the Orlando offices. According to DER's records, Macho Products has recently been in contact with.the DER but has not formally submitted an application for construction of pollution control equipment at the proposed plant site. Because no specific Pollution control equipment construction application has been submitted, DER representatives cannot comment on the specifics of the permit. Please see attachment #2 which is a general statement from the DER -regarding local concerns over air pollution. Once a permit application is made to the DER, the application will be reviewed; if all applicable state regulations and policies are met, the application will then be approved. Subsequently, DER will issue a construction permit for the pollution control equipment. When complete, the applicant will be required to perform operational tests in order to obtain an operational permit from the DER. As part of the operational permit, the applicant is required to conduct an annual performance test and file an annual monitoring report with DER. The DER staff can perform periodic site inspections as needed to ensure on-going compliance with state regulations. 17 BOOK 88 PAGE•.91