Ohio Air Permits

Air permits & authorizations

• Permanent and discretionary exemptions

  Exemption

  Over 60 permanent exemptions (e.g., small boilers and heaters, certain storage tanks) need no notification. Discretionary exemptions require a written request and may be granted by director's letter.

  OAC 3745-31-03(B)(1); 3745-31-03(B)(3)Official page

• De minimis exemption

  Exemption

  No notification required, but records must be kept.

  Thresholds (summarized from source, not a quotation)

  Source emits less than 10 pounds per day of a regulated air contaminant; not available if potential emissions of any air pollutant exceed 25 tons per year or the source emits more than one ton per year of HAPs (restated; key phrases quoted on Ohio EPA's page).

  OAC 3745-15-05Official page

• Permit-by-Rule (PBR)

  Permit by Rule

  One-page notification to the district office or local agency, no waiting period or fee (unless converting an existing permit); does not expire. Categories: unpaved and paved roadways/parking, auto body refinishing, gasoline dispensing facilities, gas-fired boilers and heaters, small/midsize printing, emergency generators/pumps/compressors, resin injection/compression molding, crushing and screening plants, and soil vapor/liquid remediation.

  OAC 3745-31-30Official page

• General Permits (general PTI / general PTIO)

  General Permit

  Model permits with qualifying criteria for: aggregate processing, asphalt plants, boilers, drycleaning, human crematories, mineral extraction, miscellaneous metal parts coating, paved and unpaved roadways, ready mix concrete, storage piles, tub grinders, portable diesel engines, oil and gas well-site production, and natural gas compressor stations. Sources must continually meet the qualifying criteria.

  OAC 3745-31-29Official page

• Permit-to-Install and Operate (PTIO) / Permit-to-Install (PTI)

  Minor NSR

  Must be issued before installation or modification begins; construction must start within 18 months. PTIO for non-Title V facilities, PTI for Title V facilities. Applications use Form 3150a (Section I, a Section II per emissions unit, plus Emissions Activity Category forms). Best Available Technology is set case by case; toxic air contaminant modeling is required if allowable emissions of a toxic exceed 1.0 ton per year.

  OAC 3745-31-02, 3745-31-05Official page

• Federally Enforceable PTIO (synthetic minor)

  State Operating

  PTIO special terms that create federally enforceable restrictions to avoid PSD, nonattainment NSR, Title V, or MACT applicability. Synthetic Minor Title V facilities file through Air Services.

  OAC 3745-31-05(D)Official page

Major NSR (PSD & nonattainment)

• Attainment provisions (PSD)

  PSD

  Review of major stationary sources and major modifications in attainment or unclassifiable areas, including BACT and Class I/II increments.

  OAC 3745-31-10 to 3745-31-20Official page

• Nonattainment provisions

  Nonattainment NSR

  Major stationary sources and major modifications in nonattainment areas may not begin actual construction until rules 3745-31-21 through 3745-31-27 are met and a PTI is obtained (LAER and offsets).

  OAC 3745-31-21 to 3745-31-27Official page

Title V operating permits

• Title V Operating Permit

  Title V

  New major sources file within 12 months of becoming subject to Title V; renewals are filed 6 to 18 months before expiration. Title V and Synthetic Minor Title V facilities must use the eBusiness Center Air Services. Fees are per ton of actual emissions plus a base fee (OAC 3745-78, ORC 3745.11).

  100 tons per year or more of any one regulated pollutant ... 10 tons per year or more of any one hazardous air pollutant (HAP) ... 25 tons per year or more of any two or more HAPs

  OAC Chapter 3745-77Official page

Oil & Gas

Ohio (Utica/Marcellus) uses general permits for upstream and midstream oil and gas. Well-site GPs 12.1 and 12.2 (2014) are no longer available for new sources as of May 7, 2024 (the effective date of NSPS OOOOb) but are renewed for non-OOOOb facilities; GPs 12.3.1 and 12.3.2 cover sources constructed, modified, or reconstructed after December 6, 2022 and incorporate OOOOb. Midstream compressor stations use a family of unit-specific GPs (engines, dehydrators, flares, compressors, leaks, tanks, truck loading, pigging), with supplemental information showing the project won't trigger major NSR.

• Well-site production GP 12.1 / 12.2 (legacy)

  General Permit

  GP 12.1 (small flare) and GP 12.2 (large flare) cover glycol dehydrators, gas and diesel engines, fixed roof tanks, flares, and ancillary equipment at well sites. Terms effective April 4, 2014; closed to new sources from May 7, 2024.

  Thresholds (summarized from source, not a quotation)

  GP 12.1: nominal 10 mmBtu/hr flare with up to 1,800 total hp of engines. GP 12.2: nominal 32 mmBtu/hr flare with up to 1,000 total hp (restated from Ohio EPA).

  OAC 3745-31-29Official page

• Well-site production GP 12.3.1 (small flare) / 12.3.2 (large flare)

  General Permit

  For sources commencing construction, modification, or reconstruction after December 6, 2022. Covers fugitive equipment/pipeline leaks, dehydration, spark-ignition engines, flares/combustion devices, blowdowns/rod packing, truck loading, and condensate/produced water tank batteries; incorporates NSPS OOOOb.

  OAC 3745-31-29Official page

• Natural gas compressor station GPs

  General Permit

  Lean-burn and rich-burn gas engines (GP 14.01-14.10, terms effective October 30, 2024); portable diesel engines (9.13, 9.14); glycol dehydrators (15.1, 15.2); flares (16.1 open, 16.2 and 16.3 enclosed); reciprocating compressors (17.1); equipment leaks (18.1); fixed-roof tanks (19.1); truck loading (20.1); pigging (21.1, effective July 9, 2024).

  Thresholds (summarized from source, not a quotation)

  Size bands (restated from Ohio EPA): engines 100 to 3,800 BHP; dehydrators up to 90 MMscf/day (15.1) and 90-150 MMscf/day (15.2); flares up to 1 MMBtu/hr (16.1), up to 10 (16.2), over 10 to 20 (16.3); leaks up to 10 tpy VOC; tanks up to 500 bbl; truck loading up to 32,000,000 gal/yr.

  OAC 3745-31-29Official page

State air regulations

• OAC Chapter 3745-31Permits-to-install new sources and permits-to-install and operate
• OAC 3745-31-03Permit exemptions
• OAC 3745-31-29General permits
• OAC 3745-31-30Permits-by-rule
• OAC 3745-15-05De minimis air contaminant source exemption
• OAC Chapter 3745-77Title V permits
• OAC Chapter 3745-78Title V fees
• DAPC effective rulesOhio EPA DAPC rule index

Forms

• Permit Application Forms
• PTI/PTIO Application Section I
• PTI/PTIO Instructions
• PBR notification: Gas-fired Boiler and Heater
• PBR notification: Emergency Generator/Pump/Compressor
• EAC 3862 Stationary Internal Combustion Engines
• EAC 3104 Storage Tank

Guidance

• Applying for an Air Pollution Control Permit
• Permit Exemptions fact sheet (3745-31-03)
• Engineering Guide #86: OAC 3745-31 rule cites in permits
• District Offices and Local Air Agencies
• Oil and Gas Well-site GP 12.3.1 qualifying criteria

Compliance

State compliance obligations (reporting, emissions inventory, testing) are being indexed. Use the Compliance dashboard preview to see how they will be tracked.

Sources

• Ohio EPA Applying for an Air Pollution Control Permit
• Ohio EPA General Permit Program
• Ohio EPA Permit-by-Rule
• Ohio EPA Title V Permitting Program
• OAC 3745-31-21 (nonattainment)

Editorial note: Ohio EPA's PBR page cites OAC 3745-31-30 but links a file named 3745-31-03_Final.pdf; confirm against rule text. Title V fee for reporting year 2025 listed as $65.38/ton plus a $5,000 base fee. PSD/NNSR rule ranges confirmed from codes.ohio.gov rule text (3745-31-13 and 3745-31-21). Compliance Assistance Unit: 800-329-7518.