Facility Categories and Installation Dates

FACILITY CATEGORIES

NESHAP divides dry cleaners into three categories based on the amount of PERC purchased per year:

  1. SMALL – purchase less than 140 gallons of PERC per year
  2. LARGE – purchase between 140 and 2,100 gallons of PERC per year
  3. MAJOR – purchase more than 2,100 gallons of PERC per year (none in Forsyth County)

Once the usage of PERC at a facility reaches or exceeds the thresholds stated in these categories, requirements applicable to the highest threshold will apply until the facility makes a written request to the Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection that they expect to remain at a lower threshold for a considerable length of time.

INSTALLATION DATES

NESHAP rules also sort machines into categories based on the date of their installation. As of January 2008, important dates to remember for facilities in Forsyth County are:

  • December 9, 1991 – machines installed before this date are considered Existing under the initial rule. Machines installed after this date are referred to as New under the initial rule.
  • December 21, 2005 – machines installed on or after this date must have the addition of a carbon adsorber to vent exhaust air from the dry cleaning drum prior to the door opening. As of July 27, 2006, machines in this category must be using the halogenated leak detector at least once per month to do leak checks while the machine is in operation. This can replace the required visual inspection for that week. The visual inspections must still be done all other weeks when the halogenated leak detector is not used. These requirements are set forth in the Summary of NESHAP Conditions.
  • July 28, 2008 – All machines installed in Forsyth County must be using the halogenated leak detector as described in the December 21, 2005 statement above. Additionally by this date, the Federal rule requires that all dry cleaning facilities in Forsyth County must have sent the Forsyth County Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection a Notification of Compliance Status as described in condition 14 of the Summary of NESHAP Conditions.

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