The owner or operator of an affected source category within a plant in the Beaumont-Port Arthur, Bexar County, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria areas, as defined in §115.10 of this title (relating to Definitions), shall comply with the following control requirements. Any component of a wastewater storage, handling, transfer, or treatment facility, if the component contains an affected volatile organic compounds (VOC) wastewater stream, shall be controlled in accordance with either paragraph (1) or (2) of this section, except for properly operated biotreatment units which shall meet the requirements of paragraph (3) of this section. In the Dallas-Fort Worth and El Paso areas, and until December 31, 2002 in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area, the control requirements apply from the point of generation of an affected VOC wastewater stream until the affected VOC wastewater stream is either returned to a process unit or is treated to remove VOC so that the wastewater stream no longer meets the definition of an affected VOC wastewater stream. In the Beaumont-Port Arthur and the Bexar County areas, and after December 31, 2002 in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, the control requirements apply from the point of generation of an affected VOC wastewater stream until the affected VOC wastewater stream is either returned to a process unit, or is treated to reduce the VOC content of the wastewater stream by 90% by weight and also reduce the VOC content of the same VOC wastewater stream to less than 1,000 parts per million by weight. For wastewater streams which are combined and then treated to remove VOC, the amount of VOC to be removed from the combined wastewater stream shall be at least the total amount of VOC that would be removed to treat each individual affected VOC wastewater stream so that they no longer meet the definition of affected VOC wastewater stream, except for properly operated biotreatment units which shall meet the requirements of paragraph (3) of this section. For this division, a component of a wastewater storage, handling, transfer, or treatment facility shall include, but is not limited to, wastewater storage tanks, surface impoundments, wastewater drains, junction boxes, lift stations, weirs, and oil-water separators.
  (1) The wastewater component shall meet the following requirements.
    (A) All components shall be fully covered or be equipped with water seal controls. For any component equipped with water seal controls, the only acceptable alternative to water as the sealing liquid in a water seal is the use of ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, or other low vapor pressure antifreeze, which may be used only during the period of November through February. For any process drain not equipped with water seal controls, the process drain shall be equipped with a gasketed seal, or a tightly-fitting cap or plug.
    (B) All openings shall be closed and sealed, except when the opening is in actual use for its intended purpose or the component is maintained at a pressure less than atmospheric pressure.
    (C) All liquid contents shall be totally enclosed.
    (D) For junction boxes and vented covers, the following requirements apply.
      (i) In the Dallas-Fort Worth and El Paso areas, and until December 31, 2002 in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area, if any cover, other than a junction box cover, is equipped with a vent, the vent shall be equipped with either a vapor control system which maintains a minimum control efficiency of 90% or a closed system which prevents the flow of VOC vapors from the vent during normal operation. Any junction box vent shall be equipped with a vent pipe at least 90 centimeters (cm) (36 inches (in.)) in length and no more than 10.2 cm (4.0 in.) in diameter.
      (ii) In the Beaumont-Port Arthur and Bexar County areas, and after December 31, 2002 in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area, the following requirements apply.
        (I) If any cover or junction box cover, except for junction boxes described in subclause (II) of this clause, is equipped with a vent, the vent shall be equipped with either a vapor control system which maintains a minimum control efficiency of 90% or a closed system which prevents the flow of VOC vapors from the vent during normal operation.
        (II) Any junction box that is filled and emptied by gravity flow (i.e., there is no pump) or is operated with no more than slight fluctuations in the liquid level may be vented to the atmosphere, provided it is equipped with:
          (-a-) a vent pipe at least 90 cm (36 in.) in length and no more than 10.2 cm (4.0 in.) in diameter; and
          (-b-) water seal controls which are installed and maintained at the wastewater entrance(s) to or exit from the junction box restricting ventilation in the individual drain system and between components in the individual drain system.
    (E) All gauging and sampling devices shall be vapor-tight except during gauging or sampling.
    (F) Any loading or unloading to or from a portable container by pumping shall be performed with a submerged fill pipe.
    (G) All seals and cover connections shall be maintained in proper condition. For purposes of this paragraph, "proper condition" means that covers shall have a tight seal around the edge and shall be kept in place except as allowed by this division, that seals shall not be broken or have gaps, and that sewer lines shall have no visible gaps or cracks in joints, seals, or other emission interfaces.
    (H) If any seal or cover connection is found to not be in proper condition, a first attempt at repair shall be made no later than five calendar days after the leak or improper condition is found. The repair or correction shall be completed as soon as possible but no later than 15 calendar days after detection, unless the repair or correction is technically infeasible without requiring a process unit shutdown, in which case the repair or correction shall be made at the next process unit shutdown. Test Method 21 must be used to confirm that a leak or improper condition is repaired, and the following records shall be maintained:
      (i) the date on which a leak or improper condition is discovered;
      (ii) the date on which a first attempt at repair was made to correct the leak or improper condition;
      (iii) the date on which a leak or improper condition is repaired; and
      (iv) the date and instrument reading of the recheck procedure after a leak or improper condition is repaired.
  (2) If a wastewater component is equipped with an internal or external floating roof, it shall meet the following requirements.
    (A) All openings in an internal or external floating roof except for automatic bleeder vents (vacuum breaker vents) and rim space vents shall provide a projection below the liquid surface or be equipped with a cover, seal, or lid. Any cover, seal, or lid shall be in a closed (i.e., no visible gap) position at all times except when the opening is in actual use for its intended purpose.
    (B) Automatic bleeder vents (vacuum breaker vents) shall be closed at all times except when the roof is being floated off or landed on the roof leg supports.
    (C) Rim vents, if provided, shall be set to open only when the roof is being floated off the roof leg supports or at the manufacturer's recommended setting.
    (D) Any roof drain that empties into the stored liquid shall be provided with a slotted membrane fabric cover that covers at least 90% of the area of the opening.
    (E) There shall be no visible holes, tears, or other openings in any seal or seal fabric.
    (F) For external floating roof storage tanks, the secondary seals shall be the rim-mounted type (i.e., the seal shall be continuous from the floating roof to the tank wall). The accumulated area of gaps that exceed 1/8 in. (0.32 cm) in width between the secondary seal and tank wall shall be no greater than 1.0 in. 2 per foot (21 cm2 /meter) of tank diameter.
  (3) In the Beaumont-Port Arthur and Bexar County areas, and after December 31, 2002 in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area, each properly operated biotreatment unit shall meet the following requirements.
    (A) The VOC content of the wastewater shall be reduced by 90% by weight; and
    (B) The average concentration of suspended biomass maintained in the aeration basin of the biotreatment unit shall equal or exceed 1.0 kilogram per cubic meter (kg/m3 ), measured as total suspended solids.
  (4) Any wastewater component that becomes subject to this division by exceeding the provisions of §115.147 of this title (relating to Exemptions) or an affected VOC wastewater stream as defined in §115.140 of this title (relating to Industrial Wastewater Definitions) will remain subject to the requirements of this division, even if the component later falls below those provisions, unless and until emissions are reduced to no more than the controlled emissions level existing prior to the implementation of the project by which throughput or emission rate was reduced to less than the applicable exemption levels in §115.147 of this title; and
    (A) the project by which throughput or emission rate was reduced is authorized by any permit or permit amendment or standard permit or permit by rule required by Chapter 116 or Chapter 106 of this title (relating to Control of Air Pollution by Permits for New Construction or Modification; and Permits by Rule). If a permit by rule is available for the project, compliance with this division must be maintained for 30 days after the filing of documentation of compliance with that permit by rule; or
    (B) if authorization by permit, permit amendment, standard permit, or permit by rule is not required for the project, the owner or operator has given the executive director 30 days' notice of the project in writing.

Source Note: The provisions of this §115.142 adopted to be effective May 27, 1994, 19 TexReg 3703; amended to be effective November 18, 1999, 24 TexReg 10095; amended to be effective August 29, 2001, 26 TexReg 6303; amended to be effective January 17, 2003, 28 TexReg 113; amended to be effective May 16, 2024, 49 TexReg 3292