(a) At the discretion of the executive director, and upon request by the applicant, the permit may contain a permit shield for specific emission units. The permit shield is a special condition stating that compliance with the conditions of the permit shall be deemed compliance with the specified potentially applicable requirements or specified potentially applicable state-only requirements.
(b) In order for the executive director to determine that an emission unit qualifies for a permit shield, all information required by §122.132(d)(2), (3), and (7) of this title (relating to Application and Required Information for Initial Permit Issuance, Reopening, Renewal, or General Operating Permits) must be submitted with the permit application.
(c) The permit shall contain the following information for the emission units addressed by the permit shield:
  (1) determinations by the executive director establishing one of the following:
    (A) potentially applicable requirements or potentially applicable state-only requirements specifically identified during the application review process are not applicable to the source; or
    (B) duplicative, redundant, and/or contradicting applicable requirements or state-only applicable requirements specifically identified during the application review process are superseded by a more stringent or equivalent requirement; and
  (2) a statement that compliance with the conditions of the permit shall be deemed compliance with the specified potentially applicable requirements or specified potentially applicable state-only requirements.
(d) Any permit that does not expressly state that a permit shield exists shall not provide a permit shield.
(e) Permit shield provisions shall not be modified by the executive director until notification is provided to the permit holder. No later than 90 days after notification of a change in a determination made by the executive director, the permit holder shall apply for the appropriate permit revision to reflect the new determination.
(f) Provisional terms and conditions are not eligible for a permit shield. Any permit term or condition, under a permit shield, shall not be protected by the permit shield if it is replaced by a provisional term or condition or the basis of the term or condition changes.
(g) Nothing in this section shall alter or affect the following:
  (1) the provisions of Federal Clean Air Act (FCAA), §303 (Emergency Orders);
  (2) the liability of an owner or operator of a source for any violation of applicable requirements prior to or at the time of permit issuance;
  (3) the applicable requirements of the acid rain program; or
  (4) the ability of the United States Environmental Protection Agency to obtain information from a source under FCAA, §114 (Inspections, Monitoring, and Entry).

Source Note: The provisions of this §122.148 adopted to be effective November 10, 1997, 22 TexReg 10677; amended to be effective February 23, 2017, 42 TexReg 688