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Small Business Clean Air Assistance Program

Air Pollution Regulations

Certain regulations are enacted to minimize the amount of pollution present in the air we breathe. For Wisconsin, both the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) implement and enforce a range of air pollution regulations. This page will guide you through the different types of air pollution regulations that may affect your business.  At the end of the page you will find links to specific regulations.


The following are different ways in which your operations may be affected by air pollution regulations. If any of the descriptions appear to fit your operations, continue on to those sections for more information.   As you read through these sections, it may be helpful to have our Air Pollution List of Acronyms on hand.
  1. Air Pollution Permits  — Businesses with emissions of air pollution above certain thresholds must have an air pollution permit to construct, modify, and operate. Retail businesses with large parking lots may need an air permit for all the vehicle traffic. Even if you don't need a permit, your obligation doesn't end there. You should review other areas of air pollution requirements to see what might apply.
  2. Hazardous or Toxic Air Pollutants — DNR and EPA have evaluated air pollutants for those with certain health or environmental effects and defined them as hazardous (or toxic) and then have applied additional regulations to minimize those effects.
  3. Industry Specific Regulations — A wide range of industrial categories have regulations written specific to their operations, and we have summarized information on rules affecting the following industries:  automotive, chrome electroplating, construction/demolition, dry cleaning, printing, rock crushing, secondary aluminum processing, and wood furniture.
  4. Operation Specific Regulations  — Specific operations that can be found at a wide range of industries also have regulations that affect them. Summaries of regulations are provided for the following operations: different types of painting and coating operations, and solvent degreasing.
  5. Complying with the Regulations  — Whether you have a permit or are just affected by some specific regulations, there are certain procedures you must follow to show DNR and/or EPA that you are complying with the rules. A number of these procedures have been summarized for you.
  6. Reporting Your Air Pollution Emissions  — Any industrial facility with at least 3 tons per year of emissions of volatile organic compounds or 5 tons per year of other pollutants must report their total air pollution emissions to DNR every year. Find out what you need to do by going to DNR's Emissions Reporting page.

IF YOU WANT TO READ THE REGULATIONS

State Regulations:

All state regulations are contained in the Wisconsin Administrative Code.  Each chapter is available in PDF, and the best place to start is at the Table of Contents *.  Then scroll down by abbreviations of the state agencies (i.e., Air Regulations are under NR for Natural Resources and chapters NR 400-499).

Air Regulations * — This link will take you to a table of contents listing the chapters in the NR 400-499 series that covers all the air pollution regulations that other fact sheets may reference.

For more information on Wisconsin's Navigable Water and Wetland regulations and who to contact for more information, go to the Chapter 30 permits * page. 

Federal Regulations:

For the Code of Federal Regulations, which includes all of EPA's regulations like the Clean Air Act, you can go to EPA * or to the CFR site *.  To comment on any federal regulations go to: Regulations.gov *.

EPA's Accidental Release Prevention Rule — A fact sheet on the rule aimed at preventing and minimizing the consequences of accidental releases of hazardous chemicals, like at Bhopal, India. This rule requires submittals to EPA of Risk Management Plans.

REGULATORY RESOURCES

If you have an issue regarding regulatory enforcement and compliance activities by a federal agency, you can provide comments to the Small Business Administration's National Ombudsman *. Comments are included in a the SBA's National Ombudsman's annual report to Congress.


Send an email to COMCleanAir@Wisconsin.gov with questions or comments about the SBCAAP web pages.