Mr. Vinod V. Patel
Techmetals, Incorporated
Post Office Box 1266
Dayton, Ohio 45401-1266

Dear Mr. Patel:

This is in response to your September 18, 1995 letter regarding the use of a control device produced by Merlin Enterprises to comply with the National Emission Standards for Chromium Emissions from hard chrome plating (40 CFR part 63 subpart N). You had requested information on compliance and permitting procedures. You are correct in your thinking that more documentation will be required.

The EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) and EPA's Regional Office Administrators who have been delegated enforcement authority are responsible for making all decisions on the applicability and compliance procedures for national rules, including the one for chromium emissions. Therefore, I have sent your letter to Sarah Miller in EPA's Region 5 Air Enforcement Branch for response. The Regional Administrator of Region 5 has the authority for making compliance decisions regarding facilities in Ohio.

Attached to your letter was a letter dated October 11, 1994 from Lalit Banker to Merlin Enterprises. Mr. Banker's letter responded to Merlin's query about the performance of their control device and whether that device could be used as an alternative control to meet the standard. We have recently sent Merlin Enterprises a letter to clarify some misunderstandings which have arisen based on Mr. Banker's October 11, 1994 letter. The affected source definition and the OECA and Regional Office's responsibility for applicability determinations were not correctly or clearly stated in that letter. As explained in this recent letter (attached), in general, the chromium rule applies to any tank in which chromium electroplating is being performed; any control device that is demonstrated to be in compliance with the standard can be used. As explained previously, the appropriate enforcement authority makes decisions on these applicability and compliance issues for each situation.

Hopefully this answers your questions. I regret any misunderstanding that the 1994 letter to Merlin Enterprises may have created. If you have any further questions or need assistance, please contact Sarah Miller of EPA Region 5 at (312) 886-6088.

Sincerely,


Susan Wyatt, Group Leader
Organic Chemicals Group
Emission Standards Division

Attachment
cc:

Lalit Banker, EPA/ESD
Frank Clay, EPA/EMAD
Leslye Fraser, EPA/OGC
Sarah Miller, EPA/Region 5
Sherri Swihart, Ohio EPA
Greg Waldrip, EPA/OECAs