Air quality permits

An air operating permit is a document that combines all requirements for:

• Operation and procedures
• Applicable rules
• Emission standards
• Monitoring
• Recordkeeping
• Reporting

An air operating permit is required for major sources (such as power plants, oil refineries, and industrial facilities) that emit or have the potential to emit 10 tons per year or more of hazardous air pollution, or 25 tons per year or more of a combination of hazardous air pollution.

The location and type of burning you are planning will determine whether you need a permit.

• Agriculture burn permit
  Some agricultural burning requires a permit.
• Daily agriculture burn decisions
  We make a daily decision to determine what burning is allowed by county and zone. Check the daily burn decision before starting a burn.
• Fire training burn permit
  Burning a structure for a fire training exercise might require a Fire Training Permit. If the structure is located within an urban growth area or is within the city limits of a city that has a population of 10,000 people or more, a fire training permit is required.
• Asbestos demolition/renovation permit
  When a building is going to be demolished, renovated, or burned for fire training purposes, an Asbestos Demolition/Renovation Notification Form must be submitted to the appropriate clean air agency. A form must be received at least 10 working days before work starts.
• Silvicultural (forest) burn permit
  Silvicultural burning, or burning of forestland, is regulated by the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
• Other burn permits
  Some outdoor burning doesn't fit into the categories above. Burning for wildlife habitat enhancement requires a Special Burn Permit. Even some residential burning can require a special permit.

An air quality general order is a group permit that simplifies the air permitting process. When several sources of air pollution are similar, we can issue a “general order” for all the sources, rather than a series of individual permits.

A notice of construction permit is required before installing a new source of air pollution or modifying an existing source of air pollution. This permit is sometimes called a "pre-construction permit" because a business must have one before starting construction or operating their business.

A notice of construction air permit limits the amount of air pollutants a business can emit.

A Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit applies to new large facilities or changes at existing large facilities that could increase air pollution. We issue these permits, except for projects that are regulated by the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC), EPA, or tribes.