Regulatory Services
With over 50 years of expertise, we’ve helped thousands of facilities across many different industries to meet air emissions regulations at all levels. Discover how our regulatory services, including Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) Plans, Monitoring Plans, CEMS and DAS audits, and training, can benefit you.
Visit our Reporting Services page to learn more about how our analysts can assist you with Electronic Data Reports (EDRs), Permit Compliance Reports, Data Review, Low Mass Emitting (LME) unit services and more.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Plans (QA/QC)
It is essential to keep your QA/QC plan up to date because it describes the steps and actions the facility must take to follow the conditions of the permit. The plan serves as the cornerstone for field audits conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency or local agencies. Routine air permit inspections often review these plans and associated documents.
Many states include the plan on file with the air permit, which means plans are open to the public for review and comment. Third parties can access the plan and second guess the plant’s operation. We recommend reviewing the plan annually or whenever a change is made to your CEMS.
Our regulatory specialists can write or revise your QA/QC plans in accordance with your permit and current regulations, and make sure that your StackVision, Prism, or other Data Acquisition System (DAS) is in alignment with them.
Monitoring Plans
A monitoring plan is a required document critical to the operation of your CEM system. Facilities are expected to submit files describing their monitoring plans and provide QA/Certification results in addition to reporting on emissions. The plan should describe the following to the Environmental Protection Agency:
- The relationship between stacks, pipes, and units at a facility
- The specific locations at a facility that are being monitored
- The monitoring equipment used, detailing individual components
- Qualifying characteristics for certain special types of monitoring—e.g. Low Mass Emissions monitoring
If your facility has made any changes to its CEMS, you’ll need to make a corresponding change to your Monitoring Plan report. Even small alterations must be reflected in a monitoring plan report.
We are standing by to ensure that your monitoring plan follows regulations, is audit-proof, and accessible to facility staff.
Read Our Monitoring Plan Checklists
Reporting Services
Staying current on regulations, requirements, and reporting methods is time-consuming. Between facility demands and lack of resources, it can be challenging to execute all the reports required by federal, state, and local agencies.
ESC Spectrum’s knowledgeable Reporting analysts will check your system, weekly or daily, to ensure proper and accurate data collection. They alert you to any problems and eliminate any risk of missing data to keep you in compliance.
Reporting Services include Electronic Data Reports (EDRs), Permit Compliance Reports, Data Review, Low Mass Emitting (LME) unit services and more.
Data Acquisition System Audit
Permits, personnel, and regulations change over time. To ensure your facility is in good standing with local, state, and federal agencies, it’s critical that your DAS configuration complies with your permit. Our Engineering Team has configured thousands of DAS systems across the country and is well-versed in industry regulations.
Our experts conduct a permit review and determine how far your DAS is out of alignment, then prioritize a list of changes to monitoring, calculations, and reports that ensure your facility is prepared for an audit.
CEM Program Audit
We conduct a thorough audit of your CEMS equipment via sitewalk and conduct a thorough documentation review to ensure:
- Accurate, consistent results
- The overall health of CEMS instrumentation
- Your CEMS meets performance specifications
Our goal is to reduce equipment downtime and a need for major repairs. After conducting a sitewalk, we make recommendations based on our inspection and can facilitate needed upgrades for analyzers, umbilical systems, or other CEMS equipment as well as ongoing CEMS maintenance services.
Regulatory Training
We provide a variety of regulatory training options, from in-person and online classes for all customers to site-specific, customized training programs. Regulatory training includes the Environmental Protection Agency’s Part 60, Part 75 and MATS-focused courses, and more.
Our webinars, User Groups, StackVision Success Program, and other training events provide critical information on both product best practices and regulations. Visit our Events calendar to learn more.
The Source air emissions compliance blog provides explanations and advice regarding federal, state, and local regulations, Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) best practices, audit checklists, case studies, news, and more.
From The Source Blog
8864 Data Controller: Best Practices
The 8864 Data Controller is a powerful tool used for monitoring and collecting environmental data in industrial applications. To make the most out of this device, it’s essential to follow best practices to ensure efficient and reliable operation. In this blog post, we will explore the 8864 Data Controller and discuss best practices for it.
Monitoring Plans: Ease Stress During Reporting Month
Monitoring plans are far from a one-and-done document. Rather than it being a dusty old file sitting in the archives of the plant computer, your monitoring plan should be changing in step with your plant operation. While not overly time-consuming, this small check can save you a major headache during reporting months.
Continuous Emissions Monitoring 101: Calibration Gas & Requirements
This article will discuss and clarify calibration gas requirements for CEMS users including, system calibration, cal gas bottles, and more.