Exempt activities are activities, not otherwise triggering any specific applicable requirement, the emissions of which are beyond the scope of the permit program. These activities do not need to be listed in the permit application.
The principles used to establish lists of exempt activities (which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls "trivial" activities) are:
- The activities that do not have applicable requirements that apply to them.
- Their emissions are small enough that their emissions are below construction permit and approval thresholds.
The applicability of the "exempt activity" concept to the operating permit and construction permit programs should be identical. That is, an activity that is exempt from the operating permit program should also be exempt from the construction permit program. In the event that an activity listed as exempt in the operating permit program is deemed to have emission levels under some circumstances that would trigger an applicable requirement such as a construction permit, it cannot be viewed as an exempt activity. Similarly, if an activity needs to have some form of emission limit applied to it in order to be placed on the exempt list, it should not be on the list. If the emissions from the activity are not below permit or approval thresholds (even though it may not have applicable requirements), it should be looked at as an insignificant activity, not an exempt unit.
Refer to the list of exempt activities in the Class I Operating Permit application glossary for a complete description. All applications and reports are located in the Kansas Environmental Information Management System (KEIMS). Please visit the KEIMS page to set up your KEIMS account.