Cook County is the second most populous county in the United States, encompassing the City of Chicago and many of Illinois’ largest suburbs. While all businesses operating in Illinois must comply with applicable state and federal environmental rules, those located in Cook County must consider an additional layer of local regulations. The many industrial operations within the county are also overseen by the Cook County Department of Environment and Sustainability (CCDES).

Cook County rules (for air permitting and other air quality requirements) can apply even when equipment qualifies for Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) exemptions. To avoid violations and fees, facilities must actively conduct compliance-focused assessments of their emission unit inventory. Businesses are also encouraged to regularly “View What’s Changed” on the county website and stay up to date with their issued Certificate of Operation (COO). Chapter 30 of the Cook County Code of Ordinances contains additional details about environmental compliance at the local level.

Using the DES Web Portal

The Department of Environment and Sustainability (DES) web portal is the primary platform for managing equipment inventories with CCDES. Facilities that already have a COO can access their site account on the web portal using the Site ID found on their Statement of Account or COO. Through the portal, users can register new equipment, view past statements and certificates, and make payments for new equipment or annual fees. Because invoices from CCDES may contain sensitive information, businesses should refrain from sharing their Site ID publicly to prevent unauthorized access.

Under Cook County rules, the operation of any “fuel-burning, combustion, process equipment, process, or air pollution control device”, requires a Certificate of Operation; Illinois state permit exemptions do not apply. New equipment installations should also be registered as they occur through the DES web portal. Each unit incurs an initial filing fee and a recurring annual operating fee, which vary by equipment type. Although the portal instructions suggest that active equipment can be marked as decommissioned online, owners must notify CCDES of equipment removal via email at [email protected]. Prompt reporting of equipment removal is critical to avoid excess annual fees and violations under Section 30-157 of the Code of Ordinances, which requires reporting equipment that has been dismantled or otherwise discontinued.

The most current version of a site’s COO is always available through the DES web portal.

What’s in a Certificate of Operation?

All COOs issued by the CCDES include the site-specific equipment inventory, based on information entered in the web portal. After the inventory table, the COO contains several pages of standard permit conditions, which are sometimes overlooked. Because these conditions are not customized by CCDES to the listed equipment, facilities must confirm the applicability of these requirements for all existing equipment and be prepared to explain their determinations in the event of an inspection. (For example, the permit contains a requirement for storage tanks greater than 250 gallons, even if a facility does not have any storage tanks in that size range.) Each COO remains effective until the next version is issued and paid for. If the COO does not reflect decommissioned equipment, the CCDES will continue to expect compliance and reporting for those units until proper notification is submitted.

Another requirement that may be overlooked in the COO comes from Section 30-216 of the Code of Ordinances, which requires reporting equipment malfunctions or breakdowns beyond the owner’s control to [email protected] within 24-hours and 72-hours of the occurrence.

Additional COO permit requirements to be aware of include the following:

• Raw material usage tracking for materials containing volatile organic material (VOM) or hazardous air pollutants (HAP);

• Maintaining records of oxidizer temperature for any thermal destruction control devices;

• Maintaining records of raw material throughput for VOM-containing storage tanks greater than 250 gallons;

• Storage container labeling, secondary containment, and maintenance requirements;

• Uploading the Annual Emissions Report (AER), if required by Illinois EPA, and entering emissions data into DES web portal; and

• Facilities in the Illinois EPA Registration of Smaller Sources (ROSS) program that stop qualifying for the ROSS program and apply for an Illinois EPA air operating permit must also notify CCDES of that application within five (5) days.

Please review your facility’s COO for additional recordkeeping requirements that must be provided to Cook County upon request. For example, the COO specifies that sites should be able to provide process flow diagrams and/or site maps, facility square footage, operating hours, and the number of employees upon request by CCDES.

Recommendations

• Post a physical copy of the most recent COO in a conspicuous location and be ready to discuss onsite equipment applicability.
• Safeguard Site IDs to avoid unauthorized access to the DES web portal.
• Maintain accurate and clear inventory listings. Avoid redundancy and make the number and type of units obvious.
• Stay ahead of deadlines for payment and reporting.
• Update site procedures for environmental incident reporting to include the required CCDES malfunction/breakdown notifications.
• Update site compliance calendar to include AER upload to the DES web portal upon submittal to Illinois EPA each year (if subject to AER requirements).
• Review Illinois EPA and CCDES requirements to ensure full compliance with federal, state, and county regulations.

If you have any questions about these Cook County requirements, please contact Trinity’s Chicago Office at (630) 495-1470 or submit your information at Contact Us – Trinity Consultants.