If you hold a Title V permit, you already know the drill: leak detection and repair is almost certainly part of your life. But a lot of facilities don’t have Title V. They run on a synthetic minor permit, a state minor source permit, or a general air permit — and the question that keeps coming up is whether LDAR still applies to them.
The short answer: LDAR is not triggered by your permit type. It’s triggered by the rules that apply to your equipment and your emissions. Title V is a permitting program, not the thing that creates an LDAR obligation. Plenty of facilities below the Title V threshold still owe fugitive emissions monitoring. Here’s how to tell whether you’re one of them.
LDAR comes from the rule, not the permit
This is the part that trips people up. A Title V permit is the wrapper that pulls all of a major source’s requirements into one document. The actual LDAR requirements live in the underlying regulations — the NSPS and NESHAP standards. Those standards apply to covered equipment whether or not the facility is big enough to need Title V.
So a minor source can absolutely be subject to LDAR if it operates equipment that a federal standard covers. The permit is just paperwork. The equipment and the applicable rule are what matter.
The rules most likely to reach a non-Title V site
A handful of standards are the usual reason a smaller facility ends up with an LDAR program:
- NSPS Subpart VVa / VV — equipment leaks in the synthetic organic chemical manufacturing industry (SOCMI).
- NSPS Subpart GGGa / GGG — equipment leaks at petroleum refineries.
- NSPS Subpart OOOOa / OOOO (and the newer OOOOb) — the oil and gas standards, which catch a lot of well sites, compressor stations, and gas plants that are nowhere near Title V size.
- NESHAP Subpart H and other equipment-leak NESHAPs — hazardous air pollutant standards that apply based on the HAP you handle, not your overall facility size.
If any of these are referenced in your permit, your applicability determination, or your construction approval, you very likely have an LDAR obligation regardless of Title V status.
Synthetic minor permits are a common trap
A synthetic minor permit exists specifically to keep a facility under the major-source threshold by accepting enforceable limits. That structure can give the impression you’ve sidestepped the heavy compliance programs. You haven’t necessarily. The limits in a synthetic minor permit are often built on top of an applicable NSPS or NESHAP — and that underlying standard can carry its own monitoring, recordkeeping, and leak-repair requirements that have nothing to do with whether you crossed the Title V line.
How to actually figure out where you stand
You don’t need to guess. The applicability is knowable, and it usually comes down to four things:
- Read your permit’s applicable-requirements section. If it cites an NSPS or NESHAP subpart by name, look up what that subpart requires for equipment leaks.
- Inventory your covered components. LDAR rules count things — valves, pumps, connectors, compressors, pressure-relief devices, open-ended lines, sampling connections — in the covered service. The component count and the service (gas, light liquid, heavy liquid) drive what you monitor and how often.
- Check what’s in the streams. NESHAP applicability follows the HAP. If a covered hazardous air pollutant is in the line above the rule’s threshold, the standard can apply even at a small site.
- Look at construction and modification dates. NSPS applicability hinges on when equipment was built, modified, or reconstructed. A newer unit can pull you into a standard an older identical one wouldn’t trigger.
What happens if you assume you’re exempt and you’re wrong
This is the expensive scenario. Fugitive emissions requirements are self-implementing — the obligation exists the day the rule applies, not the day an inspector points it out. If you should have been running monitoring rounds and keeping records and you weren’t, you’re looking at a compliance gap that’s already been accruing, sometimes for years. That’s the kind of thing that surfaces during a permit renewal, a Title V applicability review, or an inspection, and it’s a lot more painful to fix backward than to set up correctly from the start.
The bottom line
Not having a Title V permit does not mean you’re off the hook for LDAR. The right question isn’t “Am I a major source?” — it’s “Does a federal standard apply to my equipment, and what does that standard require?” For a lot of synthetic minor and minor-source facilities, the honest answer is that some level of leak detection and repair applies, even if it’s smaller in scope than a refinery’s program. If it turns out you do have an obligation, the next step is building a right-sized LDAR program that fits your actual component count instead of over-engineering it.
If you’re not sure where your site lands, the cleanest path is a straight applicability determination — someone who can read your permit, walk your equipment, and tell you in plain terms what applies and what doesn’t. That’s exactly the kind of work we do. Learn more about our LDAR services or get in touch for a straight answer on your facility.
Note: This article is general information, not legal advice or a regulatory applicability determination. Federal and state air rules change, and how they apply depends on the specifics of your equipment, your permit, and your location. Confirm your obligations with a qualified professional or your permitting authority before acting.