The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality protects air quality in Oregon by regulating emissions from business operations. Businesses that meet certain criteria are required to obtain an air quality permit.
- The AQB-001 Basic Air Contaminant Discharge Permit for Auto Body Repair and Painting Facilities is required for businesses that paint more than 25 automobiles in a 12-month period and are located inside the Portland Air Quality Maintenance Area.
- DEQ will prioritize enforcement of the permitting requirement for facilities that, on more than 25 automobiles in a 12-month period, paint either the entire automobile or paint a section of the automobile, such as a bumper, door, or hood, that is equal to or larger than an 8 inches by 8 inches area..
- DEQ will not prioritize enforcement of the permitting requirement for facilities that engage in limited scratch, dent, and chip repairs where the coatings are applied to areas that are smaller than an 8 inches by 8 inches area.
- Most paint used by auto body facilities contains volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. When released into the air, VOCs help form ground-level ozone, an air pollutant that can have harmful effects on people and the environment. Regulating emissions of VOCs from auto body repair facilities will help the Portland area meet national air quality standards for ozone.
- DEQ has noticed that some auto body repair and painting facilities that exempted out of National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) and the general permit for surface coating should have been issued a basic air contaminant discharge permit. These permits are required by Oregon law (OAR 340-216-8010 Table 1).
Basic and General ACDP forms are located on this page.