Texas Permit by Rule: Registration, Fees, and Recordkeeping

A Texas Permit by Rule is a pre-written air authorization issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that lets a facility with low emissions operate without going through a case-by-case New Source Review. If your equipment and operations meet every condition in the rule you’re relying on, and your emissions stay below the caps in 30 TAC § 106.4, you can operate under that rule. Exceed a single condition and you lose the authorization for the entire facility.

Two Paths: Claiming vs. Registering

Not every Permit by Rule requires paperwork. Some you simply claim: you confirm your facility meets the general requirements of 30 TAC Chapter 106, Subchapter A and every condition of the specific rule, keep records on site, and you’re authorized the moment you comply. No forms, no fees, no waiting.¹

Other rules state that registration is required before you build or operate. Those direct you to file Form PI-7 electronically through the STEERS system, pay a fee, and wait for TCEQ review. The text of your individual rule tells you which path applies, so read it in full before doing anything else.

Emission Caps You Cannot Exceed

Every PBR-authorized facility has to stay below the pollutant-specific limits in 30 TAC § 106.4. Blowing any one of them, not the total, disqualifies the facility:²

Carbon monoxide or nitrogen oxides: 250 tons per year
Volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide, or particulate matter: 25 tons per year
PM₁₀: 15 tons per year
PM₂.₅: 10 tons per year
Any other air contaminant not listed above: 25 tons per year (excluding water, nitrogen, ethane, hydrogen, oxygen, and greenhouse gases)

Those numbers apply per facility. A separate cap of the same size applies to the entire site when you operate multiple PBR facilities at one location. One facility emitting 200 tons per year of nitrogen oxides next to another emitting 60 tons puts the site at 260 tons, past the 250-ton limit, and voids the PBR authorization for the whole account.²

There is one carveout: if at least one facility at the site already holds a New Source Review permit issued after public notice and comment under 30 TAC Chapter 116, the site-wide aggregation does not apply, and the remaining PBR facilities are evaluated individually.²

Beyond the tonnage limits, you must comply with all TCEQ rules and the intent of the Texas Clean Air Act, and your emissions control equipment must be maintained in good condition and operated properly whenever the facility is running.²

Finding the Right Rule

Chapter 106 is organized into 21 industry-specific subchapters, and each contains multiple individual rules. The total count of distinct PBR authorizations runs well into the dozens.³ A few examples of what’s covered:

Aggregate and pavement (Subchapter E): batch mixers, bulk mineral handling, and related equipment.
Oil and gas (Subchapter O): certain upstream production equipment, storage tanks, and loading operations.
Service industries (Subchapter R): dry cleaning, printing, and similar commercial activities.
Combustion (Subchapter G): boilers, heaters, and other fuel-burning equipment below certain heat input thresholds.
Tanks, storage, and loading (Subchapter U): vapor emissions from storage tanks and loading racks.

Concrete batch plants are a common point of confusion. Some qualify for a PBR under 30 TAC § 106.141 (batch mixers) or § 106.144 (bulk mineral handling), but many are too large and instead need a Standard Permit designed specifically for concrete batch plants, with its own registration and public participation requirements.⁴ If your process doesn’t fit squarely within a rule’s conditions, you cannot force it in. Read the rule, compare it line by line to your equipment specifications, and confirm every condition is met before claiming or registering.

Certified Registration and Title V

When registration is required, you’ll use either the standard PI-7 or the certified PI-7-CERT. The certified form exists to establish federally enforceable emission limits below the general PBR caps, which matters when your site’s total emissions sit near the threshold that would trigger a federal Title V operating permit under 30 TAC Chapter 122.⁵

Certifying lower rates creates a binding cap the EPA recognizes, which can keep a facility below the major-source line and out of the far more demanding federal permit process. The PI-7-CERT instructions explain when certification applies.⁶

What Registration Requires

The technical core of a PI-7 submission is emission calculations reflecting the facility’s maximum potential output, broken into hourly and annual rates for each pollutant. Base them on manufacturer specifications for engines, boilers, tanks, or other equipment, combined with expected operating hours and fuel consumption.

The form also requires administrative details: geographic coordinates, a description of the equipment and process, and the specific PBR rule you’re relying on. A site plot plan showing emission points relative to property boundaries is typical, because TCEQ uses distance information during its impacts review. Use the current version of the form; the agency won’t accept outdated formats.⁶

Filing Through STEERS, Fees, and Timing

All PBR registrations must be submitted electronically through the State of Texas Environmental Electronic Reporting System (STEERS). Hard copies are not accepted. You’ll enter your administrative and technical data in the ePermits portal, upload calculations and supporting documents as a single file, and sign electronically.⁷

Fees depend on the type of applicant:⁸

$100 for small businesses (as defined by Texas Government Code § 2006.001), nonprofits, and municipalities, counties, or independent school districts with 10,000 or fewer residents.
$450 for all other entities.

An optional $500 expedited processing surcharge is available. It’s non-refundable and must be paid at the time of submission. TCEQ’s target review time for a PBR registration is 45 days.⁷

Recordkeeping After Authorization

Whether you claimed or registered, the recordkeeping requirements in 30 TAC § 106.8 apply from day one. You must keep enough information to demonstrate compliance with both § 106.4 and your individual rule, plus a copy of the PBR text and general conditions that were in effect when you built or modified the facility.⁹

Records must be kept at the facility. Unattended facilities can keep them at a Texas office with day-to-day operational control. They must be available in reviewable format on request from TCEQ or any local air pollution agency with jurisdiction.

Retention runs at least five years for major source sites (or any site subject to a federal requirement), and at least two years for everyone else. These periods override any shorter period stated in an individual rule, and your records have to support compliance for any consecutive 12-month period, meaning rolling data rather than annual snapshots.⁹

Portable Facilities and Relocations

If your PBR covers portable equipment that moves between job sites, you have to notify TCEQ before each relocation. As of May 2025, relocation and notification requests must be submitted electronically through STEERS using the APD Relocation/Notification Form (TCEQ Form 20122), with supporting documentation showing the new site meets the PBR’s conditions, such as an updated plot plan and area map. There’s no fee.¹⁰

If the new location can’t satisfy the portable permit’s conditions, including control requirements, distance limitations, and site authorization instructions, you have to submit a change-of-location permit application to the Air Permits Division for full review of best available control technology, site impacts, and compliance history.

Penalties and Voluntary Disclosure

Operating outside your PBR’s conditions, or without any authorization, puts you in the TCEQ enforcement process. Minor problems typically produce a Notice of Violation with a window to demonstrate compliance. Serious or continuing violations escalate to a Notice of Enforcement and formal action, ending in an agreed order with corrective actions and a calculated penalty.¹¹

Administrative penalties for air quality violations can reach $25,000 per violation per day. The actual amount depends on compliance history, whether the violation was intentional, the economic benefit of noncompliance, and the environmental or health impact. Installment plans are available for up to 36 months, with minimum monthly payments of $100.¹²

Finding a violation yourself before TCEQ does opens a different path. Under the Texas Environmental, Health, and Safety Audit Privilege Act, you can submit a notice of audit to TCEQ, conduct the audit, disclose what you find, and correct the violations within a reasonable timeframe to earn immunity from administrative and civil penalties.¹³ The immunity only attaches when the disclosure is voluntary, meaning it happens before TCEQ starts its own investigation. Once an inspector is on site, it’s too late.

When a Permit by Rule Is Not the Right Fit

A PBR is built for low-emission, straightforward operations. If your facility exceeds any of the § 106.4 thresholds, or the specific rule’s conditions don’t match your equipment, you need a different authorization. TCEQ’s permitting hierarchy has tiers:¹⁴

De minimis facilities: operations so small they fall below PBR thresholds may need no registration or authorization under 30 TAC § 116.119(a).
Standard permits: pre-written authorizations for specific facility types (like larger concrete batch plants) with higher emission limits, public notice, and more detailed review.
New Source Review permits: individually drafted, case-by-case permits for facilities that don’t fit any pre-written option, involving best available control technology analysis and public participation.

Claiming a PBR when you actually need a higher-tier permit is treated the same as operating with no permit at all, and TCEQ’s penalty calculation factors in any economic benefit you gained by avoiding the proper process.

1
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Claiming a Permit by Rule
2
Cornell Law Institute. 30 Texas Administrative Code 106.4 – Requirements for Permitting by Rule
3
Cornell Law Institute. Chapter 106 – Permits by Rule
4
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Types of Authorization for Concrete Batch Plants
5
Cornell Law Institute. 30 Texas Administrative Code 106.6 – Registration of Emissions
6
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Registration Form for a Permit by Rule
7
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. RG-531b – A Guide to Obtaining Permits by Rule Authorizations
8
Cornell Law Institute. 30 Texas Administrative Code 106.50 – Registration Fees for Permits by Rule
9
Cornell Law Institute. 30 Texas Administrative Code 106.8 – Recordkeeping
10
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Relocating a Facility with a Portable Air Permit
11
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The Enforcement Process – From Violations to Actions
12
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. RG-253 – Penalty Policy
13
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. RG-173 – A Guide to the Texas Environmental Health and Safety Audit Privilege Act
14
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. RG-616 – Fact Sheet – Air Permitting