Hillsborough County is home to the Port of Tampa, Florida’s largest seaport. Not surprisingly, almost twenty percent of Florida’s industrial air pollution sources are located in Hillsborough County. The Air Compliance Section is responsible for performing inspections of all sources of air pollution that are granted a permit to operate. In addition to inspecting industrial air pollution sources, the Compliance Section performs annual performance test audits, complaint investigations, and other activities regarding stationary sources.

Industrial Air Pollution Sources

Stationary sources include major facilities, which operate under the Title V program of the Clean Air Act and have the potential to release criteria air pollutants above 100 tons per year, or 10 tons of an individual hazardous air pollutant, or 25 tons for a group of hazardous air pollutants. Criteria pollutants commonly found at industrial facilities include:

• Particulate matter (PM),
• Sulfur dioxide (SO2),
• Oxides of nitrogen (NOx),
• Carbon monoxide (CO),
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The EPA has identified 187 compounds which are considered hazardous air pollutants.

Currently, Hillsborough County has 27 active Title V facilities. There are also more than 271 synthetic minor and minor sources of air pollution. Inspections at these facilities ensure the source is operating according to the conditions of the permit.

All pollution control devices are inspected and evaluated to verify proper operation and maintenance procedures are followed. Operators are required to test the amount of pollution emitted to the air by the facility yearly. We monitor and review these tests for compliance with regulations. 

The Air Compliance Section is also responsible for quantifying Hillsborough County’s industrial source criteria pollutants on an annual basis. These results are used for air pollution modeling, tracking air emission trends, and developing effective air pollution control strategies.

New sources are discovered every year that require some degree of control to protect public health. Our inspectors are constantly on the alert for air pollution sources in the county that may have been previously overlooked. Some of these are found as a result of complaints filed by citizens.

• Forms and Applications