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Some equipment may be exempted from the referenced definition as any equipment acquired or installed for the benefit of personnel or of a business. Many states within the United States are now offering tax exemption certificates on air pollution control equipment, however most states will require that the equipment is designed and operated primarily for the control, capture and/or removal of pollutants from the air, it is suitable for the application and reasonably adequate, and meets the intent and purposes of the Tax Exemption.

Generally, equipment which meets the definition of an air pollution control facility as falls under one of the following categories:

1).Equipment which essentially removes air contaminants from a gas-stream being exhausted to the atmosphere (e.g., bag Houses, scrubbers, electrostatic precipitators, regenerative thermal oxidizer, etc.)

2).Equipment which stops potential air contaminants from being emitted to the atmosphere (e.g., dust management enclosures, etc.)

3).Equipment which alters the sources, thus removes the generation of the air contaminant (e.g., process change or burner conversion)

4).Equipment which is supplementary to the operation of the air pollution control facility (e.g., dust hoppers, waste conveyors, monitors, stacks, fans and motors)

Often times the state will require the evaluation of the air pollution control equipment covered by the application to determine that the equipment meets the definition of an air pollution control facility. This definition is mean equipment installed or acquired for the primary purpose of controlling or disposing of air pollution which, if released, would render the air harmful or detrimental to public health or to property within the state. This includes process changes made to production equipment so as to satisfy the requirements of the air pollution act and to the fuel burner of a fuel burning system which has been installed, modified, or converted to effect air pollution control.

When you are evaluating your specific equipment installation, most States use these general guidelines to determine whether a piece of equipment will meet the definition of an air pollution control facility. It is important to remember that:

1).Exceptions to your State Guidelines may occur,

2).Air pollution control facility means equipment installed or acquired for the primary purpose of controlling or disposing of air pollution,

3).'Air pollution control facility' does not mean equipment which is for benefit of personnel or business,

4).For more involved situations in which the equipment serves a number of functions, only one of which is air pollution control, the State may apply an incremental cost approach. In such situations, the incremental cost qualified for tax exemption is considered to be the difference between the actual cost of the equipment and the anticipated cost of the equipment which could perform all of the functions other than air pollution control.