(a) An owner or operator may elect to comply with an allowable percentage of valves leaking of equal to or less than 2.0 percent.

(b) The following requirements shall be met if an owner or operator wishes to comply with an allowable percentage of valves leaking:

(1) An owner or operator must notify the Administrator that the owner or operator has elected to comply with the allowable percentage of valves leaking before implementing this alternative standard, as specified in §60.487a(d).

(2) A performance test as specified in paragraph (c) of this section shall be conducted initially upon designation, annually, and at other times requested by the Administrator.

(3) If a valve leak is detected, it shall be repaired in accordance with §60.482-7a(d) and (e).

(c) Performance tests shall be conducted in the following manner:

(1) All valves in gas/vapor and light liquid service within the affected facility shall be monitored within 1 week by the methods specified in §60.485a(b).

(2) If an instrument reading of 500 ppm or greater is measured, a leak is detected.

(3) The leak percentage shall be determined by dividing the number of valves for which leaks are detected by the number of valves in gas/vapor and light liquid service within the affected facility.

(d) Owners and operators who elect to comply with this alternative standard shall not have an affected facility with a leak percentage greater than 2.0 percent, determined as described in §60.485a(h).