environmental justice & air permitting training - august 15, 2012 epa region iv – atlanta,...
TRANSCRIPT
Items covered in this presentation are:
Familiarizing yourself with the facility’s permit application
Inspection Records & Notices of Violation
Monitoring Reports & Stack Tests Required Permit Conditions &
Requirements
Be Vigilant & Stay Alert Request to be on notification list; either
email or snail mail Ask your friendly elected officials to
request they be notified of any major source air permits in their district, so they can be another source of notification
Check the newspaper regularly for public notices
Sample Public Notice language -- “Interested parties are invited to review these materials and comment. In addition, a public hearing may be requested at which written or oral presentations may be made. To be considered, written comments or requests for a public hearing must be made within thirty (30) days of the date of this notice.”
Public Hearings ARE NOT Automatic!
State Agency Offices and Library Branches are usually info repositories where you can view permit applications, files and records.
Now that some permits are available to the public via the internet that makes it easier to get copies out to residents & committee members that want to take a look at it and make comments.
Preparing for Permit Review
Means being prepared by checking numerous documents associated with the applicant and the permit process
Ask for help, if needed Welcome a 2nd set of eyes Jot down your thoughts as you go along;
its more difficult to find a certain statement once you have passed it.
Important Things to Look for:
Be familiar with the facility!!! Look the permit application over good! Check the applicant’s compliance plan;
have they had compliance problems? Look for inspection records; any violations
or problem areas What kind of monitoring methods do they
use? Maybe increased monitoring is needed!
Do MACT Standards Apply?
To find which MACT standards apply to your company, first select the best matched source category from the MACT promulgated standard list source description. Then, from this list, you can obtain further information about what processes are regulated by the MACT standard, and the compliance deadlines in the standard.
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/mactfnlalph.html
Notices of Violation How were issues resolved? Did the company pay a fine? Is it on-going? Is there a consent
agreement, or judgment? Unless the facility has fully complied,
that on-going requirement needs to be incorporated into the permit.
Scan for future reference any judgment
Previously Issued Permits Any federally-enforceable permit conditions
MUST be included in the Title V permit Sometimes it is hard to determine when a
permit is a federally-enforceable permit because your state may have issued a “state” permit prior to the Title V permit
Sometimes they look similar When commenting point out that ”a pre-
existing permit required…”, and if it is federal it must be included in new permit.
An Exception to the Rule! Most Title V permits will include “state
only” requirements in addition to federal requirements, and are not required under federal law.
However, if a pre-existing “state only” permit condition called for more monitoring you can use that decision to support asking for more frequent monitoring.
Monitoring Reports How frequent? What type of monitoring are they doing Make sure monitoring is not being
reduced by leaving off requirements from previous permits or judgments
Monitoring reports should clearly indicate violations
Smokestack Tests Did the company pass the tests? Lookout for improper averaging schemes that
allow one unit of equipment to have a lesser score, as long as the overall average complies with the requirement.
If a facility relies on averaging to demonstrate their compliance they may reference (in the permit) the regulation that allows averaging
Be careful requesting stack test results before looking at the specific ones you want – you can easily run up a big bill on unnecessary copies.
Letters to & from Applicant Look for mention of violations Or, disputes over any permit conditions Letters help get you to critical issues in
the facility and how regulators manage the situation
Notice how long it took for the company to correct the problem(s)
If you find the regulator handled a situation in a questionable or unsatisfactory way this may be a point you can raise to challenge the permit
Ready to look at the Draft Permit???
Ask for help, if neededWelcome a 2nd set of eyes Jot down your thoughts as you go
along; its more difficult to find a certain statement once you have passed it.
The Draft Permit is the proposed or tentative
decision from the Permitting Authority to
issue, deny, modify, revoke, re-issue, or
terminate.
Reviewing a Draft Permit
Review the Statement of Basis Review Required General Conditions Review State Implementation Plan Conditions Find out if your state allows “excess emissions
provisions” – some do! Make sure there are provisions to thoroughly
document and report any violations Inadequate periodic monitoring is one of the most
common reasons for the EPA to object to a permit Make sure federal requirements are not being
incorrectly identified as “state only” requirements.
Reviewing a Draft Permit Review Source-Specific Conditions
Is the permit condition practically enforceable?
Is the condition accompanied by adequate recordkeeping and reporting?
Is there sufficient “periodic monitoring”? Does the permit condition correctly reflect
the requirements of the underlying statue or regulation?
Is the annual compliance certification adequate
Collect all your questions! Your questions and concerns are the basis for
making substantive comments on the draft permit, and/or at a public hearing.
Your points strengthen the permitting process Request your comments become a part of the
facility’s record Citizen questions should be answered in
writing Citizen comments are not guaranteed to be
incorporated into the permit , but Insure effective public participation and
involvement
“The Proof is in the PermitHow to Make Sure a Facilityin Your Community Gets an EffectiveTitle V Air Pollution Permit”
Copyright – NYPIRG, June 2000
http://www.epa.gov/oaqps001/permits/partic/proof1.pdf
Demystifying Permitting:An Excellent Resource