Environmental Justice & Air Permitting Training - August 15, 2012 EPA Region IV – Atlanta, Georgia

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 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 2 nd 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. 

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 needed  Welcome a 2 nd 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 Permit How to Make Sure a Facility in Your Community Gets an Effective Title V Air Pollution Permit” Copyright – NYPIRG, June pdf Demystifying Permitting: An Excellent Resource

Rita Harris Regional EJ Organizer Sierra Club EJ Program Memphis, TN (901)