[Federal Register: December 23, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 246)]
[Notices]
[Page 78228-78229]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23de02-46]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7426-2]
Clean Air Act Operating Permit Program; Petition for Objection to
Wyoming State Operating Permit for the Buckingham Lumber Company,
Buffalo, WY
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of final order on petition to object to State of Wyoming
operating permit.
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SUMMARY: This document announces that the EPA Administrator has issued
an order in response to a petition to object to a state operating
permit issued by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ)
for the Buckingham Lumber Company's teepee burner, located in Buffalo,
Wyoming. Pursuant to section 505(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (Act), the
petitioner may seek judicial review of this petition response in the
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Any petition must
be filed within 60 days of the date this document appears in the
Federal Register, pursuant to section 307(d) of the Act.
ADDRESSES: You may review copies of the final order, the petition, and
other supporting information at the Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 8, 999 18th Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80201-2466. If
you wish to examine these documents, you should make an appointment at
least 24 hours before visiting day. The final order is also available
electronically at each of the following two addresses: http://www.epa.gov/region7/programs/artd/air/title5/petitiondb/petitions/buckingham_decision2002.pdf
, and http://www.epa.gov/region7/programs/
artd/air/title5/petitiondb/petitiondb2002.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Ajayi, Environmental
Engineer, Air and Radiation Section, Office of Partnerships and
Regulatory Assistance, Mail Code 8P-AR, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 8, 999 18th Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80202-
2466, telephone (303) 312-6320, or e-mail at ajayi.christopher@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Clean Air Act (Act) affords EPA a 45-day
period to review and object to, as appropriate, operating permits
proposed by state permitting authorities. Section 505(b)(2) of the Act
authorizes any person to petition the EPA Administrator within 60 days
after the expiration of this review period to object to state operating
permits if EPA has not done so. Petitions must be based only on
objections to the permit that were raised with reasonable specificity
during the public comment period provided by the state, unless the
petitioner demonstrates that it was impracticable to object during the
comment period or that the grounds for the objection or other issue
arose after this period.
The Buffalo Committee to Stop Sawmill Burning, (``Committee'')
submitted a petition to the Administrator on April 24, 2002, requesting
that EPA object to the modified Title V operating permit issued for
Buckingham Lumber Company's teepee burner in Buffalo, Wyoming. The
petition objects to issuance of the proposed permit on the following
grounds:
1. The permit fails to assure continuous compliance with opacity
limits applicable to teepee burners under Wyoming Chapter 6, section
3(h)(i)(C)(I)(2) of the WAQSR, and 40 CFR 70.6(a)(3)(i)(B),
2. Provisions allowing emissions exceptions during ``malfunction,''
``abnormal conditions,'' and ``breakdown of a process, control or
related operating equipment'' may be inconsistent with EPA policy, and
3. Claims of ``new information'' about emissions at the Town of
Buffalo show a need for continuous monitoring.
On November 1, 2002, the Administrator issued an order partially
granting and partially denying the petition. First, the Administrator
granted the petition insofar as it claimed that the Buckingham Lumber
Company permit does not provide for adequate opacity monitoring.
Therefore, the State of Wyoming is ordered to modify the permit to
include monitoring of emissions opacity that is ``sufficient to yield
reliable data * * * that are representative of the source's compliance
with the permit.''
Second, the Administrator's order denied the petitioner's claims
that permit provisions allowing emissions exceptions during
``malfunction,'' ``abnormal conditions,'' and ``breakdown of a process,
control or related operating equipment'' may be inconsistent with EPA
policy. These emissions exception provisions of the permit mirror those
promulgated in the State of Wyoming's State Operating Plan (``SIP'');
therefore, this claim in the petition is denied. However, since the
permitting process under Title V of the Clean Air Act does not allow
the Administrator to object to permit provisions that are part of the
Wyoming
[[Page 78229]]
SIP, the order requires EPA Region 8 to review the SIP itself to
determine whether emissions exception provisions are contrary to EPA
policy.
Finally, the Administrator's order denies the petition's claim that
``new information'' about smoke filling the town of Buffalo, Wyoming,
and the source's compliance history show a need for continuous
monitoring. The petitioner's request is denied because the issue of
monitoring has been adequately addressed above, and petitioners failed
to demonstrate that any applicable requirement is missing from the
permit or that the permit otherwise fails to comply with the
requirements of the regulation.
Additional explanation for the Administrator's decision can be
found in the order.
Patricia D. Hull,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 8.
[FR Doc. 02-32261 Filed 12-20-02; 8:45 am]
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