[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 22 (Monday, February 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5956-5957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-02010]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[Petition I-2019-3; FRL-10004-45-Region 1]
Clean Air Act Operating Permit Program; Petition for Objection to
State Operating Permit for Wheelabrator Environmental System Inc.,
Wheelabrator Concord Company, L.P., Concord, New Hampshire
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of final order on petition to object to state operating
permits.
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SUMMARY: The EPA Administrator signed an Order, dated October 30, 2019,
denying a petition dated March 14, 2019, filed by Anthony Caplan,
Katherine Lajoie, Rebecca MacKenzie, and Janet Ward (the Petitioners).
The Petitioners requested that the EPA object to a proposed Clean Air
Act (CAA) title V operating permit (Permit No. TV-0032) issued by the
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) to
Wheelabrator Environmental System, Inc., Wheelabrator Concord Company,
L.P. (Wheelabrator), a large municipal waste incinerator located in
Concord, New Hampshire.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Order, the petition, and all pertinent
information relating thereto are on file at the following location: EPA
Region 1; Air and Radiation Division; 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100,
(Mail code 05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912. The Order is also available
electronically at the following address: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-11/documents/wheelabrator_rensponse2019.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Kilpatrick, Air Permits,
Toxics, and Indoor Programs Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, (Mail code 05-
2), Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel. (617) 918-1652, email
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CAA affords the EPA a 45-day period to
review and, as appropriate, the authority to object to operating
permits proposed by state permitting authorities under title V of the
CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7661-7661f. Section 505(b)(2) of the CAA and 40 CFR
70.8(d) authorizes any person to petition the EPA Administrator to
object to a title V operating permit within 60 days after the
expiration of the EPA's 45-day review period if the EPA has not
objected on its own initiative. 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 raise these issues
during the comment period or the grounds for the issues arose after
this period.
The Petitioners submitted a petition on March 14, 2019, requesting
that the EPA object to the proposed CAA title V operating permit issued
by NHDES to Wheelabrator (Permit No. TV-0032). The Petitioners alleged
that (1) the operation of the Wheelabrator incinerator violates New
Hampshire's Revised Statutes Annotated (RSA) 125-C, Title 10 Public
Health, Chapter 125-C Air Pollution Control, Section 125-C:1 and
releases persistent toxic substances, such as lead, mercury, cadmium,
and dioxin, that ``accumulate in our bodies (known as body burden) and
in our environment (known as toxic loading) and cause harm in low
doses;'' (2) that ``[s]napshot testing of smokestack emissions can
neither determine nor ensure continuous compliance with air standards
that are themselves not health based;'' and that NHDES ``has
discretionary authority to either deny or approve a Title V permit and
is not constrained by a requirement to only consider whether
Wheelabrator's stack test results comply with emission standards;'' (3)
Wheelabrator violated state and federal law by incinerating
[[Page 5957]]
used baghouse filters; and (4) the NHDES has mischaracterized its
authority under New Hampshire's RSA 125C:13 and CAA Sec. 129(e) and
that NHDES can deny, suspend, or revoke the permit, or order measures
beyond existing emission limitations to protect public health.
On October 30, 2019, the Administrator issued an Order denying the
petition. The Order explains the EPA's basis for denying the petition.
Pursuant to sections 307(b) and 505(b)(2) of the CAA, a petition
for judicial review of those parts of the Order that deny issues in the
petition may be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the
appropriate circuit by April 3, 2020, 60 days from the date this notice
is published in the Federal Register.
Dated: January 21, 2020.
Dennis Deziel,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2020-02010 Filed 1-31-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P