[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 146 (Monday, July 30, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39312-39313]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18883]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7020-6]


Notice of Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Final 
Determination for Zion Energy LLC, City of Zion, Lake County, IL

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of final action.

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SUMMARY: This document announces that on March 27, 2001, the 
Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) of the United States EPA dismissed a 
petition for review of a permit issued for Zion Energy by the Illinois 
Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) pursuant to EPA's 
Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality (PSD) 
regulations.

DATES: The effective date for the EAB's decision is March 27, 2001. 
Judicial review of this permit decision, to the extent it is available 
pursuant to section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, may be sought by 
filing a petition for review in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the Seventh Circuit within 60 days of July 30, 2001.

ADDRESSES: The documents relevant to the above action are available for 
public inspection during normal business hours at the following 
address: Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard (AR-18J), Chicago, Illinois 60604. To arrange viewing of 
these documents, call Jorge Acevedo at (312) 886-2263.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jorge Acevedo, United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Boulevard (AR-
18J), Chicago, Illinois 60604. Anyone who wishes to review the EAB 
decision can obtain it at http://www.epa.gov/eab/disk11/zion.pdf.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This supplemental information is organized 
as follows:

    A. What Action is EPA Taking?
    B. What is the Background Information?
    C. What did the EAB Determine?

A. What Action Is EPA Taking?

    We are notifying the public of a final decision by EPA's EAB on a 
permit issued by Illinois EPA pursuant to the PSD regulations found at 
40 CFR 52.21.

B. What Is the Background Information?

    On December 8, 2000, Illinois EPA issued PSD permit 99110042 to 
Zion Energy LLC (Zion) for the construction of a new electric power 
generating facility with a capacity of 800 megawatts. The proposed 
facility consists of five simple-cycle combustion turbines that operate 
on natural gas as a primary fuel and distillate oil as a back-up fuel. 
The project also consists of five auxiliary boilers, two fuel heaters, 
and a fuel storage tank. The facility is subject to PSD for nitrogen 
oxides ( NOX), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Sulfur Dioxide 
(SO2), and Particulate Matter (PM/PM10).
    On January 5, 2001, Susan Zingle, on her own behalf and as 
executive director of the Lake County Conservation Alliance (LCCA), and 
the LCCA petitioned the EAB to review this permit. The petitioner 
alleged: (i) The facility is a major source of hazardous air pollutants 
(HAPs) and is subject to Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) 
requirements, specifically the potential to emit HAPs is higher than 
reflected in the permit and the permit does not effectively cap HAP 
emissions, (ii) the permit should contain a provision requiring 
compliance with State noise regulations, (iii) Illinois' `` 
NOX waiver'' should be lifted and the facility treated as 
major for NOX, (iv) the permit incorrectly identified the 
proposed simple-cycle combustion turbines as ``peaking units,'' (v) 
Illinois EPA's best available control technology (BACT) analysis was 
erroneous for several reasons including, Illinois EPA failed to 
consider certain control technologies such as combined cycle operation 
with catalytic controls, catalytic controls were rejected, and Illinois 
EPA should have considered alternative locations for the facility due 
to consideration of water availability, the analysis should have 
included an evaluation of need, energy conservation, demand side 
management and other alternatives to construction of the facility, 
Illinois EPA should have considered the use of alternative turbine 
configurations, the use of low NOX burners for the fuel 
heaters and auxiliary boilers does not constitute BACT, the permit's 
provision for the operation of auxiliary boilers does not constitute 
BACT, good combustion practices were not sufficiently defined

[[Page 39313]]

and are not BACT for CO and PM, Illinois failed to require the 
development of operation and maintenance procedures as part of the BACT 
analysis, and the use of diesel fuel does not constitute BACT, (vi) the 
permit failed to properly account for emissions during startup and 
shutdown of the facility, and failed to limit the number of startups, 
(vii) emissions limits were based on unsubstantiated assumptions 
regarding facility operation, (viii) the permit should specify what 
constitutes good air pollution control practices, (ix) the permit fails 
to require compliance with requirements for a major source of volatile 
organic compounds (VOCs) in a non-attainment area for ozone, (x) the 
permit's monitoring requirements were inadequate for reasons such as 
the 180 day period of operation prior to shakedown and emission testing 
should be shortened, testing for particulate matter should use method 
202, testing for VOCs should use method 18 rather than 25a, (xi) 
emissions from facilities under common control should have been 
included in calculating the potential to emit, and (xii) a complete 
copy of the draft permit was not made available at the Waukegan Public 
Library or on the internet.
    On January 29, 2001, Illinois EPA filed a Motion for Summary 
Disposition with the EAB. Illinois EPA asserted that LCCA failed to 
satisfy the requirements for review under 40 CFR 124.19, and the 
petition should be dismissed. Zion also filed a response and also 
asserted that LCCA failed to satisfy the requirements for review under 
40 CFR 124.19. On March 2, 2001 LCCA filed a motion seeking leave to 
respond to Illinois EPA's Motion and to supplement the petition with 
comments to Illinois EPA's responsiveness summary.

C. What Did the EAB Determine?

    On March 27, 2001, the EAB denied the petition for review based on 
the grounds that the petitioner failed to satisfy the requirements for 
obtaining review under 40 CFR 124.19. Specifically, the petitioner 
reiterated comments previously submitted to Illinois EPA during the 
comment period without indicating why Illinois EPA's responses to these 
comments were erroneous. The EAB also denied the supplement to the 
petition based on the fact that accepting the supplement would expand 
the petitioner's appeal rights under the regulations in 40 CFR 124.19.

    Dated: July 13, 2001.
Gary Gulezian,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 01-18883 Filed 7-27-01; 8:45 am]
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