[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 246 (Monday, December 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78228-78229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32261]


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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 [email protected].

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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