[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 22, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 50686]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20654]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9717-6]


Notice of Approval of Title V Operating Permit for Peabody 
Western Coal Company (Navajo Nation EPA No. NN-OP 08-010)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of final action.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Navajo Nation Environmental 
Protection Agency (``NNEPA''), acting with authority from the United 
States Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') delegated pursuant to 
40 C.F.R. Part 71, has issued a federal Clean Air Act Title V operating 
permit to Peabody Western Coal Company (``Peabody'') governing air 
emissions from Peabody's mining operation at the Kayenta Mine, Black 
Mesa Complex in Arizona on the reservation of the Navajo Nation.

DATES: NNEPA, acting as EPA's delegate, issued notice of a final permit 
decision on May 21, 2012. Certain portions of the permit became 
effective on April 14, 2011. All other provisions of the permit became 
effective on March 13, 2012 after the Environmental Appeals Board 
denied Peabody's petition for review. Pursuant to section 307(b)(1) of 
the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(1), judicial review of this permit 
decision, to the extent it is available, may be sought by filing a 
petition for review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth 
Circuit by October 22, 2012.

ADDRESSES: The documents relevant to the above-referenced permits are 
available for public inspection during normal business hours at the 
following address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, 75 
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. To arrange for viewing of 
these documents call Roger Kohn at (415) 972-3973.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roger Kohn, Air Division Permits 
Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne 
Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.
    Charlene Nelson, Navajo Nation Air Quality Control Program, 
Operating Permits Section, P.O. Box 529, Fort Defiance, AZ 86504.

Anyone who wishes to review the EPA Environmental Appeals Board 
decision described below can obtain it at http://www.epa.gov/eab/.

    Notice of Final Action and Supplementary Information: NNEPA issued 
notice of a final revised permit decision to Peabody for its surface 
coal mining operations on the Navajo reservation, Title V Operating 
Permit No. NN-OP 08-010 (``Peabody permit''), on May 21, 2012. The 
Peabody revised permit was initially issued by NNEPA on April 14, 2011. 
EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (``EAB'') received a petition for 
review by Peabody of this revised permit on May 16, 2011. On March 13, 
2012, the EAB issued an order denying review of the petition. See In re 
Peabody Western Coal Company, CAA Appeal No. 11-01 (EAB March 13, 2012) 
(Order Denying Petition for Review). The petition challenged, among 
other things, NNEPA's use of tribal law in issuing the permit and 
inclusion in the permit for conditions III(B), IV(C), IV(D), IV(E), 
IV(G), IV(H), IV(I), IV(K), IV(L), and IV(Q) tribal law citations in 
parallel with the federally enforceable 40 C.F.R. Part 71 requirements. 
After the EAB's denial of review, Peabody filed a motion with the EAB 
for reconsideration, which was denied on April 17, 2012. Pursuant to 40 
C.F.R. 71.11(l)(5) and 124.19(f)(1), final agency action by EPA has 
occurred because agency review procedures before the EAB have been 
exhausted and NNEPA has issued a final permit decision.

    Dated: August 8, 2012.
Deborah Jordan,
Director, Air Division, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2012-20654 Filed 8-21-12; 8:45 am]
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