[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13716-13717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04966]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Petition IV-2020-5; FRL-10021-14-Region 4]


Clean Air Act Operating Permit Program; Petition for Objection to 
State Operating Permit for Hazlehurst Wood Pellets, LLC (Jeff Davis 
County, Georgia)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of final order on petition to object to state operating 
permit.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Administrator 
signed an Order, dated December 31, 2020, denying the petition 
submitted by the Environmental Integrity Project on behalf of itself 
and the Georgia Chapter of Sierra Club, Dogwood Alliance, the Rachel 
Carson Council, Partnership for Policy Integrity, Natural Resources 
Defense Council, and Our Children's Earth Foundation (Petitioners). The 
Order responds to the Petitioners' April 14, 2020, petition requesting 
that the EPA object to the proposed Clean Air Act (CAA) title V 
operating permit number 2499-161-0023-V-02-4 issued by the Georgia 
Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to Hazlehurst Wood Pellets, LLC 
for its facility located in Jeff Davis County, Georgia. The Order 
constitutes a final action on the petition addressed therein.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Order, the petition, and all pertinent 
information relating thereto are on file at the following location: EPA 
Region 4; Air and Radiation Division; 61 Forsyth Street SW; Atlanta, 
Georgia 30303-8960. The Order is also available electronically at the 
following address: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-01/documents/hazlehurstorder2020.pdf. EPA requests that if at all 
possible, you contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section to schedule your inspection at the Regional Office. The 
Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday 
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Art Hofmeister, Air Permits Section, 
Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation Divisions, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, 
Atlanta, Georgia, 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404) 562-9115. 
Mr. Hofmeister can also be reached via electronic mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CAA affords 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) authorize any person to petition the EPA Administrator to 
object to a title V operating permit within 60 days after the 
expiration of EPA's 45-day review period if 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.
    Petitioners submitted a petition requesting that EPA object to the 
proposed CAA title V operating permit no. 2499-161-0023-V-02-4 issued 
by EPD to the Hazlehurst facility. Petitioners claim that this 
permitting action fails to include all applicable requirements, 
specifically the requirements related to section 112(r)(1) of the CAA 
(``general duty clause'').
    On December 31, 2020, the Administrator issued an Order denying the 
petition. The Order explains the EPA's basis for denying the petition.
    Judicial Review: Section 307(b)(1) of the CAA indicates which 
Federal Courts of Appeal are the proper forum for petitions for review 
of final actions by EPA. This section provides, in part, that

[[Page 13717]]

petitions for review must be filed in the Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit: (i) When the agency action consists of 
``nationally applicable regulations promulgated, or final action taken, 
by the Administrator,'' or (ii) when such action is locally or 
regionally applicable, if ``such action is based on a determination of 
nationwide scope or effect and if in taking such action the 
Administrator finds and publishes that such action is based on such a 
determination.'' For locally or regionally applicable actions, the CAA 
reserves to EPA complete discretion whether to invoke the exception in 
(ii).
    As explained in the Order, this Order is locally applicable because 
it denies the single claim raised by the Petition and applies, on its 
face, to a single source in a single state. Sierra Club v. EPA, 926 
F.3d 844, 849 (D.C. Cir. 2019). However, the Administrator exercised 
the complete discretion afforded to him under the CAA to make a finding 
in the Order that this action is based on a determination of nationwide 
scope or effect, and to publish this finding by publishing this notice 
regarding the Order in the Federal Register.
    Thus, pursuant to sections 307(b) and 505(b)(2) of the CAA, any 
petitions for judicial review of this Order must be filed in the United 
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit within 60 
days from the date this notice is published in the Federal Register.

    Dated: March 4, 2021.
John Blevins,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2021-04966 Filed 3-9-21; 8:45 am]
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