Question

John’s call based electrical production is a plant in Louisiana. His neighbor Mary doesn’t believe that John is complying with all the CAA requirements. Discuss what steps Mary can take to find out John’s status. If she isn’t satisfied with the EPA/state DEQ resolution, can she take any other steps? Are there any potential protections for John?

Answer 1

Answer:-

a) Mary can request for an EPA review, investigate, and make an administrative determination on the entire matter of the proposed operating permit, pursuant to section 505(b) of the Act. Mary can put up an allegation that the proposed operating permit is not in compliance with applicable requirements of the Act including Prevention of Significant Deterioration (“PSD”) permitting requirements and New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”). Mary can also alleges that Entergy’s operating permit application fails to adequately demonstrate compliance with hazardous waste disposal requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”).

b) If the RP (Responsible Parties) completes the PEDR(Process of Early Dispute Resolution) and is not satisfied, it may request in writing that DEQ take all necessary steps to issue a case decision in accordance with the APA(Administrative Process Act). PEDR may not be used to resolve a dispute after the issuance of a case decision.

While PEDR is being utilized, use of NOVs(Notice of Violation) is limited. Participation in PEDR, however, does not limit in any way DEQ’s ability to issue a case decision nor limit any other remedies available under law. DEQ may elect to proceed directly to an informal fact finding (IFF) or a formal hearing pursuant to the APA in lieu of processing a PEDR.

c) Yes there are, if all or some of the above mentioned(a) issues raised by Mary are not proved by either by Inspection of the production plant or by PSD applicability analysis or rendered moot to ensure EPA’s compliance with the PSD requirement , then EPA can provide a favourable decision in favour of John giving him some relief.