[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15849-15850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6195]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7890-2]
Clean Air Act Operating Permit Program; Petitions for Objection
to State Operating Permits for Four San Francisco Bay Area Refineries:
Chevron Products Company, ConocoPhillips Company, Tesoro Refining and
Marketing Co., and Valero Refining Co.
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of final orders on five petitions to object to four
state operating permits.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the EPA Administrator has responded
to five citizen petitions requesting EPA to object to operating permits
issued to four facilities by the Bay Area Air Quality Management
District (BAAQMD). The Administrator has (1) denied in full a petition
submitted by Plumbers and Steamfitters Union Local 342, Heat and Frost
Insulators/Asbestos
[[Page 15850]]
Workers Local 16, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Local 302, the Boilermakers Union Local 549 and the Laborers Union
Local 324 (Unions) requesting that the Administrator object to the
state operating permit issued to Chevron Products Company (Chevron) in
Richmond, California; (2) partially granted and partially denied two
petitions submitted by Communities for a Better Environment (CBE)
requesting that the Administrator object to the state operating permits
issued to Chevron in Richmond, California, and ConocoPhillips Company
(Conoco) in Rodeo, California; and (3) partially granted and partially
denied two petitions submitted by Our Children's Earth Foundation (OCE)
requesting that the Administrator object to the state operating permits
issued to Tesoro Refining and Marketing Co. (Tesoro) in Martinez,
California, and Valero Refining Co. in Benicia, California (Valero).
Pursuant to section 505(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (Act), the
petitioners may seek judicial review of any portion of the petitions
which EPA denied in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit. Any petition for review shall be filed within 60 days from the
date this notice appears in the Federal Register, pursuant to section
307 of the Act.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the final orders, petitions, and other supporting
information are available at the Environmental Protection Agency,
Region IX, Air Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.
The final orders are also available electronically at: http://www.epa.gov/region07/programs/artd/air/title5/petitiondb/petitions.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerardo Rios, Chief, Air Permits
Office, EPA Region IX, telephone (415) 972-3974, e-mail
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA approves state and local permitting
authorities to administer the operating permit program set forth in
title V of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7661-7661f. BAAQMD administers
a fully approved title V operating permit program. The Clean Air Act
affords EPA the opportunity for a 45-day period to review, and object
to as appropriate, operating permits proposed by 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 a state operating permit if EPA has not
done so. Petitions must be based 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.
BAAQMD submitted proposed permits to EPA on August 25, 2004
(Chevron and Conoco) and August 26, 2004 (Tesoro and Valero). EPA
received five petitions to object to the permits (two petitions for the
Chevron permit, and one each for Conoco, Tesoro, and Valero) prior to
the deadline for section 505(b)(2) petitions.
On March 15, 2005, the Administrator issued one order denying in
full the petition submitted by Unions requesting the Administrator to
object to the permit for Chevron; two orders partially granting and
partially denying the petitions submitted by CBE requesting the
Administrator to object to the permits for Chevron and Conoco; and two
orders partially granting and partially denying the petitions submitted
by OCE requesting the Administrator to object to the permits for Tesoro
and Valero. These orders explain the reasons behind EPA's decisions to
grant or deny each issue.
Dated: March 15, 2005.
Wayne Nastri,
Regional Administrator, Region 9.
[FR Doc. 05-6195 Filed 3-28-05; 8:45 am]
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