WAC 173-400-171
Public notice. The purpose of this
section is to specify the requirements for notifying the
public about air quality permit actions and to provide
opportunities for the public to participate in those permit
actions.
(1) Prevention of significant deterioration, and
relocation of portable sources.
This section does not apply to:
(a) A notice of construction application designated for
integrated review with actions regulated by WAC 173-400-720.
In such cases, compliance with the public notification
requirements of WAC 173-400-740 is required.
(b) Portable source relocation notices as regulated by
WAC 173-400-036, relocation of portable sources.
(2) Internet notice of application.
(a) For those applications and actions not subject to a
mandatory public comment period per subsection (3) of this
section, the permitting authority must post an announcement of
the receipt of notice of construction applications and other
proposed actions on the permitting authority's internet web
site.
(b) The internet posting must remain on the permitting
authority's web site for a minimum of fifteen consecutive
days.
(c) The internet posting must include a notice of the
receipt of the application, the type of proposed action, and a
statement that the public may request a public comment period
on the proposed action.
(d) Requests for a public comment period must be
submitted to the permitting authority in writing via letter,
fax, or electronic mail during the fifteen-day internet
posting period.
(e) A public comment period must be provided for any
application or proposed action that receives such a request. Any application or proposed action for which a public comment
period is not requested may be processed without further
public involvement at the end of the fifteen-day internet
posting period.
(3) Actionssubject to a mandatory public comment period.
The permitting authority must provide public notice and a
public comment period before approving or denying any of the
following types of applications or other actions:
(a) Any application, order, or proposed action for which
a public comment period is requested in compliance with
subsection (2) of this section.
(b) Any notice of construction application for a new or
modified source, including the initial application for
operation of a portable source, if there is an increase in
emissions of any air pollutant at a rate above the emission
threshold rate (defined in WAC 173-400-030) or any increase in
emissions of a toxic air pollutant above the acceptable source
impact levels as regulated under chapter 173-460 WAC; or
(c) Any use of a modified or substituted air quality
model, other than a guideline model in Appendix W of 40 CFR
Part 51 (in effect on July 1, 2010) as part of review under
WAC 173-400-110, 173-400-113, 173-400-117, or 173-400-720; or
(d) Any order to determine reasonably available control
technology, RACT; or
(e) An order to establish a compliance schedule issued
under WAC 173-400-161, or a variance issued under WAC 173-400-180; or
Note:
Mandatory notice is not required for compliance orders issued under WAC 173-400-230.
(f) An order to demonstrate the creditable height of a
stack which exceeds the good engineering practice, GEP,
formula height and sixty-five meters, by means of a fluid
model or a field study, for the purposes of establishing an
emission limitation; or
(g) An order to authorize a bubble; or
(h) Any action to discount the value of an emission
reduction credit, ERC, issued to a source per WAC 173-400-136;
or
(i) Any regulatory order to establish best available
retrofit technology, BART, for an existing stationary
facility; or
(j) Any notice of construction application or regulatory
order used to establish a creditable emission reduction; or
(k) Any order issued under WAC 173-400-091 that
establishes limitations on a source's potential to emit; or
(l) The original issuance and the issuance of all
revisions to a general order of approval issued under WAC 173-400-560 (this does not include coverage orders); or
(m) Any extension of the deadline to begin actual
construction of a "major stationary source" or "major
modification" in a nonattainment area; or
(n) Any application or other action for which the
permitting authority determines that there is significant
public interest.
(4) Advertising the mandatory public comment period.
Public notice of all applications, orders, or actions listed
in subsection (3) of this section must be published in a
newspaper of general circulation in the area where the source
or sources are or will be located. This public notice can be
published only after all of the information required by the
permitting authority has been submitted and after the
applicable preliminary determinations, if any, have been made.
The notice must be published before any of the applications
or other actions listed in subsection (3) of this section are
approved or denied. The applicant or other initiator of the
action must pay the publishing cost of providing public
notice.
(5) Information available for public review. The
information submitted by the applicant, and any applicable
preliminary determinations, including analyses of the effects
on air quality, must be available for public inspection in at
least one location near the proposed project. Exemptions from
this requirement include information protected from disclosure
under any applicable law, including, but not limited to, RCW 70.94.205 and chapter 173-03 WAC.
(6) Published notice components.
(a) The notice must include:
(i) The name and address of the owner or operator and the
facility;
(ii) A brief description of the proposal and the type of
facility, including a description of the facility's processes
subject to the permit;
(iii) A description of the air contaminant emissions
including the type of pollutants and quantity of emissions
that would increase under the proposal;
(iv) The location where those documents made available
for public inspection may be reviewed;
(v) A thirty-day period for submitting written comment to
the permitting authority;
(vi) A statement that a public hearing will be held if
the permitting authority determines that there is significant
public interest;
(vii) The time, date and location of the public hearing
for those ecology only actions listed in WAC 173-400-171(12);
(viii) The name, address, and telephone number and e-mail
address of a person at the permitting authority from whom
interested persons may obtain additional information,
including copies of the permit draft, the application, all
relevant supporting materials, including any compliance plan,
permit, and monitoring and compliance certification report,
and all other materials available to the permitting authority
that are relevant to the permit decision, unless the
information is exempt from disclosure;
(b) For projects subject to special protection
requirements for federal Class I areas, public notice must
include an explanation of the permitting authority's draft
decision or state that an explanation of the draft decision
appears in the support document for the proposed order of
approval; and
(c) For a redesignation of an area under WAC 173-400-118,
the notice must state that an explanation of the reasons for
the proposed redesignation is available for review at the
public location.
(7) Length of the publiccomment period.
(a) The public comment period must be at least thirty
days long.
(b) If a public hearing is held, the public comment
period must extend through the hearing date.
(c) The final decision cannot be issued until the public
comment period has ended and any comments received during the
public comment period have been considered.
(8) Requesting a public hearing. The applicant, any
interested governmental entity, any group, or any person may
request a public hearing within the thirty-day public comment
period. All hearing requests must be submitted to the
permitting authority in writing via letter, fax, or electronic
mail. A request must indicate the interest of the entity
filing it and why a hearing is warranted.
(9) Setting the hearing date and providing hearing
notice. If the permitting authority determines that
significant public interest exists, then it will hold a public
hearing. The permitting authority will determine the
location, date, and time of the public hearing.
(10) Notice of public hearing.
(a) At least thirty days prior to the hearing the
permitting authority will provide notice of the hearing as
follows:
(i) Publish the notice of public hearing in a newspaper
of general circulation in the area where the source or sources
are or will be located; and
(ii) Mail the notice of public hearing to the applicant
and to any person who submitted written comments on the
application or requested a public hearing.
(b) This notice must include the date, time and location
of the public hearing and the information described in
subsection (6) of this section.
(c) The applicant must pay all publishing costs
associated with meeting the requirements of this subsection.
(11) Notifying the EPA. The permitting authority must
send a copy of the notice for all actions subject to the
mandatory public comment period to the EPA Region 10 regional
administrator.
(12) Special requirements for ecology only actions.
(a) Ecology must comply with the requirements of 40 CFR
51.102, in effect on July 1, 2010, on the following ecology
only actions:
(i) A Washington state recommendation to EPA that will be
submitted by the director of ecology for approval of a SIP
revision including plans for attainment, maintenance, and
visibility protection;
(ii) A Washington state recommendation to EPA for
designation, redesignation, or a change of boundaries of an
attainment area, or nonattainment area, or an unclassifiable
area;
(iii) A Washington state recommendation to EPA to
redesignate Class I, II, or III areas under WAC 173-400-118.
(b) The notice must comply with subsection (10) of this
section.
(13) Other requirements of law. Whenever procedures
permitted or mandated by law will accomplish the objectives of
public notice and opportunity for comment, those procedures
may be used in lieu of the provisions of this section.