By:Scott Brinton
It's official
The state Department of Environmental Conservation made it official Monday: It reopened Freeport Village's Title V permit to run diesel Power Plant No. 2.
On June 15, Ray Cowen, DEC regional director, sent a letter to Freeport, warning the village of the department's intent to reopen the permit. However, until Monday, the DEC had not yet decided whether to reopen it or simply review and modify it, said Mark Lowery, DEC spokesman.
Definitions are required here.
Reopening is the formal process by which the DEC rewrites a permit, in this case to include more stringent emissions limits and monitoring requirements at the plant. A minimum 30-day public-comment period is required when a permit is reopened.
If the DEC had simply reviewed the permit for what it calls "department-initiated modifications," then a public-comment period would not have been required, said Lowery, whose DEC title is regional citizen participation specialist.
During the public-comment period, residents can write to the DEC about their concerns regarding Power Plant No. 2. The DEC and federal Environmental Protection Agency then weigh those concerns in finalizing Freeport's permit.
Joseph Kralovich, president of the Old Lindenmere Civic Association that is fighting Plant No. 2, said involving residents through public commentary is vital to ensuring the new permit is as stringent as possible. State Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) said he demanded that the DEC provide a public-comment period over Plant No. 2. "As this process moves forward, there has to be an opportunity for public input," he said.
Last Friday, the DEC mailed what Lowery called a "working" draft of the rewritten permit to the EPA for review. The public-comment period is supposed to begin when the draft copy of the new permit is sent to the EPA. However, Lowery said that, in this case, the DEC sent ahead a working, or unofficial, draft of the new permit. The working draft will give the DEC and EPA an early start in ironing out potential flaws in the new permit, before the public-comment period begins, he said.
Lowery said the DEC expects the public-comment period over Power Plant No. 2's permit to begin within three to four weeks. Recently, the DEC received several hundred letters and phone calls from residents wanting to be informed when the public-comment period begins.
Lowery said the DEC has maintained a database of those names and addresses, and it intends to mail written notices to each. He noted, though, that the DEC doesn't have the resources to continue adding names to the database. "We're not looking for more people to contact us," he said.
When the public-comment period begins, the DEC will post a notice on its Web site, www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dar/boss/afs. People can click on Inside the Environmental Notice Bulletin, Current Issue, which lists draft permits under review by the DEC. Lowery also said the DEC will notify the Merrick Herald, which plans to publicize when the public-comment period starts.
Lowery said that when the public-comment period ends, the DEC will send a "responsiveness summary" to the EPA, along with a draft copy of the new permit. The responsiveness summary will detail residents' concerns, which the EPA can consider when reviewing the draft permit. The EPA then has 45 days to look over the rewritten permit and accept or reject it.
During the public-comment period, the DEC can only consider emission standards that the EPA has identified as potentially flawed in Freeport's current operating permit for Plant No. 2. In his original June letter to Freeport, Cowen, the DEC regional director, wrote that standards for particulate (soot) and nitrogen of oxide likely must be included in the permit. It contains none now.
Lowery said the DEC cannot consider standards for such emissions as volatile organic compounds or sulfur dioxide, as they weren't written into the Clean Air Act until it was amended in 1977. Freeport built the diesel plant in 1968-1970. It must meet standards for particulate and nitrogen of oxide, because they are found in the State Implementation Plan for the Clean Air Act of 1970, as well as New York Environmental Law.
Once the EPA accepts the new permit, the DEC will send it to Freeport, at which time the village must start complying with any new standards it may contain.
During the public-comment period, residents can request a hearing be held over Plant No. 2; the DEC, however, doesn't have to grant one. To get a hearing, as many residents have already called for, people must offer "substantive comments that address issues [at Plant No. 2] that the DEC has not previously identified," said Lowery.
In short, residents have to offer information the DEC doesn't already know about.
Lowery said Freeport may request a public hearing, at which time the village may raise objections to the new permit. The DEC is now determining whether Freeport should be granted such a hearing if it asks for one, he said.
Lowery noted that any public hearing would prolong the permitting process, during which time Freeport would be allowed to operate Plant No. 2 under its current permit, which contains no emissions limits and monitoring requirements.
After Plant No. 2's permit is reissued, a "stack test" probing emissions from the plant is to be performed there within 180 days. The test is to determine whether the plant complies with new standards in the permit, according to a recent EPA letter.
Lowery also noted that the Village of Freeport can sue the DEC through an Article 78 Proceeding, if it objects to the new permit. In that case, the village would have to demonstrate in court that the DEC has "made an arbitrary and capricious decision" regarding the permit.
