Mr. Felipe Matan

Interceramic 2333 South Jupiter Rd. Garland, TX 75041

Re: Requirement to provide i nformation according to Title 42 of the Unite d State s Code, Chapter 85 , Subchapter I, Part A, section 7414 ( 42 U.S.C 7414 )

Dear Mr. Matan :

We at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are collectin g information about your industry, clay ceramics manufacturing (SIC Codes 3253 and 32 61 )

. At EPA, the development of regulation s involve s gathering and analyzing a large amoun t of information. We are looking for your help in acquiring information specific to your company ’ s facilit ies because we believe that knowing about individual facilities is the key to knowing how an industry operates, and what facilities do and/or can do a bout air pollution. We are requesting this information under the authority given to us within section 114 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) , as explained further below, and request that you send the compl e ted survey s for all of your facilities to us by August 13, 2008

. The law

, as written in the Unite d States Code (42 U.S.C. 7414 )

, requires that you complete the enclosed survey a n d return it to us

.

As you know, the EPA previously developed national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for clay ceramics manufacturing under s ection 112 (d) of the C A A. The

NESHAP for clay ceramics manufacturing was promulgated on February 28, 2003 and published in the Federal Register on May 16, 2003. As a result of judicial review, the standards were subsequently vacated. We are now in the process of collecting updated information on the hazardous air pollutant ( HAP ) emission sources and controls in the clay ceramics industry. This information will be used as the basis for developing new standards and updat ing our inventory of clay ceramics sources and facilities.

In the enclosed survey, we request information on clay ceramics processes, emissions,

and controls. Enclosure 1 includes the survey form that you should use to provide the

information to us

. An electroni c version of the survey form can be found on the compact disc (Enclosure 2). Please complete either the hard copy survey form in Enclosure 1 , or the electronic survey form in Enclosure 2, for each of your facilities

, unless any of those facilities is part of another company and is separately incorporated as a subsidiary or affiliate of your company

. Ifany one of your facilities is separately incorporated, please do not complete the surveys in

Enclosure s 1 or 2 for that facility. Instructions for completing the survey form are provided in

Enclosure 3.

Using th e information you provide to us in th i s survey
, along with similar information we receive from other companies in your industry

, we will determine the amount of HAP emi tted ; define the present level o f emission control ; and assess what would be the environmental, energy, and economic impacts associated with installing and operating emission control techniques that

are feasible for your industry

. We are sensitive to the amount of time and effort require d to complete th i s survey

. Therefore, we have tried to limit the information requested to only those features important to develop ing the regulation so as to minimize the time you need to spend

. I would like to assure you that nothing is being requested th at we do not feel is necessary to

achieve our goals stated above. You may respond “ Not Applicable ” to questions that do not apply to your facilities.

Enclosure 4 c ontains a summary of our legal authority in s ection 114 of the CAA to

obtain the informati on requested in th i s survey. If you believe that providing any specific

information to us would reveal a trade secret, please identify this information clearly in your

response

. However, p lease do not label your entire response “ Confidential ” if only a por tion

include s trade secret s

. You can see in Enclosure 4 the type of information that EPA may ask of

you at a later time to prove that any information you have so identified is truly confidential. Any

information determined to be a trade secret will be prot ected by 18 U.S.C. 1905. If you do not

claim as confidential any of the information in your returned survey
, we can make th is

information available to the public without noti fying you further (40 CFR Part 2.203, September 1, 1976). Because s ection 114 of t he CAA does not allow emission data to be claim ed

as confidential, the emission data you provide to us can be made available to the public. A detailed explanation of what we consider to be emission data is contained in Enclosure 5

.

We ha ve contracted RTI International (RTI) (Contract No. EP

- D

- 06

- 118) to help us gather information about your industry. A s noted in Enclosure 6

, we have designated RTI to be

our authorized representative. Therefore, RTI has the same rights discussed above and in

Enclosure 4 as EPA has

. This means that RTI will have access to all information provided to us in your completed survey

. As a designated representative of the Agency, RTI must, by law, also abide by the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 7414(c) in regard to the confidentiality of what you claim

to be trade secrets.

Enclosure 7 summarizes our policies and procedures for handling trade secret information and describes how our contractor also is required to use the same procedures as we do. Because

our contractors or other author ized representatives are required to follow the requirements in

Enclosure 6 , we believe that we can ensure your rights and protect any privileged information you submit to us.C op ies of th i s survey form have been given to representatives of your industry for their

comments. We have attempted to incorporate their comments and suggestions into the final

version. If you have questions regarding the need for this survey or need clarification on the

information we are request ing , please contact Jeffrey Telande r with EPA ’ s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards at 919

- 541

- 5 427 (e

- mail : telander.jeff @epa.gov).

Please return the completed survey form(s) to Mr. Telander at the address below by August 13, 2008

.

Jeffrey Telander

U

. S

. EPA Mailroom (D243

- 0 2)

U .S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Research Triangle Park, NC 27711

I am sure you understand how important it is for the EPA to use the very best information available to develop the most meaningfu l standard. Your help in providing this information is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Peter Tsirigotis Director, Sector Policies and Programs Division

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

7 Enclosures

cc: Mr. John Steib, Director

, Air Perm its Division Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (MC 163)

Ms. Becky Weber, Associate Director, Air Programs U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VI

OAQPS/SPPD/MMG:JTelander D243

- 02, 541

- 5427 (RTI/RMarinshaw/316

- 3735/6/4/08)