Agenda – SEC Regulatory Hearing 12/07/2010 

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SEC Meeting Agenda December 7, 2010 

The State Environmental Commission (SEC) will hold a regulatory hearing on 

December 7th, 2010 at 9:30 am at the Nevada Department of Wildlife's 

Conference Room A, 1100 Valley Road, Reno, Nevada. The purpose of the 

hearing is to receive comments from all interested persons regarding the 

adoption, amendment, or repeal of the following regulatory petitions and 

related SEC business. 

1) Approval of minutes for 10/5/2010 SEC Regulatory Hearings * Action Item 

2) Presentation by Bureau of Air Pollution Control regarding penalty matrix 

and table and their use in determining recommended penalties for air 

quality violations -- Non Action Item

3) Discussion regarding procedure for penalty assessments for air quality 

violations by State Environmental Commission -- Non Action Item

4) Penalty Assessments for Air Quality Violations * Action Items

a) Lake Tahoe Horizon Casino Resort — Penalty Assessments for Air Quality 

Violations No. 2232 and 2252: failure to apply for a renewal of an air 

quality operating permit prior to expiration, continuing to operate 

without a valid permit, and failure to conduct emission compliance tests 

(source tests) required by an air quality operating permit (recommended 

penalty $38,100). 

b) Eagle Peak Rock and Paving, Inc. — Penalty Assessments for Air Quality 

Violations No. 2248, 2249, 2257 and 2258: failure to install water sprays 

and enclosures and failure to comply with permitted emission limits—

exceeding the permitted emission limit for visual emissions during 

operation of sources PF1.014, PF1.016 and PF1.023 (recommended 

penalty $30,800). 

c) Newmont Nevada Energy Investments, LLC — Penalty Assessments for Air 

Quality Violation No. 2226: Exceeding permitted emissions limits (PM10) 

on a coal-fired boiler as required by a Class I Air quality Operating 

Permit (recommended penalty $13,725). 

d) Ames Construction, Inc. — Penalty Assessments for Air Quality Violations 

No. 2269, 2270 and 2271: operating without a valid air quality operating 

permit, failing to report the throughput and operating hour 
Agenda – SEC Regulatory Hearing 12/07/2010 

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exceedances, and exceeding throughput and daily operating hour limits 

set in the air quality operating permit (recommended penalty $11,550). 

Safe Drinking Water* Action Item 

5) Arsenic Rule Extensions — Pursuant to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act 

and Nevada laws and regulations (i.e., NRS 445A.935, & NAC 445A.490.5), the 

State Environmental Commission (SEC) has the authority to grant "extensions" 

to exemptions previously issued by the SEC regarding the federally mandated 

standard for arsenic in drinking water (i.e., 10 parts per billion). In 2006 and 

2007, the SEC granted sixty-four "exemptions" to water purveyors in Nevada to 

extend the timeline for compliance with the federal arsenic rule. 

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Safe Drinking 

Water (BSDW) has established criteria, based on state regulations and U.S. EPA 

guidance, to screen exempted facilities for a possible two-year extension to 

the timeline for compliance with the arsenic rule. 

Accordingly, at this meeting the SEC will act on staff recommendations for, or 

against, a two-year extension of the timeline for compliance with the federal 

arsenic rule for a selected list of water purveyors in Nevada (see attached 1). 

Water Quality Planning * Action Item 

6) R129-10: Water Quality Standards for Class D Waters & Removal of Legal 

References for Certain Tribal Waters: This regulation proposes changes to 

Water Quality Standards for Class D waters and removal of Nevada 

Administrative Code references to Tribal waters on the Fort McDermitt Indian 

Reservation. When the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) 

updated the Class Waters to the E. coli bacteria standard in 2008, EPA required 

Nevada to perform an assessment of the Class D waters, which do not have 

contact recreation as a beneficial use, to determine if the waters would now 

meet the fishable/swimmable goal of the Clean Water Act. NDEP is proposing 

to add contact recreation and the associated bacterial water quality standard 

to four segments of the Class D waters. 

The State of Nevada water quality regulations are not applicable to 

waterbodies on tribal lands. As a sovereign nation, the Fort McDermitt Paiute 

and Shoshone Tribes are responsible for regulating the water quality of the 

river within the boundaries of their land. Changes are proposed to the NAC to 

remove the segments of these reaches that are on tribal lands. 

This regulation will not have an immediate or long-term adverse economic 

impact on the public or the business community. There will be no additional 

costs to the agency for enforcement of the proposed regulation and the 

regulation does not overlap, duplicate or conflict with any regulations of other 

government agencies. The regulation does not address fees. 
Agenda – SEC Regulatory Hearing 12/07/2010 

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Administrative Services * Action Item 

7) R115-10: Financial Assistance for Construction of Wastewater Treatment 

& Pollution Control Projects: This regulation would amend NAC 445A. 

Proposed revisions to the regulation govern financial assistance for construction 

of wastewater treatment & pollution control projects. Revisions to the 

regulation are intended to make the Clean Water and Drinking Water State 

Revolving Fund more consistent with program elements such as the Division of 

Environmental Protection's Priority List and the Intended Use Plan. 

The proposed revisions also remove the requirement that project design be 

completed prior to project funding. The removal of this requirement will allow 

communities, which cannot afford up front engineering cost, to utilize state 

revolving funds for such activities. The proposed regulation also removes 

confusing language for calculating fixed amounts for planning and design costs. 

This regulation will not have an immediate or long-term adverse economic 

impact on the public or the business community. There will be no additional 

costs to the agency for enforcement of the proposed regulation and the 

regulation does not overlap, duplicate or conflict with any regulations of other 

government agencies. The regulation does not address fees. 

Air Quality Planning / Air Pollution Control * Action Item 

8) T011-10: Air Pollution Control New Public Notice Provisions For Class II 

Air Permits: The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) is 

proposing to amend one section in the air permitting provisions of NAC 

445B, which deals with Class II permit applications. The proposed temporary 

regulation addresses public noticing requirements and the timeline for agency 

action on applications. 

Specifically, the regulation would require the Director to act on all Class II 

permit applications within 60 days after the official date of submittal and 

would streamline the public notice timeline for Class II applications. It would 

require all new Class II air permit applications and all applications for a 

modification (to an existing Class II source) that exceeds a certain threshold be 

made available for public notice. These regulatory changes respond to U.S. EPA 

comments on the approvability of the NDEP’s public notice provisions into 

Nevada’s applicable State Implementation Plan. The proposed amendments 

are necessary to align state regulations with the federal Clean Air Act and U.S. 

EPA rule requirements. 

This temporary regulation will not have an immediate or long-term adverse 

economic impact on the public or the business community. The regulation does 

not overlap, duplicate or conflict with any regulations of other government 

agencies. There will be additional costs to the NDEP to administer the new 

public notice provisions for all new permit applications and for all 
Agenda – SEC Regulatory Hearing 12/07/2010 

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modifications that exceed specified thresholds. The agency will bear these 

costs, at this time; no new fees are being proposed. (P2010-11) 

Other SEC Business 

9) Administrator's Briefing to the Commission: Non-Action Item

NDEP's Administrator will provide the Commission with informational updates 

about bill draft requests, NDEP’s mercury regulatory program at the Hawthorne 

Ammunition Depot, and status of the new federal greenhouse gas regulation. 

10) Public Comment: Non-Action Item 

Public comment may be limited to ten minutes per person at the discretion of 

the Chairperson. (See AG Open Meeting Law Manual, pages 58 & 81, 

http://ag.state.nv.us/publications/manuals/omlmanual.pdf)

Additional Information 

Persons wishing to comment on the proposed actions of the State 

Environmental Commission (SEC) may appear at the scheduled public hearing or 

may address their comments, data, views, or arguments in written form to: 

State Environmental Commission, 901 South Stewart Street, Suite 4001, Carson 

City, Nevada 89701-5249. The SEC must receive written submissions at least 

five days before the scheduled public hearing. 

If no person who is directly affected by the proposed action appears to request 

time to make an oral presentation, the SEC may proceed immediately to act 

upon any written submissions. 

Members of the public can inspect copies of the regulations to be adopted at 

the State Library and Archives in Carson City (100 Stewart Street), and at the 

offices of the Division of Environmental Protection in Carson City and Las 

Vegas. The Carson City office is located at 901 South Stewart Street, Suite 4001 

and the Las Vegas office is located at 2030 E. Flamingo Rd. Suite 230. 

As required by the provisions of chapters 233B and 241 of Nevada Revised 

Statutes, the public notice for this hearing was posted at the following 

locations: the Bryan Building (901 South Stewart Street, Carson City, Nevada); 

the offices of the Division of Environmental Protection in Las Vegas (2030 E. 

Flamingo Rd. Suite 230), at the State Library and Archives building in Carson 

City (100 Stewart Street) and at the Nevada Department of Wildlife in Reno – 

11 Valley Road. 

In addition, copies of this notice have been deposited electronically at major 

library branches in each county in Nevada. This notice and the text of the 

proposed regulations are also available on the State Environmental 

Commission's website at: http://www.sec.nv.gov/index.htm. All of the proposed 

regulations denoted in this notice, including previous drafts, are also posted on 

the Legislative Counsel Bureau's website at: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/register/ .
Agenda – SEC Regulatory Hearing 12/07/2010 

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Members of the public who are disabled and require special accommodations or 

assistance at the meeting are requested to notify, in writing, the Nevada State 

Environmental Commission, in care of John B. Walker, Executive Secretary, 901 

South Stewart Street, Suite 4001, Carson City, Nevada 89701-5249, facsimile 

(775) 687-5856, or by calling (775) 687-9308, no later than 5:00 p.m. on 

November 29, 2010. 

1 Attachment 
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