Document ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0590-0101
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities; A Holistic Approach to Closure Part A: Final Decision on Request for Extension of Closure Date Submitted by Gavin Power, LLC
Posted Date: 2022-11-28T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 227 (Monday, November 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72989-72990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25800]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0590; FRL-10429-01-OLEM]

Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Disposal of Coal 
Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities; A Holistic Approach to 
Closure Part A: Final Decision on Request For Extension of Closure Date 
Submitted by Gavin Power, LLC

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA) of final decision.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) announces 
the availability of the final decision denying the extension request 
submitted by Gavin Power, LLC (Gavin) to allow a coal combustion 
residuals (CCR) surface impoundment, the Bottom Ash Pond, to continue 
to receive CCR and non-CCR wastestreams after April 11, 2021, at the 
General James M. Gavin Plant located in Cheshire, Ohio. EPA is denying 
the extension based on its determination that Gavin failed to 
demonstrate that the facility meets the requirements for an extension. 
As a result of this decision, Gavin is hereby required to cease receipt 
of waste at the Bottom Ash Pond no later than April 12, 2023 or such 
later date as EPA establishes to address demonstrated electric grid 
reliability issues.

DATES: The effective date of the final decision (``Effective Date'') is 
November 28, 2022.

ADDRESSES: The final decision and supporting information are available 
for review in the docket for this action at https://www.regulations.gov 
under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0590. The final decision is also 
posted on EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/coalash.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Behan, Materials Recovery and 
Waste Management Division, Office of Resource Conservation and 
Recovery, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
MC: 5304T, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-0531; 
email address: [email protected]. For more information on EPA's CCR 
regulations, please visit https://www.epa.gov/coalash.
    Judicial Review: Because EPA's final action promulgates 
requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 
pursuant to RCRA section 7006(a), petitions for review of this final 
action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) within ninety days of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 42 U.S.C. 
6976(a)(1).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As documented in the final decision, EPA is 
taking final action to deny the request from Gavin for an extension of 
the date by which it must cease receipt of waste at the Bottom Ash Pond 
pursuant to the authority in 40 CFR 257.103(f). The Agency is denying 
the extension based on its determination that Gavin has not 
demonstrated compliance with the requirements of 40 CFR part 257, 
subpart D, as required in 40 CFR 257.103(f)(1)(iii).
    Gavin is the owner and operator of the General James M. Gavin Plant 
in Cheshire, Ohio. The Gavin Plant is a coal-fired electric generation 
facility that generates and manages CCR on-site and is subject to the 
federal standards for the disposal of CCR in surface impoundments and 
landfills codified under 40 CFR part 257, subpart D (``regulations'' or 
``CCR regulations'').

[[Page 72990]]

    Under the CCR regulations, owners and operators of unlined CCR 
surface impoundments were required to cease placing CCR and non-CCR 
wastestreams into unlined impoundments and initiate the closure (or 
retrofit) of the unit no later April 11, 2021. 40 CFR 257.101(a)(1). 
However, the regulations also include procedures by which an owner or 
operator of an unlined impoundment could request additional time to 
cease the receipt of waste and initiate closure of the unit. 40 CFR 
257.103(f). On November 30, 2020, Gavin submitted a timely 
demonstration pursuant to 40 CFR 257.103(f)(1) requesting additional 
time to develop alternative capacity to manage CCR and non-CCR 
wastestreams in its Bottom Ash Pond, an unlined CCR surface impoundment 
subject to the requirement to close no later than April 11, 2021.
    On January 11, 2022, EPA proposed to deny Gavin's request for 
additional time to develop alternative capacity to manage CCR and non-
CCR wastestreams in its Bottom Ash Pond. EPA sought comments on the 
proposed decision during a comment period that closed on March 25, 
2022. In response to the proposed decision, the Agency received 
approximately 30 comment letters from the public. All comment letters 
can be accessed in the docket for this action at www.regulations.gov 
under Docket ID EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0590. EPA's responses to public 
comments are either in the final decision or the Response to Comments 
document; both are available in the docket.
    After considering the comments submitted on the proposal, EPA is 
denying the request for an extension of the deadline for the Bottom Ash 
Pond to cease receipt of waste because Gavin has not demonstrated that 
the facility is in compliance with all of the requirements of 40 CFR 
part 257, subpart D, as required in Sec.  257.103(f)(1)(iii). First, 
EPA finds that Gavin has not demonstrated that it complied with the 
closure performance standards in 40 CFR 257.102(d) when it closed the 
Fly Ash Reservoir, a separate CCR surface impoundment at the Gavin 
Plant, with at least a portion of the CCR in the closed unit in 
continued contact with groundwater, and without taking any measures to 
address the groundwater continuing to migrate into and out of the 
impoundment. Second, Gavin did not develop a closure plan for the Fly 
Ash Reservoir consistent with 40 CFR 257.102(b). Third, Gavin has not 
demonstrated that the groundwater monitoring system for the Bottom Ash 
Pond is in compliance with the requirements of 40 CFR 257.93(a), 
257.93(f)(3), or 257.94(c) regarding statistical analyses of data, or 
of 40 CFR 257.94(e)(2) for alternative source demonstrations. Finally, 
Gavin has not demonstrated that the groundwater monitoring system(s) 
for the Fly Ash Reservoir and Residual Waste Landfill (a CCR landfill 
at the Gavin Plant) comply with the requirements in 40 CFR 257.91, 
257.93(a), 257.93(f)(3), 257.94(c), or 257.94(e)(2).
    EPA's decision is also based on the determination that Gavin's 
workplan for obtaining alternative capacity does not meet the 
requirements of 40 CFR 257.103(f)(1)(iv)(A). Specifically, Gavin failed 
to present a detailed plan of the fastest technically feasible schedule 
to complete its alternative capacity for non-CCR wastestreams. 40 CFR 
257.103(f)(1)(iv)(A)(1)(iii).
    As a result, Gavin is hereby required to cease receipt of waste at 
the Bottom Ash Pond no later than April 12, 2023 or such later date as 
EPA establishes to address demonstrated electric grid reliability 
issues. EPA recognizes the importance of maintaining grid reliability 
and has established a process for Gavin to seek additional time if 
needed to address demonstrated grid reliability issues. Because Gavin 
is in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection (PJM) 
region, EPA closely considered the comments from and discussions with 
PJM and developed a process that relies on and is consistent with PJM's 
existing approach to scheduling outages and protecting electric grid 
reliability. To utilize this process, the final decision requires Gavin 
to submit a request for a planned outage to PJM no later than December 
13, 2022 to ensure that PJM has sufficient time to evaluate the 
potential impacts of a planned outage at Gavin. Additionally, Gavin 
must engage with PJM no later than 5 days after submitting the request 
for an outage to PJM and no later than December 19, 2022, to request 
assistance in scheduling the planned outage so that Gavin and PJM can 
determine the shortest period of time, if any, in which the generating 
unit must be online to avoid a reliability violation. Finally, to 
obtain an extension of the new deadline to cease receipt of waste to 
the Bottom Ash Pond, the final decision requires Gavin to submit a copy 
of the planned outage request submitted to PJM and the PJM 
determination (including the formal reliability assessment) to EPA 
within 10 days of receiving the response from PJM and no later than 
March 28, 2023. EPA will review the request and, without further notice 
and comment, issue a decision.

Barry N. Breen,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Land and Emergency 
Management.
[FR Doc. 2022-25800 Filed 11-25-22; 8:45 am]
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