Document ID: EPA-R08-OAR-2019-0350-0027
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2023-12-04T05:00Z

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 UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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REGION 8
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1595 Wynkoop Street
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Denver, CO   80202-1129
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Phone 800-227-8917
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		www.epa.gov/region8

Ref: 8ARD-PM

The Honorable Luke Duncan, Chairman
Tribal Business Committee
Ute Indian Tribe
P.O. Box 190
Fort Duchesne, Utah  84026-0190

Re:	Response to Request for Hearing and Objections to Renewed Title V Permit for the Deseret Generation and Transmission Cooperative, Bonanza Power Plant

Dear Chairman Duncan:

I am writing to respond to your October 14, 2020 letter, which requested a public hearing regarding the Bonanza Power Plant proposed Title V operating permit renewal and raised objections to the renewal. With respect to your request for a hearing, we tentatively propose to hold a virtual hearing in February 2021, at a time that is acceptable for the Tribal Business Committee, Ute Indian Tribal members and the general public. In preparation for the hearing, the EPA plans to issue a proposed permit renewal and start a public comment period on the proposed permit in January 2021. 

Regarding your concerns about Bonanza's past Clean Air Act (CAA) violations, the EPA is the air permitting authority and our review indicates that Bonanza is currently in compliance with the federally enforceable requirements of their applicable air permit conditions and the CAA. The CAA Title V permit renewal process does not provide the EPA authority to add permit conditions for a facility without additional applicability of federally enforceable requirements or as determined on a case-by-case basis if the facility commences physical or operational changes that might affect their potential air emissions. To our knowledge, Deseret Generation and Transmission Cooperative made no changes to the Bonanza Power Plant to trigger further regulatory or alternative air permitting requirements; therefore, we believe that no substantive changes to the proposed renewal permit, as compared to the prior Title V permit, are required. We believe that the proposed Title V permit renewal will continue to address CAA requirements, including but not limited to, federal requirements for acid rain prevention, electric generating units, coal-fired boilers, engines, and the existing Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and New Source Review (NSR) permits with their associated limits on air emissions and operations at Bonanza. We welcome your comments on these issues at the hearing and during the public comment period and will consider them in our final action. 

We note that the February 11, 2016 NSR permit, which will be incorporated into the proposed Title V permit renewal in its entirety, contains a provision for the power plant to either convert to natural gas, add expensive emissions controls, or cease operations by approximately the year 2030. As you noted, the EPA entered into a settlement agreement with Sierra Club and WildEarth Guardians which limited air emissions at Bonanza including establishing a coal consumption cap as specified in the NSR permit. The settlement agreement did not, however, grant the EPA broad authority to address other potential media concerns or mitigation measures such as a trust fund, though we understand that you continue to advocate for more action along these lines. We have referred the issues you raised regarding solid waste and water quality impacts to other appropriate media programs within Region 8.

Regarding your concerns that the Ute Indian Tribe bears a disproportionate share of the Bonanza Plant's adverse environmental impacts, environmental justice is one of the EPA's highest priorities. Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994) establishes federal executive policy of environmental justice and directs federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations in the United States. The EPA defines environmental justice as providing fair treatment and meaningful participation in environmental decision making. We believe that our ongoing consultation and the public hearing and comment process for proposed Title V permit renewal will provide the Tribe opportunity for meaningful participation in environmental decision making.

Additionally, we note that to address the EPA's obligations under Executive Order 12898 for the NSR permit, the EPA reviewed the potential environmental justice concerns near Bonanza with EJSCREEN. EJSCREEN is EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides nationally consistent datasets to help meet Executive Order 12898 requirements for the EPA to identify and address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects. For the NSR permit, the EPA used EJSCREEN to conclude that Bonanza is located in a sparsely populated area of Uintah County and that there are no persons living within 5 miles of the facility. The EPA also determined that the NSR permit would result in emission reductions and would not contribute to national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) violations or have potentially adverse effects on ambient air quality. Thus, at the time of issuance, the EPA determined that the NSR permit would not result in disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority or low-income populations. Because we are not aware of any changes to the facility since the NSR permit was issued in 2016, we believe this analysis remains accurate. However, we welcome comments on this issue and will consider them in our final permitting decision. 

We would like to continue this discussion in a virtual public hearing regarding the proposed Bonanza Title V permit as you requested. We will also work on coordination with other programs within    Region 8 to address your concerns about water quality and solid waste disposal at Bonanza.

Please provide your contact for public hearing arrangements to Gail Fallon at (303) 312-6281, fallon.gail@epa.gov by January 15, 2021. Ms. Fallon is also available to respond to questions on this matter. We look forward to additional consultation with the Tribal Business Committee after the public hearing, before we take final action on the Part 71 permit.

                                    Sincerely,

							
                                    Carl Daly
                                    Acting Director
                                    Air and Radiation Division
                                    
cc: 	Tony Small, Vice-Chairman, UBC
      Shaun Chapoose, Council Member
      Edred Secakuku, Council Member
      Ron Wopsock, Council Member
      Sal Wopsock, Council Member
      Kirby Arrive
      Mike Natchees, Director, Air Quality Program, Energy and Minerals Division 
      Jeremy Patterson, Attorney, Patterson, Earnhart, Real Bird & Wilson, LLP