Opinion ID: 3065495
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Permitting Process for GC 1

Text: With this statutory and regulatory framework in mind, we turn to the permitting process for GC 1. In 1997, ARCO, then the owner of GC 1, applied to ADEC for a Title V permit. ADEC prepared a draft permit and submitted it for public comment on February 22, 2002. This initial draft permit did not aggregate GC 1 with any other potential pollutantemitting sources in the PBU. The following month, MacClarence submitted comments on the draft permit, arguing that “[a]ll BP units within the Prudhoe Bay Facility” should be aggregated in such a way that the Title V permit applied to the PBU as a whole, rather than just GC 1. In April 2002, the Pacific Northwest Regional Office of the EPA (EPA Region 10) also submitted “preliminary comments” to ADEC regarding the GC 1 draft permit. Echoing MacClarence’s concerns, EPA stated, 3418 MACCLARENCE v. USEPA [A]bsent a contrary rationale, it is EPA’s position that the BP GC 1 facility is part of the larger source consisting of all BP units within the Prudhoe Bay . . . . [T]he BP facilities are interdependent, located on adjacent properties, and are owned or operated by the same person under common control. ADEC revised the draft permit and submitted a new draft permit for public comment in March 2003. ADEC again proposed to extend coverage of the operations permitted under Title V only to GC 1. Significantly, however, ADEC also proposed a condition that would require BP to aggregate all of the pollutant-emitting sources within the PBU “for the purpose of determining applicability with the modification requirements of [Alaska’s approved PSD program].” The revised permit’s Statement of Basis explained in detail why the PBU in its entirety should be considered a “major stationary source,” referencing CAA provisions and EPA guidance on aggregation, and used diagrams to depict the interconnectedness of the various pollutant-emitting sources within the PBU. ADEC concluded by stating that “[t]he individual facilities at the Prudhoe Bay Unit act as a single integrated production facility for the purpose of delivering crude oil to the Trans Alaska Pipeline System . . . .” In response to the March 2003 draft permit, BP submitted comments requesting that aggregation conditions be completely eliminated from the permit. Shortly thereafter, in July 2003, ADEC reversed course and issued a proposed permit that, like the initial draft permit, did not aggregate GC 1 with any other PBU facilities. In August 2003, EPA responded to this proposed permit by requesting that ADEC postpone issuing draft, proposed and final Title V permits for those North Slope operations which raise aggregation issues until the agencies have come to a mutual understanding on an over-arching approach to the issue or until either agency has advised the MACCLARENCE v. USEPA 3419 other that it has decided to forego further attempts to reach a mutual understanding. BP was included in ADEC’s and EPA’s ensuing conversations regarding aggregation of pollutant-emitting sources in the North Slope. In October 2003, after these discussions concluded, ADEC issued a new draft permit that employed a “hub-and-spoke” aggregation model. Under this model, ADEC aggregated GC 1 with the well pads that supply it with three-phase crude oil for purposes of Title V and for the PSD requirements. The draft permit, however, did not aggregate GC 1 with the rest of the PBU facilities as had been requested by MacClarence in his March 2002 comments. In a Statement of Basis for “Revision 1,” discussed infra, ADEC explained that it rejected aggregation of the entire PBU facilities because, among other things (1) the PBU covers roughly 300 square miles and therefore aggregation “stretches the concept of proximity” that underlies aggregation determinations; (2) “[t]he complexity of administering . . . and operating . . . a stationary source as large as the PBU without clear corresponding environmental benefit argues against” aggregation of the entire PBU; and (3) “there [was] no precedent for defining such a large stationary source . . . .” When the EPA, in February 2004, did not object to this permit under 42 U.S.C. § 7661d(b), MacClarence petitioned the EPA Administrator to object to the permit. This petition, like MacClarence’s March 2002 comments, argued that the permit violated the CAA because it did not aggregate all of the pollutant-emitting sources in the PBU into one stationary source. MacClarence attached to the petition his 2002 comments, ADEC’s March 2003 Statement of Basis, and EPA’s August 2003 letter to ADEC requesting a postponement of ADEC’s issuance of any permits involving aggregation issues in the North Slope. 3420 MACCLARENCE v. USEPA After MacClarence submitted his petition, EPA notified him that ADEC had issued a revision to the final permit, “Revision 1.” Revision 1, among other things, “added to the permit itself the definition of the title V source, which was previously only in the statement of basis” and “made minor changes to the aggregation discussion in the statement of basis.” Pursuant to EPA’s request, MacClarence refiled his petition for an objection to the permit on April 14, 2004.3 He resubmitted his original petition with a cover letter stating that his petition remained unchanged as Revision 1 did not address his concerns and did not explain ADEC’s decision to reverse course from its March 2003 draft permit that required aggregation. The Administrator denied MacClarence’s request for an objection on April 20, 2007.4 MacClarence timely petitioned this court for review of EPA’s denial of his request for an objection.