Opinion ID: 3065495
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Title V of the Clean Air Act

Text: MacClarence petitioned the Administrator to object to a final permit issued for GC 1 pursuant to Title V of the Clean Air Act (the “CAA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq. The CAA was enacted in 1963 to “protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population.” § 7401(b)(1). Built on a scheme of “cooperative federalism,” 1 The various functions and the interconnectedness of the PBU facilities are too complex to describe fully here. The brief description of the facilities and activities of the PBU is intended only to provide background and context for our opinion. For a more extensive discussion of the PBU oil and gas production and processing facilities, see generally Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Air Quality Operating/Construction Permit, Permit No. 182TVP01 (Feb. 17, 2004) (“Revision 1”), http://www.dec.state.ak.us/air/ap/docs/182tvp01r1.pdf. 3414 MACCLARENCE v. USEPA the CAA places the onus of enforcement on state and local governments, but “provides for ‘Federal financial assistance and leadership . . . for the development of cooperative, Federal, State, regional, and local programs to prevent and control air pollution.’ ” N.Y. Pub. Interest Research Group v. Whitman (NYPIRG I), 321 F.3d 316, 320 (2d Cir. 2003) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 7401(a)(3), (4); Connecticut v. EPA, 696 F.2d 147, 151 (2d Cir. 1982)). The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101549, §§ 501-07, 104 Stat. 2399, 2635-48 (1990), enacted Title V of the CAA, which requires facilities that are “major sources” of pollutants to obtain operating permits from staterun permitting programs that have been approved by EPA. See 42 U.S.C. § 7661a. ADEC is Alaska’s EPA-approved Title V permitting authority. 66 Fed. Reg. 63,184, 63,184 (Dec. 5, 2001). Each permit must “include enforceable emission limitations and standards, a schedule of compliance, a requirement that the permittee submit to the permitting authority . . . the results of any required monitoring, and such other conditions as are necessary to assure compliance with applicable requirements of [the CAA].” 42 U.S.C. § 7661c(a). Title V, however, does not itself impose additional substantive clean air standards. 40 C.F.R. § 70.1(b). Title V further provides for both EPA and public review of permits. 42 U.S.C. § 7661d; 40 C.F.R. § 70.8(d). After a permitting authority receives an application for a Title V permit, it is required to submit a copy of the permit application and the “permit proposed to be issued and issued as a final permit” to EPA, 42 U.S.C. § 7661d(a)(1)(B), and to provide the public with notice and opportunity to comment on the draft permit, 40 C.F.R. § 70.7(h). If the permit “contains provisions that are determined by the Administrator as not in compliance with the applicable requirements of [the CAA],” the Administrator, within forty-five days of receiving the proposed permit, “shall . . . object to its issuance.” 42 U.S.C. § 7661d(b)(1). MACCLARENCE v. USEPA 3415 If the EPA does not object to the permit within this time frame, however, “any person” may petition the Administrator to make an objection within sixty days after the expiration of EPA’s period of review. Id. § 7661d(b)(2). The petition must be based on objections that were made “with reasonable specificity during the public comment period” on the draft permit. Id. “[I]f the petitioner demonstrates to the Administrator that the permit is not in compliance with the requirements of [the CAA],” Title V provides that the Administrator “shall issue an objection . . . .” Id. If EPA does object to a permit, “the permitting authority may not issue the permit unless it is revised” to meet the objection. Id. §§ 7661d(b)(3), (c).