Clean Air Act Operating Permit Program; Petition for Objection to Proposed State Operating Permit for Monroe Electrical Generating Plant Entergy Louisiana, Inc.; Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6419-3]

Clean Air Act Operating Permit Program; Petition for Objection to

Proposed State Operating Permit for Monroe Electrical Generating Plant

Entergy Louisiana, Inc.; Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of final order on petition to object to State operating

permit.

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SUMMARY: This document announces that the EPA Administrator has

partially granted and partially denied a petition to object to a

proposed State operating permit issued by the Louisiana Department of

Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to the Monroe Electrical Generating Plant,

Entergy Louisiana, Inc., Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. Pursuant

to section 505(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (Act), petitioner may seek

judicial review of those portions of the petition which EPA denied in

the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit within

60 days of this decision under section 307 of the Act.

ADDRESSES: You may review copies of the final order, the petition, and

other supporting information at the EPA, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue,

Dallas, Texas 75202-2733. If you wish to examine these documents, you

should make an appointment at least 24 hours before visiting day. The

final order is also available electronically at the following address:

http:www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/ramain.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jole Luehrs, Chief, Air Permitting

Section, Multimedia Planning and Permitting Division, EPA, Region 6,

1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, telephone (214) 665-7250,

or electronic mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Act affords EPA a 45-day period to

review, and object to as appropriate, operating permits proposed by

State permitting authorities. Section 505(b)(2) of the Act authorizes

any person to petition the EPA Administrator within 60 days after the

expiration of this review period to object to State operating permits

if EPA has not done so. Petitions must be based only on objections to

the permit that were raised with reasonable specificity during the

public comment period provided by the State, unless the petitioner

demonstrates that it was impracticable to raise these issues during the

comment period or the grounds for the issues arose after this period.

Ms. Merrijane Yerger, Managing Director of the Citizens for Clean

Air and Water (Petitioner), submitted a petition to the Administrator

on February 9, 1999, seeking EPA's objection to the proposed title V

operating permit to be issued to the Monroe Electrical Generating Plant

(Monroe plant) owned and operated by Entergy Louisiana, Inc. (Entergy)

and located in the city of Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. The

petition objects to issuance of the proposed permit on five grounds:

(1) LDEQ failed to subject the Monroe plant to prevention of

significant deterioration (PSD) review, (2) the maximum capacity of the

Monroe plant may have been increased by some unknown method at some

time between 1976 and the time of the title V application without being

subject to PSD review and New Source Performance Standards, (3) the

proposed permit fails to incorporate enforceable one-hour maximum

emission rate limitations for sulfur dioxide and other criteria

pollutants, (4) the proposed permit includes apparent annual emissions

increases that suggest PSD review should be conducted for the sulfur

dioxide emissions, and (5) sufficient information has not been provided

in Entergy's permit application to ensure compliance with the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act disposal requirements.

In addition, the Petitioner requested the following: (1) that EPA

issue an information request letter to Entergy and the City of Monroe

under section 114 of the Act, requiring them to disclose all matters

raised by this petition; and (2) that EPA conduct an on-site inspection

of the Monroe plant to determine whether PSD and NSPS have been

triggered.

On June 11, 1999, the Administrator issued an order partially

granting and partially denying the petition. The order explains the

reasons behind EPA's conclusion that the proposed title V operating

permit fails to assure compliance with applicable PSD requirements as

set forth in the Louisiana State Implementation Plan. The order also

explains the reasons for denying Petitioner's remaining claims.

Dated: July 30, 1999.

W. B. Hathaway,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.

[FR Doc. 99-20868 Filed 8-11-99; 8:45 am]

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