EPA Acknowledges Receipt of Council's Public Notice Petition

On February 2, 2012 the Clean Air Council received a letter from the  US EPA Region III acknowledging receipt of a petition the Council filed in November. The petition asks EPA to make a finding that PA DEP is not complying with the Clean Air Act and their State Implementation Plan (SIP). In April 2009 PA DEP submitted a revision to the SIP to EPA. That revision reduces the public notice opportunities for minor source air permits. Properly or not PA DEP has defined nearly all Marcellus operations as minor sources and therefore the revision would be applicable to them. However, instead of waiting for EPA approval on the submission PA DEP has improperly gone forward in implementing the revision. The Council maintains that EPA approval is required and further that the submission does not meet the public notice requirements of the Clean Air Act.

The Petition has drawn harsh criticism from PA DEP Secretary Krancer.

In its letter EPA states that they will review the Council's petition and take appropriate action in accordance with the Clean Air Act and that they are currently reviewing the April 2009 PA DEP revision submission for consistency with the Clean Air Act.