COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN REVISION

FOR

IMPLEMENTATION OF

BEST AVAILABLE RETROFIT TECHNOLOGY

STATE OPERATING PERMIT

FOR

Georgia Pacific

Big Island

Section 110 of the federal Clean Air Act prescribes the requirements for
the contents, adoption and submittal of the state implementation plan
(SIP).  Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) requires that the plan contain
adequate provisions prohibiting emissions in amounts which will
interfere with measures required to be included in the plan to prevent
significant deterioration of air quality or to protect visibility.

Part C (Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality) of §
160 establishes the purposes of the part as follows:

	(1)  to protect public health and welfare from any actual or potential
adverse effect which in the Administrator's judgment may reasonably be
anticipated to occur from air pollution or from exposures to pollutants
in other media, which pollutants originate as emissions to the ambient
air, notwithstanding attainment and maintenance of all national ambient
air quality standards;

	(2)  to preserve, protect and enhance the air quality in national
parks, national wilderness areas, national monuments, national
seashores, and other areas of special national or regional natural,
recreational, scenic or historical value;

	(3)  to insure that economic growth will occur in a manner consistent
with the preservation of existing clean air resources;

	(4)  to assure that emissions from any source in any state will not
interfere with any portion of the applicable implementation plan to
prevent significant deterioration of air quality for any other state;
and

	(5)  to assure that any decision to permit increased air pollution in
any area to which this section applies is made only after careful
evaluation of all the consequences of such a decision and after adequate
procedural opportunities for informed public participation in the
decision making process.

Section 165 addresses the preconstruction requirements for major sources
to be built in areas classified as PSD areas (federal class I areas). 
Section 165(b)(2) addresses the responsibility of the federal land
manager that has authority over federal class I areas:

	The Federal Land Manager and the Federal official charged with direct
responsibility for management of such lands shall have an affirmative
responsibility to protect the air quality related values (including
visibility) of any such lands within a class I area and to consider, in
consultation with the Administrator, whether a proposed major emitting
facility will have an adverse impact on such values. . . . In cases
where the Federal Land Manager demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
state that the emissions from such facility will have an adverse impact
on the air quality related values (including visibility) . . . a permit
shall not be issued.

Section 169(A) addresses visibility protection for federal class I
areas:

	Congress hereby declares as a national goal the prevention of any
future, and the remedying of any existing, impairment of visibility in
mandatory class I Federal areas which impairment results from manmade
air pollution.

This section also provides timeframes by which the Secretary of the
Interior and the Administrator will interact to assess visibility,
develop federal regulations including specific source exemptions and
public participation and the promulgation of those regulations.

Section 169(B) addresses the need for studies and assessment of current
sources of visibility, impacts of other provisions, establishment of
visibility transport regions and commissions, duties of the
Administrator and the establishment of the Grand Canyon Visibility
Transport Commission.

40 CFR 51.166, SIPs for new source review and source modifications,
requires that the plans (in accordance with the policy of § 101(b)(1)
and the purpose of § 160 contain emission limitations and such other
measures as may be necessary to prevent significant deterioration of air
quality.

Visibility is specifically addressed in 40 CFR 51.166(o), additional
impact analysis:

	(1)  The owner or operator shall provide an analysis of the impairment
to visibility, soils, and vegetation that would occur as a result of the
source or modification and general commercial, residential, industrial,
and other growth associated with the source or modification....

40 CFR 51.166(p) addresses sources affecting federal class I
areas-additional requirements.

	(p)(2)  The Federal Land Manager and the Federal official charged with
direct responsibility for management of Class I lands have an
affirmative responsibility to protect the air quality related values
(including visibility) of any such lands and to consider, in
consultation with the with the Administrator, whether a proposed source
or modification would have an adverse impact on such values.

On July 1, 1999, EPA published a final rule to address regional haze (64
FR 35714).  The regional haze rule requires states to submit SIPs to
address regional haze visibility impairment in federally protected parks
and wilderness areas, which are known as “mandatory Class I federal
areas” or “Class I areas.”  The 1999 rule was issued to fulfill
the requirements of §§ 169A and 169B.  In this rule, EPA included a
requirement for BART for certain large stationary sources that were put
in place between 1962 and 1977.  The regulatory requirements for BART
were codified at 40 CFR 51.308(e) and in definitions that appear in 40
CFR 51.301.

Sections 169A(b)(2)(A) and 169A(g)(7) use the term “major stationary
source” to describe those sources that are the focus of the BART
requirement.  To avoid confusion with other requirements which also use
the term “major stationary source,” the regional haze rule uses the
term “BART-eligible source.”  BART-eligible sources (i) have the
potential to emit 250 tons or more of a visibility-impairing air
pollutant, (ii) were in place between August 7, 1962 and August 7, 1977,
and (iii) have operations that fall within one or more of 26 listed
source categories.  BART is required for any BART-eligible source which
a state determines “emits any air pollutant which may reasonably be
anticipated to cause or contribute to any impairment of visibility in
any such area.”  Accordingly, for stationary sources meeting these
criteria, states must address the BART requirement when developing
regional haze SIPs.

Section 169A(g)(7) requires that states consider the following factors
in making BART determinations: (i) the costs of compliance, (ii) the
energy and nonair quality environmental impacts of compliance, (iii) any
existing pollution control technology in use at the source, (iv) the
remaining useful life of the source, and (v) the degree of improvement
in visibility which may reasonably be anticipated to result from the use
of such technology.  These statutory factors for BART were codified at
40 CFR 51.308(e)(1)(ii).

In response to various legal challenges, the D.C. Circuit Court issued a
ruling in 2002 striking down the regional haze rule in part and
upholding it in part.  On July 6, 2005 (70 FR 39103), EPA promulgated
final regulations to address the court’s decisions (40 CFR 51.302 and
51.308), and to provide BART determination guidance (Appendix Y to 40
CFR Part 51).  The purpose of the guidelines is to assist states as they
identify which of their BART-eligible sources should undergo a BART
analysis, and select controls in light of the statutory factors (the
BART determination).

Georgia Pacific Big Island, located in Bedford County, Virginia, has
been identified as a source subject to the BART requirements.  A legally
enforceable mechanism (federally enforceable state operating permit) has
been drafted to ensure compliance with the BART requirements and is
included as Attachment A.  Attachment B presents the statement of basis
to support the terms and conditions of the permit, including the
determination and analysis to support the BART determination for the
control of visibility-impairing pollutants (particulate matter, nitrogen
oxides, and sulfur dioxide) from the facility.  The permit is being
issued pursuant to Article 52 (9 VAC 5-40-7550 et seq.) of 9 VAC 5-40
(Existing Stationary Sources) and Article 5 (9 VAC 5-80-800 et seq.) of
9 VAC 5-80 (Permits for Stationary Sources) of state regulations and is
federally enforceable upon issuance.

TEMPLATES\SOURCE-SPECIFIC\PLN01

SRCESPEC\G-P BIG ISLAND\GPBI-SIP-1.DOC

LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE MECHANISM (PERMIT)

TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH BART REQUIREMENTS

FOR

Georgia Pacific

Big Island, Virginia

Registration No. 30389

Under the authority provided in 9 VAC 5-170-180 and Section II of Agency
Policy Statement No. 3-2006 (dated October 20, 2006), the Director of
the West Central Regional Office approved and issued the permit on June
12, 2008, to be effective that same day.  The permit was approved and
issued following the procedural requirements of Virginia's federally
enforceable state operating permit program, Article 5 (9 VAC 5-80-800 et
seq.) of Part II of 9 VAC 5-80 (Permits for Stationary Sources).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 STATEMENT OF BASIS FOR

DETERMINATION OF THE CONTROL OF

VISIBILITY-IMPAIRING POLLUTANTS

FROM

Georgia Pacific

Big Island, Virginia

Registration No. 30389

 

 

 

 

ENCLOSURE 1

ATTACHMENT A

ATTACHMENT B

