MEMO TO FILE

DATE:		November 5, 2018

SUBJECT:	Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, FBIR Compressor Station; MCP Operating, LLC, Environmental Justice 

FROM:	Colin Schwartz, EPA Region 8 Air Program

TO:		Source Files:
		205c AirTribal, TAT, MCP Operating, LLC. FBIR Compressor Station
		SMNSR-TAT-000895-2018.001
		Docket ID: EPA-R08-OAR-2018-0574
		
On February 11, 1994, the President issued Executive Order 12898, entitled "Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations."  The Executive Order calls on each federal agency to make environmental justice a part of its mission by "identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies and activities on minority populations and low-income populations."
      
The EPA defines "Environmental Justice" as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and polices. The EPA's goal with respect to Environmental Justice in permitting is to enable overburdened communities to have full and meaningful access to the permitting process and to develop permits that address environmental justice issues to the greatest extent practicable under existing environmental laws. Overburdened is used to describe the minority, low-income, tribal and indigenous populations or communities in the United States that potentially experience disproportionate environmental harms and risks as a result of greater vulnerability to environmental hazards. 
      
This discussion describes our efforts to identify environmental justice communities and assess potential effects in connection with issuing this permit in Mountrail County, North Dakota, on Indian country lands within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

Region 8 Air Program Determination

Based on the findings described in the following sections of this memorandum, we conclude that issuance of the aforementioned permit is not expected to have disproportionately high or adverse human health effects on overburdened communities in the vicinity of the facility.

Permit Request

The EPA received an application from MCP Operating, LLC (MCP), requesting a synthetic minor permit to construct and operate the FBIR Compressor Station in accordance with the requirements of the Tribal Minor New Source Review (MNSR) permitting program. This permit is proposed to approve the construction and operation of a compressor station. This facility would be capable of separating condensate and natural gas, compressing the natural gas to increase pressure and dehydrating the natural gas to a pipeline quality for sales. Potential uncontrolled emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are above major New Source Review (NSR) thresholds. Therefore, MCP has requested enforceable emission limitations to bring allowable emissions below major source levels. In addition, MCP has requested limitations to bring allowable emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) below the thresholds for applicability to various Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) regulations for major HAP sources at 40 CFR part 63, as well as major Title V thresholds for criteria pollutants and HAP.

This proposed permit would establish facility-wide annual limits on the throughput of natural gas and condensate. It requires the installation, maintenance and operation of a process flare to control VOC and HAP emissions from natural gas handling during maintenance, startup, shutdown and upset conditions. It also requires the installation, maintenance and operation of an enclosed vapor combustor to control VOC and HAP emissions from a triethylene glycol (TEG) dehydration unit that includes a TEG reboiler and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) condenser, and working, standing, breathing and flashing loss emissions from condensate storage tanks. The proposed permit also contains requirements to operate a catalytic control system and air-to-fuel ratio (AFR) controller on three (3) natural gas-fired 4-stroke lean-burn (4SLB) spark ignition (SI) internal combustion engines (ICE) used for natural gas compression at the facility, including associated CO, VOC, and NOx emissions limits. 
This permit contains emissions limits, construction and operational limitations and associated monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Upon compliance with the permit, MCP will have legally and practicably enforceable restrictions on emissions that can be used when determining the applicability of other Clean Air Act (CAA) permitting requirements, such as those imposed by the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Permit Program at 40 CFR part 52 and the Title V Operating Permit Program at 40 CFR part 71 (Part 71). 

The facility is located at:

	      SENE Sec 4 T150N R93W
	Latitude 47.838823, Longitude -102.580448	

Air Quality Review
 
The MNSR rule at 40 CFR 49.154(d) provides that if the permitting authority has "reason to be concerned" that construction of new minor sources or modifications at existing minor sources would "cause or contribute to a NAAQS or PSD increment violation," it "may" require an Air Quality Impacts Analysis (AQIA) (dispersion modeling analysis per 40 CFR part 51, Appendix W) to be submitted as part of an application (emphasis added). If an AQIA reveals that the proposed construction could cause or contribute to a NAAQS or PSD increment violation, such impacts must be addressed before a pre-construction permit can be issued. The purpose of the discretion provided at § 49.154(d) is to "ensure that construction of new minor sources or modifications at existing minor sources do not cause or contribute to a NAAQS or PSD increment violation" while not "overburdening all minor sources in Indian country with these types of air quality analysis." 76 FR at 38761. 

The EPA used the discretion as provided at § 49.154(d) to assess the impact of this action in an AQIA for NOx emissions from the engines, flare and vapor combustor. The AQIA used the EPA's recommended air quality screening model (AERSCREEN, version 16216) to assess ambient air impacts from the action. Given the NOx emissions levels, the AQIA only used AERSCREEN to assess impacts to the 1-hour nitrogen dioxide (NO2) NAAQS. The modeling assumed default options, along with 80% conversion of NOx to NO2 to represent NOx chemistry and the adjustment to the surface frictional velocity. The official docket for the permit action contains the AERSCREEN input assumptions and results, as well as the AERSCREEN modeling files. MCP modeled one (1) compressor engine as a point source and multiplied the resulting concentration by three (3) to get the total concentration from the three (3) compressor engines. The vapor combustor was modeled as a point source, and the flare was modeled as a flare. MCP evaluated the 1-hour NO2 concentrations at 25-meter increments, starting at the property boundary, to determine the location of the maximum predicted concentrations. The maximum predicted 1-hour NO2 concentrations for the flare and vapor combustor were located at 33 meters from the property boundary, while the maximum predicted 1-hour NO2 concentration for the compressor engines was located at 58 meters from the property boundary. The maximum predicted 1-hour NO2 concentration for all five (5) emission units is located 58 meters from the emission source. The predicted 1-hour NO2 concentration from the three (3) compressor engines, flare and vapor combustor were summed together and added to the background concentration at the Dunn, North Dakota monitor. The resulting total predicted 1-hour NO2 concentration was compared to the NAAQS, and the results are about 72% of the NAAQS. 

Although emissions at this proposed source would be increasing as a result of the permit action, the AERSCREEN model results indicated maximum impacts below the NAAQS at a short distance from the emissions sources (58 meters and less). Therefore, the agency finds that there is no "reason to be concerned" that construction of the new source would cause or contribute to a NAAQS or PSD increment violation as a result of issuing this permit. 

Environmental Impacts to Potentially Overburdened Communities

This permit action authorizes the construction of new air emission sources with the potential to emit air pollutants at minor source levels under the MNSR Permit Program. The facility will be located in a rural area primarily used for livestock grazing and other agricultural uses. The proposed allowable emissions increases for this project are well below the major source PSD thresholds for all criteria pollutants. The ambient air measurements show existing air quality in the project area currently meets the NAAQS. The new emission sources would be controlled using the procedures listed in this permit and have been conservatively modeled below the NAAQS accounting for those controls. The local meteorology along with the facility's location would encourage transport and dispersion of pollutant emissions. Therefore, the impacts to local air quality from the proposed project are not expected to be significant.  

Furthermore, the permit contains a provision stating, "this MNSR permit will not contribute to National Ambient Air Quality Standards violations, or have potentially adverse effects on ambient air quality." Noncompliance with this permit provision would be a violation of the permit and would be grounds for enforcement action and for permit termination or revocation. As a result, we conclude that issuance of the aforementioned permit will not have disproportionately high or adverse human health effects on any communities in the vicinity of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
	
Tribal Consultation and Enhanced Public Participation

Given the presence of potentially overburdened communities in the vicinity of the facility, we are providing an enhanced public participation process for this permit. 
      
 Interested parties can subscribe to an EPA email list that notifies them of public comment opportunities on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation for proposed air pollution control permits via email at http://www2.epa.gov/region8/air-permit-public-comment-opportunities.

 All minor source permit applications (synthetic minor, modification to an existing facility, new true minor or general permit) are submitted to both the SUIT and the EPA per the application instructions (see http://www2.epa.gov/region8/tribal-minor-new-source-review-permitting). 

 The Tribe is asked to respond within 10 business days to the EPA with questions and comments on the application. 

 In the event an AQIA is triggered, we email a copy of that document to the Tribe within 5 business days from the date we receive it.

 We notify the Tribe of the public comment period for the proposed permit and provide copies of the notice of public comment opportunity to post in various locations of their choosing on the Reservation. We also notify the Tribe of the issuance of the final permit.
