Title V Operating Permit Program Approval History
On December 4, 2001, EPA granted final approval of Indiana's Title V Operating Permit Program. The following summary provides more information on the background of that action.
Under a court approved settlement, EPA published a notice in December 2000 informing the public of an opportunity to identify any deficiencies in any Title V Operating Permit Program. Several deficiencies were identified in Indiana's program. EPA's notice regarding the identified deficiencies acknowledged that IDEM made an expeditious effort to correct the deficiencies during 2001 and that the necessary rulemaking to satisfactorily correct them was nearly complete. The rule changes to satisfactorily correct those deficiencies became effective on January 19, 2002.
Title V of the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 requires states to develop a federally approvable permit program applicable to major sources of air pollution. In response to the requirements of Title V, IDEM developed a Title V program which was submitted to US EPA August 10, 1994. EPA promulgated interim approval of the program, contingent on addressing two identified deficiencies, in the November 14, 1995, Federal Register.
IDEM submitted amendments intended to correct interim approval issues on May 22, 1996. EPA extended Indiana's interim approval, along with other state and local permit agencies with interim approval on several occasions. Most recently, EPA published a notice in the May 22, 2000 Federal Register to extend Indiana's interim approval period to December 1, 2001.
On June 21, 2000 the Sierra Club and the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) filed suit in federal court alleging that EPA's extension of the Title V interim approval deadline violated the Clean Air Act. In November 2000, the plaintiffs and EPA agreed to a settlement that included a 90-day public comment period on all TV programs. EPA published a notice in the December 11, 2000 Federal Register that provided an opportunity for public comment on programs that have interim approval and required EPA to respond to timely public comments by December 1, 2001.
Indiana began rulemaking to correct deficiencies to the Title V program in December 2000. Many of the changes to the rule were being made prior to receiving comments from citizens. These new rules were adopted by the Air Pollution Control Board on October 3, 2001. While addressing deficiencies identified by citizens, IDEM worked closely with EPA to identify any other deficiencies in the rules or in permit language.
On November 15, 2001 IDEM sent a set of documents to EPA outlining the status of efforts to correct the deficiencies identified by citizens. The documents included:
- Letter from Indiana to EPA [PDF] describing the changes to the program;
- Public Comments and Responses [PDF];
- Revised Model Permit Conditions [PDF]; and
- Rule changes [PDF] as adopted by the Air Board on October 3, 2001
IDEM also included a protocol for combined New Source Review/Title V in the November 15, 2001 submittal. After review by EPA and revisions by IDEM, the protocol was approved and is available below:
- New Protocol [PDF] for combined New Source Review/Title V
Because the administrative approval of the rules could not be completed by December 1, 2001, EPA published a Notice of Deficiency identifying the regulatory deficiencies in the December 11, 2001 Federal Register. The rules to correct the program deficiencies were signed by the Governor on December 20, 2001, became effective on January 19, 2002, and were published in the February 1, 2002 Indiana Register.
IDEM submitted the updates to the Title V Program to EPA for approval on February 6, 2002, and EPA published approval of the updates in the May 16, 2002 Federal Register. This approval resolves the December 11, 2001 Notice of Deficiency.
EPA took action on Indiana's 1996 submittal addressing the interim approval issues identified in 1995 and published final approval of the Indiana's Title V program in the December 4, 2001 Federal Register.
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