Any Notice of Violation or regulatory order issued by Southwest Clean Air Agency may be appealed to the Pollution Control Hearings Board as provided in RCW 43.21B and WAC 371-08. Any appeal by an aggrieved party who is not a party of record must be filed within 30 days of the date the notice is posted. Appeals can be made to the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) at P.O. Box 40903, Lacey, WA 98504-0903.
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On September 29, 2009, the Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center filed an appeal with the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) challenging the Southwest Clean Air Agency’s issuance of renewal Air Operating Permit SW98-8-R3 to TransAlta Centralia Generation. The parties submitted legal briefs, reply briefs, motions for summary judgment and presented oral arguments to the PCHB.
The Pollution Control Hearings Board resolved this case on summary judgment in favor of the Southwest Clean Air Agency. The PCHB found that air operating permits are limited in their objectives, collecting existing substantive requirements, but not imposing new ones. The PCHB concluded that the law does not require SWCAA to use the Title V air operating permit renewal process to transform general emissions standards into specific numeric requirements for carbon dioxide and mercury emissions. Such new requirements may, however, be imposed as permit modifications as regulatory agencies develop new rules or regulatory orders. The PCHB concluded that state law does not require SWCAA to impose new technological requirements or emissions limits for TransAlta at the time SWCAA issues or renews the Title V air operating permit.
To read the full Summary Judgment in PDF format, click here.