Clean Air Act Operating Permit Program; Petitions for Objection to State Operating Permits for Four San Francisco Bay Area Refineries: Chevron Products Company, ConocoPhillips Company, Tesoro Refining and Marketing Co., and Valero Refining Co., 15849-15850 [05-6195]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15849-15850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6195]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7890-2]


Clean Air Act Operating Permit Program; Petitions for Objection 
to State Operating Permits for Four San Francisco Bay Area Refineries: 
Chevron Products Company, ConocoPhillips Company, Tesoro Refining and 
Marketing Co., and Valero Refining Co.

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of final orders on five petitions to object to four 
state operating permits.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the EPA Administrator has responded 
to five citizen petitions requesting EPA to object to operating permits 
issued to four facilities by the Bay Area Air Quality Management 
District (BAAQMD). The Administrator has (1) denied in full a petition 
submitted by Plumbers and Steamfitters Union Local 342, Heat and Frost 
Insulators/Asbestos

[[Page 15850]]

Workers Local 16, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 
Local 302, the Boilermakers Union Local 549 and the Laborers Union 
Local 324 (Unions) requesting that the Administrator object to the 
state operating permit issued to Chevron Products Company (Chevron) in 
Richmond, California; (2) partially granted and partially denied two 
petitions submitted by Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) 
requesting that the Administrator object to the state operating permits 
issued to Chevron in Richmond, California, and ConocoPhillips Company 
(Conoco) in Rodeo, California; and (3) partially granted and partially 
denied two petitions submitted by Our Children's Earth Foundation (OCE) 
requesting that the Administrator object to the state operating permits 
issued to Tesoro Refining and Marketing Co. (Tesoro) in Martinez, 
California, and Valero Refining Co. in Benicia, California (Valero).
    Pursuant to section 505(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act (Act), the 
petitioners may seek judicial review of any portion of the petitions 
which EPA denied in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth 
Circuit. Any petition for review shall be filed within 60 days from the 
date this notice appears in the Federal Register, pursuant to section 
307 of the Act.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the final orders, petitions, and other supporting 
information are available at the Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region IX, Air Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. 
The final orders are also available electronically at: https://
www.epa.gov/region07/programs/artd/air/title5/petitiondb/petitions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerardo Rios, Chief, Air Permits 
Office, EPA Region IX, telephone (415) 972-3974, e-mail 
r9airpermits@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA approves state and local permitting 
authorities to administer the operating permit program set forth in 
title V of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7661-7661f. BAAQMD administers 
a fully approved title V operating permit program. The Clean Air Act 
affords EPA the opportunity for a 45-day period to review, and object 
to as appropriate, operating permits proposed by permitting 
authorities. Section 505(b)(2) of the Act authorizes any person to 
petition the EPA Administrator within 60 days after the expiration of 
this review period to object to a state operating permit if EPA has not 
done so. Petitions must be based on objections to the permit that were 
raised with reasonable specificity during the public comment period 
provided by the state, unless the petitioner demonstrates that it was 
impracticable to raise these issues during the comment period or the 
grounds for the issues arose after this period.
    BAAQMD submitted proposed permits to EPA on August 25, 2004 
(Chevron and Conoco) and August 26, 2004 (Tesoro and Valero). EPA 
received five petitions to object to the permits (two petitions for the 
Chevron permit, and one each for Conoco, Tesoro, and Valero) prior to 
the deadline for section 505(b)(2) petitions.
    On March 15, 2005, the Administrator issued one order denying in 
full the petition submitted by Unions requesting the Administrator to 
object to the permit for Chevron; two orders partially granting and 
partially denying the petitions submitted by CBE requesting the 
Administrator to object to the permits for Chevron and Conoco; and two 
orders partially granting and partially denying the petitions submitted 
by OCE requesting the Administrator to object to the permits for Tesoro 
and Valero. These orders explain the reasons behind EPA's decisions to 
grant or deny each issue.

    Dated: March 15, 2005.
Wayne Nastri,
Regional Administrator, Region 9.
[FR Doc. 05-6195 Filed 3-28-05; 8:45 am]
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