Announcement of Draft Permit and Request for Public Comment on Draft Clean Air Act Minor NSR Permit in Indian Country
Proposed Action: The United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 (EPA) provides notice of and requests public comment on the EPA’s proposed action relating to the draft minor New Source Review (NSR) permit for the Morongo Travel Center (“Source”). The Source will be located at 48540 Morongo Trail, Cabazon, California 92230, within the Morongo Indian Reservation. The EPA is proposing to issue this minor NSR permit to the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, 12700 Pumarra Road, Banning, California, 92220. The contact for the Source is Dana Morey, Environmental Manager, (951) 755-5198.
This draft permit, if finalized, will authorize the construction and operation of a gasoline dispensing facility (GDF), consistent with the minor NSR regulations for Indian country (40 CFR 49.151-161). The gasoline dispensing facility will dispense both diesel and octane gasoline. It will include 22 fuel dispensers, six underground storage tanks, and a convenience store. This project will increase emissions of air pollutants as follows: 12.27 tons per year (tpy) of volatile organic compounds (VOC). More information on the emission limitations associated with this draft permit can be found in Section 5 of the technical support document for this action.
Request for Public Comment: All written comments or requests for a public hearing must be received or postmarked by September 7, 2021. Comments may be submitted via the following methods:
Online: www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0043
E-mail: [email protected]
Other: By contacting Catherine Valladolid for other submission methods. See the Contact Information section below.
Any person may submit written comments on the draft permit and may request a public hearing during the public comment period. These comments must raise any reasonably ascertainable issue with supporting arguments by the close of the public comment period (including any public hearing). Please address comments with the subject “Comments on Draft Minor NSR Permit for Morongo Travel Center.”
All comments that are received via email or through www.regulations.gov will be included in the public docket without change and will be available to the public, including any personal information provided. Comments submitted to the EPA through a non-electronic delivery method will also be included in the public docket without change and will be available to the public, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Information that is considered to be CBI or otherwise protected should be clearly identified as such and should be submitted only through a non-electronic delivery method; such information should not be submitted through www.regulations.gov or e-mail. If a commenter sends e-mail directly to the EPA, the e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of the public comment. Please note that an e-mail or postal address must be provided with comments if the commenter wishes to receive direct notification of the EPA’s final decision regarding the draft permit following the public comment period. For information about CBI or multimedia submissions and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
Public Hearing: A public hearing has not been scheduled for the draft permit action. However, anyone may request a public hearing. Any request for a public hearing must be made in writing and state the nature of the issues proposed to be raised at the hearing. The EPA will hold a hearing whenever there is, on the basis of requests, a significant degree of public interest in a draft minor NSR permit. The EPA may also hold a public hearing at its discretion, whenever, for instance, such a hearing might clarify one or more issues involved in the minor NSR permit decision. The EPA will provide notice at least 30 days in advance of the date and time of any scheduled public hearing. The 30-day public comment period will be extended to the close of any public hearing on the Morongo Travel Center.
Final Action: Before taking final action on the draft permit, the EPA will consider all written comments submitted during the public comment period. The EPA will send notice of our final permit decision to each person who submitted comments and contact information during the public comment period or requested notice of the final permit decision. The EPA will summarize the contents of all substantive comments and provide written responses in a document accompanying the EPA’s final permit decision. The EPA’s final permit decision will become effective 30 days after the service of notice of the decision unless:
1. A later effective date is specified in the permit;
2. The decision is appealed to the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board pursuant to 40 CFR 49.159(d); or
3. There are no comments requesting a change to the draft permit decision, in which case the final decision shall become effective immediately upon issuance.
Appeals to the EAB: In accordance with 40 CFR 49.159, within 30 days after a final permit decision has been issued, any person who filed comments on the draft permit or participated in the public hearing may petition the EAB to review any condition of the permit decision. The 30-day period within which a person may request review under this section begins when the Region has fulfilled the notice requirements for the final permit decision. A petition to the EAB is, under section 307(b) of the Act, a prerequisite to seeking judicial review of the final agency action. For purposes of judicial review, final agency action occurs when the EPA denies or issues a final permit and agency review procedures are exhausted.
Contact Information: If you have questions, or if you wish to obtain further information, please contact Catherine Valladolid at (415) 947-4103 or via email at [email protected]. If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive future information about this draft permit decision or other permit decisions issued by EPA Region 9, please contact the EPA at [email protected].
***Please bring the foregoing notice to the attention of all persons who would be interested in this matter.***