Posted on March 26, 2012 by Michael McCauley
On December 12, 2011, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) issued a policy statement on including Permit “Shield” Statements in Title V air operating permits for sources located in Wisconsin. A copy of the new policy can be found here. WDNR’s previous policy was to include a statement in Title V permits, indicating that the permittee’s compliance with all emission limitations and conditions in the permit constituted compliance with all applicable requirements for the source under the federal Clean Air Act and Wisconsin Law.
In the December 12 policy statement, WDNR decided that in the future, the agency would not include permit shield protection in new Title V air permits, unless (among other things), the permit applicant conducts (and submits to WDNR) a comprehensive written explanation of “every change over the entire life” of each emissions unit at the facility to ensure that none of the changes made to the unit or maintenance activities on the unit constituted a “modification” within the meaning of federal and Wisconsin New Source Review rules. See Items 5 and 6 on page one of the Executive Summary in WDNR’s policy document.
Of course, this means that few, if any, companies with facilities in Wisconsin will be requesting permit shield language in the future for their Title V air operating permit renewals. The new WDNR policy will effectively mean that the permittee would have to put itself through what would amount to a “voluntary” Section 114 Information Inquiry on all physical changes and changes in operation for every emissions unit in the permitted facility — going back to the original installation/construction of the equipment. I don’t know of many companies in this current economy that would have the time or resources (or the inclination) to do this.
And for what benefit? Such a due diligence report, if it was ever actually filed with WDNR, would only invite second-guessing and additional questions on certain projects — further delaying what has already become an interminably long process. The environmental groups in Wisconsin would scrutinize such reports if they were ever filed with WDNR. And in the end, you have to ask yourself, “How many Title V permit shields have ever stopped a federal NSR enforcement case from being filed and prosecuted in the first place?”
There is likely to be some “push back” on this new policy by various industry groups here in Wisconsin. The hope is that officials in the Governor’s Office and higher level WDNR officials will exercise some judgment and restraint in this matter. We’ll see how that plays out in the next several months.