Public Input

This page covers the following topics:

1. General information on the title V program
2. Public participation process
3. Resources for permit review
4. State and local Title V programs (where you'll find web links, statistics and more)
5. EPA regulations and policy on the title V program
6. Individual permits (that have been tracked or responded to by a Regional Office)
7. More handy web links

General information on the Title V Program

If you are unfamiliar with the title V program, you may want to view the basic facts page before you read this page. Other sources of general information on title V are:

1. FAQ on air permits, compiled by EPA Region 9
2. Definitions of Selected Permitting Terms, compiled by Region 9
3. The Proof is in the Permit: How to Make Sure a Facility in Your Community Gets an Effective Title V Air Pollution Permit, produced by New York Public Interest Research Group and the Earth Day Coalition (En Espaņol)

Click here to learn the details of which sources have to get a title V permit.

The Public Participation Process

As a member of the public, you can use the title V program to ensure that sources are complying with the requirements that apply to them. Title V gives you the opportunity to:

1. Comment on and request a public hearing on permits before they are issued, when they are renewed, and when important changes to permits are proposed.
2. Appeal issued permits in State court, and petition the EPA Administrator to object to State-issued permits.
3. Appeal EPA-issued permits to the Environmental Appeals Board and the federal courts.
4. Keep track of whether facilities are complying with their permits by reviewing the reports and certifications that permittees are required to send to the permitting agency.

Also, members of the public can bring enforcement actions in court against facilities that don't comply with their permits. For a more detailed discussion of these topics, see the Proof is in the Permit. (En Espaņol)

Prior to issuing a permit, State permitting authorities generally follow these steps:

1. Determine if permit application is complete enough to begin processing it.
2. Prepare a draft permit.
3. Publish a notice to inform public of (1) the public comment period (usually 30 days) for the draft permit, and (2) deadline for requesting a public hearing on the draft permit. The notice can be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the source is located or in a State publication, like a State register. The permitting authority must mail notices of draft permits to persons who have requested to be on a mailing list. The notice must include:
   • the name of the facility, the name and address of the permittee and the permitting agency;
   • activities covered by the draft permit;
   • any emissions change involved in the permit action;
   • who to contact for more information, including a copy of the draft permit and supporting materials;
   • how to submit comments;
   • time/place of any hearing already scheduled;
   • how to request a hearing if one has not already been scheduled.
   Some states provide more than 30 days for public comment. You can start getting prepared for permit review before the public comment period.
4. Decide whether to revise the draft permit (based on comments from the permittee, the public or EPA). The permitting authority will often change the permit in response to EPA comments.
5. Send the proposed permit to EPA for its 45-day review. If EPA has agreed to concurrent review, then its 45 days generally start at the beginning of the public comment period. Check with your permitting agency, its rules, or the EPA to determine if your state uses a concurrent review process.
6. Revise permit within 90 days, if EPA has objected
7. Issue permit

Resources for Permit Review

1. The Proof is in the Permit: How to Make Sure a Facility in Your Community Gets an Effective Title V Air Pollution Permit (a citizens' guide produced by the Earth Day Coalition and New York Public Interest Research Group) (En Espaņol)
2. Schedule for EPA-sponsored training workshops on title V
3. Region III's Permit Writers' Tips
4. Title V Petition Database containing EPA's responses to public petitions asking that EPA object to a permit plus most of the petitions that EPA has received
5. EPA's Applicability Determination Index which contains over one thousand EPA letters and memoranda pertaining to the applicability, monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements of the NSPS and NESHAP.

State and Local Title V Programs:

Federal Register Notices Related to EPA Approval of State/Local/Tribal Programs
Region 1
Region 2
Region 3
Region 4
Region 5
Region 6
Region 7
Region 8
Region 9
Region 10

Many advocacy organizations have been concerned about how the State and local permitting agencies are administering the title V program. 33 groups filed comments with EPA, which alleged that State and local operating permit programs were deficient or were being administered improperly. Click here to see EPA Responses to Citizen Comments on State Program Deficiencies.

To find out how many title V permits your State has issued or how many remain to be issued, see Permit Issuance Status by Region and State

See the information below for contact information for your State or local permitting agency and web addresses for those agencies that post either draft or final permits online. (Note: Many agencies also post their public notices on line.)

Region 1 States (CT, MA, NH, VT, RI) :

You can link to the EPA Region 1 website to get contact information for the State permit programs in Region 1
.

The following States post permits on line:

Connecticut: (final)
Maine: (final)
New Hampshire: (final)
Vermont: (draft, proposed and final)

Region 2 States and territories (NJ, NY, PR, VI):

You can click here to get contact information for the permit programs in Region 2.

The following State posts permits on line:

New York: (draft and final)

Region 3 State and local permitting authorities (DC, MD, PA, VA, WV):

You can link to the EPA Region 3 website to get contact information for the State or local air quality division.

The following States post permits on line:

Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia. Click here to link to sites containing draft and final permits from these states and a list of final permits from the permitting authorities in Region 3.

Region 4 State and local permitting authorities (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN)

Click here to get contact information for the State and local air quality divisions in Region 4.

The following States post permits on line:

Florida: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/air/eproducts/ards/default.asp ( you can search for permits by source name, county, SIC, permit type, and/or permit status)
Georgia:
http://www.air.dnr.state.ga.us/sspp/titlev/draft.html (draft)
http://www.air.dnr.state.ga.us/sspp/titlev/issued.html (final)
Kentucky: http://www.air.ky.gov/permitting/ (draft, proposed and final)
Jefferson County - Louisville, KY: http://apcd.org/permit/t5status.html (draft and final)
North Carolina:
http://daq.state.nc.us/cgi-bin/perm_draftrev.cgi (draft)
Chattanooga-Hamilton County, TN: http://www.apcb.org/permitting.htm (final)

Click here for contact information for the permit programs in Region 5.

The following States post permits on line:

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Their permits are accessible at http://www.epa.gov/ARD-R5/permits/.

Region 6 State and local permitting agencies (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX)

Click here to get contact information for the air quality divisions in Region 6. To get information on the permit program contacts, see the following:

AR: Thomas Rheaume (501)682-0762 or e-mail address rheaume@adeq.state.ar.us
Albuquerque, NM: Israel Tavarez (505)768-1961 or e-mail address itravarez@cabq.gov
LA: Keith Keith Jordan (225)765 0201 or e-mail address KeithJ@ldeq.state.la.us
NM: Ned Jerabek (505)955 8013 or e-mail address ned_jerabek@nmenv.state.nm.us
OK : Dawson Lasseter (405)702 4185 or e-mail address Dawson.Lasseter@deqmail.state.ok.us
TX: Jessy Chacon, (512)239 5866 or e-mail address Jchacon@tnrcc.state.tx.us

The following States post permits on line:

Arkansas: http://www.adeq.state.ar.us/home/pdssql/pds.asp#Display (final)
Oklahoma: http://www.deq.state.ok.us/AQDNew/permitting/pubreview.htm (draft and final)
Texas: http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/permitting/airperm/ (Note that this site for the TNRCC remote document server is difficult to navigate)

Region 7 States (IO, KS, MO, NE):

Click here to get contact information for the State air quality divisions in Region 7.

The following State posts permits on line:

Iowa: http://www.state.ia.us/epd/air/prof/oper/optv.htm (draft and final)

Region 8 States (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY):

Contact persons for Title V program:

CO: Jim King, 303-692-3207, CO Department of Public Health and Environment
MT: Dave Klemp, 406-444-0286, MT Department of Environmental Quality
ND: Tom Bachman 701-328-5188, ND Department of Health
SD: Brian Gustafson, 605-773-3351 x4213, SD Department of Environment & Natural Resources
UT: Dave Beatty, 801-536-4133, Utah Department of Environmental Quality
WY: Mike Stoll 307-777-7391, WY Department of Environmental Quality

The following States post permits on line:

CO:
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ap/Titlev.html#permit (final)
UT: http://www.deq.state.ut.us/EQAIR/PERMITS/pmtreprt.htm (draft and final)

Region 9 states (HI, NV) and districts:

Click here to access a title V database that contains permits from some Districts and summary records of all permits. For permitting contact information, click here.

The following permitting authorities post permits on line:

Arizona: http://www.adeq.state.az.us/environ/air/permits/titlev.html (draft and final)
Bay Area Air Quality Management District: http://www.baaqmd.gov/pmt/title_v/index.asp

Region 10 State and local permitting authorities (AK, ID, OR, WA):

Click here to get contact information for the permit programs.

The following permitting authorities post permits on line:

AK: http://www.state.ak.us/dec/air/ap/final.htm (Final permits); http://www.state.ak.us/dec/dawq/aqm/calendar.htm (draft permits)
ID: http://www2.state.id.us/deq/permits/permits1.htm (draft permits)
Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority: http://www.lrapa.org/Business/TitleV.html (final)
Northwest Air Pollution Authority: http://nwair.org/regulated/aop.html (draft and final)
Olympic Region Clean Air Agency: http://www.orcaa.org/AOP.html (draft and final permits)
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: http://www.pscleanair.org/news/permits.shtml (draft and final permits)
Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority http://www.scapca.org/ (draft and final permits)
Southwest Clean Air Agency: http://www.swapca.org/PermitsTitleV.html (draft and final permits)

EPA regulations and policy on the title V program

The minimum standards for approvable State title V programs are found at 40 CFR part 70 . States have generally adopted State regulations to create operating permit programs, which are modeled on the part 70 regulations. The handiest source of information on how EPA interprets the part regulations is Region VII Searchable Data Base on Title V Policy and Guidance. For even more information, including regulations and all sorts of air issues see the Office of Air and Radiation's Technology Transfer Network (TTN). One of the issues of most concern to the public is what monitoring requirements apply to large sources of air pollution. In addition to the monitoring requirements found in 40 CFR part 70, EPA adopted a regulation that covers the largest units of air pollution. See the Compliance Assurance Monitoring (CAM) Rule

Individual Permits

1. Region III List of Final Title V Permits
2. Region IV Objection Letters
3. Region V Air Permits
4. Region IX Comments and Objection Letters

More Handy Web Links

1. NSR Policy and Guidance Data Base
2. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
3. Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act