Title V Operating Permit Backlogs Exist, Underscores Need for Revisions to Allegheny Co. Health Dept. Fee Schedule

At GASP we don’t just monitor air quality issues and push back against industrial polluters’ illegal emissions – we also try to hold air quality regulators accountable for doing their jobs and fulfilling the duties that air pollution laws impose on them.

This includes tracking how efficiently Pennsylvania regulators – specifically, the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) and state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) – process permit applications for sources of air pollution (more on the significance of those permits below). 

Since 2018 we’ve reported on the backlogs that exist at ACHD as well as DEP’s six regional offices for processing applications for Title V Operating Permits - permits the Clean Air Act requires the largest sources of air pollution to obtain.

 “The backlogs have indeed improved over the years,” said GASP Senior Attorney John Baillie said. “Unfortunately, there are still trouble spots.”

In short: The backlog of permit applications at DEP’s Northwest Regional Office has grown over the last couple of years, while the backlogs of applications at ACHD and DEP’s Northeast Regional Office unfortunately increased this year following several years of improvement.

Here’s what our review turned up this year and what you need to know about those permits.

Title V Operating Permits: What They Are, Who Needs Them & How They’re Issued

Operating permits for major sources of air pollution are required by Title V of the Clean Air Act and are commonly called Title V Operating Permits. A Title V Operating Permit for a particular facility must contain all operating requirements that air pollution laws impose on the facility.

This helps facilitate compliance with those requirements. Why? Because both regulators and the public can use a facility’s Title V Operating Permit to determine what requirements it has and whether the facility is complying with them.

A major source must apply for a Title V Operating Permit once it begins normal operations, and the permitting authority gives it notice that it must submit a permit application. A Title V Operating Permit is good for five years, and sources must apply to renew their Title V Operating Permits before their old ones expire.

The Clean Air Act, as well as Pennsylvania’s and Allegheny County’s air pollution control regulations, all require that the agency responsible for issuing Title V Operating Permits finish its review of any complete permit application within 18 months. 

Notably, the Clean Air Act allows a source that has submitted a complete application for a Title V Operating Permit to continue to do business pending the responsible agency’s final approval of the application - even if agency approval takes years.

The Clean Air Act also requires the operations of the state and local programs that administer Title V Operating Permits be funded entirely from the emissions and permit fees paid by the sources subject to the requirements of Title V.

About Our Investigative Report…

We first blogged about the backlogs of applications for new and renewed operating permits for major sources of air pollution that existed in DEP’s Southwest Regional Office and in Allegheny County (where Title V sources are regulated by ACHD) in September 2016.  

In April 2018, we updated that research and expanded it to include sources permitted by DEP’s other five regional offices. We have updated that research every year since. 

About the Backlog at the Allegheny County Health Department

There are now 26 major sources operating in Allegheny County. 

One of those facilities has applied for, but has never been issued, a Title V Operating Permit – ATI Flat-Rolled Products (which was formerly known as Allegheny Ludlum Brackenridge Works) - although ACHD did published a draft permit for the facility last fall. 

ACHD has failed to act on renewal applications for seven of the 26 major sources in Allegheny County within 18 months as its regulations require:

About the Backlog at DEP’s Southwest Regional Office

For purposes of air quality permitting, DEP’s Southwest Regional Office includes sources in Beaver, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties. 

Responsibility for administering the Title V permitting program for sources in Armstrong and Indiana Counties was transferred to DEP’s Northwest Regional Office in early 2019. 

We currently count 54 major sources under the jurisdiction of the Southwest Regional Office.

There are a lot of different things going on with the permitting of major sources in the Southwest Region.

Three major sources in the Southwest Region do not have Title V Operating Permits in place but have applied for such permits within the last 18 months: 

• the Brunner Landfill in Beaver County (which has had issues with its air pollution permits, and has never had a Title V Operating Permit)

• Hunter Panels in Fayette County (which was once permitted as a major source, was reclassified as a minor source, and then recently reclassified back to a major source), and

• Hill Top Energy Center in Greene County (which is newly constructed)

Here’s what’s going on with the other facilities:

• Holcim Solutions in Westmoreland County, was (like Hunter Panels) recently reclassified as a major source but has not yet submitted an application for a Title V Operating Permit;  

• The Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station in Westmoreland County, has been constructed and has operated for many years under it preconstruction permit, but has not yet applied for a Title V Operating Permit; 

• Markwest Liberty Midstream & Resource’s Houston Gas Plant has had applications pending at one time or another for both a minor source operating permit and a Title V Operating Permit. The facility appears to have neither an operating permit (of any kind) currently in place nor an application for such a permit currently pending. At least from the information available on DEP’s eFACTS website, it not clear whether DEP has classified this source as a major source subject to Title V or a minor source.

Despite all of that, only one major source in the Southwest Region has had an application for its Title V Operating Permit pending for more than the 18 months allowed by the Clean Air Act:

 About the Backlog at DEP’s Northwest Regional Office

DEP’s Northwest Region includes Armstrong and Indiana Counties for Title V permitting purposes, as well as Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, and Venango Counties. 

We count 63 active major sources of air pollution in the Northwest Region. 

Two of those sources – Hickory Run Energy in North Beaver Township, Lawrence County and the Tri-County Landfill near Grove City, Mercer County – are new, and either still have an application for an initial Title V Operating Permit still pending (Hickory Run Energy) or are still operating under a Plan Approval from DEP and have not yet applied for a Title V Operating Permit (Tri-County Landfill). 

Another facility, Webco Industries in Oil City, Venango County, was newly reclassified as a major source and still has its application for its first Title V Operating Permit pending. 

Including Hickory Run Energy and Webco Industries, eight of the 68 facilities in the Northwest Region have had renewal applications for their Title V Operating Permit pending for more than 18 months:

 About the Backlog at DEP’s Northcentral Regional Office

DEP’s Northcentral Region includes Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, and Union Counties. 

We counted 49 major sources of air pollution in the Northcentral Region. 

One facility in the Northcentral Region has had an application to renew its Title V Operating Permit pending for more than 18 months:

About the Backlog at DEP’s Southcentral Regional Office

DEP’s Southcentral Region includes Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntington, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry, and York counties. 

We counted 95 active major sources of air pollution in these counties. 

Only one source in the Southcentral Region has had a renewal application for a Title V Operating Permit pending for more than 18 months:

About the Backlog at DEP’s Northeast Regional Office

DEP’s Northeast Region includes Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming Counties. 

We have counted 53 major active sources of air pollution in those counties, five of which have had applications to renew their Title V Operating Permits pending for more than 18 months:

Worth noting: DEP’s eFACTS website (which tracks the status of facility permits) does not show that the Chrinergy Power facility has an application to renew its operating permit pending as of June 9; a source violates the air pollution laws if it continues to operate without submitting a timely application to renew or replace its operating permit.

The facility does, however, have a plan approval from DEP in place and could be operating legally pursuant to that.

About the Backlog at DEP’s Southeast Regional Office

DEP’s Southeast Region includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties for purposes of permitting sources of air pollution (Philadelphia’s Air Management Services administers the Title V permitting program for facilities located in Philadelphia). 

We counted 71 active major sources of air pollution in the Southeast Region, two of which have had renewal applications for Title V Operating Permits pending for more than 18 months:

To help better illustrate the trends, we created this visual of what the permit backlogs at ACHD and DEP’s regional offices have looked like since 2018:

The Bottom Line

"The permit backlogs at ACHD, the Northwest Regional Office, and the Northeast Regional Office should spur the people at those offices to take a look at what they can do to process permit applications in a timelier manner," Baillie said. "Title V Operating Permits are a valuable tool for assuring compliance with Clean Air Act requirements — having up-to-date permits available helps to provide the public with cleaner air to breathe as the law guarantees."