USEPA Comments on Pennsylvania's Draft Aggregation Policy
This post was written by Luke Liben and Nicolle Bagnell.
As we've discussed, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) issued a draft policy regarding limitations on aggregating emissions from Marcellus shale gas facilities on October 12, 2011. The draft policy utilizes a distance of 1/4 mile as the main criteria for determining if plants in proximity to one another should be viewed as individual minor sources of emissions, or one major source of emissions. In a letter dated November 21, 2011, Diana Esher of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region III Air Protection Division, reportedly said the new draft policy “appears to alter the conventional way in which aggregation determinations have been made federally and by PADEP.” Ms. Esher also reportedly indicated that the draft policy could be interpreted to allow emissions sources to escape otherwise strict emission standards by shaking the designation of a “major” source. However, as noted by Kathryn Klaber, head of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the bright line 1/4 mile test provides an easy to understand, easy to enforce, and predictable rule. The public comment period for PADEP’s draft policy closed on November 21, 2011.
