At GASP we don’t just watch air quality and push back against industrial polluters’ illegal emissions, we also work 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 these regulators in Pennsylvania – specifically, the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) – process permit applications for sources of air pollution (more on the significance of such permits below).
Since 2018 we’ve reported on the backlogs that exist at ACHD and DEP’s six regional offices for processing applications for Title V Operating Permits, the permits that the Clean Air Act requires the largest sources of air pollution to have.
“Over the years we’re seen noticeable improvement in the size of the backlogs at ACHD and DEP’s regional offices,” GASP senior attorney John Baillie said, “But, unfortunately, several trouble spots persist. For example, our investigation found the backlog of permit applications at ACHD jumped to the highest it’s been in years in terms of percentage of all major sources with backlogged applications.”
He continued: “It looks like they’ve taken a step back.”
Here’s what our review turned up for 2024:
Title V Operating Permits: What They Are, Who Needs Them and Rules About How They’re Issued
Operating permits for major sources of air pollution are required by Title V of the Clean Air Act, and thus are commonly called Title V Operating Permits. A Title V Operating Permit for a particular facility must contain all the operating requirements that the air pollution laws impose on the facility. This helps facilitate compliance with those requirements - both regulators and the public can use a facility’s Title V Operating Permit to determine what requirements it has and to help determine whether the facility is complying with them.
A major source must apply for a Title V Operating Permit once it begins normal operations. Good for five years, sources must apply to renew their Title V Operating Permits before their old ones expire.
The Clean Air Act, Pennsylvania’s air pollution control rules, and Allegheny County’s air pollution control regulations all require that the agency responsible for issuing Title V Operating Permits complete 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 operate pending the responsible agency’s final approval of the application, even if agency approval takes years. The Clean Air Act also requires that 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.
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 Allegheny County’s Title V Backlog…
There are now 23 major sources operating in Allegheny County. Two of those facilities have applied for, but have never been issued, Title V Operating Permits – ATI Flat-Rolled Products (which was formerly known as Allegheny Ludlum Brackenridge Works) and Synthomer Jefferson Hills LLC (which was formerly known as Eastman Chemicals & Resins).
Although ACHD published a draft Title V Operating Permit for ATI’s Brackenridge Works in 2016, that draft revealed problems with the way proposed emission limits for the facility were determined and those problems have yet to be resolved, further delaying issuance of the Title V Operating Permit.
Synthomer (formerly known as Eastman Chemical) is subject to a 2011 federal and state Consent Decree that has a direct impact on its air quality permits and that effectively precluded the issuance of a Title V Operating Permit for many years.
However, ACHD finally made a draft Title V Operating Permit for Synthomer available for public comment earlier this year.
Further, ACHD has failed to act on renewal applications for another six of those 23 major sources within 18 months as its regulations require:
FACILITY | LOCATION | Renewal Application Submitted | Last Permit Expired |
U.S. Steel Irvin Plant | West Mifflin | 7/8/2021 | 12/9/2021 |
Neville Chemical Co. | Neville Island | 4/29/2020 | 4/13/2021 |
Springdale Energy | Springdale | 1/13/2022 | 7/27/2022 |
LHT Terminals/Neville Island Terminals | Neville Island | 1/27/2022 | 7/27/2022 |
Energy Center North Shore | Pittsburgh | 2/21/2022 | 8/25/2022 |
Universal Stainless & Alloy Products | Bridgeville | 5/20/2022 | 11/21/2022 |
About DEP’s Backlog…
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 from the Southwest Regional Office to DEP’s Northwest Regional Office in early 2019.
We currently count 52 major sources under the jurisdiction of the Southwest Regional Office.
Here are some takeaways:
One source in the Southwest Region, the Brunner Landfill in Beaver County, has applied for, but never been issued, a Title V Operating Permit.
Two major sources in the Southwest Region – Hill Top Energy Center in Greene County and Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station in Westmoreland County – have been constructed and are temporarily operating under the authority of their so-called plan approvals or preconstruction permits but have not yet applied for their Title V Operating Permits (the air pollution regulations permit this during the start-up process for a facility).
Two more sources – Holcim Solutions and Products US, LLC in Youngwood, Westmoreland County and Hunter Panels in Georges Township, Fayette County – were reclassified as major sources within the last year based on recalculations of their emissions but have not yet submitted applications for Title V Operating Permits.
Another three sources in the SWRO have renewal applications for operating permits that have been pending for more than 18months:
FACILITY | LOCATION | Renewal Application Submitted | Last Permit Expired |
Arden Landfill | Chartiers Twp., Washington County | 11/7/2005; 9/18/2015 | 5/7/2006 |
ATI Latrobe | Derry Twp., Westmoreland County | 9/17/2018 | 3/6/2019 |
Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill | Rostraver Twp., Westmoreland County | 6/17/2020;11/1/2021 | 12/17/2020 |
The Northwest Regional 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 66 active major sources of air pollution in the Northwest Region.
Here are some takeaways:
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.
Besides Webco Industries, another four of those 66 facilities have had renewal applications for their Title V Operating Permit pending for more than 18 months:
Facility | Location | Permit Application Submitted | Last Permit Expired |
Georgia Pacific Panel Prods./Mt. Jewett MDF Plant | Sergeant Township, McKean County | 4/22/2022 | 11/16/2022 |
American Refining Group | Bradford, McKean County | 6/30/2022 | 1/4/2023 |
Webco Industries | Oil City, Venango County | 10/21/2022 | n/a |
Domtar Johnsonburg | Johnsonburg, Elk County | 10/26/2022 | 5/8/2023 |
NRG Power Midwest/New Castle Power Plant | Taylor Township, Lawrence County | 11/1/2022 | 6/6/2023 |
DEP’s Northcentral Region includes Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga and
Union counties.
Here are some takeaways:
We counted 50 major sources of air pollution in the Northcentral Region.
Two sites in the Northcentral Region have had their applications to renew their Title V Operating Permits pending for more than 18 months (these same two sites were also on our list of backlogged permits last year):
Facility | Location | Permit Application Submitted | Last Permit Expired |
Graymont PA Bellefonte Terminal | Bellefonte Boro and Benner and Springs Twps., Centre County | 11/30/2020 | 5/31/2021 |
Panda Hummel Generating Station | Shamokin Dam Boro and Monroe Township, Snyder County | 7/5/2022 | 8/8/2022 |
DEP’s Southcentral Region includes Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntington, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry and York counties.
We counted 101 active major source of air pollution in these counties, only one of which has had a renewal application for a Title V Operating Permit pending for more than 18 months:
Facility | Location | Permit Application Submitted | Last Permit Expired |
Ironwood Generating Station | Lebanon, Lebanon County | 11/18/2022 | 9/24/2023 |
DEP’s Northeast Region includes Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties
We counted 55 active major sources of air pollution in those counties, only one of which has had an application for its Title V Operating Permits pending for more than 18 months:
Facility | Location | Permit Application Submitted | Last Permit Expired |
Energy Power Partners (EPP) Glendon Facility | Glendon Boro, Northampton County | 3/21/2021 (withdrawn 12/28/2021) | 4/24/2022 |
Worth noting: DEP’s eFACTS website (which tracks the status of facility permits) does not show that EPP Glendon has an application to renew its operating permit pending as of May 17, 2024; a source violates the air pollution laws if it continues to operate without submitting a timely application to renew or replace its operating permit.
It is, however, sometimes the case that a facility that is no longer active will fail to file either an application for a renewal permit or an application to withdraw its operating permit - that could be the case here.
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 81 active major sources of air pollution in the Southeast Region, three of which have had renewal applications for Title V Operating Permits pending for more than 18 months:
Facility | Location | Permit Application Submitted | Last Permit Expired |
Covanta Plymouth Renewable Energy | Conshohocken Boro and Plymouth Township, Montgomery County | 5/23/2022 | 11/21/2022
|
Wheelabrator Falls | Falls Twp., Bucks County | 9/13/2021 | 3/30/2022 |
Energy Transfer & Marketing, Darby Creek Tank Farm | Darby Boro and Darby Twp., Delaware County | 7/29/2021 (withdrawn 9/20/2022) | 7/29/2021 |
Worth noting and repeating: DEP’s eFACTS website does not show that the Darby Creek Tank Farm had an application to renew or replace its operating permit pending as of May 17, 2024; a source violates the air pollution laws if it continues to operate without submitting a timely application to renew or replace its operating permit.
As is the case with the Glendon EPP site in the Northeast Region discussed above, sometimes the case that a facility that is no longer active will fail to file either an application for a renewal permit or an application to withdraw its operating permit; that could also be the case with the Darby Creek Tank Farm.
Here’s a summary of what the permit backlogs at ACHD and DEP’s regional offices have looked like since 2018:
Agency or Regional Office | Number of Major Sources 2018/2019/2020/2021/2022/2023/2024 | Number of Major Sources with Backlogged or Unissued Title V Operating Permits 2018/2019/2020/2021/2022/2023/2024 | Percentage of Major Sources with Backlogged Title V Operating Permits 2018/2019/2020/2021/2022/2023/2024 |
ACHD | 27/27/26/24/23/23/23 | 8/7/6/4/5/3/8 | 30/26/23/17/22/13/35 |
SWRO | 71/61/50/50/51/50/52 | 14/15/10/10/7/4/4 | 20/25/20/20/14/8/8 |
NWRO | 61/73/70/68/65/62/66 | 3/5/3/1/1/3/5 | 5/7/4/1/1/5/8 |
NCRO | 65/63/54/54/53/49/50 | 0/0/0/0/0/1/2 | 0/0/0/0/0/2/4 |
SCRO | 135/125/120/114/111/118/101 | 1/1/0/0/0/0/1 | <1/<1/0/0/0/0/1 |
NERO | 69/62/60/62/60/59/55 | 9/3/2/2/4/4/1 | 13/5/3/3/7/7/2 |
SERO | 94/94/89/87/86/80/81 | 2/2/1/2/3/3/3 | 2/2/1/2/3/4/4 |