NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ON AIR QUALITY ISSUES
Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to 42 U.S. Code § 7410(a)(1), the Air Quality Division (AQD) of the Department of Energy and Environment (Department), located at 1200 First Street NE, 5th Floor, Washington DC, is beginning a public comment period for the approval of Capitol Power Plant’s “Updated Alternative NOx RACT Analyses,” submitted to the agency under the “Alternative Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT)” provision found in 20 DCMR § 805.2.
On October 26, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) promulgated a revised 8-hour primary and secondary ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”). 80 Fed. Reg. 65292 (October 26, 2015). To demonstrate compliance with the NAAQS, the District of Columbia (District) is required to submit State Implementation Plan (“SIP”) revisions to EPA for approval and to ensure that any revisions comply with all of EPA’s applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. 42 U.S.C. § 7502(b). This SIP revision amends a submission under the District’s Alternative RACT program. 20 DCMR § 805.2. An Alternative RACT plan describes alternatives to the presumptive nitrogen oxides (NOx) RACT emissions limits promulgated under 20 DCMR § 805 that a submitter believes represents RACT for their specific circumstances.
In November 2021, the Department revised 20 DCMR § 805 to comply with the RACT requirements and updated its presumptive NOx emissions standards for the RACT. 68 DCR 12420 (Nov. 26, 2021). The Department submitted the presumptive RACT rulemaking to EPA as a SIP amendment on October 14, 2022. EPA has not yet acted on the District’s amendment.
In the SIP amendment submitted to the EPA in November 2021, DOEE included 20 DCMR § 805.2, which allows facilities to demonstrate that presumptive NOx RACT emissions limits are unreasonable for the specific facility and propose a feasible alternative. The Department received a proposal from the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) for the Capitol Power Plant facility prior to the due date, March 1, 2022.
The Department denied the AOC’s original proposal from 2022. In 2023, AOC updated their proposal to include more stringent emission limits from .2 lb/MMBtu to .14 lb/MMBtu on boilers 3 through 7. It also implemented fuel consumption limits of 1,069,730 gallons of #2 fuel oil and 748.80 MMSCF of natural gas per year on a 12-month rolling basis for boiler 3. In 2024, AOC further updated their proposal to restrict the fuel consumption for boilers 4 through 7 to 215,000 MMBtu per boiler per year on a 12-month rolling basis. The District is now proposing to approve AOC’s 2024 proposal.
Once the District reviews the public comments received in response to this notice, DOEE will propose an individual operating permit for the facility, to include any necessary permit conditions. Drafts of the operating permit will be made available for public comment. Upon completion of the permitting process, the Department will submit its analysis and the operating permit details to EPA for SIP approval.
Parties wishing to provide comments on this approval of the Architect of the Capitol’s proposal must submit their comments in writing within thirty (30) days after publication of this notice in the District of Columbia Register to Mr. Joseph Jakuta by email at [email protected] or by mail or hand delivery to the following address:
DOEE Air Quality Division
ATTN: Joseph Jakuta
SUBJECT: Alternative NOX RACT Capitol Power Plant Second Proposal
1200 First Street NE, Fifth Floor Washington, DC 20002
Interested parties may also request a public hearing regarding DOEE’s approval of the Architect of the Capitol’s proposal to the above address or email within 30 days after the publication of this notice. If a request for a public hearing is received too late to hold a hearing during the public comment period, the comment period will be extended through publication of a subsequent notice.
DOEE’s proposed analysis can be found in the attachments section below.
