Volume 43 - Issue 8 - February 22, 2024
State of Kansas
Department of Health and Environment
Notice of Proposed Kansas Air Quality Prevention of Significant Deterioration Construction Permit Modification
Notice is hereby given that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is soliciting comments regarding a revision to a previously issued air quality construction permit. The Empire District Electric Company – Riverton Power Station (Empire) applied for an air quality construction permit in accordance with the provisions of K.A.R. 28-19-300 to modify the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) construction permit CSD00086 v1.1 last modified on August 30, 2023 to allow for two annual tuning events using fuel oil in the simple cycle combustion turbine, designated as Unit No. 10, at their fossil fuel electric power generation facility located at 7240 SE K-66 Hwy., Riverton, Cherokee County, KS 66770. Emission of particulate matter (PM), PM equal to or less than 10 microns in aerodynamic diameter (PM10), PM equal to or less than 2.5 microns in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5), volatile organic compounds (VOC), oxides of nitrogen (NOX), sulfur oxides (SOX), carbon monoxide (CO), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), and lead were evaluated during the permit review process.
This permit modification (CSD00086 v1.2) is to be issued in accordance with the provisions of K.A.R. 28-19-350, Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality, which adopt the federal standards, procedures, and requirements of 40 CFR 52.21 by reference. These air quality regulations apply to major stationary emission sources located in areas designated as “attainment” under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA). Attainment areas are areas where the air quality meets or is better than the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).
The revisions proposed by Empire does not require a reevaluation of the best available control technology (BACT). Less than significant increases will occur in emissions of all regulated new source review (NSR) pollutants as a result of the proposed revisions to the construction permit.
The PSD regulations require evaluation of emission reduction techniques to identify the BACT for each pollutant for which the emission rate exceeds the PSD significant level. The purpose of BACT is to affect the maximum degree of reduction achievable, taking into account energy, environmental, and economic impacts for each pollutant under review. Evaluation of the estimated emissions for the proposed tuning events indicates that the emission rate of NOX, SOX, CO, PM, PM10, PM2.5, VOC, HAPs, and lead compounds do not exceed the PSD significance levels. The department has reviewed the previous BACT analyses and determined that the existing BACT requirements for Unit No. 10 will remain valid with the allowance of the requested tuning events.
Given that this request provided by Empire is identical for Unit No. 11 and the permit modifications are occurring within a similar timeframe, KDHE has determined that the allowance of the two annual tuning events in both Unit No. 10 and Unit No. 11 meets the 2009 NSR Aggregation Action description of substantially related activities and require a new NSR review to determine if the aggregate emissions from the project would result in significant emissions increase under the NSR program. However, the project emissions increase from the tuning events for both units does not equal nor exceed the PSD significance levels for any regulated NSR pollutant.
No assessment of visibility impacts at a Class I Area was performed by the facility because there are no Federal Class I areas located within 300 km of the proposed facility. The facility did not conduct a visibility impact analysis for a local Class I area because the proposed modification does not exceed the PSD significance level and is not expected to impact visibility.
A public comment period has been established to allow citizens the opportunity to express any concerns they may have about this proposed permitting action. The public comment period is to begin on Thursday, February 22, 2024, and end by 12:00 p.m. Monday, March 25, 2024. All comments should be submitted in writing to Arwa Alrefaai, KDHE/Bureau of Air, 1000 SW Jackson, Suite 310, Topeka, KS 66612-1366 or presented at a public hearing.
Any member of the public may request to hold a public hearing to receive comments on the proposed issuance of the draft air quality construction permit. Written request to hold a public hearing should be sent to the attention of Arwa Alrefaai, KDHE/Bureau of Air, 1000 SW Jackson, Suite 310, Topeka, KS 66612-1366 or by fax to 785-559-4256 and must be received by 12:00 p.m. Monday, March 25, 2024.
A copy of the proposed permit, permit application, all supporting documentation, and all information relied upon during the permit application review process are available for public review for a period of 30 days from the date of publication during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) at the KDHE, Bureau of Air (BOA), 1000 SW Jackson, Suite 310, Topeka, KS 66612-1366. Also, a copy of the proposed permit only can be reviewed, at the KDHE Southeast District Office, 308 W. 14th St., Chanute, KS 66720. To obtain or review the proposed permit and supporting documentation, contact Arwa Alrefaai at the central office of KDHE at 785-368-7030, and to review the proposed permit only, contact Ryan Jack in the Southeast District Office at 620-431-2390. The standard departmental cost will be assessed for any copies requested. The proposed permit, accompanied with supporting information, is available, free of charge, at the KDHE BOA Public Notice website at https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/413/Public-Notices.
Janet Stanek
Secretary
Department of Health and Environment
Doc. No. 051887
