ENB Region 8 Completed Applications 04/04/2007

TITLE V MODIFICATION APPLICATION:

The original Title V permit issued for the operation of a Seneca Meadows, Inc. (SMI) sanitary landfill located at 1786 Salcman Road in the Town of Seneca Falls, NY authorized the operation of three emission units including: Emission Unit 1-Leach (leachate tank), Emission Unit 1-LFGAS (landfill gas from four landfill areas and associated control equipment), and Emission Unit 1-Soils (temporary BUD material storage).  This permit was renewed and modified on March 23, 2007.  The renewed permit included a continuation of the facility’s emission levels which meet the established caps of less than  250 tons per year (tpy) of CO and less than 100 tpy of NOx; a modification to relocate the flares across NYS Route 414 from the existing facility to the new energy facility which is located within the Renewable Resource Park (a 238-acre industrial park, developed by SMI); changes to Emission Unit E10001 including changes in capacity of three horizontal petroleum tanks; addition of Emission Unit 1-EMGEN for two back-up emergency generators; and addition of Emission Unit 1-ODCTL for use of odor neutralizing agents.  Emission Units 1-EMGEN and 1-ODCTL are exempt units and are included for information purposes only and have not been included as units in the renewed Title V permit.

The facility is located adjacent to the Seneca Energy, Inc. (SEI) Landfill Gas to Energy (LFGTE) facility which purchases landfill gas from Seneca Meadows and generates electricity from landfill gas.  The SEI facility is also currently permitted under Title V. Although SMI anticipates that much of the LFG from the proposed Expansion will be combusted in SEI’s LFGTE facility, SEI will not take on LFG or generate emissions beyond its current permit limits.  

SMI ‘s permit application to modify the Title V Facility Permit includes the additional landfill gas (LFG) from the proposed Expansion which will not be combusted by SEI. The applicant proposes to modify SMI’s existing Title V permit to incorporate a new 1-LFGAS landfill activity (LEXP1), which is the proposed landfill expansion area, and a new -1-LEACH leachate storage activity, which is a new aboveground leachate storage tank (TANK2).  

The existing facility is minor with respect to Prevention of Significant Deterioration and New Source Review (PSD/NSR).  The proposed expansion is below the significant source threshold for applicability to PSD/NSR.  The proposed expansion subjects the facility to 6NYCRR Part 227-2 NOx RACT. The proposed modified Title V permit will include a cap for total facility emissions of less than 200 TPY of NOx and less than 500 TPY of CO. Once SMI has reached this limit, waste placement will be prohibited unless SMI has secured, through contract, end users for LFG.  In addition, the end user’s permits will need to be in place at this time to in order for waste placement to continue.  Upon issuance of this modification, SMI would become a major facility with respect to PSD and NSR.  

In accordance with 6NYCRR Parts 621.5(d)(9) and 201-6.4(c), the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has the authority to bar issuance of any Title V Facility Permit if it is determined not to be in compliance with applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act or 6NYCRR Part 201.

SEQRA STATUS AND ACCEPTANCE OF A DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (DSEIS):

The proposed Landfill Expansion has already been the subject of a Draft and Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement.  The purpose of this DSEIS is to address potential impacts that may result from the Landfill Expansion now that the detailed design is available.  The SEIS includes detailed Noise and Visual studies.  

The Project is a Type I action pursuant to ECL Article 8 (State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and Title 6 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, 6 NYCRR Part 617. The Department, acting as lead agency for the SEQRA review of this action, and issued a Positive Declaration of environmental significance  and Notice of Availability of Draft Scope for comment on November 7, 2006.  The DSEIS was submitted by the applicant on December 22, 2006. After review, Staff and the Town of Seneca Falls provided comments to SMI requesting additional information be incorporated into the DSEIS.  SMI submitted a revised DSEIS on February 20, 2007.

The Department made the determination that the revised  DSEIS is adequate for public review on March 20, 2007.  The cover letter accompanying the DSEIS includes Department clarification on some issues for the record.  Acceptance and distribution of the DSEIS give the public an opportunity to comment on the action’s environmental impacts,  various alternatives regarding the action and the measures to be taken to mitigate the impacts, so such comments may be part of the Department’s and other involved agencies final decision making considerations.

See the Combined Notice of Complete Application and Acceptance of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement in the SEQR Section of the ENB.  

PUBLIC HEARING AND SEQRA DGEIS HEARING:

The Department will hold a legislative public hearing for this project. A legislative public hearing is a proceeding which provides an additional opportunity for public comment.  A Notice of Hearing will be published in a separate notice which will include the time and place of the hearing and submitting comments.  The applicant and all persons who have filed comments on the permit will be notified by mail of the public hearing.

A public hearing may be legislative or adjudicatory.  An adjudicatory public hearing is a trial type proceeding which provides the opportunity for adjudication on the basis of evidence, including direct testimony and cross examination.  An adjudicatory hearing is held only if substantive and significant issues relating to any findings or determinations the Department is required to make pursuant to the Environmental Conservation Law exist.  A copy of the Department's permit hearing procedures is available upon request or on the Department web site at: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ohms/gudph1.htm.

DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY:

The DSEIS and associated documents, the permit applications, SMI’s subsequent correspondence, draft Title V and Part 360 permits, and the Department’s cover letter clarifying some issues on the DSEIS, are available for public review at the Department's Region 8 Office, 6274 East Avon-Lima Road, Avon, New York, 14414; at the Seneca Falls Town Hall at 10 Falls Street, Seneca Falls, NY; and at the Waterloo and Seneca Falls public libraries.  The DSEIS is available on SMI’s web site at http://www.senecameadows.com.

The application, Draft Permit, and Permit Review Report are available for review at the Region 8 NYSDEC office.  The Draft Permit and Permit Review Report may be viewed or downloaded as .pdf files at: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dardata/boss/afs/draft_atv.html. Persons wishing to inspect the subject Title V files, including the application with all relevant supporting materials, the draft permit, and all other materials available to the DEC that are relevant to this permitting decision should contact the DEC representative listed below.  It is recommended that an appointment be made to confirm the availability of the subject files.  The DEC will endeavor to make the files available within 2 business days of contact, during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. through 4:45 p.m.), unless the requester wishes to inspect the files at a later date.