PVS Chemicals, Inc. - ALJ Ruling, January 15, 1997
ALJ Ruling, January 15, 1997
STATE OF NEW YORK : DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
In the Matter of the Requested Modification of the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("SPDES") Permit of PVS CHEMICALS, INC. (NEW YORK),
RULING
January 15, 1997
Permit No. 9-1402-435/10-0;
NY-0110043
The request by PVS Chemicals, Inc. (New York) (the "Applicant") for modification of the effluent limitation for pH in its SPDES permit was referred to the Office of Hearings and Mediation Services on December 24, 1996 to schedule a hearing. At the time when the referral was made, the Department Staff had not made a determination of significance under the State Environmental Quality Review Act ("SEQRA"). Staff had denied the request for a modification, based on its position that the modification did not meet regulatory standards, and had not proceeded with the SEQRA process. There was also no notice of complete application nor SPDES fact sheet.
The parties and I have discussed the hearing notice and the date for the hearing in recent conference phone calls, including one this morning. Last week I had requested that the Department Staff provide information on the SEQRA status of the project and information necessary for a notice of complete application for a SPDES permit, for inclusion in a notice of hearing or in a combined notice of complete application and hearing. In the conference call this morning, Mr. Stever proposed that the application be remanded to the Department Staff for a SEQRA determination, which would be made expeditiously.
Both the notice of hearing and the notice of complete application, whether they are published as a combined notice or separately, must include the status of the action under SEQRA (see 6 NYCRR 624.3(b)(7) and 621.5(d)(5)). A notice of complete application and a fact sheet would also be necessary (see 6 NYCRR 621.13, 621.5, 621.6 and Part 753).
Ruling:
The Applicant's request for modification of its SPDES permit is remanded to the Department Staff for a determination of significance under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, and for preparation of a fact sheet and a notice of complete application.
_____________/s/_____________
Susan J. DuBois
Administrative Law Judge
Albany, New York
Dated: January 15, 1997
TO: David L. Roach, Esq.
David Stever, Esq.
