285.62 Operation permit; application, review and effect.
(1) Application required. A person who is required to obtain an operation permit for a stationary source shall apply to the department for the permit on or before the operation permit application date specified under sub. (11) (b). The department shall specify by rule the content of applications under this subsection. If required by the federal clean air act, the department shall provide a copy of the complete application to the federal environmental protection agency.
(2) Plans, specifications and other information.
(a) Request for additional information.
1. Within 20 days, excluding statewide legal holidays specified in s. 995.20, after receipt of the application the department shall provide written notice to the applicant describing specifically any additional information required under sub. (1) necessary to determine if the source, upon issuance of the permit, will meet the requirements of this chapter and s. 299.15 and rules promulgated under this chapter and s. 299.15.
2. If the department requests additional information under subd. 1., the department shall notify the applicant, within 15 days after receiving additional information from the applicant, whether that additional information satisfies the department's request.
(b) When application is considered to be complete.
1. If the department does not indicate to an applicant within the time provided in par. (a) 1. that additional information is needed, the application is considered to be complete for the purposes of the time limit in sub. (7) (b) 20 days after receipt of the application.
2. If the department indicates to an applicant within the time provided in par. (a) 1. that additional information is needed but the department does not indicate to the applicant within the time provided in par. (a) 2. that additional information provided is deficient, the application is considered to be complete for the purposes of the time limit in sub. (7) (b) 15 days after receipt of the additional information.
3. If neither subd. 1. nor subd. 2. applies, an application is considered to be complete for the purposes of the time limit in sub. (7) (b) when the department notifies the applicant under par. (a) 2. that the additional information provided by the applicant satisfies the department's request.
4. This paragraph does not prevent the department from requesting additional information from an applicant after the time limit in par. (a) 1. or 2.
(3) Review; notice; publication.
(a) The department shall review an application for an operation permit. Upon completion of that review, the department shall prepare a preliminary determination of whether it may approve the application and a public notice. The public notice shall include all of the following:
1. A brief description of the stationary source.
1g. The name and address of the applicant.
1m. Information indicating where the application may be viewed on the department's Internet website.
2. The department's preliminary determination of whether it may approve the application.
3. Notice of the opportunity for public comment and the date by which comments must be submitted to the department.
4. Notice of the opportunity to request a public hearing.
5. Any other information that the department determines is necessary to inform the public about the application.
(b) The department shall provide the notice prepared under par. (a) to all of the following:
1. The applicant.
2. Any local air pollution control agency that has a program under s. 285.73 that is approved by the department and that has jurisdiction over the area in which the stationary source is located.
3. Any regional planning agency, any county planning agency and any public library located in the area that may be affected by emissions from the stationary source.
4. Any person or group that requests the notice.
5. Any city, village, town or county that has jurisdiction over the area in which the stationary source is located.
6. If required by the federal clean air act, the federal environmental protection agency.
7. If required by the federal clean air act, any state that is within 50 miles of the stationary source and any state that is contiguous to this state and whose air quality may be affected by emissions from the stationary source.
(c) The department shall publish the notice prepared under par. (a) as a class 1 notice under ch. 985 in a newspaper published in the area that may be affected by emissions from the stationary source, shall publish the notice on its Internet website, and, upon request, shall provide notice to interested persons. The department's notice to interested persons may be given through an electronic notification system established by the department. For the purpose of determining the date on which public notice is provided under this paragraph, the date on which the department first publishes the notice on its Internet website shall be considered the date of public notice.
(4) Public comment. The department shall receive public comment on the application for a 30-day period beginning when the department gives notice under sub. (3) (c).
(5) Public hearing.
(a) Hearing permitted. The department may hold a public hearing on an application for an operation permit for a stationary source if requested by any state that received notice under sub. (3) (b) or any other person, if the person may be affected by the issuance of the permit, within 30 days after the department gives notice under sub. (3) (c). A request for a public hearing shall indicate the interest of the party filing the request and the reasons why a hearing is warranted. The department shall hold the public hearing within 60 days after the deadline for requesting a hearing if it determines that there is a significant public interest in holding the hearing.
(b) Procedure. The department shall promulgate by rule procedures for conducting public hearings under this subsection. Hearings under this subsection are not contested cases under s. 227.01 (3).
(6) Proposed permit; response to comments; environmental protection agency objection.
(a) After considering any public comments concerning an application, the department may prepare a proposed operation permit or deny the application for an operation permit. If the criteria in ss. 285.63 and 285.64 are met, the department shall prepare a proposed operation permit. If required by the federal clean air act, the department shall provide a copy of a proposed operation permit to the federal environmental protection agency. If a state has submitted recommendations in response to the notice under sub. (3) (b) 7. and the department has not accepted those recommendations, the department shall notify that state and the federal environmental protection agency in writing of its decision not to accept the recommendations and the reasons for that decision.
(b) The federal environmental protection agency may object in writing to the issuance of an operation permit that it determines is not in compliance with the federal clean air act or an implementation plan prepared under s. 285.11 (6). The department shall respond in writing to the objection if the federal environmental protection agency provides the reasons for the objection and submits the objection to the department and the applicant within 45 days after receiving either a copy of the proposed operation permit under par. (a) or notice under par. (a) of the department's decision not to accept the recommendations of another state.
(c)
1. If the department receives an objection from the federal environmental protection agency under this subsection, the department may not issue the operation permit unless the department revises the proposed operation permit as necessary to satisfy the objection.
2. If the department has issued an operation permit before receiving an objection from the federal environmental protection agency that is based on a petition submitted under 42 USC 7661d (b) 2. and the federal environmental protection agency modifies, terminates or revokes the operation permit, the department shall issue an operation permit that is revised to satisfy the objection.
(d) The requirements under pars. (a) to (c) do not apply with respect to an application for an operation permit for a stationary source that is in a category that the department excludes, by rule, from those requirements because the source is not required to obtain a permit under the federal clean air act or that the federal environmental protection agency excludes from those requirements under 42 USC 7661d (d).
(e) This subsection does not apply before the federal environmental protection agency approves this state's air pollution control permit program under 42 USC 7661a (d) or (g).
(7) Department determination; issuance.
(a) The department shall approve or deny the operation permit application for an existing source. The department shall issue the operation permit for an existing source if the criteria established under ss. 285.63 and 285.64 are met. The department shall issue an operation permit for an existing source or deny the application within 18 months after receiving a complete application, except that the department may, by rule, extend the 18-month period for specified existing sources by establishing a phased schedule for acting on applications received within one year after the effective date of the rule promulgated under sub. (1) that specifies the content of applications for operation permits. The phased schedule may not extend the 18-month period for more than 3 years.
(b) The department shall approve or deny the operation permit application for a new source or modified source. The department shall issue the operation permit for a new source or modified source if the criteria established under ss. 285.63 and 285.64 are met. The department shall issue an operation permit for a new source or modified source or deny the application within 180 days after the application is considered to be complete under sub. (2) (b) or after the permit applicant submits to the department the results of all equipment testing and emission monitoring required under the construction permit, whichever is later.
(c) If required by the federal clean air act, the department shall provide a copy of an operation permit to the federal environmental protection agency.
(8) Operation continued during application.
(a) If a person timely submits a complete application for a stationary source under sub. (1) and submits any additional information requested by the department within the time set by the department, the stationary source may not be required to discontinue operation and the person may not be prosecuted for lack of an operation permit until the department acts under sub. (7).
(b) If a person submits an application for renewal of an operation permit before the date specified in s. 285.66 (3) (a), the stationary source may not be required to discontinue operation and the person may not be prosecuted for lack of an operation permit until the department acts under sub. (7), except that this paragraph does not apply in a situation in which its application would contravene the federal clean air act.
(9) Delay in issuing permits.
(a) If the department fails to issue an operation permit or to deny the application within the period specified in sub. (7) or in a rule promulgated under sub. (7), that failure is considered a final decision on the application solely for the purpose of obtaining judicial review under ss. 227.52 and 227.53 to require the department to act on the application without additional delay.
(b) Subject to sub. (12), if the department fails to act on an application for an operation permit within the time limit under sub. (7) (b), the department shall include in a report the reasons for the delay in acting on the application and recommendations for how to avoid delays in the future in similar situations. The department shall make reports under this subsection available to the public, place a prominent notice of the reports on the department's Internet site, and submit the reports to the standing committees of the legislature with jurisdiction over environmental matters semiannually.
(10) Effect of permit.
(a) Except as provided in par. (b), the issuance of an operation permit, including an operation permit that contains a compliance schedule, does not preclude enforcement actions based on violations of this chapter that occur before, on or after the date that the operation permit is issued. The inclusion of a compliance schedule in an operation permit does not preclude enforcement actions based on violations of this chapter to which the compliance schedule relates, whether or not the source is violating the compliance schedule.
(b) Unless precluded by the administrator of the federal environmental protection agency under 42 USC 7661c (f), compliance with all emission limitations included in an operation permit is considered to be compliance with all emission limitations established under this chapter and emission limitations under the federal clean air act that are applicable to the stationary source as of the date of issuance of the operation permit if the permit includes the applicable emission limitations or the department, in acting on the application for the operation permit, determines in writing that the emission limitations do not apply to the stationary source and the operation permit includes that determination.
(11) Operation permit dates.
(a) Operation permit requirement date. The department shall promulgate by rule a schedule of the dates when an operation permit is required for various categories of stationary sources.
(b) Operation permit application date.
1. The department shall promulgate by rule a schedule of the dates when an operation permit application is required to be submitted for various categories of existing sources.
2. A person who is required to obtain a construction permit shall submit an application for an operation permit with the application for the construction permit.
(12) Extensions. Upon agreement between the department and an applicant, the department shall extend any time limit applicable to the department under this section. The department may not require an applicant to agree to extend a time period as a condition of approving an application.
History: 1979 c. 221; 1985 a. 182 s. 57; 1991 a. 302; 1995 a. 27; 1995 a. 227 ss. 471, 487; Stats. 1995 s. 285.62; 1997 a. 35; 2003 a. 118; 2005 a. 155; 2011 a. 167; 2017 a. 365 s. 112.