To facilitate the public’s understanding of the BCS draft permit, an informational briefing was held at the Peter Francisco Auditorium in the Buckingham County Administrative Building on August 16, 2018 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. This briefing provided information about DEQ’s review process and the resulting draft air permit.

The Buckingham Compressor Station (BCS) draft permit was the subject of a public comment period that began August 8, 2018 and ended September 21, 2018. The comment period is now closed. The public comments received are available for review.

On September 11, 2018, a public hearing was held  from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of the Buckingham County Middle School. The hearing provided an opportunity for interested individuals to present their comments to DEQ on the air permit. It was a listening session and not a question and answer session. Members of the agency in attendance did not respond to questions or comments.  A  transcript of the public hearing is now available for review.

No action on the draft permit was taken at the public hearing. DEQ will analyze the comments and present a report to the State Air Pollution Control Board for consideration of the permit at the November 8 and November 9, 2018 meeting of the board.

At the end of the comment period, DEQ will compile, review and respond to comments. Comments similar in content may be aggregated for efficiency. DEQ will evaluate the comments and make changes to the draft permit as appropriate. DEQ responses and changes will be completed prior to finalizing any portion of the draft permit and a response to comments document will be prepared and made available to the public.

DEQ will present the draft permit, summary of comments and response to comments to the State Air Pollution Control Board (the board) at their November 8-9^th board meeting. The board will hear from members of the public who previously submitted comments during the public comment period, including the public hearing, on November 8^th and will take action on the permit on the second day, November 9^th. Consideration at that meeting is not a public hearing or new public comment opportunity on the draft permit. Only those persons who submitted official public comments on the draft permit between August 8 and September 21, 2018 may address the board. Furthermore, comments shall be limited to responding to the summary of the prior proceedings including DEQ’s summary of comments received during the public comment period provided to the board by DEQ.

The meeting will be held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, Exhibit Hall Building, Exhibit Hall B. Use the 5th Street entrance. The meeting will start at 9:30 am and doors will open at 8:30 am.  Rules for attendance will be posted prior to the meeting.

In September 2015, ACP submitted an air permit application for proposed construction and operation of a natural gas-fired compressor station in Buckingham County, Virginia (Buckingham Compressor Station or BCS) 1.5 miles northwest of the intersection of Route 60 and Route 56. After submittal of the original application, ACP made significant design changes to the project. These changes, in addition to additional information requested by DEQ resulted in a revised application being submitted in May 2018. Following this submittal, DEQ requested further information and the application was finally deemed complete in July 2018. All the information received was used in the development of the draft permit which is subject to public comment.

BCS submitted application/supplemental application information on the following dates:

• May 25, 2018
• June 29, 2018
• July 3, 2018
• July 10, 2018
• July 13, 2018

NOTE: These documents were not produced by DEQ. Some of the content may not be in an accessible format pursuant to Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. § 794 (d)). Please call 800-592-5482 if you need assistance.

The draft permit is a minor new source review (NSR) permit. For a compressor station to be classified as a major source under NSR, it must have the potential to emit greater than 250 tons per year (tpy) of any regulated NSR pollutant. All the emissions at the BCS will be well below major NSR permit levels with the highest permitted emissions for any pollutant being 43 tpy for particulate matter. DEQ required a thorough Best Available Control Technology (BACT) analysis, air quality dispersion modeling and held a public comment period including a public hearing.

Review

Part of DEQ’s process in developing the permit for the BCS included a comprehensive review of permits for other compressor stations across the United States. Based on the information available at the time of this review, the requirements established in this draft permit make BCS the most stringently controlled compressor station in Virginia and in the United States. The pollutant limits and monitoring requirements in the BCS draft permit are more restrictive than the permits already issued by West Virginia and North Carolina for two similar stations to be located along the ACP.

DEQ required an air quality modeling analysis to demonstrate compliance with the health-based concentrations called National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). In addition, DEQ required the facility to conduct a modeling analysis for specific toxic air pollutants in order to ensure the concentrations would be below the Virginia Significant Ambient Air Concentrations (SAAC). The results of these analyses demonstrate that the facility will not cause any exceedances of regulatory health-based standards.

DEQ has limited authority under its regulations and often receives questions which fall outside of the purview of the State Air Pollution Control Board Statute and Regulations. DEQ understands the importance of these issues to the citizens who live and work in the community surrounding the proposed facility. DEQ has identified some of the frequently asked questions and the following information should be helpful in answering some of those questions.

Site Zoning – The Buckingham County Board of Supervisors approved the Special Use Permit (SUP) for the siting of the facility on January 5, 2017. Buckingham County Board of Supervisors meeting minutes are available on the Buckingham County website.

Noise – The Buckingham County SUP limits noise at the property boundary both during construction and during operation of the facility. Noise is addressed in conditions 5, 6 and 18 of the SUP. Additional information regarding the BCS construction and noise control is available on the ACP website.

Light – The Buckingham County SUP limits light at the property boundary. The SUP lighting requirements can be found in conditions 8, 9, and 10.

Traffic – The Buckingham County SUP addresses the issue of traffic in condition 20.

Worker Safety – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates workplace safety. OSHA programs apply to employer and employee.

Community Safety – Emergency preparedness and response is covered by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Additionally the Buckingham County SUP addresses emergency issues, including fire, in conditions 4, 35, 36 and 40.

Facility Need – The need for a utility line such as the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and therefore the BCS, is reviewed and approved by the federal government’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

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