Public Hearings

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has proposed changes to our existing regulations as they relate to rock crushing operations. The objectives of these proposed changes are to:

• Establish a regulation for emissions that would apply to all existing and future rock crushers;
• Exempt rock crushers from preconstruction case-by-case review under the Notice of Construction (NOC) program; and
• Regulate rock crushing operations through the Registration program by amending the regulation to clarify when and how rock crushing operations must register with the Agency.

The comment period on this proposal was open from November 13th – December 14th and a public hearing on the proposal was held by the Agency Board of Directors at their December 15th meeting. Shortly before the Board meeting and during the hearing, several commenters from the industry requested that the Board delay taking final action on the proposal so further discussions could be held to clarify and understand the proposal. The Board agreed to continue the hearing until the January Board meeting to allow additional time for that discussion.

To provide some additional background information, here is a copy of the Board Memorandum prepared on December 8th to summarize the proposal for action, summarize the comments received, and the changes made (or not) in response to those comments. Additionally, here is a copy of the Draft Resolution, which was presented to the Board on December 15th for consideration. This draft resolution includes the last version of the proposed new rules and rule amendments following consideration of additional written comments received after the Board memorandum was prepared but prior to the actual Board meeting.

To support this effort, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency will be hosting two meetings in our office to provide an opportunity for discussion regarding the proposal. You are welcome to attend either or both of these meetings. These meetings are scheduled for:

• Thursday, December 22, 2011, 1-3 PM
• Thursday, January 5, 2012, 10AM – Noon

These meetings will be held at our office, located at:

Location

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
1904 3rd Ave., Suite 105
Seattle, WA  98101

Comments:

Additionally, the Agency will accept additional written comments on this proposal up to 4:30 PM on Friday, January 13, 2012. If you would like to submit additional comments, you may submit them to Rob Switalski by mail at the address above, by e-mail at robs@pscleanair.org, or by fax [206-343-7522]. After that date, any subsequent input will need to be presented at the next meeting of the this Agency. The next Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 26, 2012 (starting at 8:45AM) and will be held in Tacoma. More information on the location details for that meeting will be available on the Agency’s website next month. At that Board meeting, the Agency staff intend to report back to the Board on the feedback received and make a recommendation to the Board for final action. The Board will consider that recommendation following completion of the continued hearing on this matter.