Trailblazer Energy Center
Project Journal
SEPTEMBER ENTRIES
Air Quality Permitting Process Proceeds
for Trailblazer Energy Center
September 10, 2009
Today, the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) announced it is holding a preliminary hearing on the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center’s air quality permit in Sweetwater on Oct. 14.
This announcement is in response to Tenaska’s request that the TCEQ refer the Trailblazer permit directly to a contested case hearing. Contested case hearings are formal legal proceedings in which interested parties, including Tenaska and the TCEQ, present evidence to support their positions. They are likely for any project utilizing coal to make electricity, including cutting-edge clean energy facilities that capture carbon dioxide, like Trailblazer.
The air quality permitting process is designed under federal and state law to ensure that interested parties, and particularly any opposed parties, have an opportunity to express their concerns. Normally, the TCEQ would take time to consider each request for a contested case hearing separately. Since Tenaska requested a direct referral, all requests to be parties in the contested case hearing will be considered simultaneously at the preliminary hearing in Sweetwater.
During the upcoming preliminary hearing a SOAH Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will name certain mandatory parties, such as Tenaska, the applicant; the TCEQ Executive Director; and the TCEQ Office of Public Interest Counsel, and the ALJ will consider the requests by others to be parties in the contested case hearing. The full evidentiary contested case hearing will be scheduled by SOAH at a later date.
Air quality permits identify the maximum allowable emission levels for facilities during their operation as well as prescribe monitoring and recordkeeping requirements. Permit requirements are based on well-researched federal and state health-based standards and on the best emission control technology available. Trailblazer will have among the lowest emissions of any coal-fueled power facility in the nation. We have every reason to believe TCEQ will issue the air quality permit once the contested case hearing process is completed.
Obtaining a final air quality permit in a timely manner is an important part of making the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center a reality in Nolan County.
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More information about the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center and illustrations for press use may be obtained at www.tenaskatrailblazer.com.
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