Notice of Public Hearing
Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board
P. O. Box 2261
Jackson, MS 39225
Telephone No. (601) 961-5171

Public Notice Start Date: May 7, 2018	MDEQ Contact: Charity Rockingham

Quad County Environmental Solutions, LLC, has submitted permit applications to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for the proposed development and operation of a new municipal solid waste landfill located at 850 Wingo Road, in Byhalia, MS 38611. The applications submitted were for a solid waste management permit for the operation of the proposed municipal solid waste landfill; for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for storm water runoff; for an Air Permit to Construct; for a Title V air permit for air emissions; and for a water quality certification regarding impacts to wetlands. The Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board is soliciting public comment on the draft permits that have been developed for the proposed municipal solid waste landfill operation. As part of the opportunity for public comment, MDEQ will hold a public hearing on the project at 7:00 PM on June 7, 2018, at the Byhalia Community Building, located at 59 Oak Street, Byhalia, MS 38611.  
The MDEQ, as the staff of the Permit Board, has developed draft permit recommendations based on our review of the information submitted by the applicant to the Permit Board and to other State and Federal agencies with jurisdiction over the project. A copy of these draft permits may be found on the MDEQ website at: http://opc.deq.state.ms.us/publicnotice.aspx. The available information also includes “statement of basis” documents that contain information on the decisions that went into the development of the draft permits as well as a record of the technical issues involved in issuance of the permits. Additional documents and information may also be found on the MDEQ Online Public Hearing link at http://opc.deq.state.ms.us/publichearingheader.aspx. The draft permits that are the subject of this public comment notice are described below: 
1. Solid Waste Management Permit (Solid Waste Ref. No. SW0470010580) - The solid waste permit application proposes to upgrade portions of the currently approved rubbish disposal area and to expand the total waste disposal area to allow the facility to accept and dispose of “nonhazardous solid wastes from commercial, industrial and/or institutional sources. The proposed landfill will not be permitted to accept household garbage and other similar wastes from residences or apartment complexes but regulatorily will be classified as a municipal solid waste landfill. The area proposed for development for the municipal solid waste landfill disposal area is approximately 110.1 acres.  The permitted rubbish disposal area will be reduced to 16.3 acres.  A portion of the new landfill operations will be constructed adjacent to and partially over closed portions of the rubbish disposal area.  The total waste disposal area for the facility (municipal + rubbish) will be approximately 119 acres.
2.  NPDES Storm Water Permit (Water Ref. No. MSS062383) - All storm water at the site (water that has not contacted the waste) must be managed to prevent offsite impacts. The landfill disposal area is divided into four (4) different watersheds ranging in size from 19 to 49 acres. The drainage ditches, sedimentation basins and other features of the storm water management system were sized based on a 24-hour, 25-year storm intensity. The landfill is proposed to eventually have (4) storm water outfalls with discharges into the Nonconnah Creek and into unnamed tributaries of the Nonconnah Creek. 
3.   Air Permit to Construct (Air Ref. No. 1780-00053) - The applicant has applied for an air permit to construct as required by state regulation 11 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 2, Ch. 2. The proposed landfill will be subject to New Source Performance Standard (NSPS), 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart XXX – Standards of Performance for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills due to the landfill’s design capacity. 
4.  Title V Air Permit to Operate. (Air Ref. No. 1780-00053) -  The NSPS requires the subject landfill to hold a Title V Air Operating Permit. The applicant also applied for the Title V Air Permit to Operate as outlined in state regulation 11 Miss. Admin. Code Pt.2, Ch. 6.  After receipt of public comments and thorough consideration of all comments, the staff will formulate its recommendations for permit issuance and a proposed permit if that is the recommendation. The Title V Permit to Operate is a permit that is required by Title V of the Federal Clean Air Act and the Mississippi Air and Water Pollution Control Law. The Title V permit is a Federally-enforceable permit as well as a State permit.  Therefore, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will also be allowed an opportunity to review the application, proposed permit, and all comments received during the public comment period prior to Permit Board action on the Title V application. EPA has agreed to treat this draft Title V permit as a proposed permit and to perform its 45-day review concurrently with the public notice period, as long as no public comments are received within the 30-day public notice period.  If comments are received, EPA’s 45-day review period will cease to be performed concurrently with the MDEQ public notice period.  EPA’s 45-day review period will start once the public notice period has been completed and EPA receives notification from MDEQ that comments have been received and resolved.  Whether EPA’s 45-day review period is performed concurrently with the public comment period or after the public comment period has ended, the deadline for citizen’s petitions to the EPA Administrator will be determined as if EPA’s 45-day review period is performed after the public comment period has ended.  The status regarding EPA’s 45-day review of this project and the deadline for citizen petitions can be found at the following website address:  https://www.epa.gov/caa-permitting/mississippi-proposed-title-v-permits.  
5.  Clean Water Action Section 401 Water Quality Certification (Ref No. WQC2017077) - The applicant is requesting water quality certification that the landfill activity will comply with the applicable requirements set forth in 33 U.S.C. and 1341 (a)(l) of the Clean Water Act and all State laws and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto. This request is to address the potential impacts to delineated wetland areas on the site. The deposition of fill material into wetlands requires authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and MDEQ. At this time, the USACE has reached a preliminary jurisdictional determination (PJD) that there is approximately 1,912 linear feet of stream on the project site that may be considered other waters of the United States. There are two sections of channel on the property that would be considered non-jurisdictional based on the PJD. The applicant is proposing to mitigate the loss of 850 linear feet of stream with the restoration of 900 linear feet of stream channel on the project site. The applicant submitted a detailed mitigation plan which includes goals and objectives, site selection rationale, baseline information including existing plant communities, soils and hydrology, and a mitigation work plan for the 900 linear feet of relocated stream channel.  
The MDEQ is soliciting comments from the public on the draft permits to ensure that the final staff recommendation on the draft permits fully complies with all applicable State and Federal regulations. Public input on the draft permits and supporting documentation is an important element in the staff evaluation and resulting recommendation to the Permit Board. The draft permit conditions have been developed to ensure compliance with all State and Federal regulations but are subject to change based on information received through public comments.  
Persons wishing to comment on or object to the draft permit recommendations are invited to submit comments either through attending the public hearing or by submitting comments in writing to Ms. Charity Rockingham at the Permit Board's address shown above or by email to crockingham@mdeq.ms.gov, no later than June 7, 2018, the end of the thirty (30) day public comment period. All comments by the public received by this date will be reviewed and considered in the formulation of final determinations regarding the draft permits. Comments relative to zoning or land use are generally within the jurisdiction of local zoning and planning authorities and should be addressed to these local agencies. 
Persons attending the public hearing will be asked, upon arrival, to register and note if they expect to make a public statement. These statements will be received in the order of registration (i.e., the first to register will be the first to give a public statement). However, everyone will be given an opportunity to comment including those persons who indicated during registration that they did not expect to make a statement. Persons speaking will not be limited to any specific time so long as the comments are reasonably concise and relate, at least generally, to the responsibilities of the Permit Board.  However, because a large number of people often wish to speak, comments should be as brief as reasonably possible so that everyone who wants to speak has the opportunity to make a statement. Comments on the proposed project may also be presented in writing.
All comments made during this public hearing will be transcribed and made a part of the Permit Board file in this matter. In making a final decision, the Board will consider all issues and concerns raised that fall within the Board’s jurisdiction over the proposed project. The Board may make a decision to issue, deny or issue with modifications the proposed permits for the project.  Any interested party aggrieved by the Board’s decision may file a written request for a formal hearing on the decision. it’s a final decision would then be made by the Permit Board on the project, after that formal hearing. Any person aggrieved by that final Board decision may appeal to the Chancery Court in the county of the proposed project.
The Permit Board was created by Mississippi Law for the purpose of issuing or denying, under such conditions and limitations as it may prescribe, environmental protection permits to control or prevent the release of contaminants into the air and waters of the State.  By law, the Board is composed of the Chief of the Bureau of Environmental Health within the State Department of Health; the Director of the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, the Director of the Office of Land and Water Resources within the Department of Environmental Quality, the Supervisor of the State Oil and Gas Board; the Director of the Department of Marine Resources; the Director of Geology within the Department of Environmental Quality; and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce or their respective designees.

In addition to the online information on the draft permits, any person that does not have internet access or that is interested in additional information on the draft permits and permit applications may contact Mr. Lorenzo Boddie at the Permit Board’s address and telephone number above. The information is also available for review at the following locations during normal business hours:

MDEQ Offices
515 E. Amite Street 
Jackson, MS 39201 
Ruth B. French Library
123 Church Street
Byhalia, MS 38611    

Please bring the foregoing to the attention of persons whom you know may be interested.