Silica Sand Rulemaking — winding up!
December 5th, 2014
The silica sand rulemaking process drags on and will probably end soon. Meetings have been going on for a year now, and what is there to show for it? Not much. But as of yesterday, there are some draft rules! YES! About time…
There was a Comment Period that ended in November, and here are the Comments:
Very few comments were filed — only 10 (I’d attached a previous comment to this one, but it was stuck separately at the top of the pile) — why so few comments, what’s up with that?
As for rulemaking, there’s been a little bit of progress reported by Katie Himanga (THANK YOU, Katie!) after yesterday’s meeting of the “Advisory Panel.” Word from that meeting is that “ALL AGENCIES PLAN TO GO TO PUBLIC NOTICE IN THE 1ST QUARTER OF 2015.” And so it looks like the January 8 meeting will be the last one, January 8 is scheduled, and no others show on the Advisory Panel site (but they could always add more, as they have in the past).
The Agenda is posted, but the meeting materials weren’t there yet. So I checked with Nathan Cooley, and he sent them right over:
20141125 Draft Silica Sand Emission Rule (Draft Proposed Rules Governing Emissions from Silica Sand Projects)
DEFINITIONS_EQB (silica sand related definitions, rule and statute)
EXHIBIT M (AMBIENT AIR MONITORING PROCEDURES for
DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE, 12/18/2013)SSRAP__DRAFT EQB__12__4__2014_CLEAN (this is proposed language to insert silica sand mines/project/facilities into EAW and EIS categories)
Here’s how Cooley ended that missive, definitely a “don’t call me, I’ll call you” sort of finale:
There is no current request for public comment on silica sand rulemaking. We remain focused on seeking representative input from the SSRAP panel. Thanks for your interest and your understanding.
Well, Advisory Panel, he’s saying it’s up to you! You’re our representatives!
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