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The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and USNR, LLC d/b/a Timber Automation, LLC (“USNR”) entered into a September 25th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing an alleged violation of an Air Permit. See LIS No. 24-142.
The CAO provides that USNR owns and operates a computer-controlled sawmill equipment manufacturing facility in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The facility is stated to operate pursuant to an Air Permit.
USNR is stated to have requested in a letter dated September 29, 2023, consideration under DEQ’s Environmental Self-Disclosure Incentive Policy (“Policy”) for its disclosure of the alleged non-compliance issues associated with its facility. The company stated in the letter that it installed two unpermitted spray paint booths.
DEQ personnel are stated to have performed an inspection at the facility on November 15, 2023. The inspection is stated to have identified the same violations disclosed in the self-disclosure letter. These are stated to have included unpermitted open-faced paint booth and a collapsable paint booth. This is stated to have violated General Condition 16 of the Air Permit.
The facility submitted a permit modification application on November 8, 2023, addressing the alleged violation of General Condition 16 of the Air Permit. The application is stated to have been administratively complete on November 29, 2023.
DEQ informed the facility on November 22, 2023, that it had met all eight conditions of the Policy. Therefore, DEQ stated it could mitigate up to 100% of the gravity-based component of the administrative penalty.
USNR neither admits nor denies the factual and legal allegations contained in the CAO.
The CAO provides that until such time that a final Air Permit is either issued or denied, the facility shall comply with the conditions and emission limits contained within the permit modification application referenced in Paragraph 11 of the CAO’s FINDINGS OF FACT.
A copy of the CAO can be downloaded here.
