Plastic2Oil Inc (PTOI)

[Johnik]

I have been asked to respond to the following question(s): "Can you articulate on the board why you don't think it will take 90 days from 5/9? Where do you find a 90 window being stated. I am certainly hoping this gets done by the shareholders meeting..you think so?"


The DEC regulations set forth the applicable time frame. The solid waste permit pushed JBI's application into the "major project" category, so that is our starting point. Here is the regulation at issue:

§621.10 Final decisions on applications.

(a) The department or its agent shall mail to the applicant and its representative, if applicable, a decision in the form of: a permit, a permit with conditions or a statement that the permit applied for has been denied, with an explanation for the denial. This must be done within the following time periods:

. . . .

(2) for a major project for which no public hearing has been held: on or before 90 calendar days after the date the application was complete. . . .

(3) for any application for which a public hearing has been held on or before 60 calendar days after the receipt by the department of the complete hearing record; . . . .

(emphasis added)

http://www.dec.ny.gov/regs/4486.html#18126

The DEC summarizes the time frame here:

http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6226.html

The same regulation posted above provides recourse to the applicant in the event that the DEC fails to act within the requisite time frame (although there is no reason to suspect that the DEC will fail to act on the application):

(b) If the department or its agent fails to mail a decision within the time periods specified above, the applicant may make notice of that failure, by means of certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, Attention: Chief Permit Administrator, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Environmental Permits, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-1750. . . . .

(c) If the department or its agent fails to mail the decision to the applicant within five working days of the receipt of such notice, the application will be deemed approved and the permit deemed granted, subject to the standard terms or conditions applicable to such a permit.

(emphasis added)

Based on the DEC's determination that JBI's facility will not have a significant impact on the environment (i.e., a "negative" SEQR declaration, as stated in the status update), the DEC's guidance chart indicates that no public hearing should be forthcoming (follow the chart to the far right).

http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/32521.html

Absent a public hearing, JBI's application gets placed in the time frame under Reg. 621.10(a)(2), quoted above, which means that we are looking at a 90-day period within which the DEC must act on the application. That 90-day period runs from the date the application is deemed "complete," which, according to the DEC's website, was 5/19/11.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/envapps/index.cfm?view=detail&applid=770377

Counting 90 days out from May 19, we are looking at around August 16 as the LATEST date in which the DEC must act on JBI's application.

Again, since the solid waste permit pushed us into the "major project" category, the DEC must provide a public comment period, under Reg. 621.7.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/regs/4486.html#18129

The latest DEC update indicated that the public comment period is open until 6/9/11, so we should not expect a decision on JBI's application until after that time has passed. It is anyone's guess as to when the DEC will act on the application after that. The reason why I believe we will be on the short end of the 90-day time frame is because JBI's facility is in a highly industrial area (so I don't anticipate any objections from abutting landowners) and the JBI business model is environmentally friendly, thus giving the DEC extra incentive to grant the application swiftly. Indeed, the fact that the DEC issued the consent order in advance of the permits suggests that the agency is eager to see the company operational. Will June 10 be the magical date? Who knows? But it is certainly not out of the question.