Nicolas Serieys, Senior Project Manager, Received CPP Certification

Citadel Environmental Services, Inc. is pleased to announce that Nicolas Serieys is one of only five applicants to pass the 2011 South Coast Air Quality Management District Certified Permitting Professional (CPP) Exam.   

  

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) established the Certified Permitting Professional (CPP) Program to assist business owners in the expedition of submittal/approval of permit applications.  CPP's have proven competency in areas as defined by the SCAQMD, and The California Health and Safety Code, Section 42300.2, which specifically address the requirements to certify private environmental professionals to prepare permit applications.

  

What does this mean to our clients?

As a Certified Permitting Professional, Mr. Serieys now has access to the AQMD database for New Source Review (NSR) and Automated Equipment Inventory Systems (AEIS), where information can be obtained about the facility in question, such as: status of permit applications, list of equipment located at a facility, and actual and maximum mass emission rates associated with the existing equipment at the facility (NSR Balance).   Expedited permit processing will also be given to Nic as a CPP, saving our clients time, and money in potential fees.

Mr. Serieys can be of assistance of with any of the following programs or types of permitting processes:

• PROGRAMS 
• RECLAIM
• Title V
• Conventional (Non-RELCAIM/Non-Title V)
• Acid Rain
• Registration/Certification and Streamline Standard Permits  

• PERMITTING 
• Permits to Construct - required for new or relocated equipment as well as alteration (both phsyical modification and change of operating conditions) of existing equipment.  These applications always recieve a high priority for processing;  
• Permits to Operate - required for equipment that is installed, and/or is operated with or without a prior P/C (a prior P/C or in cases where no prior P/C was issued, the application act as a temporary P/O until a final P/O is processed);   
• Change of Conditions;   
• Alteration/Modification;   
• Change of Operator;  
• Plans - required under some of AQMD rules and regulations (i.e. RECLAIM Rule 2009, Excavations Rule 1150, etc.) for compliance demonstrations and are subject to AQMD approval; 
• Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs) -  for issuance of ERCs generated due to equipment shut downs or over controls;
• Title V - required for initial issuance or subsequent revisions of Title V facility permits.
  
  To learn more about the CPP program, visit the AQMD website here: http://www.aqmd.gov/cpp/     

For more information, contact Nic and/or anyone at the Citadel Corporate Office at:  

Nic Serieys, MS, CPP

 818-246-2707 (Corporate Office)

nserieys@citadelenvironmental.com

Citadel Goes Everywhere - Loren Witkin

I frequently tell clients, we'll go anywhere and do anything to assist our valued clients meet their environmental, health, safety, and sustainability needs.  This past month was no different.  In addition to our usual routine of crisscrossing the West providing services, we received calls for support from Guam to the Yellowstone River, to Chicago, and Montana.  And we don't just stay on the ground. As you can see from the below pictures of Citadel Energy Program's representative, Russell Ragsdale, repelling off of a stack, we'll even go to great heights to do our work.  I wonder if the International Space Station has any EHS&S needs?

75 in a 65, by Loren Witkin

Last month I received my first speeding ticket in nearly 30 years of driving.  My 11 year-old son and I were on our annual pilgrimage to opening day of trout season in Aspendell, California, when I was  stopped for apparently going 65 MPH in a 75 MPH zone outside of Independence (AKA - middle of nowhere) on US 395. For those of you that know US 395, there is not a whole lot of anything out there other than miles of scrub brush and desert.   While I know that I was certainly in the wrong, I was surprised to have been ticketed given that I've done the same drive dozens of times without a police escort, and that the normal flow of traffic is usually 80-90 MPH. When I asked the officer about the change in policing practices, namely, are they being more aggressive given the state's fiscal crisis, he smiled and replied, "we're certainly not getting any more money from Sacramento."

I'm not generally a conspiracy theorist, but the increased enforcement is not just limited to the California Highway Patrol.  Recently, Citadel has witnessed a dramatic uptick in the issuance of Notices of Violations (NOV) and the assessment of fines than that of the recent past.  Where we were accustomed to seeing regulatory agencies issue Notices to Comply (NTC) (basically, a warning), we are now observing the issuance of NOVs in their stead. The penalties, particularly those for NPDES violations, have run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  As I recently mentioned to a client who was on the receiving end of a penalty assessment (merely for a reporting oversight), Citadel is currently engaged in more matters concerning regulatory agency fee negotiations or straight out litigation than in any of our past 18 years combined. 

Again, while I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I don't think that this level of increased NTC issuance is coincidental.  So in a time when businesses have less money to spend on anything let alone regulatory compliance, they are asked to be extra vigilant on compliance. Just as I should have been driving 65 MPH for safety, gas efficiency, and because it's the law, now is the time where we need to look at our operations, assess where we are non-compliant, resolve our risks, and strengthen our companies.