Pacifico Cedar Creek air registration found; expedited TCEQ review begins
CRITICAL PROCEDURAL WARNING: TCEQ received Pacifico CCK Energy 1 LLC's first publicly traceable Cedar Creek air filing on August 14 and EXPEDITED REVIEW began the same day. This Electric Generating Unit Standard Permit route MAY NOT REQUIRE PUBLIC NOTICE OR INPUT. Pending Permit 185019, Project 413471, is under RN102987831 for 382 Earl Callahan Road. The complete registration is not yet posted, so the turbine inventory, capacity covered, operating assumptions, emissions, controls, stack data, calculations and standard-permit eligibility analysis remain unknown. This filing is not final approval. Residents should request the full file and contact the Air Permits Division immediately rather than wait for a comment period that may never open.
The air filing exists. The public still does not have the application.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality received Pacifico CCK Energy 1 LLC's initial Electric Generating Unit Standard Permit registration on August 14 and began EXPEDITED REVIEW the same day. It is pending as Permit 185019 / Project 413471 for the Cedar Creek facility at 382 Earl Callahan Road.
What the new TCEQ record establishes
This is the first publicly traceable Cedar Creek air-authorization filing under the known project identifiers. The Central Registry connects it to RN102987831 and identifies Pacifico CCK Energy 1 LLC as the applicant. The project report describes an initial standard- permit registration for electric-generating facilities and marks it pending and EXPEDITED.
The status entry is not an approval. It also does not disclose the complete equipment schedule, the generating capacity covered by this registration, operating hours, startup and shutdown assumptions, emissions calculations, controls, stack parameters, plot plan, applicability analysis or TCEQ review correspondence.
EXPEDITED REVIEW MAY PROCEED WITHOUT PUBLIC NOTICE OR INPUT
A TCEQ-hosted Electric Generating Unit Standard Permit application states that this type of standard permit does not require public notice. Permit 185019 has not appeared in the Chief Clerk's notice database or eComments, and no participation deadline is posted.
That means residents should not assume this registration will follow the two-notice process used for an individual New Source Review permit. The current EXPEDITED filing route may allow TCEQ review without a formal comment, public meeting, or contested-case-hearing opportunity on this registration.If TCEQ later posts a notice, opens eComments, or requires another authorization, that notice controls and every stated deadline should be treated as firm.
The practical effect is that a fast-moving agency review may proceed without the ordinary participation routes residents reasonably expected. The public record does not establish why this pathway was selected or prove an intent to exclude residents. That unanswered question is itself a reason to demand a written explanation now.
1. Request the complete registration file
Submit a Public Information Act request through TCEQ's designated online form or email it to openrecs@tceq.texas.gov. TCEQ says requests sent by other methods may not trigger its Public Information Act duties. Ask for electronic rolling production so already-available records are not held for later correspondence.
Please provide the complete TCEQ file for Pacifico CCK Energy 1 LLC, Cedar Creek facility, Air Permit/Registration 185019, Project 413471, RN102987831, 382 Earl Callahan Road, Cedar Creek, Bastrop County.
This request includes the initial registration and all forms, supplements, amendments, attachments, plot plans, process diagrams, equipment and vendor data, turbine manufacturer/model/count and ratings, emissions calculations, maximum-emission-rate tables, operating-hour and startup/shutdown assumptions, proposed pollution controls, stack parameters, dispersion or impacts analyses, standard-permit applicability and eligibility analyses, PSD/NNSR and Title V applicability analyses, source-aggregation determinations, expedited-permitting request and decision, fee records, deficiency and completeness letters, reviewer notes, meeting records, and all correspondence with the applicant or its consultants.
Please also include records identifying any related air authorizations at the same regulated entity, address or project campus. Please provide responsive records electronically and on a rolling basis. If any portion is withheld, please identify the specific legal basis and release all reasonably segregable material.
2. Contact the Air Permits Division with the exact identifiers
Email airperm@tceq.texas.gov or call 512-239-1250. Identify Permit 185019 and Project 413471 and ask for the assigned reviewer, the anticipated decision schedule, when the complete registration will be posted, and written confirmation of whether any public notice or formal participation opportunity will occur.
An ordinary email to program staff is not a substitute for a formal comment or hearing request if TCEQ later opens a formal process. Use it now to obtain answers and create a written record; use the filing method and deadline in any future official notice to preserve legal rights.
Subject: Permit 185019 / Project 413471 — request for reviewer, schedule, public-participation determination, and written answers
To the TCEQ Air Permits Division:
I am a Bastrop County / Cedar Creek resident [and/or nearby property owner]. I am writing about Pacifico CCK Energy 1 LLC's pending Air Registration 185019, Project 413471, RN102987831, for 382 Earl Callahan Road.
TCEQ's database shows that the application was received on August 14 and EXPEDITED REVIEW began the same day. Please provide written answers to the following:
- The assigned reviewer's name and contact information, and the current review stage.
- The anticipated completeness and decision schedule.
- When the complete registration and supporting documents will be posted.
- Whether this EXPEDITED Electric Generating Unit Standard Permit registration requires public notice, public comment, a public meeting, or an opportunity for a contested case hearing—and the legal basis for that determination.
- If those opportunities are not required, whether TCEQ will voluntarily provide notice and a meaningful opportunity for resident input before acting, given nearby homes and Earth Native's outdoor educational programs for young children.
- What equipment and total MW Registration 185019 covers, and how it relates to the proposed 710 MW buildout.
- Whether the power plant, data center, all phases, and all co-located sources were evaluated together for source aggregation, PSD, NNSR, and Title V.
- How TCEQ evaluated protection of public health and property, and what emissions limits, controls, testing, monitoring, startup/shutdown limits, and enforceable records will be required.
If the Air Permits Division is not responsible for any question, please identify the responsible office and contact. Please respond in writing and add me to every available notice or mailing list for this registration and any related Cedar Creek air authorization.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[City / ZIP]
[Email and phone, optional]
3. Build the receptor record before the equipment layout arrives
Nearby property owners should document property boundaries, residences, wells and regular outdoor-use areas now. Earth Native can document the preschool roundhouse, teaching areas, student ages, enrollment, schedules and hours spent outdoors. Once the filing supplies turbine and stack coordinates, measure distance from the actual emissions points—not merely from the edge of the 2,842-acre project tract.
TCEQ's standard-permit rules require protection of public health and property, but the Electric Generating Unit Standard Permit itself contains no automatic setback or buffer. Earth Native's exact status under the separate 3,000-foot school provision should not be assumed. Its proximity, very young students and prolonged outdoor exposure are still critical project-specific facts for agency review, elected officials and any later legal challenge.
4. Follow the notice—not social-media summaries
- Record the publication date and the exact deadline stated in the notice.
- Submit through TCEQ eComments or the written route named in the notice.
- Identify Permit 185019, the applicant and the specific disputed air-quality issues.
- Describe your location, distance, property use and how emissions could affect you differently from the general public.
- Explicitly request a public meeting and contested case hearing if the notice makes those remedies available.
- Keep the submission receipt and a complete copy of everything filed.
What remains unresolved
As of August 15, the status pages do not reveal whether Registration 185019 covers Pacifico's full stated 710 MW buildout or a smaller phase. They do not identify the turbines, emissions or final controls, and they do not show an approval, public notice, comment deadline, public meeting or hearing opportunity. This air registration is separate from construction-stormwater authorizations TXR1551YV and TXR1565YW.