Senior Air Permitting Specialist - TCEQ Major Source

Project Overview We are an engineering and project execution firm supporting power generation and infrastructure clients in a mission critical power market. We are engineering a large behind the meter, gas fired generating facility in a West Texas attainment county. The plant is built around a fleet of simple cycle natural gas combustion turbines with supplemental reciprocating gas engines. The plant combustion generation has a phased implementation and will eventually become a major source under PSD and Title V. We need a subject matter expert in TCEQ air permitting to act as our internal technical authority on the permitting pathway and, above all, on the permitting schedule. You would be retained by and reporting to our firm, working alongside our engineering leadership. The ideal candidate has experience with this process in Texas and provide practical guidance on achieving project goals. Scope of Work You will produce and then maintain the following: • A defensible permitting schedule. A step by step timeline from application submittal to final permit issuance for a case by case New Source Review under 30 TAC Chapter 116 Subchapter B plus federal PSD in an attainment county. It must cover administrative completeness review, technical review, deficiency letter cycles, the modeling audit, both public notices, the comment period, response to comments, and Executive Director action. We need durations that are realistic and defendable. • An application readiness gap analysis. We hold OEM emissions data that we already know is incomplete. We need you to identify precisely what TCEQ will require before the application can be declared administratively complete and before dispersion modeling can begin, and to attach a schedule cost to each gap that stays open. • Critical path and risk identification. Where do schedules of this type actually slip. What triggers a second notice. What is the realistic exposure to hearing requests and to the current wave of Clean Air Act challenges directed at Texas data center generation projects. Each item paired with its mitigation. • BACT positioning support. Review of our emissions control basis and our position on control technology, so that what we design matches what will ultimately be permitted. • Ongoing advisory. Scheduled working sessions with our engineering leadership, review of the emissions inventory as it matures, and sanity checking of the permitting narrative before it is presented to the project owner. Potential expansion into supporting or reviewing the application preparation itself if the engagement goes well. Required Qualifications • Direct experience with the TCEQ air permitting process. • Working command of case by case NSR, federal PSD, and Title V as TCEQ specifically administers them, including the Texas public notice sequence and the state level review steps that sit on top of federal requirements. • The ability to speak with authority on realistic agency timelines and on what TCEQ reviewers actually ask for, as distinct from what the guidance documents say. • Clear written and spoken English, and availability for scheduled video calls during United States Central business hours. • Willingness to sign a mutual non disclosure and non circumvention agreement before project specifics are released. Preferred • Former TCEQ Air Permits Division staff, or a consultant with a long working record in front of that division. • Combustion turbine and reciprocating engine BACT experience, including SCR and oxidation catalyst control strategies and the current NSPS turbine requirements. • Experience with behind the meter or islanded generation serving large data center load. What We Will Provide • The full equipment basis, unit counts, and site configuration under NDA. • The OEM emissions data set we currently hold, together with our own assessment of where it is deficient. • Our engineering position on emissions control technology and the reasoning behind it. • Direct access to engineering leadership, and prompt review turnaround. How To Apply Please answer the screening questions, and include in your proposal: 1. Two or three Texas major source air permits you personally worked, with your specific role on each. Sanitized or redacted detail is acceptable. If you can name the TCEQ permit number, do so. 2. A brief note on how you approach permitting schedule development, and where in your experience these schedules most often slip. 3. Your hourly rate, your realistic weekly availability over the next ninety days, and your time zone. To confirm you have read this posting, please begin your proposal with the word PERMITPATH. Please do not apply if you are an agency or firm bidding turnkey permitting services, or if your air permitting experience is primarily outside Texas. We are specifically seeking an individual practitioner with TCEQ depth. Detailed, specific proposals will be read closely. Generic proposals will not. We value speed, accuracy, and SME level rigor. Strong performance here leads directly to broader power project permitting work across our portfolio.