Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Environmental Quality
Board
Air Pollution Control Board

General Notice
Public Notice - State Implementation Plan Proposed Revision
Date Posted: 9/21/2010
Expiration Date: 10/22/2010
Submitted to Registrar for publication: YES
No comment forum defined for this notice.

 

Notice of action: The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will hold a public hearing on a proposed revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP is the plan developed by the Commonwealth in order to fulfill its responsibilities under the federal Clean Air Act to attain and maintain the ambient air quality standards promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Act. The Commonwealth intends to submit relevant portions of the regulation to the EPA as a revision to the SIP in accordance with the requirements of § 110(a) of the federal Clean Air Act.
 
Regulations affected: The regulation of the board affected by this action is Permits for Stationary Sources of Pollutants Subject to Regulation (9VAC5 Chapter 85).
 
Purpose of notice: DEQ is seeking comment on the issue of whether the regulation should be submitted as a revision to the SIP.
 
Public comment period: September 22 to October 22, 2010.
 
Public hearing: Second floor conference room A, Department of Environmental Quality, 629 East Main St, Richmond VA, at 9:00 am on October 22, 2010.
 
Public comment stage: The regulation is exempt from the state administrative procedures for adoption of regulations contained in Article 2 of the Administrative Process Act by the provisions of § 2.2-4006 A 4 c of the Administrative Process Act because they are necessary to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act and do not differ materially from the pertinent EPA regulations. Since the regulation is exempt from administrative procedures for the adoption of regulations, DEQ is accepting comment only on the issue cited above under "purpose of notice" and not on the content of the regulation.
 
Description of proposal: The proposed revision will consist of a regulation concerning permitting of greenhouse gases (GHGs) for appropriate sources; this is accomplished by raising the permitting thresholds for GHGs from 100/250 tons per year (tpy) to 100,000 tpy for new prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) sources and federal operating permit (Title V) sources, and 75,000 tpy for modifications. The federal regulations affect the PSD NSR regulations in 40 CFR 51.166 by adding a definition of "subject to regulation," which includes the new thresholds, and revising the definition of "regulated NSR permit." Because Virginia has the authority to directly implement federal PSD regulations as long as its rules are at least as protective as the federal, the corresponding Virginia regulation must be revised accordingly. The federal regulation also affects the operating permit (Title V) regulations in 40 CFR Part 70 by adding a definition of "subject to regulation," which includes the new thresholds, and revising the definition of "major source." Virginia's federal operating permit regulations are federally approved, and must be revised to be at least as protective as the federal. The major provisions of the proposal are summarized as follows: 1) A section (Part I) describing applicability of the regulation to certain permitting programs regulated under 9VAC5-80 (Permits for Stationary Sources) is established. 2) Part II is established in order for the provisions of the chapter to apply to the Commonwealth's federal operating permit program. This part contains the specific federal tailoring rule requirements. 3) Part III is established in order for the provisions of the chapter to apply to the Commonwealth's PSD permit program. 4) Part IV is established in order for the provisions of the chapter to apply to the Commonwealth's state operating permit program.
 
Federal information: This notice is being given to satisfy the public participation requirements of federal regulations (40 CFR 51.102) and not any provision of state law. Except as noted below, the proposal will be submitted as a revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia SIP under § 110(a) of the federal Clean Air Act in accordance with 40 CFR 51.104. It is planned to submit all provisions of the proposal as a revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia SIP with the exception of Part II, which contains federal operating permit program provisions not germane to the SIP.
 
How to comment: DEQ accepts written comments by email, fax, and postal mail. In order to be considered, written comments must include the full name, address and telephone number of the person commenting and be received by DEQ by the last day of the comment period. Commenters sending faxes are encouraged to provide the signed original by postal mail within one week. Both oral and written comments are accepted at the public hearing. DEQ prefers that comments be provided in writing, along with any supporting documents or exhibits.  All testimony, exhibits and documents received are part of the public record.
 
To review regulation documents: The proposal and any supporting documents are available on the DEQ Air Public Notices for Plans web site (http://www.deq.state.va.us/air/permitting/planotes.html). The documents may also be obtained by contacting the DEQ representative named below. The public may review the documents between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm of each business day until the close of the public comment period at the following DEQ locations: 1) Main Street Office, 8th Floor, 629 E Main St, Richmond VA, 804-698-4070, 2) Southwest Regional Office, 355 Deadmore St, Abingdon VA, 540-676-4800, 3) Blue Ridge Regional Office, Roanoke Location, 3019 Peters Creek Rd, Roanoke VA, 540-562-6700, 4) Blue Ridge Regional Office, Lynchburg Location, 7705 Timberlake Rd, Lynchburg VA, 804-582-5120, 5) Valley Regional Office, 4411 Early Rd, Harrisonburg VA, 540-574-7800, 6) Piedmont Regional Office, 4949-A Cox Rd, Glen Allen VA, 804-527-5020, 7) Northern Regional Office, 13901 Crown Court, Woodbridge VA, 703-583-3800, and 8) Tidewater Regional Office, 5636 Southern Blvd, Virginia Beach VA, 757-518-2000.
 
Comments are due by the close of the comment period and are to be sent to the contact person listed below.

Contact Information
Name / Title: Karen G. Sabasteanski 
Address: 629 East Main Street
P.O. Box 1105
Richmond, 23218
Email Address: karen.sabasteanski@deq.virginia.gov
Telephone: (804)698-4426    FAX: (804)698-4510    TDD: ()-