Notice of action: The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on a proposed plan to attain and maintain the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone in the northern Virginia portion of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Ozone Nonattainment Area. The Commonwealth intends to submit the plan as a revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP) in accordance with the requirements of §110(a) of the federal Clean Air Act. The SIP is the plan developed by the Commonwealth in order to fulfill its responsibilities under the Act to attain and maintain the ambient air quality standards promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Purpose of notice: DEQ is seeking comments on the overall plan, and on the issue of whether the plan will enable the northern Virginia area to continue to meet obligations under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

Public comment period: February 10 to March 14, 2014.

Public hearing: A public hearing will be conducted on March 10, 2014, in Conference Room 1, Department of Environmental Quality, 13901 Crown Court, Woodbridge, Virginia at 11:00 a.m. Directions may be found at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Locations/NorthernRegionalOffice.aspx.

Description of proposal: The purpose of this SIP revision is to amend the ozone attainment and maintenance plans for the portions of Virginia that are part of the Ozone Transport Region (OTR) such that Stage II vapor recovery systems (VRS) are no longer required after December 31, 2013.  Since the original development of these plans, EPA has determined that onboard refueling vapor recovery (ORVR) is in widespread use and therefore no longer needed for ozone control in OTR localities that can further demonstrate that the removal of Stage II will not interfere with maintenance of the ozone NAAQS.  The Commonwealth has determined that Stage II is no longer needed in the area's plans, and that removing this control requirement does not interfere with maintenance of any ozone NAAQS.

Localities affected: Counties of Stafford, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, and cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park.

Federal information: This notice is being given to satisfy the public participation requirements of federal regulations (40 CFR 51.102). The proposal will be submitted as a revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia SIP under § 110(a) of the CAA in accordance with 40 CFR 51.104. DEQ plans to submit all provisions of the proposal as a revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia SIP.

How to comment: DEQ accepts written comments by email, fax, and postal mail. In order to be considered, 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. All materials received are part of the public record.

To review proposal: The proposal and any supporting documents are available on the DEQ Air Public Notices for Plans web site: http://www.deq.state.va.us/Programs/Air/PublicNotices/airplansandprograms.aspx. 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) DEQ Main Street Office, 8th Floor, 629 E. Main St, Richmond VA, 804-698-4070, and 2) Northern Regional Office, 13901 Crown Court, Woodbridge, VA, 703-583-3800.