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

General Notice
General Notice - Proposed State Implementation Plan Revision - New Source Review
Date Posted: 5/22/2014
Expiration Date: 7/16/2014
Submitted to Registrar for publication: YES
No comment forum defined for this notice.

Notice of action: The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on a proposed revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP is a 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 the regulation to 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 Major Stationary Sources and Major Modifications Locating in Prevention of Significant Deterioration Areas, Article 8 of 9VAC5-80 (Permits for Stationary Sources), Revision A14.

Purpose of notice: DEQ is seeking comment on the issue of whether the regulation amendments should be submitted as a revision to the SIP.

Public comment period: June 16 to July 16, 2014.

Public hearing: A public hearing may be conducted if a request is made in writing to the contact listed below. In order to be considered, the request must include the full name, address and telephone number of the person requesting the hearing and be received by DEQ by the last day of the comment period. Notice of the date, time, and location of any requested public hearing will be announced in a separate notice, and another 30-day comment period will be conducted.

Public comment stage: The regulation amendments are 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 amendments have been adopted and are 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 amendments.

Description of proposal: The proposed revision consists of modifying provisions in the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) new source review regulation relative to significant impact levels (SILs) and a significant monitoring concentration (SMC) for particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5).  On January 22, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted a request from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to vacate and remand to EPA portions of the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) new source review regulations establishing the SILs for PM2.5 .  The court further vacated the portions of the PSD regulations establishing a PM2.5 SMC.  EPA modified its regulations accordingly on December 9, 2013 (78 FR 73698).  In Virginia, where the state administers the NSR program under an approved state implementation plan (SIP), the state must adopt and submit revisions to the SIP to reflect the rule revisions.

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.  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 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 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/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) 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.


Contact Information
Name / Title: Karen G. Sabasteanski 
Address: 629 East Main Street
P.O. Box 1105
Richmond, 232118
Email Address: karen.sabasteanski@deq.virginia.gov
Telephone: (804)698-4426    FAX: (804)698-4510    TDD: ()-