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: Article 8, Permits for Major Stationary Sources and Major Modifications Locating in Prevention of Significant Deterioration Areas (9VAC5-80-1605 et seq.) and Article 9, Permits for Major Stationary Sources and Major Modifications Locating in Nonattainment Areas or the Ozone Transport Region (9VAC5-80-2000 et seq.) of Part II of 9VAC5-80 (Permits for Stationary Sources), Revision D14.

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: September 7 to October 7, 2015.

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: Because 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 purpose of the action is to amend the major new source review (NSR) program regulations such that certain provisions are consistent with EPA regulations. These amendments are needed in order for the program to operate more effectively, and to encourage the implementation of projects that are more protective of air quality. The following specific changes have been made: (1) The definition of "baseline actual emissions" was amended to extend the lookback period from 5 to 10 years. (2) The definition of "baseline actual emissions" was amended to enable different lookback periods for different regulated NSR pollutants. (3) The regulations were amended to increase the PAL effective period from 5 years to 10. (4) The definitions of "emissions unit" were amended and a definition of "replacement unit" was added in order to enable use of the baseline actual emissions of the unit being replaced and the projected actual emissions of the replacement unit.

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.