The petitioner is requesting the board to amend 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) as follows: 1. Amend the definition of "baseline actual emissions" in 9VAC5-80-1615 C and 9VAC5-80-2010 C and make any other regulatory changes necessary to make the Virginia regulation conform with the federal definition. This would allow VMA members and other facility owners in Virginia to use a 10-year lookback period, thus making the Virginia regulations no more stringent than federally required. 2. Amend subdivision b 4 of the definition of "baseline actual emissions" in 9VAC5-80-1615 C and 9VAC5-80-2010 C, amend 9VAC5-80-1865 E and 9VAC5-80-2144 E, and make any other regulatory changes necessary to make the Virginia regulation conform with the federal definition. This would allow VMA members and other facility owners in Virginia to use different lookback periods for different regulated NSR pollutants, thus making the Virginia regulations no more stringent than federally required. 3. Amend 9VAC5-80-1615 C, 9VAC5-80-1865 C 1 f, 9VAC5-80-2010 C and 9VAC5-80-2144 C 1 f, and make any other regulatory changes necessary to make the Virginia regulation conform with the federal definition. This would allow VMA members and other facility owners in Virginia to obtain PALs for 10 years, rather than only 5 years, thus making the Virginia regulations no more stringent than federally required. 4. Amend the definition of "emissions unit" and add a definition of "replacement unit" in 9VAC5-80-1615 C and 9VAC5-80-2010 C, and make any other regulatory changes necessary to make the Virginia regulation conform with the federal definition. This would allow VMA members and other facility owners in Virginia to use the baseline actual emissions of the unit being replaced and the projected actual emissions of the replacement unit, thus making the Virginia regulations no more stringent than federally required.

Notice of the petition will appear in the Virginia Register of Regulations on December 30, 2013.  The public comment period will begin on December 30, 2013 and end on January 29, 2014, during which written comments will be accepted.  At the first available board meeting following the end of the comment period, the department will present the petition and a summary of comments to the board for it to make a decision on whether to grant the petition request or deny the petition request.  The board must make a final decision within 90 days after the end of the comment period.  Should there be no board meeting scheduled during this 90 day period, the board's decision must be made at the first available board meeting and forwarded to the Registrar for publication in the Virginia Register within 14 days of the board meeting.

Initiate a regulatory change

At the State Air Pollution Control Board meeting on April 4, 2014, the Board granted the petitioner's request to initiate a rulemaking concerning major new source review regulations and authorized the department to initiate the associated regulatory action.