Air Directors’ Meeting
Heather CeronAir Permitting Section ChiefEPA Region 4
Draft Guidance on Significant Impact Levels (SILs) for Ozone and PM2.5in the Prevention of Significant Deterioration Permitting Program
Draft guidance posted (revised version posted August 18, 2016) for 60 day comment period through September 30, 2016Draft guidance includes a memorandum that identifies recommended SIL values for ozone and PM2.5and describes how these values may be used in a PSD compliance demonstration;A technical basis document (with supporting appendices) describing how EPA developed the SIL values for PM2.5and ozone; andA legal support document that discusses a legal basis that permitting authorities may choose to apply if allowing sources to use SILs as part of their compliance demonstrations.Webinar was given on August 24. Slides are posted on website belowhttps://www.epa.gov/nsr/forms/significant-impact-levels-ozone-and-fine-particles-prevention-significant-deterioration
Source Determination Rule for the Oil and Gas Sector
On June 3, 2016, EPA published the final Source Determination for Certain Emission Units in the Oil and Natural Gas Sector Rule (81 FR 35622)The rule clarifies the meaning of “adjacent” that is used to determine the scope of a stationary source for purposes of the Prevention of Significant (PSD) and Nonattainment NSR (NNSR) preconstruction permitting programs and the scope of “major source” in the title V permit program in the onshore oil and natural gas sectorPart of the comprehensive Oil and Gas Strategy including NSPS, CTG and Indian Country FIPFor more information visit https://www3.epa.gov/airquality/oilandgas/actions.html
E-Notice Rule for NSR, Title V and OCS Permitting
On October 5, 2016, EPA finalized Revisions to the Public Notice Provisions in Clean Air Act Permitting Programs rulemaking is to remove the mandatory newspaper publication requirement for air permits and provide electronic notice as an available, effective, and adequate standard for public noticeStates have the discretion to continue using newspaper noticeConsistent with Clean Air Act Advisory Committee Task Force RecommendationsFinal rule published October 18, 2016For more information go to https://www.epa.gov/nsr/clean-air-act-permitting-electronic-notice-final-rule
Amendments to Regional Consistency Regulations
EPA’s Part 56 regulations require that EPA‘s regulations and policies be applied consistently across all the regional officesFinal Amends to Regional Consistency Regulations was published on August 3, 2016 (81 FR 51102)Provides an exception allowing EPA regional offices to deviate from national EPA policy when it is necessary to comply with a U.S. Circuit or District Court decision involving regional or locally applicable mattersRule change is consistent with May 30, 2014, D.C. Circuit ruling in NEDA CAP v. EPARule effective on September 2, 2016For more information visit https://www.epa.gov/title-v-operating-permits/current-regulations-and-regulatory-actions
PSD Preconstruction Permits Rescission Rule
On June 3, 2016, EPA published (81 FR 38640) the proposed Rescission of Preconstruction Permits Issued Under the CAA revised the “Permit Rescission” provision at 40 CFR 52.21(w). In the rule, we proposed to:Amend the permit rescission provision to remove a date restriction that limits the use of this provision to permits issued based on the rules in effect on or before July 30, 19871987 date put in place to allow permit rescissions when we transitioned from the PM to PM10indicatorDue to restriction, in April 2015 EPA amended this provision to allow us to rescind Step 2 GHG permitsAdd this permit rescission provision to the major Nonattainment NSR Rules in Indian country to provide permit rescission authority for all federal major source permitting programsClarify that permit rescissions continue to be case-by-case determinationsPublic comment period closed on July 14, 2016We received 6 comments: 2 states, 1 industry, 3 industry associationsOverall commenters were in favor of removing the date restriction but would like us to specify criteria on when a permit rescission should be granted or deniedFinal rule projected for Fall/Winter 2016
Title V Permitting
Title V Program and Fee Evaluation GuidanceSatisfies EPA commitments in response to an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report on title V fee oversightProvides guidance for EPA regions on program and/or fee evaluations of state title V programsUpdating guidance on Agency review of state title V fee schedulesDiscretionary for EPA regions and no specific requirements for state programsConsistent with the EPA’s Cross-Media State Programs Health and Integrity Workgroup principles and best practices for oversight of state, local and tribal permitting programsCommitted to completing all OIG recommendations by Fall 2017Target date for completion is Fall 2016
Revisions to the Petition Provisions of the Title V Permitting Program
Proposed rulemaking to increase transparency and stakeholder understanding of thepetition process, as well as ensure that the Agency is able to efficiently address relatedprogrammatic and air quality issues was published on August 24, 2016 (81 FR 57822)The proposed revisions:provide direction for submitting title V petitions, including encouraging the use of an electronic submittal system;require mandatory content and format for title V petitions; andrequire permitting authorities to respond in writing to significant comments received during the public comment period on draft title V permits. • The preamble also provides guidance on “recommended practices” for permittingauthorities and sources to help ensure title V permits have complete administrative records and are consistent with the CAAIf followed, these practices may reduce the likelihood that a petition will be submitted on a title V permitThe public comment closes October 24, 2016
Regulatory Updates for GHG Permitting
In April 2015, EPA issued a final rulemaking revising EPA’s PSD regulations to enable the EPA to rescind EPA-issued PSD permits for GHGDirect Final (80 FR 26183); Parallel Proposal (80 FR 26210)In August 2015, EPA issued a final Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Permitting for Greenhouse Gases: Removal of Certain Vacated Elements Rulemaking (80 FR 50199)Rule removed certain provisions from PSD and title V that were vacated as part of the D.C. Circuit Court’s April 2015 Amended JudgmentOn August 26, 2016, EPA proposed the Revisions to the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Permitting Regulations and Establishment of a Significant Emissions Rate (SER) for GHG Emissions Under the PSD Program (81 FR 68110)Rule also proposed the remaining changes to PSD and title V that are necessary to fully implement the D.C. Circuit Court’s April 2015 amended judgmentThe 60 day public comment period ends on December 2, 2016
Removal of Emergency Provision from Part 70 and 71
Proposed Removal of Title V Emergency Affirmative Defense Provisions FromState Operating Permit Programs and Federal Operating Permit Program Ruleto remove the “emergency” affirmative defense (AD) provisions from title Vregulations 40 CFR 70.6(g) and 71.6(g) was published on June 14, 2016 (81 FR38645)The public comment period closed on August 15, 2016; the EPA is currently evaluating all comments receivedThis is a follow-up action to similar rulemakings, including the 2015 SSM SIP Call, intended to ensure that the EPA’s policy on AD is consistent across all CAA program areas, following the D.C. Circuit’s 2014 NRDC v. EPA decision
Next Gen in Permitting/EJ 2020
Next Gen Compliance CompendiumJoint effort between OECA and OAR/OAQPSCompilation of modern tools examples used to advance clean air goals in rulemaking, permits, enforcement, and other functionsThe examples are gathered from all aspects of federal, state, and local air programsIntended as a resource for all EPA, state, tribal, and local air programsExamples in the compendium do not create a requirement for federal, state or tribal regulators to use that toolCan be viewed at :https://www.epa.gov/compliance/compendia-next-generation-compliance-examples-water-air-waste-and-cleanup-programsEJ 2020Released October 2016Can be viewed at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-05/documents/052216_ej_2020_strategic_plan_final_0.pdf
Title V Petitions
Title VSublead
Region 4 is the Title VSubleadTwo year rotationServe on workgroups to represent the regional perspectiveCoordinate information gathering from the regionsOrganize monthly national staff callsYolanda Adams is the R4 staff contactRegion 6 is the NSRSublead
Training
Air Permit WorkshopAimed at mangers and experienced staffPlanned for May 2-4, 2017Sam Nunn Federal BuildingYolanda Adams, Randy Terry and Lori Shepherd are POCAgenda in developmentPermitting 101As time allows, being revamped and updatedWill make available to State and Locals
Staff
Yolanda Adams – Title VSubleadCoordinator/Permit ExpertKelly Fortin – OCS and general Policy ExpertNatasha Hazziez – Florida State/Local Contact and EJ assistanceArt Hofmeister – Kentucky State/Local Contact and Title V Petition ExpertTerry Johnson – North Carolina State/Local Contact and CPP ExpertEva Land – Out on Maternity Leave starting in DecemberAna Oquendo – Out on Maternity starting in DecemberAndrew Porter – Georgia State ContactJames Purvis – South Carolina state Contact and PAL/CAM ExpertLori Shepherd – NSR ExpertRandy Terry – Alabama State/Local Contact and EJ ExpertGarrett Schroeder – Tennessee State/Local ContactMelba Table – Tribal Coordinator (120 day detail)Tracy Watson – Start date TBD
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