Nov 29, 2011 (Environmental Protection Agency Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- SUMMARY: EPA is proposing approval of a revision to the Maine State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Maine DEP) on December 9, 2010, with supplemental submittals on September 14, 2011 and November 9, 2011, that addresses regional haze for the first planning period from 2008 through 2018. This revision addresses the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA's rules that require States to prevent any future, and remedy any existing, manmade impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I areas caused by emissions of air pollutants from numerous sources located over a wide geographic area (also referred to as the "regional haze program"). States are required to assure reasonable progress toward the national goal of achieving natural visibility conditions in Class I areas.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Written comments must be received on or before December 29, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-R01-OAR-2010-1043 by one of the following methods: 1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
2. Email: arnold.anne@epa.gov.
4. Mail: "Docket Identification Number EPA-R01-OAR-2010-1043 Anne Arnold, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, Office of Ecosystem Protection, Air Quality Planning Unit, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, (Mail code OEP05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to: Anne Arnold, Manager, Air Quality Planning Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, Office of Ecosystem Protection, Air Quality Planning Unit, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, (mail code OEP05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding legal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R01-OAR-2010-1043. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit through http://www.regulations.gov, or email, information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an "anonymous access" system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov your email address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at Office of Ecosystem Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, Office of Ecosystem Protection, Air Quality Planning Unit, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding legal holidays.
In addition, copies of the state submittal are also available for public inspection during normal business hours, by appointment at the Bureau of Air Quality Control, Department of Environmental Protection, First Floor of the Tyson Building, Augusta Mental Health Institute Complex, Augusta, ME 04333-0017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne McWilliams, Air Quality Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, (Mail Code OEP05-02), Boston, MA 02109-3912, telephone number (617) 918-1697, fax number (617) 918-0697, email mcwilliams.anne@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Table of Contents I. What is the background for EPA's proposed action? A. The Regional Haze Problem B. Background Information C. Roles of Agencies in Addressing regional haze II. What are the requirements for the regional haze SIPs? A. The CAA and the Regional Haze Rule (RHR) B. Determination of Baseline, Natural, and Current Visibility Conditions C. Determination of Reasonable Progress Goals (RPGs) D. Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) E. Long-Term Strategy (LTS) F. Coordinating Regional Haze and Reasonably Attributable Visibility Impairment (RAVI) LTS G. Monitoring Strategy and Other Implementation Plan Requirements H. Consultation With States and Federal Land Managers (FLMs) III. What is the relationship of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) to the regional haze requirements? A. Overview of EPA's CAIR B. Remand of the CAIR C. Regional Haze SIP Elements Potentially Affected by the CAIR Remand and Promulgation of CSAPR IV. What is EPA's analysis of Maine's regional haze SIP submittal? A. Maine's Affected Class I Area B. Determination of Baseline, Natural and Current Visibility Conditions 1. Estimating Natural Visibility Conditions 2. Estimating Baseline Conditions 3. Summary of Baseline and Natural Conditions 4. Uniform Rate of Progress C. Reasonable Progress Goals 1. Relative Contributions of Pollutants to Visibility Impairments 2. Procedure for Identifying Sources to Evaluate for Reasonable Progress Controls 3. Application of the Four Clean Air Act Factors in the Reasonable Progress Analysis D. Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) 1. Identification of all BART Eligible Sources 2. Identification of Sources Subject to BART 3. Modeling to Demonstrate Source Visibility Impact 4. Maine BART Analysis Protocol 5. Source Specific BART Determinations 6. Enforceability of BART E. Long-Term Strategy 1. Emissions Inventory for 2018 With Federal and State Control Requirements 2. Modeling to Support the LTS and Determine Visibility Improvement for Uniform Rate of Progress 3. Meeting the MANE-VU "Ask" 4. Additional Considerations for the LTS F. Consultation With States and Federal Land Managers G. Monitoring Strategy and Other Implementation Plan Requirements H. Periodic SIP Revisions and Five-Year Progress Reports V. What Action is EPA Proposing? VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews Throughout this document, wherever "we," "us," or "our" is used, we mean the EPA.
I. What is the background for EPA's proposed action? A. The Regional Haze Problem Regional haze is visibility impairment that is produced by a multitude of sources and activities which are located across a broad geographic area and emit fine particles and their precursors (e.g., sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and in some cases, ammonia and volatile organic compounds). Fine particle precursors react in the atmosphere to form fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (e.g., sulfates, nitrates, organic carbon, elemental carbon, and soil dust), which also impair visibility by scattering and absorbing light. Visibility impairment reduces the clarity, color, and visible distance that one can see. PM2.5 can also cause serious health effects and mortality in humans and contributes to environmental effects such as acid deposition.
--This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below-- Proposed rule.
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