🚗Rhode Island's Motor Vehicle Inspection Program Amendments Proposal
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Office of Air Resources on December 20, 2023, that includes an amended regulation for the Enhanced Motor Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program in Rhode Island. Overall, the submittal removes obsolete references, adds definitions, and clarifies the Rhode Island I/M program requirements, which consist primarily of conducting Onboard Diagnostics (OBD) testing. The intended effect of this action is to propose approval of the State's amended I/M program regulation into the Rhode Island SIP. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA has evaluated the SIP revision and has preliminarily determined the changes will not impact emissions under the Rhode Island I/M program. EPA is proposing to conclude that approval of the SIP revision will not interfere with attainment or maintenance of any National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) or with any other applicable requirement of the CAA. Therefore, EPA is proposing to determine that Rhode Island's December 20, 2023, SIP revision is consistent with the applicable provisions of the CAA.
Learn More🌬️EPA Approves Connecticut Air Plan Revision and Its Implications
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) to (1) remove State Order 7002B issued to Dow Chemical USA (Dow) in Gales Ferry on May 25, 1982, from the Connecticut SIP, (2) remove State Order 8027 issued to Pratt & Whitney Division of United Technologies Corporation (Pratt & Whitney) in North Haven on March 22, 1989, from the Connecticut SIP, and (3) add Consent Order 8381 issued to Thames Shipyard and Repair Company (Thames Shipyard) in New London, CT on December 3, 2021, to the Connecticut SIP. State Orders 8027 and 7002B addressed reasonably available control technology (RACT) for volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and sulfur fuel content limits for Pratt & Whitney and Dow, respectively. EPA is approving the Thames Shipyard Order into Connecticut's SIP to ensure RACT requirements with respect to VOC emissions from shipbuilding and repair operations continue to be implemented at Thames Shipyard. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
Learn More🌫️EPA Proposes Approval for Washington's Regional Haze Compliance Plan
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve the regional haze State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by Washington on January 28, 2022, to address applicable requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the EPA's Regional Haze Rule (RHR) for the regional haze program's second implementation period. The EPA is proposing this action pursuant to the CAA.
Learn More🌍EPA's Interim Decision on Air Quality Regulations in California
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim final determination that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has submitted a Clean Air Act (CAA or "Act") state implementation plan (SIP) revision on behalf of the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD or "District") that corrects deficiencies concerning the District's New Source Review (NSR) stationary source permitting program. This determination is based on a proposed conditional approval, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, of MDAQMD Rules. The effect of this interim final determination is to stay the application of the offset sanction and to defer or stay the action of the highway sanction that were triggered by the EPA's limited disapproval of MDAQMD Rules on June 30, 2023.
Learn More🌫️EPA Approves Air Quality Redesignation for Liberty-Clairton Area
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's request to redesignate to attainment the Liberty-Clairton, Pennsylvania nonattainment area (Liberty-Clairton Area) for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM<INF>2.5</INF>) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or standard). The EPA has determined that the Liberty-Clairton Area attained both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM<INF>2.5</INF> NAAQS and has met the statutory requirements for redesignation. The EPA is approving, as a revision to the Pennsylvania State Implementation Plan (SIP), the Commonwealth's plan for maintaining the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM<INF>2.5</INF> NAAQS through 2035 for the Liberty-Clairton Area. Additionally, the EPA is approving the maintenance plan for the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania nonattainment area (Allegheny County Area) for the 2012 annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> NAAQS through 2035. The maintenance plan includes 2017, 2026, and 2035 mobile vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for mobile sources of PM<INF>2.5</INF> and nitrogen oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>) for the Allegheny County Area for the 2012 annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> NAAQS, which the EPA is approving for transportation conformity purposes. This action does not redesignate the Allegheny County Area to attainment for the 2012 annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> NAAQS. Both the redesignation request and maintenance plan were submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP or Pennsylvania) on behalf of the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD). This action is being taken under the CAA.
Learn More🌫️Connecticut's EPA SIP Revisions on Ozone Nonattainment Areas
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Connecticut. This action consists of revisions to Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (RCSA) sections 22a-174-22e and 22a-174- 22f, primarily to add compliance dates for sources brought into the applicability of these sections due to a change in the definition of "severe non-attainment area for ozone," The definition change had previously been approved into Connecticut's SIP. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
Learn More🌫️Colorado Regional Haze Regulation and Business Implications
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove a regional haze state implementation plan (SIP) submission submitted by the State of Colorado under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the EPA's Regional Haze Rule (RHR) for the program's second implementation period. Colorado's 2022 SIP submission addresses the requirement that states revise their long-term strategies every implementation period to make reasonable progress towards the national goal of preventing any future, and remedying any existing, anthropogenic impairment of visibility, including regional haze, in mandatory Class I Federal areas. We propose to base our partial disapproval of Colorado's long-term strategy on its inclusion of insufficiently justified enforceable source closures that are not consistent with statutory requirements. Colorado's 2022 SIP submission also addresses other applicable requirements for the second implementation period of the regional haze program. Concurrently, the EPA is proposing to approve a revision to Colorado's SIP consolidating existing regional haze provisions into the same regulation where the State's new, second planning period provisions are located.
Learn More🌍EPA Approves Guam Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Inventory Plan
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to approve a revision to Guam's State Implementation Plan (SIP) under section 110(k)(3) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or "the Act"). This revision concerns the base year emissions inventory for the Piti-Cabras, Guam sulfur dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>) nonattainment area ("Piti-Cabras area" or NAA) for the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS, "standard," or "2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS").
Learn More🌫️Ohio EPA's Second Maintenance Plan Approval for SO₂ Emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving, under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the second 10-year maintenance plan submitted to EPA on November 7, 2024, by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) for the Ohio portion of the Campbell-Clermont Counties, Kentucky-Ohio maintenance area. The Ohio portion of this area consists of Pierce Township in Clermont County, Ohio. The plan addresses the second 10-year maintenance period for the 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). EPA is approving Ohio EPA's submittal for the area because it provides for the continued maintenance of the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS through the end of the second 10-year portion of the maintenance period.
Learn More🌫️EPA Proposes New PM2.5 Air Quality Standards Affecting Businesses
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to determine that the San Joaquin Valley, California fine particulate matter (PM<INF>2.5</INF>) nonattainment area attained the 1997 annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) by the December 31, 2024 applicable attainment date. This proposed determination is based on ambient air quality monitoring data from 2022 through 2024. We are also proposing to make a clean data determination (CDD) based on the 2022 through 2024 data and our evaluation of preliminary air quality monitoring data from 2025. We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.
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