Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Environmental Quality
Board
Air Pollution Control Board

General Notice
General Notice - State Implementation Plan - Proposed Revision to Plan to Attain and Maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ozone
Date Posted: 1/11/2021
Expiration Date: 3/3/2021
Submitted to Registrar for publication: NO
No comment forum defined for this notice.

Notice of action: The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on a proposed plan to attain and maintain the national ambient air quality standard for ozone. The Commonwealth intends to submit the plan as a revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP) in accordance with the requirements of §110(a) of the federal Clean Air Act. The SIP is the 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.

Purpose of notice: DEQ is seeking comment on the issue of whether a regulation amendment should be submitted as a revision to the SIP.

Public comment period: February 1 to March 3, 2021.

Public hearing: A public hearing will 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: The regulation amendment is exempt from the state administrative procedures for adoption of regulations contained in Article 2 of the Administrative Process Act by the provisions of § 2.2-4006 A 4 c of the Administrative Process Act because it is necessary to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act and does not differ materially from the pertinent EPA regulations. Since the amendment is 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 amendment.

Description of proposal: Article 43 (Emission Standards for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills) of 9VAC5-40 was originally designed to control two separate pollutants: (i) ozone in the Northern Virginia ozone nonattainment area as required by § 110 of the Clean Air Act and implemented by 40 CFR Part 51 and (ii) nonmethane organic compounds as required by § 111(d) of the Clean Air Act and implemented by Subpart Cc of 40 CFR Part 60, which is applicable statewide. On August 29, 2016 (81 FR 59276), EPA promulgated new emissions guidelines for municipal solid waste landfills as Subpart Cf of 40 CFR Part 60. To adopt the requirements of Subpart Cf while maintaining the state-only requirements specific to the Northern Virginia ozone nonattainment area, the board promulgated a new Article 43.1 and amended Article 43 to include transitional text (Revision H16). This enabled the adoption of the new statewide standards without affecting the more restrictive requirements of Article 43 applicable to the nonattainment area. The § 111(d) portion of Revision H16 was submitted to EPA as a § 111(d) Plan revision and approved June 23, 2020 (85 FR 37568). The department now seeks to amend the § 110 SIP to incorporate the changes to Article 43 effected by Revision H16.

Federal information: This notice is being given to satisfy the public participation requirements of federal regulations (40 CFR 51.102). 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.

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 on the last day of the comment period. All faxes must have a cover page that lists the intended recipient. All materials received are part of the public record.

To review proposal: The proposal and any supporting documents are available on the DEQ Air Public Notices web site (https://www.deq.virginia.gov/permits-regulations/public-notices). The documents may also be obtained by contacting the DEQ representative named below. The public may schedule an appointment to 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) DEQ Main Street Office, 22nd Floor, 1111 E. Main St, Richmond VA, 804-698-4249 and 2) Northern Regional Office, 13901 Crown Court, Woodbridge VA, 703-583-3800.


Contact Information
Name / Title: Karen G. Sabasteanski 
Address: 1111 East Main Street, Suite 1400
P.O. Box 1105
Richmond, 23218
Email Address: karen.sabasteanski@deq.virginia.gov
Telephone: (804)698-4423    FAX: (804)698-4178    TDD: ()-