Notice of action: The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on a proposed revision to the Commonwealth of Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP is a 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. The Commonwealth intends to submit the regulation to EPA as a revision to the SIP in accordance with the requirements of § 110(a) of the federal Clean Air Act.

Regulations affected: The regulation of the board affected by this action is Emission Standards for Stationary Sources Subject to Case-by-Case RACT Determinations, Article 51 of 9VAC5-40 (Existing Stationary Sources), Revision B15.

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

Public comment period: December 28, 2015 to January 27, 2016.

Public hearing: A public hearing may 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 amendments are 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 they are necessary to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act and do not differ materially from the pertinent EPA regulations. Since the amendments have been adopted and are 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 amendments.

Description of proposal: The proposed revision consists of adding new requirements for the case-by-case determination of reasonably available control technology (RACT) needed in order to meet the EPA 0.075 parts per million (ppm) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone.  On March 6, 2015 (80 FR 12264), EPA amended subpart X to 40 CFR Part 51, which covers the implementation of the 2008 8-hour ozone standard.  The Northern Virginia Ozone Nonattainment Area, which corresponds to the Northern Virginia Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) Emissions Control Areas, and which is part of the Ozone Transport Region (OTR), must meet the RACT requirements of 40 CFR 51.1116. This section of the EPA rule specifies dates by when RACT must be implemented in the OTR.  The state regulations must be consistent with the federal regulations in order for the state to implement RACT.

Federal information: This notice is being given to satisfy the public participation requirements of federal regulations (40 CFR 51.102) and not any provision of state law.  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. It is planned to submit all provisions of the proposal as a revision to the SIP.

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 by the last day of the comment period. All materials received are part of the public record.

To review regulation documents: The proposal and any supporting documents are available on the DEQ Air Public Notices for Plans web site: http://www.deq.state.va.us/Programs/Air/PublicNotices/airplansandprograms.aspx. The documents may also be obtained by contacting the DEQ representative named below. The public may 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) Main Street Office, 8th Floor, 629 E Main St, Richmond VA, 804-698-4070, and 2) Northern Regional Office, 13901 Crown Court, Woodbridge VA, 703-583-3800.