Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Environmental Quality
Board
Air Pollution Control Board
chapter
General Provisions [9 VAC 5 ‑ 20]
Action is Exempt from Article 2 of the Administrative Process Act
Action:
Ozone Implementation (Revision C19)
Action 5457
 
General Information
Action Summary On March 6, 2015 (80 FR 12264), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established a final rule to implement the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This rule addressed a range of nonattainment area state implementation plan (SIP) requirements for the 2008 NAAQS, including how to address the revoked 1997 NAAQS. Under Revision G16, the Virginia rules (9VAC5-20-204) were amended to call attention to the fact that the 1997 standard no longer had any effect for the purposes of ozone implementation. Revocation of the 1997 standard also meant that transportation and general conformity reviews were no longer needed in 1997 ozone maintenance areas, and the Virginia conformity regulations were amended accordingly. On February 10, 2017, the department officially requested approval of a revision to the Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the amended regulations. Since the SIP was originally submitted, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated portions of EPA's final implementation rule on February 16, 2018. Because those provisions were vacated, EPA requested that Virginia officially withdraw the Revision G16 SIP submittal, and the department did so on February 27, 2019. Virginia must now amend its regulations in order to conform to the court decision. In addition to addressing general implementation issues, 9VAC5-20-204 A 4 has been added. This is needed in order to implement the 2015 ozone NAAQS in the Northern Virginia Ozone Nonattainment Area (40 CFR 81.309).
Chapters Affected
  VAC Chapter Name Action Type
Primary 9 VAC 5-20 General Provisions Amend Existing Regulation
Other chapters
  9 VAC 5 - 151 Regulation for Transportation Conformity Amend Existing Regulation
  9 VAC 5 - 160 Regulation for General Conformity Amend Existing Regulation
  9 VAC 5 - 30 Ambient Air Quality Standards Amend Existing Regulation
Executive Branch Review This Action is exempt from Article 2 of the Administrative Process Act. The normal executive branch review process is not required. As such, it can be submitted directly for publication and is effective upon publication.
Exempt Citation: 2.2-4006 A 4 b and 4 c of the Administrative Process Act
RIS Project Yes  [006032]
Is Federal action a driving factor in this regulatory change? If so, please provide a specific reference to the law, regulation or court case.
No. 15-1115 US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and 40 CFR 81.309
New Periodic Review This action will not be used to conduct a new periodic review.
 
Stages
Stages associated with this regulatory action.
Stage ID Stage Type Status
8863 Final Stage complete. This regulation became effective on 03/04/2020.
 
Contact Information
Name / Title: Karen G. Sabasteanski 
Address: 1111 East Main Street, Suite 1400
P.O. Box 1105
Richmond, VA 23218
Email Address: karen.sabasteanski@deq.virginia.gov
Phone: (804)659-1973    FAX: ()-    TDD: ()-

This person is the primary contact for this chapter.