News

EPA Proposes to Approve Pennsylvania Attainment Demonstration for PM 2.5

On November 2, 2011, EPA published in the Federal Register, its proposed rule to approve revisions to Pennsylvania's state implementation plan ("SIP"). Pennsylvania had submitted to EPA a proposed revision to the Pennsylvania SIP intended to demonstrate attainment with the 1997 annual fine particulate matter national ambient air quality standard for the Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware nonattainment area. EPA has interpreted the SIP revision to demonstrate that the Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia area satisfied the PM 2.5 attainment demonstration requirement by the regulatory attainment date of April 2010. Therefore, final approval of the SIP demonstration would avoid the need for Pennsylvania to impose reasonably available control measures ("RACM") upon major sources in the Philadelphia region. The final determination would also prevent applicability of the New Source Review provisions for nonattainment areas for the construction of a new source or major modification of an existing major source of fine particulate in the same region.

EPA is accepting written comment on the proposed rule until December 2, 2011.