April 22-28, 2023
In this week's issue:
- NACAA Comments on EPA’s Draft Guidance for Contingency Measures for Ozone and PM Nonattainment Areas (April 24, 2023)
- EPA Publishes Phase 3 Heavy-Duty GHG Proposal, Sets June 16 Comment Deadline; Virtual Public Hearing to Take Place May 2-3 (April 27, 2023)
- EPA Publishes More Stringent HAP Requirements for Power Plants Under MATS – Sets Comment Deadline (April 24, 2023)
- EPA Publishes Proposed Rules for Chemical (HON) and Polymers Facilities – Sets Comment Deadline (April 25, 2023)
- EPA Publishes Proposed Amendments to Four Air Toxics Rules and Sets Comment Deadline (April 27, 2023)
- Environmental Groups File Suit Challenging Amendments to Lead Battery Manufacturing Emission Standards (April 24, 2023)
- D.C. Circuit Declines to Rehear Case Challenging 2021 CSAPR Update (April 25, 2023)
- EPA Announces Funding Opportunity for Grants Under Clean School Bus Program (April 24, 2023)
- NACAA Letter to U.S. Senate Forwarding Comments Highlights Need for Federal Emission Reduction Measures; Senate Passes CRA Disapproval of EPA Heavy Duty Truck NOx Rule (April 26, 2022)
This Week in Review
NACAA submitted comments to EPA on the agency’s March 17, 2023, “Draft Guidance on the Preparation of State Implementation Plan Provisions That Address the Nonattainment Area Contingency Measure Requirements for Ozone and Particulate Matter.” The guidance is intended to assist state and local air agencies preparing ozone and particulate matter (PM) nonattainment State Implementation Plans that must include continency measures (CMs) that would take effect if an area fails to attain an ozone or PM National Ambient Air Quality Standard by the prescribed attainment date or meet reasonable further progress requirements. In the draft guidance, EPA focuses on three new or revised aspects of the agency’s current contingency measures guidance: 1) the method by which state and local air agencies calculate the EPA-recommended level of emission reductions CMs should provide; 2) recommendations for an air agency’s infeasibility demonstration if the air agency cannot identify feasible CMs sufficient to result in the recommended level of CM emission reductions; and 3) the recommended time period within which emission reductions from CMs should occur. Among NACAA’s comments and recommendations are that EPA should revise its method of calculating the recommended level of emission reductions to exclude emissions in the inventory to which the calculation is tied that come from federally regulated (including, among others, mobile) and upwind sources that are outside the control of the state or local air agency. In addition, EPA should acknowledge its responsibility and act to reduce emissions from federally regulated sources and provide CMs for those sources of emissions. NACAA also provides specific comments and recommendations related to the infeasibility demonstration EPA describes in the draft guidance as well as on the timing of reductions from CMs.
For further information:
https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/NACAA_Comments-Draft_CM_Guidance-042423lh-1.pdf
EPA published in the Federal Register (88 Fed. Reg. 25,926) its proposed rule, titled “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3”; the proposal was announced by the agency on April 12, 2023 (see related article in the April 8-14, 2023, Washington Update). Under the proposed Phase 3 rule, EPA would establish new greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for onroad heavy-duty vehicles and engines sold between model years (MYs) 2028 and 2032, building on the Phase 2 truck GHG standards set in 2016 for MYs 2021 through 2027, and revise certain existing GHG standards for MY 2027 established under the Phase 2 rule to make them more rigorous. (The proposed Phase 3 rule does not include emission standards for any criteria pollutants or precursors.) EPA is providing a 50-day public comment period for this proposal, with a deadline of June 16, 2023. Last week, EPA published a Federal Register notice (88 Fed. Reg 23,388) formally announcing the virtual public hearing for the Phase 3 proposal. The virtual hearing will take place on May 2-3 (and possibly May 4). EPA requires preregistration, both to testify and to listen. Email EPA-HDHearings@epa.gov to request a preregistration form.
For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-04-27/pdf/2023-07955.pdf,
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-04-17/pdf/2023-07964.pdf and
EPA has published in the Federal Register a proposal to update and strengthen the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units (EGUs), also known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) (88 Fed. Reg. 24854). The proposal was originally announced on April 5, 2023. The publication starts the 60-day public comment period, which ends on June 23, 2023. EPA has also announced a public hearing for May 9, 2023. The proposed amendments to MATS call for a two-thirds reduction in the filterable particulate matter (fPM) standard; removal of the low-emitting EGU provisions for fPM and non-mercury HAP metals; tightening of the emission limit for mercury for existing lignite-fired power plants by 70 percent; compliance with the fPM standard using PM continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS); and revision of startup requirements to assure better emissions performance during startup. EPA’s reevaluation of the May 2020 risk review showed that residual risk is at an acceptable level due to the reductions that have already been achieved.
For further information: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-04-24/pdf/2023-07383.pdf
and
https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/mercury-and-air-toxics-standards
EPA has published in the Federal Register proposed revisions to six National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) and four New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for volatile organic compounds in an effort to reduce emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO), chloroprene and other substances (88 Fed.Reg. 25080). Four of the NESHAPs compose what is commonly referred to as the Hazardous Organic NESHAP (HON) and apply to chemical manufacturing plants. The other two NESHAPs are the Group I and II Polymers and Resins rules. The proposals were announced on April 6, 2023. The public comment period ends on June 26, 2023 and EPA will hold a public hearing on May 16, 2023. The four NSPS apply to certain equipment and processes at plants that manufacture synthetic organic chemicals. Among the provisions of the proposal are requirements for sources to conduct fenceline monitoring for certain HAPs and take action if results are above a certain level. The proposal also includes new requirements to improve the efficiency of flares; stronger standards for process vents, heat exchange systems, equipment leaks and storage tanks; new emission limits for dioxins and furans; and removal of startup, shutdown and malfunction exemptions. In developing the rules, EPA conducted a community risk assessment in which the agency considered the impacts of the proposal on risks from all large facilities in communities within six miles of affected plants (including nearby sources not covered by the rules).
For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-04-25/pdf/2023-07188.pdf
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EPA has published in the Federal Register proposed amendments to four air toxics rules that were announced on April 5, 2023: the Petroleum Refineries National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP); the Ethylene Production NESHAP (EMACT); the Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing NESHAP (MON); and the Organic Liquids Distribution NESHAP (OLD) (88 Fed. Reg. 25574). This measure proposes to reconsider certain elements of similar provisions in the four NESHAPs, including the work-practice standards for pressure relief devices and emergency flaring and the work-practice standards for degassing of floating roof storage vessels. The proposal also includes technical corrections and clarifications for each of the rules. EPA announced that it plans to address other clarifications and technical amendments that were requested in the petitions for reconsideration for each of the four rules prior to the July 2023 compliance dates and that it also plans to propose allowing the use of pressure-assisted flares for petroleum refineries to fully align standards with current operational practices. The comment deadline for the proposal is June 12, 2023.
For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-04-27/pdf/2023-07627.pdf
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Hoosier Environmental Council, California Communities Against Toxics and Sierra Club filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging EPA’s final amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Lead Acid Battery Manufacturing Area Sources and the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Lead Acid Battery Manufacturing Plants. The final rule, which was published on February 23, 2023, applies to plants that produce lead acid batteries and their processes, including grid casting, paste mixing, lead oxide manufacturing, three-process operations (battery assembly) and lead reclamation. In their 2022 comments during the rule’s proposal stage, the petitioners and other environmental groups argued that EPA’s proposed standards were not stringent enough and its compliance timelines were arbitrarily long.
For further information:
https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/Hoosier-Environmental-v.-EPA-23-1119-PFR.pdf
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied an April 17th petition by the Midwest Ozone Group (MOG) for panel or en banc rehearing of its opinion upholding the April 30, 2021 Final Revised Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) Update. MOG, an affiliation of power companies and other industry organizations, argued in its April 17th rehearing petition that the court improperly failed to address the merits of several substantive arguments that the group raised in its challenge to the rule. Most significantly, MOG asserted, the panel overlooked the “absence of legal authority supporting EPA’s failure to align the upwind state obligations imposed by the Revised Update Rule to the downwind regulatory requirements related to the applicable nonattainment deadline.” The court did not ask EPA to respond to the petition before issuing its orders denying both panel rehearing and rehearing en banc.
For further information:
https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/MOG-v.-EPA-Panel-Rehearing-Denial-4-25-23.pdf
and
https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/MOG-v.-EPA-En-Banc-Rehearing-Denial-4-25-23.pdf
EPA announced the issuance of a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) making available $400 million in grants under the agency’s Clean School Bus Program. The grants will be awarded to fund electric, propane and compressed natural gas (CNG) low- or zero-emission school buses. EPA will give priority to applications for grants to replace buses serving “high-need local education agencies”; Tribal school districts funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs or receiving basic support payments for students living on Tribal lands; and rural areas. The deadline for submitting applications is August 22, 2023; EPA expects to notify those selected to receive grants from November 2023 to January 2024 and to award the grants in February and March 2024. Eligible applicants are 1) state and local governmental entities that provide bus service; 2) public charter school districts; 3) Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations or Tribally controlled schools; 4) nonprofit school transportation associations; and 5) eligible contractors (including original equipment manufacturers, dealers, school bus service providers and private bus fleets). Recipients of grants to purchase electric school buses will be awarded funding to cover bus and infrastructure costs. On Wednesday, May 10, 2023, EPA will hold the first of a series of information sessions, via webinar, to provide more information about this NOFO and take questions and feedback.
For further information:
https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/clean-school-bus-program-grants
The U.S. Senate has passed a disapproval bill using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would nullify EPA’s December 2022 rule limiting NOx from heavy duty vehicles. The bill, “Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to ‘Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards’” (S.J. Res. 11), was introduced on February 9, 2023 by Sen. Deb Fisher (R-NE) (for more information, please see the related story in the April 14, 2023 edition of the NACAA Washington Update). Sen. Fisher’s Senate bill passed on a vote of 50-49, with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) voting with Democrats and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) joining all 49 Senate Republicans in the vote. NACAA sent a letter on April 25, 2023, to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), as well as Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) and Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (D-WV), which forwarded NACAA’s May 16, 2022 comments on EPA’s proposed rule and highlighted that letter’s points that the reductions from the rule will have urgently needed nationwide health benefits, and that without limits to federally-regulated sources like these trucks, many state and local agencies will be forced to adopt limits on stationary sources over which they have authority to control, at ever-increasing costs to businesses. A companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.J. Res. 53) introduced by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) on April 6, 2023, has not yet received a vote, but the measure is expected to pass the House if taken to the floor. On April 26, 2023, President Joe Biden issued a statement with his intent to veto the bill if it passes both chambers of Congress.
For further information:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/11
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https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-joint-resolution/53
and
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SAP-SJRes-11.pdf
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