April 29, 2010

Via e-mail

Honorable Gina McCarthy (McCarthy.gina@epa.gov)

Assistant Administrator

Ariel Rios Building

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W. 

Mail Code: 6101A

Washington, DC 20460

RE: Request for a Temporary Stay of the Comment Period: Docket ID. EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0064; 

Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Nonattainment New Source Review (NSR): 

Aggregation; Reconsideration

Dear Assistant Administrator McCarthy:

The American Petroleum Institute (API) represents over 400 member companies involved in all aspects of the oil 

and natural gas industry. API is submitting this request for a temporary stay of the comment period which 

supports the April 19, 2010 correspondence on this subject sent to you by the Portland Cement Association and 

the Rubber Manufacturers Association (henceforth referred to as the "PCA request").

As outlined in the PCA request, on April 15, 2010, EPA published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal 

Register, 75 Fed. Reg. 19,567, to reconsider the final rule that was published on January 15, 2009 in the abovereferenced docket (74 Fed. Reg. 2,376). The final rule had been issued by EPA with the expressed intent of 

clarifying for sources and permitting authorities when emissions would need to be aggregated for purposes of 

determining when a modification to a facility will require a new source review permit (NSR).

API supports the PCA request and therefore asks EPA to: 

(1) insert into the docket a copy of each and every case-by-case letter EPA has issued on the question of when 

aggregation should or need not occur, so that members of the public have the opportunity to review and analyze 

them prior to their submission of comments in response to NPRM; 

(2) insert into the docket a copy of the August 7, 1980 and June 28, 1989 notices referred to above, and a copy of 

any other relevant Federal Register notices EPA has published on this issue; and

Ted Steichen

Senior Policy Advisor, 

Regulatory and Scientific Affairs

1220 L Street, NW

Washington, DC 20005-4070

USA

Telephone 202-682-8568

Fax 202-682-8270

Email steichent@api.org
2

(3) temporarily stay the beginning of the comment period pending the insertion of the letters and Federal Register 

notices into the docket as requested. Depending on the volume of material provided by the docket by EPA, an 

extension of the comment period may also be warranted.

API agrees with the PCA request, that without having full access to such information the regulated community 

has no meaningful way to determine whether the NPRM’s assertion that the final rule “established a new 

interpretation of the existing NSR rules” is accurate, as has been asserted, or whether the final rule merely used 

imprecise wording in its effort to clarify EPA’s policy, as had been its intent. 

API also agrees with the PCA request; while acknowledging the existence of EPA’s online NSR Policy & 

Guidance Database, the database in its current form does not provide the degree of functionality that the public 

needs for purposes of responding to this rulemaking.

Finally, API also agrees with the PCA request, that the insertion of this information into the docket and as 

requested would demonstrate Administrator Jackson’s commitment to her “Open Government Plan” and the 

plan’s goal of ensuring public access and participation in EPA’s activities.

API asks for a response to our stay request at your earliest convenience. If there any questions about this request, 

please contact me at (202) 682-8568 or steichent@api.org.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/

Ted Steichen

cc: Khary Cathen – API

Howard Feldman – API

Janice Raburn – API

Andrew T. O’Hare – PCA (aohare@cement.org)

Robert A. Hirsch – PCA (rhirsch@cement.org)

Sarah E. Amick – RMA (samick@rma.org)

Richard Ossias, Esq. (ossias.richard@epa.gov)

David Svendsgaard (svendsgaard.dave@epa.gov)