1 Statement of the Air and Radiat ion Management Administration Maryland Department of the Environment For the Public Hearing Concerning the Implementation, Maintenance, and Enforcement of the PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard State Implementation Plan

Held on March 26, 2008

Good morning. My name is Jim Wilkinson. I am a Planner in the Air Quality Planning Division, Air Quality Planning Program of the Air and Radiation Management Administration, Maryland Department of Environment (MDE)

.

This public hearing concerns Maryland's proposed plan for implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of the PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

This public hearing is being held pursuant to federal law found at 42 U. S. C. § 7410(a) and 40 CFR Parts 51.102 and 251. It is also being held in conformance with the State Administrative Procedure Act, under the State Government Article, beginning at Section 10-101.

Notice of this public hearing appeared in

• The Baltimore Sun on February 22, 2008, and

• The Maryland Department of the Environmen t's website on February 20, 2008 and remained on the website until today's hearing.

Copies of these notices will be submitted with the formal SIP submission package to the U.S.

EPA.

Copies of the proposed SIP were submitted for review to the State Clearinghouse and are also submitted at this time into the hearing record. Copies were also made available for public inspection on the Maryland Department of the Environment's website, at the Air and Radiation Management Administration offices in Baltimore, Cumberland, and Salisbury, and at all local health departments or local air quality control offices.

The purpose of this hearing is to provide the public with an opportunity to formally comment on the proposed SIP document.

Summary of Proposed State Implementation Plan

The purpose of this document is to examine Maryland’s State Implementation Plan (SIP) and determine if all necessary air quality monitoring, implementation, maintenance, and enforcement

measures for the PM 2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) are in place.

§110(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act provides a detailed listing of various requirements for state implementation plans regarding the national ambient air quality standards. In this SIP document,2 each subparagraph from (A) through (M) is broken down, with various provisions supporting the requirements. Should any portion of Maryland’s state implementation plan be found lacking, a prompt submittal to correct such deficiencies must be made.

The ambient air quality monitoring/data system section of this document under §110(a)(2)(B) is intended to replace Maryland's air quality monitoring network SIP revision of December 20, 1979 approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on August 31, 1981 (FR 46:43677).

CONSIDERATION OF COMMENTS

The Department will consider all pertinent comments, and revise the proposed plan if necessary, before making a final decision to adopt the plan and submit it to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval as a Maryland State Implementation Plan (SIP).

The comment period for this SIP ends by 5 p.m. today, March 26, 2008.