United States Environmental Protection Agency , Region IX Air Division Technical Support Document

for EPA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

for the California State Implementation Plan Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District

Rule 130

– Definitions
AND Mendocino County

Air Quality

Management District Rule 130

– Definitions



### Laura Yanna yo n March 9 , 2011ii Table of Contents Section Page Introduction 1 PSD Program SIP Revision Submittal s 1 Background 1 Rule Summar ies 2 Rule Evaluation 2 Section 110(l) of the Act 3 Section 193 of the Act 3 Recommendations 4 Attachment s 41



### Introduction Part C of title Iof the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) contains the provisions for the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) of air quality in areas designated as “attainment” or “unclassifiable” for the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Part D of title Iof the Act contains the requirements for areas designated “nonattainment” for any o f the NAAQS. B oth parts C and D of the Act require pre
- construction permit programs for certain new or modified stationary s ources of pollutants. T he r equirements under part C, referred to as “PSD New Source Review” (PSD) appl y to certain new or modified sources that would be located within attainment or unclassifiable areas, and apply to all regulated pollutants, except those pollutants for which an ar ea has been designated as “nonattainment.” T he requirements under part D, referred to as “Nonattainment NSR,” (NSR) apply to certain new or modified sources of nonattainment pollutants in nonattainment areas. C ollectivel y, the pre
- construction permit req uirements related to PSD and Nonattainment NSR are commonly referred to simply

as “NSR.” B oth of these programs appl y to “major” stationary sources and “major modifications” as those terms are defined in 40 CFR Part 51, Subpart I
. In addition to the regu lation of major stationary sources, states are also required to adopt a program to provide for the regulation of the construction and modification of minor stationary sources and minor modifications at major sources, to assure that the NAAQS are achieved. These pre
- construction requirements are commonly referred to as “minor NSR.” 

### PSD Program SIP Revision Submittal s Rule 130

–

Definitions was adopted by the Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District (NS CAPC D or District ) on December 14 , 2010
. Rule 130

– Definitions was adopted by the Mendocino County Air Quality Management District (MCAQMD or District ) on February 15, 2011. The California Air Resources Board (ARB) submitted both rules to EPA by a letter dated February 28 , 2010. A RB is the gov ernor’s designee for submitting official revisions of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) to EPA. Previous version s of Rule 130 are currentl y approved into the SI P for both Districts. F or NSCAPCD and MCAQMD, Rule 130 was last approved into the SI P on February 9 , 1999 and July

3 1, 1998 , respectivel y (See 64 FR 6223 and 63 FR 40830)
. T here are no other pending submittals of these rules. 

### Background Both the NSCAPCD and MCAQMD are currently designated as attainment or unclassifiable for all NAA QS, and are therefore required to adopt and maintain a SIP
- approved PSD permit program , CAA Section 161
. In both Districts, a combination of SIP approved rules make up the PSD permit program, including Rules 130

– Definitions , 200

– Permit Requirements , 220

– New Source Review Standards , and 260

– Exclusions
.2

The submitted revisions to Rule 130

– Definitions are being evaluated together in this TSD because both the existing SI P rules and proposed revisions are very similar. In each case, the Distric t has revised Rule 130 to provide new and revised definitions in order to ensure consistency with CAA requirements for PSD programs . T he specific changes are discussed below in the Rule Evaluation section of this document. 

### Rule Summar ies Mendocino Rule 130

– Definitions Rule 130 defines various terms used throughout the District’s Regulations. Inp articular it provides definitions of several key t erms related to the PSD program. In this revision, the District has added new definitions f or the terms Greenhouse Gases, PM 10 , and PM 2.5 , and revised the definitions for the terms Precursor, Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Increment, and Significant. The District also made other minor technical corrections
. The purpose of these changes was to make the terms consistent with the current definitions contained in EPA PSD regulations codified in 40 CFR 51.166. Northern Sonoma Rule 130

– Definitions Rule 130 defines various terms used throughout the District’s Regulations. Inp art icular it provides definitions of several key t erms related to the PSD program. In this revision, the District has added new definitions for the terms Greenhouse Gases, PM 10 , and PM 2.5 , and revised the definitions for the terms Precursor, Prevention of Si gnificant Deterioration (PSD) Increment, and Significant. The District also made other minor technical corrections
. T he purpose of these changes was to make the terms consistent with the current definitions contained in EPA PSD regulations codified in 40 CFR 51.166. 

### Rule Evaluation For this TSD, we have reviewed each Rule 130 SI P submittal to ensure the new and revised definitions meet the requi rements of section 110 and part C of title Iof the Act and implementing regulations at 40 CFR 51.16 6
. This TSD describes the rule revisions and the reasons for our proposed action on the Rule 130 submittals. S ince both Districts have made identical revisions to their rules, the changes are only discussed once below. The Act requires all States with attai nment or unclassifiable areas to submit a PSD program that contains specific PSD program provisions. S ince the submitted rules only consist of definitions, our evaluation focuses on whether the definitions contain language which is either identical or equ ivalent to that found in 40 CFR 51.100 and 51.166. New Definitions  A new definition has been added for Greenhouse Gases (GHG). This term is defined within the definition of the term “subject to regulation” in 40 CFR 51.166 (b)(48).3 The District’s definition is equivalent in that it includes the same six gases as EPA’s definition of GHGs.

 A new definition has been added for PM 10 , and PM 2.5 . T hese definitions are consistent with the definitions of these NAAQS pollutants found in 40 C FR 51.100 (qq), 50.6, 50.7, and 50.13. Revised Definitions  The current definition for the term Precursor has been revised to specify that VOC and NO x are ozone precursors, and that NO x and SO X are PM 2.5 precursors. T hese changes make this definition consistent with the precursors identified by the Administrator, within the definition of “regulated NSR pollutant” in 40 CFR 51.166 (b)(49).

 The current definition for the term Prevention of Significant De terioration (PSD) In crement has been revised to update the allowable increments for PM 10 , and add the allowable increments for PM 2.5 , consistent with the values listed in 40 CFR 51.166(c)

– Ambient air increments and other measures
.
 The current definition for the term Significant has been revised to add s ignificant e mission r ate thresholds for PM 2.5 and municipal waste combustors. These changes make this definition consistent with the definition of “ s ignificant , ” in 40 CFR 51.166 (b) (23). Summary As discussed above, each of the new or revised terms is consistent with the applicable definitions for these terms in 40 CFR 51.100 and 51.166 and part 50
. 

### Section 110( l ) of the Act Section 110( l ) of the Act prohibits EPA from approving an y revision of a SIP if the revision would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress, or an y other applicable requirement of the Act. The approval of these ru les would strengthen the applicable SIP by adding and updating terms that establish applicability and evaluation criteria for pollutants subject to the PSD program
. The rules do not represent an y typ e of relaxation and therefore would not interfere with attainment and reasonable further progress, and thus are approvable under Section 110(l) of the Act. 

### Section 193 of the Act Section 193 of the Act, which was added b y the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, only applies to control requirements in nonattai nment areas. Neither the NSCAPCD and MCAQMD4

are classified nonattainment for an y NAAQS ; therefore Section 193 does not apply to this rulemaking action. 

### Recommendations Pursuant to section 110(k)(3) of the Act, we recommend full approval of the submitted rule s . W e recommend approval of the submitted rule s based on our determination that the rule s compl y with applicable statutory and regulatory

provisions, including section 110(a)(2)(C) and part C of title Iof the Act. Insupport of this recommendation, we have concluded that our approval of Rule 130 (for each District) complies with section 110(l) of the Act because the rules do not represent a relaxation of an y current SIP provision. If we finalize this action as proposed, our approval would be codifi ed through revisions to 40 CFR 52. 220 (identification of plan)
. 

### Attachments 1) Submitted NSCAPCD Rule 130 and MCAQMD Rule 130. 2) SI P Approved NSCAPCD Rule 130 and MCAQMD Rule 130.