# Mr.

Ron Curry Regional Administrator



# Mary Fallin Governor April14

, 2016 United

States Environmental

Protection

Agency,

Region

6 1445

Ross Avenue,

Suite

1200 Dallas,

Texas 75202-2733 Dear Administrator

Curry: This

letter

is

in response

to EPA's Febmary

11

, 2016

, communication

stating

, 

# inter

alia, EPA's intention

to designate

a portion

of Muskogee

County

as nonattainment

for

the 2010 Sulfur Dioxide

("S0

2 ") National

Ambient

Air Quality Standard ("NAAQS").

The

State

of Oklahoma respectfully

requests

EPA reconsider

its intended designation

of

a portion

of Muskogee

County as being

a nonattainment

area.

In 

# particular,

EPA

is not required

to designate

said portion

of Muskogee

County

at this time,

due

to Oklahoma

Gas

and Electric

' s ("OG&E")

Muskogee Generating

Station

having satisfied

criteria

which exempts

it from

this round

of designations pursuant

to the Consent

Decree

("CD")

at issue

1 

# (i.e

.

, having "announced

for retirement

" certain units). Instead,

the Muskogee

Generating

Station

should

be included

in

a subsequent

designation round

under

EPA's

Data Requirements

Rule ("DRR

" ),

2 and Muskogee

County

should

be designated

at

a later

date.

The

State

of Oklahoma

appreciates

the oppmtunity

to provide supplemental

information

to EPA,

and respectfully

requests

EPA reconsider

its intended designation

of

a pmtion

of Muskogee

County. Background



# On March

2, 2015,

EPA

and Sierra

Club entered

into

the aforementioned

CD which required

EPA

to designate

cetiain

area

s by July

2, 2016

under

the 2010

S02 NAAQS.

Pursuant to paragraph

1 (b)

of the CD, areas

must

be designated

which contain

any stationary

source

that was

not announced

for retirement

by

the date ofthe

CD

and either

(1) emitted

more

than

16

, 000 tons

of

so

2 in 

# 2012

or

(2) emitted

more

than

2

, 600

tons

of

so

2 and

had

an annual average emi

s sion

rate

of 0.45

lbs

S0

2 /Mmbtu

or higher

in 2012. Pursuant

to paragraph

1 (c)

of the

CD

, "announced

for retirement"

means: 1 

# C onsent

Decree

, 

# Sierra

Club

v. Mc

C arthy

, Case

No

.

: 3-13-cv-

3 953-SI

(N.D

. Cal. 2015) 2 

# 80 Fed.

Re

g. 51052

(Aug.

21

, 2015). STATE

C A

I'

I TOL BUILD

I NG

• 2300

N. LIN

CO LN BOU

L EVA

R D, SUITE

212

• OKL

AH

O MA

C

I T

Y. OKLAHOMA

73 105

• (405)

521

- 2342

• FAX:

(405) 521-3353[A]nystationarysourceintheUnitedStateswithacoal-firedunitthatasofJanuaryI,2010,hadacapacityofoverfive(5)megawatts(MW)andthathasarmouncedthatitwillceaseburningcoalatthatunitthroughacompanypublicannouncement,public utilitiescommissionfiling,consentdecree,publiclegalsettlement,finalstateorfederalpermitfiling,orothersimilarmeansofcommunication.Further,paragraph7oftheCDensuresthereisnolimitationonthediscretion affordedEPAundertheCDtoreconsideritsdecision-making,"includingthediscretiontoalter,amendorreviseanyresponseand/orfinalactioncontemplatedbythis[CD]."OnAugust21,2015,thefinalDRRwaspublishedintheFederalRegister.3ItestablishedatimelinefordesignatingareasofthecountrywhichremainundesignatedafterEPA'sdesignationspursuanttotheCDinJuly2016.Inparticular,itsetsforthcriteriafordeterminingwhichareasmustbedesignatedandapathwayfordesignatingareassurroundingapplicablesourcesbasedoneithermodelingormonitoring.Forareaswhicharetobemonitoredforattainmentdemonstrations,airagenciesmustsubmitannualmonitoringplansbyJulyI,2016andmonitorsmustbeoperationalbyJanuary1,2017.OnMarch20,2015,EPAissuedalettertotheStateofOklahomasettingfortbthefacilitiesidentifiedbyEPAasmeetingthecriteriaundertheCD,whichincludedtheMuskogeeGeneratingStation.Atthattime,theStateofOklahomadidnotarguethattheMuskogeeGeneratingStationwasexemptfromtheCDduetoamisinterpretationofthedefinitionof"announcedforretirement,"whichwasbasedinpartonvariousdiscussionsamongEPAandOklahomaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality("ODEQ")staff.OnAugust17,2015,theStateofOklahomasubmitteditsrecommendationstoEPAfordesignatingareassurroundingthosefacilitiesidentifiedbyEPAtobeaffectedbytheCD.OklahomarecommendedadesignationofunclassifiablefortheareasurroundingtheMuskogeeGeneratingStation,butpointedoutOG&E'sarmouncementforretirementofUnits4and5.OnFebruary11,2016,EPAsentalettertotheStateofOklahomastatingitintendstodesignateaportionofMuskogeeCountyasbeinginnonattainmentduetoemissionsfromtheMuskogeeGeneratingStation.MuskogeeGeneratingStationisExemptfromtheCDEPAisnotrequiredatthistimetodesignatetheareainMuskogeeCountysurroundingtheMuskogeeGeneratingStationbecausesaidfacilityisexemptfromtheCDduetohavingarmouncedforretirementtwoofthethreeunitsatthefacility.OG&EannouncedforretirementUnits4and5attheMuskogeeGeneratingStationwithinthemeaningandpriortothedateoftheCD.Inparticular,OG&EannouncedsaidunitsforretirementinitsAugust201410-QfilingwiththeSecuritiesExchangeCommission,statingthereinits"environmentalcomplianceplan3Idincludes...theconversionofMuskogeeUnits4and5tonaturalgas."4Additionally,OG&EannouncedinitsIntegratedResourcePlanfiledwiththeOklahomaCorporationCommission("OCC")inAugust2014that"OG&Ehasdecidedtoconvetitwocoal-firedunitsattheMuskogeePowerPlanttonaturalgas.''5Further,OG&EprovideddirecttestimonytotheOCConAugust6,2014,stating"OG&EplanstoconvertMuskogeeUnits4and5tonaturalgasbeforethedeadlineofJanuary4,2019..."6ODEQinfmmedEPAoftheseannouncementsbyincludingtheminitsSeptember2015submittaltoEPAentitledTechnicalAnalysesandInformationSupportingtheDesignationRecommendationsforOklahoma.7OG&E'saforementionedannouncementsweremadepriortotheCDandconstitute"acompanypublicannouncement,publicutilitiescommissionfiling,consentdecree,publiclegalsettlement,fmalstateorfederalpermitfiling,orothersimilarmeansofcommunication,"asrequiredbyparagraphl(c)oftheCD.Thus,theStateofOklahomarespectfullyrequeststhatEPArecognizeMuskogeeGeneratingStationasbeingexemptfromthecurrentroundofdesignationspursuanttotheCDandrefrainfromdesignatinganyportionofMuskogeeCountyatthistime.Instead,theStateofOklahomarequeststhattheMuskogeeGeneratingStationbedesignatedatalatertimepursuanttotheDRR.Inparticular,ODEQintendstorelocatetheexistingambientairS02monitorandevaluatetheareausingmonitoringdataacquiredpursuanttotheDRRandthemonitoringTAD.TheStateofOklahomastandsbyitsoriginalrecommendation,butwishestoemphasizethefactthattheMuskogeeGeneratingStationshouldnothavebeenincludedinthisroundofdesignationsinthefirstplace.FactsandcircumstancessurroundingtheMuskogeeGeneratingStationhavenotchangedsincetheStateofOklahoma'ssubmittalofitsdesignationrecommendationandtechnicalsuppmtdocuments.However,ithasbecomecleartotheStatethatinclusionofthefacilitywithinthelistofaffectedsourcesundertheCDwaserroneousand/orbasedonamisinterpretationoftheCD.OtherSourcesofintheAreaInadditiontothefuturesignificantreductionsofso2intheareaduetoretirementsatOG&E,anothermajorsow-ceofS02nearOG&Ewillbedrasticallyreducingitsemissions.GeorgiaPacific,anS02sourcewithinMuskogeeCountyandcontdbutingtoemissionsintheportionofthecountyatissue,hasstatedtoODEQthatitwillreplaceoneofitsthreeexisting4SeeOklahomaGasandElectricQuarterlyReport(Form10-Q)(Aug.7,2014).OG&E'sSECfilingsareavailableat:http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtrnl?c=I06374&p=irol-sec5SeeOklahomaGasandElectric,IntegratedResourcePlan-2014Update(Aug.6,2014).OG&E'sOCCfilingsareavailableat:http://phx.comorate-ir.netlphoenix.zhtrnl?c=l06374&o=irol-utilityreg6SeeDirectTestimonyofUsha-MariaTurnerbeforetheOklahomaCorporationCommission(Aug.6,2014).Copyavailableat:http://imaging.occeweb.corn/AP/CaseFiles/occ5129575.pdf7SeeIntroductionandSummary,page5(Stating"OG&EMuskogeeGeneratingStationissubjecttoaFederalImplementationPlan(FIP)(40CFR§52.I923),whichrequiresUnits4and5tomeetaS02emissionlimitof0.06lb/MMBTUbyJanuary4,2019.OG&EhascommittedtomeetthefederalBARTlimitbyconversionofUnit4andUnit5tonaturalgas.").coal-firedboilerswithanaturalgasboilerbefore2017.ThefacilityisundertakingthisretirementaspartofitscompliancestrategyfortheBoilerMACT(40CFRPart63,SubpartDDDDD)andrepresentsthattheretirementwillresultinareductionofanestimated400tonsofS02annually.Thus,theretirementofGeorgiaPacific'sboilerwillresultintheco-benefitofasignificantanddirectreductionofS02emissionsintheportionofMuskogeeCountyatissuewithinthecurrentcalendaryear.Thismeansthereisatotalofthreecoal-firedunitswhichwillberetiredbeforeEPAhasevencompletedalldesignationsundertheDRR.InadditiontotheaforementionedrationaleforexcludingtheMuskogeeGeneratingStationfromtheCD,DEQ'smonitorrelocationwillprovideEPAthenecessarymonitoreddatatomoreappropriatelyevaluatetheareaundertheDRR.ConclusionBecauseOG&EannouncedforretirementUnits4and5attheMuskogeeGeneratingStationwithinthemeaningandtimeframeestablishedbytheCD,andisthereforeexemptfromtheCD,theStateofOklahomarespectfullyrequeststhatEPAreconsideritsdecisiontodesignateaportionofMuskogeeCountyatthistimeandinsteaddesignatethearealaterpursuanttotheclearlyapplicabletimelineintheDRR.Further,itisofnotethatthearea'smajorsourcesofS02arecurrentlyintheprocessofretiringatotalofthreecoal-firedunits,whichwillresultinextremelysignificantreductionsofso2inthearea.Sincerely,AMaryFallinGovernor