## December 8, 2015 Public Hearing Te s timon y Propo s ed Exce pti o nal Events Rule R ev is ion s My n a m e is Da n J o hn so n. I a m the Exec uti ve Direc to r of th e W es te rn S t ates Air Reso urces Co un c il

- kn own to m os t o f yo u b y o ur acro n y m: W ES T A R

. W ES T A R i s a n o rga ni za ti o n of 1 5 wes te rn s ta te air qu a lity m a n age m e n t age n c i es. T h a n k yo u fo r the opport uni ty to co m me n t o n thi s imp o rt ant rul e. T h e WE S T A R Cou n c il s tro n g ly s upp o rt s E PA 's effo rt s to imp rove th e effec ti ve n ess a nd e ffi c ie nc y of th e exce pti o n a l eve nt s reg ul a ti o n a nd a pprec ia te EP A ·s w illin g n ess to co n s ult with th e s ta tes o n thi s important m a tt e r. S im p ly put , th e pu rp ose of th e exce ption a l ev ent s ru l e i s to e n s ure that a s t a te i s n eve r re quire d to d eve lo p a State Impl e ment a ti o n Plan to a ddr ess un co ntroll a bl e so urce s of air po ll ution. Thi s i s not to say that unh ea lth y a ir q u a lity ca u sed b y exce pti o n a l eve nts s ho uld b e ig n o re d

. Wh e n a ir qua li ty stand a rd s a r e vio la ted

. th e a ir i s unh ea lth y r ega rdle ss o f th e so urce. a nd a pp ro pri a te ac tio n s s h o ul d be ta ke n to miti ga te pu b li c h ealth i mp ac t s. T h e i ss ue i s n o t w h e th e r acti o n s h ou ld be take n - it s h o uld. T h e i ss u e is w h e th e r th e deve l o pme nt o f a S ta te Impl e m e nt a ti o n Pl an i s th e b es t way to a ddr ess uncontroll a bl e so urces o f a ir p o lluti o n - a nd c lea rl y it i s not. W E ST AR s upport s E PA 's propo se d rul e rev i s ion s that ad dre ss man y o f o ur longs tandin g co n ce rn s . We we lco m e EP A 's prop osa l to r ev i se th e ex c e pti o n a l eve nt s reg ulation rath e r th a n iss uin g m o re g uid a n c e that , to th e impl e m e ntin g s ta te s, h as th e effec t of rul es . Several im po rt a nt rul e c h a n ges a re p ro p osed in c ludin g rem ova l of th e exis tin g o bli gati o n to show th a t th e except io n a l eve nt i s assoc ia ted w i th a ir qu a lity co n ce nt rat i o n s in ex c ess of hi s to ri ca l flu ctuati o n a nd th e rem ova l o f th e ex i st in g obli gati o n to s h ow th a t , but fo r th e eve nt th e re wo uld n o t h a v e b ee n an a ir q u a lit y v io l a ti o n . We a l so s up po rt EP A's effo rt s to s treamlin e th e e x ce ption a l eve nt s process when th e c irc um s t a n ces s urroundin g th e e vent are cl e ar , a s EP A propo ses in th e dr a ft wi ldfire guidanc e . S treamlinin g addre sses o ur lo n gs t a ndin g c o ncern a b o ut th e ex tra o r dinary commitme nt o f res ourc es n ee d e d b y b o th s t a tes a nd E P A to prep a r e a nd a ppro ve an ex c e pti o n a l eve nt s r e que s t. WESTA R i s deve loping d e ta i le d w ritt e n co mm e nt s fo r s ubmi ss io n to th e doc ke t fo r th e pro p ose d rul e rev i s i o n s. To d ay . I w il l di scuss two key to pi cs t ha t a r c of p arti c ul a r inte res t to t h e weste rn s t a tes. Th e fir s t topi c i s re la te d to th e " not r easo n a bl y c ontrollable or preve ntabl e"' se ction of th e propo s al. A s a cond ition for approval of a n ex c e pt ional ev e nt r e qu es t , s t a tes are re quire d to d e mon s tra te, to E PA 's s ati s faction , that a n y co ntrol m e a s ures th a t co ul d " re as onabl y" h ave b e en in pl ace a t th e tim e o f th e eve nt mu s t have b ee n in pl ace, in c ludin g esc alatin g co ntrol meas ures i n a r eas s ubj ec t to r ecu rrin g du s t eve nt s an d w ildfire eve nt s . WE S T A R s up po rt s EPA 's proposa l to co n sider r e leva n t co ntrol meas ures inclu ded in rece nt n o nattai nment o r m a inte n ance S IP s as s uffi c ie nt to mee t thi s c rit e ri o n. We be li eve that thi s sa

m e co n ce pt s h o ul d a p p l y in a tt a inm e nt a reas as we ll. In an area th a t i s c urr e ntl y in co mplian ce w ith a ir q uality s t a ndard s exce pt o n da ys impacte d b y un co nt ro ll a bl e eve nt s , Publi c H ea rin g o n E P A Exce pti o nal E ve nt s Prop ose d Rul e R ev i s i o n s D ece m be r 8. 20 1 5E PA 's prop os al would r e quire a s tate to implem e nt s om e und e fin e d s et o f e mi ss ion co ntrol me as ures in anti c ipation of futur e uncontroll a ble eve nt s in order to b e e li g ibl e to exc lud e th e eve nt-impac te d data. Whil e w e agre e that the impl e m e nt a tion o f m e a s ures that would materially provid e public h ea lth prote c tion s again s t unhealthy leve ls of air p o llution make se nse , s uch a s tho se m e a s ures out lin e d in S e cti o n VI of th e pre amble , s ta tes s hould not be r e quired to g u ess what additi o nal mea s ures E P A w o uld find ac c e ptabl e to qu a l i fy a s " r eas onabl e " ' und e r th e exce p t ion a l eve nt s rul e . In s tead. we re ite rate our pre viou s co mm e nt that if E PA b e li e v es a s tat e's S IP i s defici e nt , it i s EP A's r es pons ibility to c learl y id e ntify th e d e fici e n cy and th e mea s ure s th e y beli e v e are necess ary to pro v id e for a ttainment a nd mainten a nc e o f th e r e lev ant air qu a lit y s tand a rd

. T h e se cond to pic i s relate d to th e wild land fire s sec tion of th e prop os al. E P A i s propo s in g a number of s ubstantive c h anges to th e e xceptional e vents rul e to add r es s a ir qua li ty impacts from fire s . In p a rticular, E PA i s propo s in g rul e langua ge d escribin g th e c irc um s t an ces und e r w hi c h air quality data eff ec te d b y e mi ss io n s fro m w il dfir es can b e ex clud e d fro m r e gul a to ry d e te rminati o n s . While we a g r e e w ith th e c o nc e pt

- th a t d a t a a ff e cted by wi ld fires s hould be exc l ud e d from reg ulatory determinations

- w e have co n ce rn s ab o ut EPA 's prop os al to d e f e r to th e e ntity co nduct in g s om e pres cr ibed fire s to dec lare th at th e fire i s a w il dfi re, th ereby m a kin g t h e res ul tin g a ir quality im pac t s e li g ibl e for treat m e n t as an exce pti o n a l even t. We al so h ave co n cerns abou t E P A "s pro p os al to a uth o ri ze fire ma n age r s, in li e u of a ir qu a lity m a n age r s to exc lu de a ir qu al ity d a ta und e r th e re vi se d ru l e . Our writte n c omm e nt s will e lab o rate o n o ur c once rn s in thi s a r ea . T hank y ou fo r th e opp o rtunity to co mm e nt. I w o uld b e happ y to cl ari fy an y of m y re mark s .

Pub li c H e arin g on EPA Exce ptio n a l Ev e nt s Propo sed Rui c Revi s ion s D ece mber 8 , 2 0 I S