UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

The Honorable Lance LeFieur Director 

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Alabama Department of Environmental Management 1400 Coliseum Bou l evard Mon t go mery, Alabama 36 110 -24 0 0
Dear Mr. LeFleur: OFFICE OF AIR AND RADIATION

I am writing to update you on the status of the U.S. E n vironmental Protection Agency ' s progress in implement i ng the primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for sulfur dioxide (S02) set in 2010 at 75 parts per bi ll ion (ppb) as a l-hour average. In July 2013, the EPA identified areas in 16 states as nonattainment and exp ressed the intent to address designat io n s for the re m ai n der of the coun try i n separate future actio n s
. On Ma r ch 2, 2015, the U.S. Distric t Court for the Northern D is tri ct of Californ ia accep ted as an enforceable order an agreemen t be tween t h e EPA and Sierra Club and Natu ra l Reso urces Defense Council to re s o lve litigation concerning the deadline for completing the designations. The court ' s order directs the EPA to complete designations in three additional rounds: t he first round by July 2 , 20 16 , th e second round by December 31 , 2017 , and the final round by December 31, 2020. The EPA will complete these designations by designating areas as either nonatt ainmen t , unclass ifiab l e/ attainme nt, or unclassifiable.
In th e fi rst ro u nd of des ig nations, t he EP A wi ll des ig nate two gr o u ps of areas: 1 ) a reas th at h ave new ly m oni tored v i olatio n s of th e 2010 S0 2 s tanda rd, and 2) areas that conta in any stationary source tha t according to the E PA's A ir Markets Database either emitted more than 1 6,000 tons of S0 2 i n· 2012 or em i tted more than 2 , 600 tons of S0 2 and had an emission rate of at least 0.45 lbs S 02/ mmbtu in 2012 and that has not been announced (as of March 2 , 20 15) for retirement. In the enclosure to this letter , th e EPA provides the schedule we intend to follow to meet the July 2 , 2016 , dead line.
The E P A h as iden tifi ed the fo ll owing electric power plan t so urce in your s tate as meeti ng th e c rite ri a es tab lished in the co urt's o rd er:
20 1 2 so 2 2012 S02 State County Fac ility Name Emission s Emissions Rate (tons) (lb/ mmbtu) Greene County Electric AL Greene Generating Plant 32 ,461 2

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I n t e rn et Address (URL) • hnp ://www .epa

. g ov Recycled/Recyclable • Printed w i th Vegetable 01 1Based I nks on 100% Postconsumer, Process Ch l orine Free Recycled PaperThe EPA will use the m ost re cent available informat ion when making d esig n at ion and bound ary d ec i s i ons for the indicat ed area . I f yo u would like to submit an updated r ecommenda ti o n and supporting information for the EPA to consider for the affected area in your state, we request that you do so by Septembe r 1 8 , 2015 . The EPA has u p dat ed its Marc h 24, 2011 , designat i o n guidance for the 20 I 0 S02 sta nd ard to support analys is o f designat i o n s and boundaries for these n ext rounds of d es i g nations. Th e updated g uidance can be found on th e EPA's webs ite at http :// epa.gov/ai rquali! y/s ul[urdioxide / guidance.html. The EPA has also provided two technical assistance documents that provide advice on the use of modeling and monitoring data when determining if an area i s meeting or not meeting the 20 1 0 S02 sta ndard. Th ese documents can be fo und on the EPA's webs i te a t http ://epa.gov/ai rqualit vlsul[urdiox id e/implemen t .ht ml. The court 's or d er dir ects th e EPA to complete the second round of area desig n ations by

De cember 31 , 2017 . These designations would address areas where states have not installed and begun operating a new S0 2 monitoring network meetin g the E PA ' s specificat i o n s referenced in our propo sed rule titled , " Data Requirem ents Rule fo r the 1-hou r S02 prim a ry NAAQS". T hi s rule, w hi ch was prop osed in the Federal R egiste r on May 1 3, 2014, wou ld direct state and tribal

air agencies to provide data t o characteri ze curre nt air qu a li ty in areas with l a r ge sou rc es of S0 2 if s u ch areas do not h ave s ufficient a ir qual i ty monitoring i n place to identify maximum S02 concentrat i ons. The data collected as a re su l t of this prop osed rule would be used in the design ations process. Lastly, the court ' s order directs the EPA to designate all remaining areas by Dec ember 31, 2020. The E PA will provide states wi t h additional in formation on the designations process associated with th ese later deadlines a t a later date. We look forward to continued dialogue with you and your staff as we work together to implement the 20 1 0 S02 stan dard and achieve its intended public health pr otect ion. For

additiona l information regardi n g designations fo r the 20 1 0 S02 st andard , please v isit o u r website at www.epa.gov / so2designations. S h ould you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me o r Scott Mathias of my s t aff at 919-541 -53 1 0 and mathia s.sco tt @epa.gov. Sincerely, Janet G . McCabe Ac tin g A ss i stant Administrator Enclosure cc: Heath er McTee r E P A Region 4 Adm ini stra tor

### ENCLOSURE
T IMELINE FOR 2010 PRIMARY S0 2 NAAQS DE S I GNATION PRO CESS FO R ARE AS ASS OCIATED WITH JULY 2 , 20 16 , COURT-ORDERED DEADLfNE* 

### Milestone Date** Court Order March 2, 2015 States may submit updated reco mmendati ons No lat er th an Septemb er 18 , 20 15 and supporting informat i o n for area de signations to the EPA The EPA notifies states concernin g any o/ a January 22,2016, but ab so lutely no later int ended modificati ons to their than 1 20 days prior to final designations , 

### i.e. , recommendations ( 120-day letters) March 2, 20 16 The EPA p ublis h es public notice of state o/a February 3, 2 016 recommendations and the EPA's intended modifications and ini tiates 30-day public comment period End of 30 -day public comment period o/ a March 4 , 2016 State s provide additional info rmation to o / a April 8 , 2016 demo nstrate why an EPA modification i s inapprop ri ate The EPA promulga tes final S02 area No later than Jul y 2 , 2016 de si gnations (no la t er than 16 months from Court Order)

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### * The court 's order direc ts the EPA to promu lgate additi on al ro unds of des1gnatto ns by December 3 1 , 20 17 , and by Decemb er 3 1 , 202 0.
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