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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION III

1650 Arch Street

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-2029

June 29, 2010

The Honorable Edward G. Rendell

Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

225 Main Capital Building

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120

Dear Governor Rendell:

On April 14, 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) 

provided the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region III Office with a revised state 

implementation plan (SIP) submission regarding the attainment demonstration requirements for 

the 1997 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standards(NAAQS) for the 

Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware PM2.5

nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the Philadelphia area). We reviewed this submission 

and made the determination that it met the requirements for completeness found in Section 

110(k)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) on April 23, 2010.

The CAA requires states with areas that are designated nonattainment for the 1997 PM2.5

NAAQS, to develop a SIP describing how the state will attain and maintain the PM2.5 NAAQS 

(attainment demonstration) within three years of the effective date of the designation. Effective 

April 5, 2005, EPA designated the Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia area as 

nonattainment for PM2.5 NAAQS. As a result of this nonattainment designation, the 

Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia area was required to provide EPA with an attainment 

demonstration by April 5, 2008. 

On November 27, 2009 (74 FR 62251), EPA issued a finding of failure to submit the 

1997 PM2.5 NAAQS attainment demonstration for the Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia 

area. This finding started an 18-month sanctions clock for a two for one new source offset, and 

six months later, highway sanctions, if the deficiency was not corrected. To correct this 

deficiency, the Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia area was required to provide a 

submission that EPA could deem complete pursuant to Section 110(k)(1) of the CAA and the 

“Criteria for Determining the Completeness of Plan Submissions,” as described in 40 CFR Part 

51, Appendix V.
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EPA has reviewed the April 14, 2010 submission that comprises Pennsylvania’s 

attainment demonstration for the Pennsylvania portion of the Philadelphia area. On

April 23, 2010, EPA sent a letter to PADEP stating that EPA has determined that this submission 

meets the completeness determination requirements. This completeness determination for the 

attainment demonstration terminates the sanctions clock; thus, sanctions will not take effect in 

this area as a result of the finding of failure to submit previously made on November 27, 2009. 

EPA is currently reviewing the approvability of this submission and will make its final 

determination through rulemaking in the Federal Register. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or have your staff contact 

Mrs. Megan Mackey, EPA’s Pennsylvania Liaison, at 215-814-5534. Any questions regarding 

Pennsylvania’s SIP submittal can be directed to Ms. Diana Esher, Director, Air Protection 

Division, at 215-814-2706.

Sincerely, 

/s/ William C. Early

 

 Shawn M. Garvin

 Regional Administrator 

cc: Honorable John Hanger, Secretary

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Ms. Joyce E. Epps, Director, Bureau of Air Quality

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection