janice K. Brewer Governor 

### BYEMAIL July 20, 2012 Thomas Webb 

## ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF 

## ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 1110 West Washington Street • Phoenix, Arizona 85007 (602) 771-2300 • www.azdeq

.gov

EPA Region 9, Air Division (AIR-2) 75 Hawthorne Street San Francisco, California 94105 Henry R

. Darwin Director

Re: Request for Extension ofComment Period and Hearing Date- Notice ofProposed Rulemaking, 77 Fed. Reg. 42834 (July 20, 2012), Docket ID No. EPA-R09-0AR-2011- 0021; Announcement ofPublic Hearing, 77 Fed. Reg. 40317 (July 9, 2012) Dear Mr. Webb: The Arizona Department ofEnvironmental Quality (ADEQ) hereby requests that the deadline for the submission ofcomments on the proposed federal implementation plan (FIP) contained in the above-referenced notice ofproposed rulemaking (NPRM) be extended from August 31, 2012 to October 18, 2012. The proposed FIP would impose best available retrofit technology (BART) requirements necessitating the expenditure ofhundreds ofmillions ofdollars in control costs on three Arizona power plants. ADEQ believes the 42-day comment period provided in the NPRM is unreasonable given:

• the extraordinary economic impact ofthe proposal; • the complexity ofthe legal and technical issues presented by EPA' s BART analysis; and • the fact that technical support document on which EPA's BART determinations were based was not available until July 18, 2012.
. A comment period of90 days from the date ofpublication in the Federal Register would be much more consistent with the import and complexity ofEPA's proposal. In addition, EPA states in the NPRM: IfArizona submits a SIP revision that addresses the deficiencies in sufficient time for EPA to review the submission, then we would prefer to act on that submittal, ifsuch action is consistent with our obligations under the CAA and applicable court orders. Southern Regional Office 400 West Congress Street • Suite 433 • Tucson , AZ 85701 (5 20) 628-6733 Printed on recycled paperPage 2 of3

ADEQ, however, cannot possibly prepare and submit a SIP to serve as a substitute for the proposed FIP in the 42 days allowed by the NPRM. IfADEQ is to have any chance in submitting a credible SIP, we would need a minimum of90 days from the date all ofthe relevant technical information became available. ADEQ also requests that EPA move the date for the public hearing on the proposal from July 31 , 2012 to Monday, August 20, 2012, in order to provide ADEQ and other commenters at least 30 days to review the TSD before presenting their testimony. Finally, ADEQ notes that the extreme costs imposed by EPA' s proposal could result in shutdowns ofsome affected units and could therefore have a profound economic impact on the nearby communities
. Further, both the costs ofBART compliance and potential shutdowns could have a significant impact on the rate payers living in these communities, particularly those living in the relatively small area served by the AEPCO plant. Members ofthese communities should not have to travel the 160 to 220 miles from their homes to Phoenix in order to present their concerns in person to EPA. ADEQ therefore requests that EPA schedule hearings in each ofthe affected towns: Benson, Joseph City and St. Johns, Arizona. The requests presented in this letter should not be construe9 as a waiver ofADEQ's claims that:

• EPA's adoption ofa FIP at this stage would violate the principles offederalism embodied in the Clean Air Act. As noted in the State ofArizona's opposition to the consent decree filed in the United States District Court for the District ofColumbia, No. 1: 11-cv-01548, EPA has not met the prerequisites ofsection 110(c) ofthe Clean Air Act for adoption ofa complete regional haze FIP
. EPA's 2009 finding that Arizona failed to submit certain specific elements ofa section 309 SIP does not give the agency authority to adopt any of the elements ofa section 308 plan, such as BART. • EPA cannot split this decision on BART for three power plants from its decision on the remaining elements ofArizona's regional haze SIP. The Clean Air Act does not provide authority for such a split decision. In aadition, EPA cannot adequately evaluate the impact ofBART on visibility without taking the remainder ofArizona's regional haze plan into account. • EPA must act on Arizona's 2010 regional haze SIP submission in its entirety by the deadline established in the Clean Air Act, i
.e. August 28, 2012.Page 3 of3

Ifyou have any questions about this letter, please contact Eric Massey, Director ofthe ADEQ Air Quality Division, at 602-771-2288
.

Director
cc: "-..... Jared Blumenfeld Deborah Jordan