# U.S. EPA Region 4

Air Quality Update

1 

### Beverly Banister, Director Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4

CAPCA - CAROLINAS 

### April 9, 2015

# Presentation Overview • EPA Region 4: APTMD Reorganization • EPA: The Year Ahead • Regulatory Updates  NAAQS Reviews and Implementation  Interstate Transport “Good Neighbor” Provision  Startup, Shutdown, and Malfunction SIP Call  Mercury and Air Toxics Reconsideration  Tier 3 Vehicle Emission and Fuel Standards Program  EPA Actions to Reduce Carbon Pollution 

# • Making a Visible Difference in the Communities 2Communities Support Section Vacant Air Data and Analysis Section Todd Rinck Air Regulatory Management Section Lynorae Benjamin Air Permitting Section Heather Ceron North Air Enforcement and Toxics Section Richard Dubose South Air Enforcement and Toxics Section Todd Russo Chemical Management and Emergency Planning Section Vacant
Pesticides Section Kimberly Bingham Lead & Asbestos Section Steve Scofield Air Analysis and Support Branch Gregg Worley Air Planning & Implementation Branch Scott Davis Air Enforcement & Toxics Branch Beverly Spagg Chemical Safety & Enforcement Branch Anthony Toney Air, Pesticides & Toxics Management Division Beverly H. Banister, Director Carol L. Kemker, Deputy Director Jeaneanne M. Gettle, Deputy Director Immediate Office Staff Grants and Strategic Planning Office 

### Region 4 Air, Pesticides, and Toxics Management Division Reorganization

3Administrator Gina McCarthy 

# EPA: The Year Ahead

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# Comparative National Trends since 1980

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# NAAQS Reviews: Status Update

(as of March 2015) 

### Ozone Lead Primary NO2 

### Primary

SO2 

### Secondary NO2 

### and SO2 

### PM CO Last Review Completed (final rule signed) Mar 2008 Oct 2008 Jan 2010 Jun 2010 Mar 2012 Dec 2012 Aug 2011 Recent or Upcoming Major Milestone(s) 1 August 2014

Final REAs Final PA Dec 1, 2014 2 Proposed rule Oct 1, 2015 2 Final rule May 2014

Final PA 2014 Proposed rule June 2014

Final IRP Fall 2014 2 nd Draft ISA REA Planning Document Summer

2014 Final IRP Fall 2014

Draft IRP Feb 9- 11,

2015 Kickoff workshop (see 79 FR 71764) TBD3

6 1 IRP – Integrated Review Plan; ISA – Integrated Science Assessment; REA – Risk and Exposure Assessment; PA – Policy Assessment 2 Bold and underlined dates indicate court-ordered or settlement agreement deadlines 3 TBD = to be determined

# • Lead • Ozone • PM 2.5 

# • SO 2
7 

# NAAQS Schedules and Implementation

http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/

### • Revised NAAQS in 2008, primary and secondary standard is 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter ( μg/m 3

### ) as a 3- month average concentration of lead in total suspended particles ( Pb-TSP) 

### • 21 nonattainment areas designated in 2010-2011 • 2 of the 21 areas now have clean data determinations • Issued findings of failure to submit attainment SIPs in February 2014 for 3 nonattainment areas 

### • NOI received in June 2014 from Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Environmental Health and Clean Air Council to require EPA to issue findings of failure to submit attainment plans (for 4 more areas) and failure to act on attainment plan submissions (for 6 areas) • Complaint also received and consent decree currently being negotiated. 8 

# Lead NAAQS

http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/

# 2015 Ozone NAAQS Review • November 25, 2014 - EPA proposed to strengthen the NAAQS for ozone: 65 to 70 ppb (current level is 75 ppb)

– taking comment on lower levels including 60 ppb and on retaining the current standard

– Proposed to retain the current indicator , averaging time, and form 

## • Public comment period ended March 17, 2015 

## • Held 3 Public hearings • Final Rule signed by October 1, 2015 9 http://www.epa.gov/airquality/ozonepollution/actions.html 9

## • December 14, 2012 – EPA promulgated 2012 annual PM2.5 

## NAAQS (12.0 μg/m3 ) • December 18, 2014 – Administrator signed final area designations for most areas of the country (based on 2011- 

## 2013 data)

– Final designation decisions include 14 nonattainment areas involving 6 states, plus several unclassifiable areas, and the deferral of final decisions for up to 1 year for several areas

– Published on January 15, 2015; effective April 15, 2015

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# 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS Designations

http ://www.epa.gov/airquality/particlepollution/11 

# 2010 SO2 

# NAAQS Designations

http://www.epa.gov/airquality/sulfurdioxide/implement.html

### • March 2, 2015: The U.S. District Court, Northern District of CA granted a joint

motion between EPA, Sierra Club, and NRDC to approve and enter the proposed consent decree for EPA to issue designations for the 2010 primary SO2 NAAQS for all areas of the country that remain undesignated • Notably, the Court found that the consent decree is procedurally and substantively fair and reasonable, and simultaneously overruled objections to the consent decree 

### • All other pending motions have been denied by the Court as moot • July 2, 2016: EPA required to issue an additional round of designations according to criteria in the consent decree 

### • On March 20, 2015, EPA released letters to the 28 impacted states. 12 

# SO2 Consent Decree

http://www.epa.gov/airquality/sulfurdioxide/implement.html

## • No later than July 2, 2016, designations for two groups of areas:

– Areas that have monitored violations of the 2010 SO2 standard based on 2013 – 2015 air quality data • Based on preliminary data, EPA has identified 6 counties with monitors that are newly violating the standard



### – Areas that contain any stationary source not announced for retirement that according to EPA’s Air Markets Database emitted in 2012 either: • (a) more than 16,000 tons of SO2, or • ( b) more than 2,600 tons of SO2 and had an average emission rate of at least 0.45 lbs SO2/mmbtu . 13 

# SO2 Consent Decree & Designations

## • CSAPR upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court

– More issues related to CSAPR litigation being addressed by U.S. District Court 

## • January 22, 2015 – EPA released memorandum entitled “Information on the Interstate Transport ‘Good Neighbor’ Provision for the 2008 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards under Clean Air Act Section 110(a)(2)(D)( i )(I)”

– Includes discussion of elements that have been used previously to address interstate transport



### – Provides EPA’s preliminary air quality modeling data for ozone for the year 2018 

## • Continuing dialogue with the States on how to address these requirements 

# Interstate Pollution Transport Update

www.epa.gov/airtransport 14

## Startup, Shutdown, and Malfunction (SSM) SIP Call
• 6/30/11: Sierra Club petitioned EPA for rulemaking regarding SSM provisions in State Implementation Plans (SIPs)

– Nationally: 39 states & 7 locals noted in the petition, including all 8 SE States and 4 locals 

### • 2/12/13 Proposed rule:

– 36 states submit their revised state plans to the Agency

– EPA ‘s proposed rule would ensure states have plans in place that require industrial facilities across the country to follow air pollution rules during times when the facility is starting up or shutting down, or when a malfunction occurs 

### • 9/5/14 Supplemental Proposal on Affirmative Defense Provisions :

– Proposes to revise the 2/12/13 proposal to reflect a recent court opinion regarding affirmative defense provisions

– Public hearing held October 7, 2014; comment period closed November 6, 2014

– Re- negotiated signature deadline for the final notice is May 22, 2015

– States will have 18 months to submit SIPs following effective date of the final rule

www.epa.gov/airquality/urbanair/sipstatus 15• December 21, 2011: EPA final standards

to limit mercury, acid gases and other toxic pollution from new and existing electric generating units (EGUs) • Court Challenges: • December 2013: DC Circuit Court of Appeals hears challenges to MATS • April 15, 2014: The DC Circuit issued its ruling upholding MATS • November 25, 2014: SCOTUS announced it will review whether the EPA “unreasonably refused to consider costs” when it determined that it was appropriate to regulate hazardous air pollution from power plants • November 7, 2014: EPA completed its reconsideration of the startup and shutdown provisions applicable to coal - and oil -fired electric utilities under MATS • Final rule includes updated definitions and work practice standards • Adjusts certain monitoring and testing requirements related to periods of startup and shutdown • December 19, 2014: EPA proposed technical corrections to MATS • March 9, 2015: EPA issued an interim final rule for MATS E- Reporting 

# Mercury Air Toxics Standard (MATS)

www.epa.gov/mats 16

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Will Prevent: Once Implemented (cases each year) Premature Death Up to 11,000 Chronic Bronchitis 2,800 Heart Attacks 4,700 Asthma Attacks 130,000 Hospital and Emergency Room Visits 5,700 Restricted Activity Days 3,200,000

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## Tier 3 Vehicle Emission and Fuel Standards Program  

### March 3, 2014: EPA Finalizes Tighter Vehicle and Fuel Standards to Reduce Emissions o Starting in 2017, Tier 3 sets new vehicle emissions standards and lowers the sulfur content of gasoline, considering the vehicle and its fuel as an integrated system o Emission reductions from the Tier 3 program will lead to immediate air quality improvements that are critically important for States to attain and maintain the existing health -based NAAQS 

###  

### February 2, 2015: EPA Issues Amendments to Lightduty Tier 3 Vehicle and Fuel Standards and Other Nonroad and Fuel Provisions http://www.epa.gov/otaq/tier3.htm 17

# EPA Actions to Reduce GHG Pollution
• Building a 21 st 

## century transportation sector • Cutting energy waste in homes, businesses, and factories • Reducing methane and HFCs • Preparing the U.S. for the impacts of climate change • Helping lead international efforts to address 

## global climate change • Reducing carbon pollution from power plants (e.g., EPA’s “Clean Power Plan”) 18

### EPA is working to develop carbon pollution standards, regulations or guidelines, as appropriate, for: 1. New power plants • Proposed January 8, 2014 • Final Summer 2015 2. Modified and reconstructed power plants • Proposed June 2014 • Final Summer 2015 3. Existing power plants • Proposed Guidelines June 2014 • Final Guidelines Summer 2015 • State Plans due Summer 2016 • Proposed Federal Plan summer 2015 (final ready summer 2016) 

## CO2 

## Requirements for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants

http://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan 19

## • EPA is committed to working with our states as co- regulators 

## in development of their plans

– We will identify assistance needs and resources to meet those needs

– We have dedicated specific staff to work with states on their plans



### – Regional staff will also work closely with HQ to provide consistency across the process 

# EPA Assistance to the States

http://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan 20

## • Resources available now in the Clean Power Plan Toolbox include:

– Clean Power Plan Documents and Resources

– Technical Resources for Reducing CO 2 

### from Power Plants

– Policies and programs for reducing CO 2 

### from the power sector

– Tools for assessing energy efficiency and renewable energy policies and programs 

## • You can register to receive alerts when EPA adds new implementation resources to the CPP toolbox 

# Clean Power Plan Toolbox

http ://www2.epa.gov/cleanpowerplantoolbox 21

# Addressing Methane
• January 14, 2015: EPA outlined a series of steps it plans to take to 

### address methane and smog-forming VOC emissions from the oil and gas industry • The agency’s strategy will: o Reduce methane pollution from new sources in this rapidly growing industry o Reduce ozone-forming pollutants from existing sources in areas that do not meet federal ozone health standards o B uild on work that states and industry are doing to address emissions from existing sources elsewhere http://www.epa.gov/airquality/oilandgas/ 22

# Making a Visible Difference in Communities
• EPA and its partners must work every day to improve the health of American families and protect the environment one community at a time, 

### all across the country

– Enhance the livability and economic vitality of neighborhoods

– Strengthen relationship with America's agricultural community

– Support green infrastructure to manage urban waters

– Reduce air pollution along roadways, railways and at ports

– Consider the impacts of our decisions on environmental justice communities 23

# Thank you!



# Questions?

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