UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REG

I ON 5 F EB 1 6 2 0
' 1 6 The Honorable Rick Snyder Governor of Michigan P.O. Box 30013 Lansing

,Michigan 48909 Dear Governor Snyder:

77 WEST JACKSON BOULEVARD CHICAGO

,
I L 60604-3590 REPL Y T O TH E A TT E N TION O F : Thank youfor your recommendations dated September
18 ,2015 onair quality designations for the State of Michigan for the 2010 revision to the primary National Ambient Air Qua li ty Standard (NAAQS) for sulfur dioxide (S02). Reducing levels of S0 2 pollution
is an important part of the U.S. Environmenta

l Protection Agency's commitment

to a clean, healthy environme nt. Exposure
to S02 cancause
a range of adverse health effects, including nanowing ofthe airways which cancause difficulty breathing and increased asthma symptoms. This letter is to notify youofEPA's preliminary intentions regarding your recommended designations

. On June 3, 2010, EPA strengthened the health-based

or "primary" standard for S0 2 by establishing

a standard for
1 -h our average S02 concentrations

at alevel of 75 parts perbillion. Within one yearafter
a newor revised standard
is established, the Clean Air Act requir esthe Governor of each state to submit to EPA
alist of all areasin the state, with recommendations

for whether each areameets the standard. Through an interactive process,EPA considers the recommendations and then promu

l gates designations for all areasacrossthe coun try. On July 25
,2013

,EPA designated 29 areasin 16 states as nonattainment based onmonitored violations, but did not at that time designate other areas. Pursuant to aMarch

2 ,2015, court -order ed schedule,

1 EPA must comp

l ete the remaining S02 designations by three specific deadlines: July 2, 2016, December 31, 2017

,and December

3 1 ,2020. This current round of designations,

to be completed by July 2, 2016, addresses two groupsof areas: (1) areasthat have newly monitored violations of the 2010 S02 NAAQS based onthe most recent three calendar yearsof cert ifi ed monitored ambient air quality data, and (2) areasthat contain any stationary sourcethat had not been announced
asof March 2, 2015, for retirement and that according
to EPA's Air Markets Database emitted

i n2012 either (i) morethan 16

,000 tons ofS0
2 or (ii) morethan 2,600 tons of S0 2 with anannual average emission rate of at l east 0.45 pounds of S02
/ MMBTU. 1 Sierra C lub v. McCarthy, No. 3-13-cv-3953 (SI) (N.D. Cal. Mar. 2 ,20 1 5). Recycled/Recycl

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n s u mer)After carefully considering Michigan's recommendations
and other available technical infonnation, El?A intends to designate
as nonattainment

or unclassifiable/attainment

the following areas, including the following counties or portions of counties: Intended Nonattainment Area St. Clair County Intended Unclassifiable/ Attainment Area Lansing County Marquette County Ottawa County Intended Unclassifiable Area Bay County* Monroe County* Intended Nonattainment Counties St. Clair County (p) Intended Unclassifiable/ Attainment Area Counties Eaton and Ingham Counties Marquette County Ottawa County Intended Unclassifiable Area Counties Bay County Monroe County The asterisk(*) indicates

a modification

to the designation that you have recommended. The (p) indicates only
a portion of the county will be designated. As discussed
in more detail in the enclosed Technical Support Document, your state's reconunendation for attainment designations for Bay and Monroe Counties relies on federal consent decrees requiring the shutdown of relevant sources by April 15,2016. Our present intent to designate these areas as unclassifiable reflects the fact that the date by which these plants must be shut down has not yet passed. However, we anticipate that if the sources are shutdown
as of Aprill5, 2016, we will subsequently
be in a position to designate these areas as unclassifiable/attainment. The enclosed Technical Support Documentp provides

a detailed analysis that supports our intended designation decisions.
If your state has additional information that EPA should consider prior to finalizing these designations, please submit
it to us by April 19, 2016. We also will be publishing

a notice in the Federal Register announcing

a 30-day period for the public to provide input on EPA's intended designation decisions. We will promulgate the designations for these areas by July 2, 2016. We will designate all other previously undesignated areas in the state on a schedule consistent with the prescribed timing of the court order, i.e., by December 31, 2017, or December 31, 2020. We look forward to a continued dialogue with you and your staff as we work together to complete the area designations and implement the 2010 primary S02 standard. For additional information regarding

# designations under the SOz 

# standard, please visit our website at www. epa.gov/so2designations. 

# Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me, or have your staff contact me at 312-886-3000, or George Czerniak

, Director, Air and Radiation Division

, at 312-353-2212

or czerniak.george
@e pa.gov. 

# Robert A. 

# Kapla**~**

/ 

# v Acting Regional Administrator Enclosure cc: Keith Creagh, Director Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality Lynn Fiedler, Chief Air Quality Division Michigan Department of Environmental Quality