### Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy &Environmental Affairs 

# Department of Environmental Protection One Winter Street Boston, MA 02108 - 617-292-5500 DEVAL L PATRICK RICHARDK . SULLIVAN JR

. Governor " Secretary TIMOTHY P. MURRAY KENNETH L KIMMELL Lieutenant Governor Commissioner July 12, 2012 Anne Arnold, Manager Air Quality Planning Unit U .S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region I 5 Post Office Square . Boston, MA 02114-2023 Subject: Update to 1997 and 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS Infrastructure Certifications Dear Ms. Arnold: The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) submitted a Certification ofState Implementation Plan (SIP) Adequacy Regarding Clean AirAct Sections 110(a)(1) and (2) (Certification) with respect to the 1997 PM 2.5 revised National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in April 2008. We submitted a similar Certification with respect to the 2006 PM

2.5 revised NAAQS in September 2009. You have advised us that EPAwill take action to approve or disapprove the PM Infrastructure Certifications for the 1997 and 2006 NAAQS by September 30,'2012 in order to meet the terms of a consent decree related to the 2006 NAAQS. You have identified two issues that we need to address prior to September 2013 (orwithin a year of EPA's September 2012 expected final action on the certifications), in order to avoid a disapproval of the Massachusetts' Certifications. At your request, we are submitting this letter to advise you that, prior to September 2013, MassDEP expects to provide EPAwith the elements necessary to satisfy Massachusetts' infrastructure requirements with respect to the following two issues you have identified: 1 . Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 110(a)(2)(E)(ii), which references CAA section 128, concerns SIP requirements with respect to conflicts of interest . Massachusetts is subject to section 128(a)(2), which requires that its SIP include adequate provisions for disclosure ofpotential conflicts of interest . Pursuant to M .G.L. c. 268A, the Conflict of Interest Law, as Amended by c.93, Acts of 2011, heads of Executive Agencies in Massachusetts with authority to approve air permits or enforcement orders are prohibited This Information is available in alternate format. Call Michelle Waters-Ekanem, Diversity Director, at 617-292-6761 . TDD# 1-866-639-7622 or 1-617-674-6868 MassDEPWebsite

: www .mass.gov/dep Printed on Recycled Paperfrominvolvement in matters in which their private interests conflict or appear to conflict with their public duties or responsibilities. However, you indicate that this statute must be submitted to EPA as part of the Massachusetts SIP in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 110(a)(2)(E)(ii) . MassDEP commits to submit this statute to EPAfor inclusion in our SIP prior to September 2013. 2 . You have identified an issue with respect to CAASection 110(a)(2)(A), Emission Limits and Other Control Measures. MassDEP has not updated 310 CMR6 .00, Massachusetts Ambient Air Quality Standards, for a number of years. In our submitted Certifications, we stated that all MassDEP regulations that require compliance with an ambient air quality standard require compliance with the NAAQS and, therefore, the out-of-date state standards have no regulatory impact. EPAhas questioned whether the Massachusetts constitution prohibits "prospective" or "rolling" incorporation by reference (IBR) and if so, whether, any references to the "national ambient air quality standards" in MassDEP regulations cannot be any more up-to-date than the national regulation in question. To address this issue we intend to revise 310 CMR7.00, Air Pollution Control, to include the following definition: National AmbientAir Quality Standards (NAAOS) or Federal AmbientAir Quality Standards means the ambient air quality standardsfor the criteria pollutants' adopted by the Administrator2pursuant to the CleanAirAct § 109 (42 US C§7410) and codified at 40 CFRPart SOas in effect [date ofpromulgation] . This regulatory revision will be submitted for approval as part of the Massachusetts' SIP prior to September 2013. I hope these commitments allowEPAto issue a conditional approval ofMassachusetts' PM 2.5 NAAQS infrastructure certifications. Please contact me if you need any additional information . Sincerely, -, r Eileen Hiney Air Planning Branch Chief cc: Alison Simcox, EPA

' The term"criteria pollutants" is defined in 310 CMR 7.00. 2 The term"Administrator" is defined in 310 CMR 7.00.