December 12, 2007 

Mr. Richard Greene 

Regional Administrator 

United States EPA, Region VI 

1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200 

Dallas, TX 75202-2733 

Dear Mayor Greene: 

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is pleased to submit this document in 

response to the requirements found in Sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). 

This document is a revision to the Arkansas State Implementation Plan (SIP) to address interstate 

transport of air pollution under CAA Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i). The information in this document 

demonstrates that Arkansas sources do not significantly contribute to the interstate transport of 

pollutants that impact nonattainment in, or interfere with maintenance by, any other state with 

respect to the 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and 

demonstrates that Arkansas meets the required prevention of significant deterioration of air 

quality and protection of visibility provisions of the law. 

In July 1997, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the (NAAQS) for 8-hour 

ozone and particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5). Section 110(a)(1) of 

the CAA requires states to submit (SIPs) within three years following the promulgation of new 

or revised standards. Litigation delayed implementation of the standards and created uncertainty 

on how states were to proceed. On March 10, 2005, EPA entered into a Consent Decree with 

Earth Justice to address the interstate transport of these pollutants under CAA Section 

110(a)(2)(D)(i). On April 25, 2005, EPA published a “Finding of Failure To Submit Section 

110 State Implementation Plans for Interstate Transport for the National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards for 8-Hour Ozone and PM2.5” (70 FR 21147). The April 25, 2005, finding effective 

May 25, 2005, started a 24-month clock for EPA to either issue a final Federal Implementation 

Plan (FIP) to address the requirements of Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) or to approve a SIP that 

addresses these requirements. 

Each state must submit a SIP that contains adequate provisions “prohibiting ....any source or 

other type of emissions activity within the State from emitting any air pollutant in amounts which 

will – 

(I) contribute significantly to nonattainment in, or interfere with maintenance by, any 

other State with respect to any...national primary or secondary air quality standard, 

or 
(II) interfere with measures required to be included in the applicable implementation 

plan for any other State...to prevent significant deterioration or to protect visibility.” 

EPA published a guidance titled “SIP Guidance on Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) Findings of Failure to 

Submit” on August 11, 2006. The guidance outlines four prongs that states must address in their 

110(a)(2)(D)(i) SIPs “prohibiting ....any source or other type of emissions activity within the 

State from emitting any air pollutant in amounts which will – 

1. Contribute significantly to nonattainment of the NAAQS for areas in another state. 

2. Interfere with maintenance of the NAAQS by any other state. 

3. Interfere with measures required to meet implementation plan for any other State ... 

related to Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD). 

4. Interfere with measures required to meet the implementation plan for any other State ... 

related to Regional Haze and Visibility. 

This letter addresses each of these four elements. 

Items 1 and 2 can be addressed using the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and associated air 

quality modeling that EPA performed. CAIR will control the interstate transport of NOx and SO2 

emitted by fossil-fuel fired Electric Generating Units (EGUs) by creating an interstate cap and 

trade program. CAIR has three programs: Annual NOx, Ozone Season NOx and a year round 

SO2 program. Of the three programs in CAIR, EPA demonstrated through modeling that 

Arkansas would only participate in the Ozone Season NOx program. 

EPA published a guidance titled “Guidance for State Implementation Plan (SIP) Submissions to 

Meet Current Outstanding Obligations Under Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) for the 8-Hour Ozone and 

PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards” dated August 15, 2006. That guidance states 

“...States within the CAIR region need not submit a SIP revision to satisfy CAIR.” 

To determine which states impact nonattainment in other states, EPA performed ozone 

contribution modeling using both source apportionment modeling and zero-out modeling using 

the CAM-x model techniques for 31 States in the East and the District of Columbia including 

Arkansas. (See Final CAIR Preamble at, 70 FR 25249, May 12, 2005). EPA determined that 

Arkansas contributes to ground-level ozone formation in Texas. Arkansas submitted a SIP to 

EPA to address the transport of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from Arkansas sources in the form of a 

CAIR SIP. EPA published their approval of the SIP on September 26, 2007, and it was final on 

November 26, 2007. 

In addition to the ozone modeling, 37 States were modeled for potential inclusion in the final 

CAIR by EPA to address PM2.5. Fourteen of these States, including Arkansas, were not included 

in the CAIR because they did not contribute at least 0.2 ug/m3 to downwind nonattainment. (See 

Final CAIR Preamble at, 70 FR 25246, May 12, 2005). Since it was found that Arkansas does 

not significantly contribute to downwind PM2.5 nonattainment areas, there is no requirement that 

Arkansas submit regulation changes and a SIP to address this. 

Each SIP must include a preconstruction review program for major sources to satisfy the 

requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) of the CAA. For nonattainment areas this is the 

Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) program, and in attainment areas this is the PSD 

program. The PSD requirements in Item 3 can and have been addressed in an existing Arkansas 
SIP and related regulatory language that has been approved by EPA. The August 2006 guidance 

states “Because all areas are currently subject to some form of preconstruction permitting 

program for ozone and PM2.5 it is not necessary, at this time, for states to make a SIP submission 

containing rule changes or modeling demonstration to address section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II).” 

This SIP revision certifies that Arkansas has EPA approved PSD and NNSR programs in place to 

prevent significant deterioration of air quality in Arkansas and neighboring states. Major sources 

in Arkansas are currently subject to PSD and NNSR permitting programs that implement the 8-

hour ozone and PM2.5 standards. PSD regulatory language can be found in Chapter 9 of the 

Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission Regulation 19, Regulations of the 

Arkansas Plan of Implementation for Air Pollution Control. NNSR regulatory language can be 

found in Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission Regulation 31, Nonattainment 

New Source Review Requirements. 

There was a deadline of June 15, 2007, for states to submit SIPs that incorporate the 

requirements of the phase II ozone implementation rule into their PSD and NNSR programs. It 

was not necessary for Arkansas to make changes to the regulatory language to address these 

requirements because EPA has not found the Arkansas PSD program to be deficient and all of 

the existing Arkansas NNSR program requirements address the requirements. 

Arkansas has met the requirements for item four regarding the protection of visibility in section 

110(a)(2)(D)(i). The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission adopted Chapter 15 

of Regulation 19 that established regional haze program requirements on October 15, 2007. The 

regulation became effective October 15, 2007. At this time, it is not possible to assess whether 

there is any interference with measures in the applicable SIP for another state designed to protect 

visibility for the 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS until Arkansas’s regional haze SIP is 

submitted and approved by EPA. 

The State of Arkansas hereby submits to the EPA that it has met the requirements for section 

110(a)(2)(D)(i) of the CAA for the 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS and does not significantly 

contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance of the NAAQS in other states. 

I look forward to your prompt approval of this SIP submission. If you have any questions, 

please contact Mike Bates at (501) 682-0750 or bates@adeq.state.ar.us. Thank you for your 

attention to this matter. 

Sincerely, 

Mike Beebe 

Governor