Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs 

Department of Environmental Protection 

One Winter Street B6ston, MA 02108 " 617-292-5500 

DEVAL L PATRICK RICHARD K. 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 of State Implementation Plan (SIP) Adequacy Regarding Clean Air Act Sections 

I10(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 EPA will 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 (or within 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 EPA with 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 of potential 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 

MassDEP Website: www.mass.govldep 

Printed on Recycled Paper 
from involvement 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 EPA for inclusion 

in our SIP prior to September 2013 . 

2 . You have identified an issue with respect to CAA Section 110(a)(2)(A), Emission Limits 

and Other Control Measures. MassDEP has not updated 310 CMR 6.00, 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. EPA has 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 CMR 7.00, Air Pollution Control, to include 

the following definition : 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) or Federal Ambient Air 

Quality Standards means the ambient air quality standards for the criteria 

pollutants' adopted by the Administrator2 pursuant to the Clean Air Act § 109 (42 

U. S C. ,¢7410) and codified at 40 CFR Part SO as in effect [date of promulgation]. 

This regulatory revision will be submitted for approval as part of the Massachusetts' SIP 

prior to September 2013 . 

I hope these commitments allow EPA to issue a conditional approval of Massachusetts' PM 2 .5 

NAAQS infrastructure certifications . Please contact me if you need any additional information. 

Eileen Hiney 

Air Planning Branch Chief 

cc: Alison Simcox, EPA 

1 The term "criteria pollutants" is defined in 310 CMR 7.00. 

2 The term "Administrator" is~defined in 310 CMR 7 .00 .