Ms. Heather McTeerToney Regional Administrator U.S

. EPA Region 4 Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30303-8909 

## Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division • Air Protection Branch 4244 International Parkway• Suite 120 •Atlanta• Georgia 30354 404/363-7000 • Fax: 404/363-7100 Judson H

.Turner, Director May 26, 2016



### Re: Commitmentto Adopt CSAPR Budgets into Georgia's State Implementation Plan Dear Ms. Toney: The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) is providing this letter to the U

.S. EPA (EPA) to provide a written commitment under section 11O(k)(4) ofthe Clean AirAct (Act) to take action to meet the requirement ofsection 11O(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) ofthe Act. This section ofthe Act states that state implementation plans (SIPs) are required to contain adequate provisions to prohibit emissions from interfering with measures required to be in other states' SIPs to protect visibility. To meet the requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II)for visibility, a state may rely on afully approved regional haze SIP or may demonstrate that other SIP measures ensure that emissions from within the state will not interfere with other air agencies' plans to protect visibility

. Georgia's regional haze SIP is not fully approved because the EPA issued a limited approval of the SIP on June 28, 2012 (77 FR 38501) and a limited disapproval ofthe SIP on June 7, 2012 (77 FR 33642). We note that the EPA's limited disapproval of Georgia's SIP was based on the regional haze SIP's reliance on the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), which at the time ofthe limited disapproval had been remanded by the U

.S. Court ofAppeals for the D.C. Circuit. The EPA's limited disapproval was based on the Agency's conclusion that CAIR would remain in place only temporarily; other aspects ofthe regional haze SIP were approved on June 28, 2012 (77 FR 38501). In CAIR's place,the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) took effect on January 1, 2015. After multiple legal challenges,the U.S Court ofAppeals for the D.C. Circuit Court ruled on July 28, 2015 that.

.. "We holdinvalid the 2014 S02 emissions budgets forAlabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas, as well as the 2014 ozone-season NOx budgets forFlorida, Maryland, NewJersey, New York , North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. We remand without vacaturto EPA forit to reconsiderthose emissions budgets

. . ..So itis ordered ." Because ofthis action, EPD anticipated that EPA would develop new 

### 802 budgets that could be

· used in Georgia's regional haze SIP, and that this SIP could be used to meet the visibility

components of 11O(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) ofthe Act. Instead, EPA has limited Georgia's options by choosing to ignore the budget remand as ordered by the D.C. Circuit Court. As a result, EPD has reluctantly agreed to accept the remanded CSAPR budgets into our SIP

.Georgia EPD CSAPR Commitment Letter Page 2
In this letter, EPD is committing to adopt the measures described herein forthe control of air pollution and submit the SIP revision to the EPA no later than one year afterthe date ofthe EPA's conditional approval. Georgia's anticipated schedule for the SIP revision is as follows:

• SIP revision out for public comment • Address comments received • Submit final SIP revision for approval January 2017; March 2017; May 2017. To satisfythe requirement of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) related to visibility protection for the 2008 8
-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), 2010 nitrogen dioxide NAAQS, 2010 sulfur dioxide NAAQS, and 2012 fine particulate matter NAAQS; we intend to provide to the EPA a SIP revision that adopts provisions for participation in the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule ("CSAPR") annual NOx and annual S02 trading programs, including annual NOx and annual S02 budgets. Any adopted budgets would be at least as stringent as the budgets promulgated in the Federal Register on June 12, 2012 (77 FR 34830)

. Concurrentwith the SIP revision adopting the annual NOx and annual S02 budgets, Georgia intends to submit a SIP revision that will satisfy the visibility requirements of section 11O(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) and EPA's corresponding guidance on those requirements

.We commit to provide this concurrent SIP revision within the one-year period described above. This concurrent SIP revision will rely on either an analysis provided therein showing that emissions from sources in Georgia will not interfere with the attainment ofthe reasonable progress goals of other states or on a fully approved regional haze SIP relying on CSAPR. Ifthe concurrent SIP revision relies on a fully approvable regional haze SIP, we commit to provide this regional haze SIP to EPA within the one year period described above. Based upon conversations with EPA, EPD understands that by fulfilling these commitments, Prong 4 ofthe infrastructure SIPs referenced herein will be approved by EPA. Ifyou have any questions or need more information, please contact James Boylan at (404) 363- 7014 orvia email at James.Boylan@dnr

.ga.gov
.

JHT:EM

c: Scott Davis, EPA Region 4 Lynorae Benjamin, EPA Region 4 Karen Hays, Chief, EPD Air Protection Branch