Ms. Heather Mc Teer Toney 

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: Commitment to 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 11 O(k)(4) of the Clean Air Act (Act) to take 

action to meet the requirement of section 11 O(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) of the Act. This section of the 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 

a fully 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 of the 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 SI P's reliance on the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), which at the time of the 

limited disapproval had been remanded by the U.S. Court of Appeals 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 of the regional haze SIP were approved on June 28, 2012 

(77 FR 38501). In CAI R's place, the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) took effect on 

January 1, 2015. After multiple legal challenges, the U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit 

Court ruled on July 28, 2015 that. .. 

"We hold invalid the 2014 S02 emissions budgets for Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and 

Texas, as well as the 2014 ozone-season NOx budgets for Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, 

New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West 

Virginia. We remand without vacatur to EPA for it to reconsider those emissions 

budgets. . .. So it is ordered." 

Because of this 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 11 O(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) of the 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 for the control of air 

pollution and submit the SIP revision to the EPA no later than one year after the date of the 

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 satisfy the 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). Concurrent with 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 11 O(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 of the reasonable progress goals of other states or on a fully 

approved regional haze SIP relying on CSAPR. If the 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 of the infrastructure SIPs referenced herein will be 

approved by EPA. 

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact James Boylan at (404) 363-

7014 or via 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