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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION III

1650 Arch Street

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103

DATE:

SUBJECT: Memorandum in Support of the Proposed Approval of West Virginia’s Regional 

Haze Progress Report

FROM: Asrah Khadr, Environmental Engineer, EIT

Office of Air Program Planning 

TO: File

THRU: Marilyn Powers, Acting Associate Director

Office of Air Program Planning

Introduction: 

In 2005, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued regulations allowing states to rely on 

the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to meet certain requirements of the Regional Haze Rule (70 

FR 39104, July 6, 2005). These requirements are known as Best Available Retrofit Technology 

(BART). A number of states, including West Virginia, submitted regional haze SIPs consistent 

with these regulatory provisions. CAIR, however, was remanded to EPA in 2008, North 

Carolina v. EPA, 550 F.3d 1176, 1178 (D.C. Cir. 2008), and replaced by the Cross State Air 

Pollution Rule (CSAPR). 

CSAPR/CAIR: 

CSAPR budgets for West Virginia were adopted in 2011 and set to go into place in 2012. After

a series of court orders and decisions, EPA delayed the start of CSAPR by three years. Budgets

for West Virginia have not changed since 2012. Thus, CSAPR emission limits will apply as they 

were intended starting 2015, instead of 2012. Any reductions in budgets occur at the same three 

year lag.

Although the implementation of CSAPR was tolled for three years, the Rule is now being 

implemented, and by 2018, the end of the first regional haze implementation period, CSAPR will 

reduce emissions of SO2 and NOx from electric generating units (EGUs) in West Virginia by the 

same amount assumed by EPA when it issued the CSAPR FIP for West Virginia in June 2012. 

See 76 FR 48208 (CSAPR promulgation) and 77 FR 33642 (limited disapproval of West 

Virginia regional haze SIP and FIP for West Virginia for certain regional haze requirements).
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The following table shows that 2013 emissions are lower than prior CAIR budgets. It also shows 

that CSAPR budgets are lower than CAIR budgets.

WV EGU emissions, budgets and assurance levels (in tons):

2013 

CAIR 

emissions

2009 -

2014 

CAIR 

budget

2015 and 

thereafter 

CAIR 

budget

2015 and 

2016 

CSAPR 

budget

2017 and 

thereafter 

CSAPR 

budget

CSAPR 

Variability

CSAPR 

Assurance 

level 

(beginning 

in 2017)

NOx

annual

58,101 74,220 61,850 59,472 54,582 9,825 64,407

NOx

ozone 

season

25,470 26,859 26,525 25,283 23,291 4,891 28,182

SO2 86,201 215,881 15,1117 146,174 75,668 13,620 89,288

Conclusion: 

Although the implementation of CSAPR was tolled for three years, the Rule is now being 

implemented, and by 2018, the end of the first regional haze implementation period, CSAPR will 

reduce emissions of SO2 and NOx from EGUS in West Virginia by the same amount assumed by 

EPA when it issued the CSAPR FIP for West Virginia in June 2012.

Notes:

 For CAIR programs, the most recent data year is 2013.

 CSAPR Assurance level = CSAPR budget + CSAPR variability. Beginning in 2017, 

West Virginia (WV) sources in aggregate will be able to emit up to the WV assurance 

levels and will face automatic penalties for exceeding those levels.

 The CAIR ozone season budget has an additional 2,184 tons each year for non EGUs in 

the CAIR ozone season program that WV chose to add to comply with the NOx SIP 

Call. This is not available in CSAPR, so for this comparison it was not included in the 

CAIR ozone season budget totals. Those sources will be capped at 2, 184 tons per ozone 

season into the future.