UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC 27711

May 10, 2016

Dear Tribal Leader :

On May 4 , 201 6 , the Envi r onm e nt a l P r ot ec tion Ag e n c y p r opos e d regulatory revis ions to the visibility protection requirements contained in the Regional Haze Rule that states must adhere to when submitting state implementation plans (SIPs) and progress reports for regional haze. Periodic re gional haze SIPs are required by the Clean Air Act (CAA) and federal rules in order to provide for reasonable progress towards the goal of restoration of natural conditions of visibility in national parks, wilderness areas and

other mandatory designated Cl ass I areas. This requirement does not apply to areas that states or tribes have designated as “non

- mandatory” 1 Class I areas. 2

The purpose of this letter is to invite you to consult on this propos ed rulemaking

. W e provided an overview of the proposed rule on the N a t i on a l Tr i b a l Air A ssoci a t i on ca ll o n April 28, 2016. We can be

a v a i l a b l e to d iscuss t he pro p os e d r e v is i ons in o t h e r s e t t in g s as well.

This proposal would make the following changes to the regional haze program:

 Clarify several aspects to reflect our long

- standing interpretation of the Regional Haze Rule.

These clarifications include:

o E nsuring reasonable progress goals are set based on the long

- term strategy;

o C larifying that the uniform rate of progress line starts at 2000

- 2004 for every planning period;

o E xplaining the analytical obligations on states setting reasonable progress goals that provide for a slower rate of progress than tha t needed to attain natural conditions by 2064, including how states can account for impacts from international sources and prescribed fires needed for forest health; and

o C larifying the independent obligations of states with mandatory Class I federal areas and other states contributing to impairment at those areas.

 Clarify how the best and worst visibility days are selected for tracking progress in visibility

.

 Discontinue the 1980s

- era requirement for 36 states and territories with Class I areas to submit

S IP revisions every 10 years that assess whether reasonably attributable visibility impairment (RAVI) is occurring and if necessary, adopt additional emission controls. Given the expected rarity of RAVI in light of the more comprehensive regional haze plann ing requirements adopted in 1999, it is more efficient to deal with any RAVI on an as

- needed basis, via the Federal Land Manager (FLM) certification process (next item). The proposed action would also remove the

1 Areas designated as mandatory Class I areas consist of national parks exceeding 6,000 acres, wilderness areas and national memorial parks exceeding 5,000 acres, and all international parks that were in existence on August 7, 1977. 42 U.S.C. 7472(a). Altho ugh states and tribes may designate as Class I additional areas that they consider to have visibility as an important value, the requirements of the visibility program set forth in section 169A of the CAA apply only to “mandatory

Class I Federal areas.”

2 The Regional Haze Rule may apply, as appropriate under the Tribal Authority Rule in 40 CFR part 49, to an Indian tribe that receives a determination of eligibility for treatment as a state for purposes of administering a tribal visibility prote ction

progra m under section 169A of the CAA. No tribe has applied for such status, and so at present the EPA is responsible for implementation of the Regional Haze Rule in areas of tribal authority. OFFICE OF
AIR QUALITY PLANNING

AND STANDARDSobligation for the EPA to periodically asses s RAVI for the 20 states that never committed to

meet this requirement.

 Clarify and continue for these 36 states and territories, and extend to the remaining 16, the ability of an FLM (e.g., the National Park Service) to certify to a state that RAVI is occ urring, and, thus, trigger a requirement for the state to either rebut this determination or adopt additional emission controls necessary to make reasonable progress towards the goal of restoring natural visibility conditions. Ultimately, the EPA would det ermine if the state’s response is sufficient.

 Strengthen FLM consultation requirements so that states consult with FLMs earlier in the development of a SIP revision or progress report. This will help allow adequate time for the state to incorporate FLM inp ut.

 Extend the next SIP due date of July 31, 2018, by 3 years to July 31, 2021. Allowing states additional time to coordinate regional haze planning with other regulatory programs would allow them to gather more information on the effects of several recent ly promulgated federal emission control requirements and thus develop SIP revisions that are more integrated with state planning for these other programs. Subsequent SIPs will continue to be due in 2028, 2038, etc.

 Change submission deadlines for progress reports and remove the requirement that progress reports be submitted as SIP revisions.

 Additional changes to requirements for SIP revisions for the second and subsequent planning periods, included in a comprehensive reorganization and rewrite of the sub s ection of the Regional Haze Rule (40 CFR §51. 308(f) ) applicable to the second and subsequent planning periods only. This approach will avoid complicating any outstanding actions or pending litigation related to the first planning period.

 Clarify several te rms in the current rule text and update cross references.

There will be a public hearing on the rule at the EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2016. There will be a second public hearing at the EPA Region 8 office in Denver, CO on
June 1, 2016. The public comment period ends on July 5, 2016. F or mo r e i n fo r mation on the r

ule, including links to the rule as published in the Federal Register on May 4, 2016, ple a se visit: https://www.epa.gov/visibility/visibility

- regulatory

- actions

.

The EPA e x p ec ts that t h is rule, when finalized, will help i mprove e n vironment a l prot ec t i on w i t hin

I ndian c ount r y a nd n a t i onwide a nd the EPA do e s not expect that the p r opo s e d rule will h a ve a dv e r s e i m pl i ca t i ons for trib e s. Ho w e v e r, to e nsure that your lands a n d in t e r e sts a re p rot ec ted, we a r e of f e ri n g to

consu l t wi t h y

ou or y our d e si g n e e should yo u d e si r e

. We w e lcome a n y a ddi t ional info r mation about the visibility protection requirements or potential i m p ac ts that y o u would l i ke to sh a r e

. I f y o u d e sire

g ov e r nmen t

- to

- gov e rnm e nt consultat i on with t he EPA, w e kind l y r e qu e st t h a t y ou not i f y us b y June 10,

2016

, b y c onta c t i n g Toni C olón at ( 919) 54 1

- 0069; e m a i l : colon.toni@epa.gov

.

W e strive to c ond

u c t our e f f o rts with s e nsi t iv i t y to t he n e e ds a nd c ul t u r e of y our t r ibe

, a nd with a t t e nt i on

to t he potential e f

f e c t of our ac t i on s

. W e look fo r w a rd to r e c e iv i ng y our input.

Sincerely,

/s/

Anna Marie Wood Director Air Quality Policy Division

cc : Trib a l Env i ronm e nt a l Dir ec tor

T r ibal Environm e nt a l S ta f f