Florida Department of 

Environmental Protection 

Bob Martinez Center 

2600 Blair Stone Road 

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400 

Charlie Crist 

Governor 

Jeff Kottkamp 

Lt. Governor 

Michael W. Sole 

Secretary 

April 18,2008 

Mr. James I. Palmer, Jr. 

Regional Administrator 

United States Environmental 

Protection Agency - Region 4 

61 Forsyth Street, SW 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8909 

Re: Air Program: Adequacy of Florida's Particulate Matter State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

with Respect to Section 110(a)(l) and (2) of Clean Air Act 

Dear Mr. Palmer: 

In accordance with EPA's October 2,2007, memo, "Guidance on SIP 

Elements Required Under Sections 1 10(a)(l) and (2) for the 1997 8-hour Ozone and 

PM2. National Ambient Air Quality Standards," I hereby confm that to the best of 

my knowledge the elements required by sections 1 1 O(a)(l) and (2) of the Clean Air 

Act for implementation of the 1997 PM2.5 standard have either been approved into 

Florida's SIP by EPA, or are addressed in recent Florida SIP submissions currently 

under review by EPA. 

With respect to the generally applicable SIP elements under section 1 10 of the 

Clean Air Act. the state has addressed these elements in individual SIP revisions over 

the years, and we are not aware of any current SIP deficiencies related to any of these 

items. Likewise, we are not aware of any SIP deficiencies related to implementation 

of the PM2. standard that have not been addressed in previously approved or currently 

pending SIP revisions. Relevant actions are summarized below. 

On December 17,2004, EPA designated the entire State of Florida as 

"unclassifiable/attainment" for the PM2. standard. On October 12, 2007, EPA 

approved Florida's SIP for implementation of the Clean Air Interstate Rule, thereby 

satisfying the April 25,2005, EPA finding with respect to the ozone and PM2,j 

"attainment and maintenance'' requirements of section 1 1 O(a)(2)(D)(i)(I). On July 6, 

2007, we submitted a proposed SIP revision intended to satisfy the remainder of that 

same finding with respect to the "prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) and 

visibility protection" requirements of section 1 1 O(a)(')(D)(i)(II). 
Mr. James I. Palmer, Jr. 

April 18,2008 

Page 2 

In the July 6,2007, SIP submittal, we made the following statements with 

respect to PM2.5: 

Major sources and major modijkations in Florida are currently subject to a PSD 

permittingprogram that is being implemented in accordance with EPA 's October 23, 

1997, interim guidance calling for the use of PMlo as a surrogate for in the PSD 

program. (The department's Bureau ofAir Regulation in Tallahassee issues all PSD 

permits in the state and, in so doing, adheres to the aforementioned EPA guidance.) 

Major sources and major modijications in Florida are not currently subject to 

nonattainment new source review (NNSR) rules for ozone or Ph~f2,~, thestate having no 

designated nonattainment areas for either pollutant. In anticipation of possible 

nonattainment in the future, the department commits to update its NNSR rules in 2008 to 

address these pollutants. 

Until EPA promulgates PSD requirements for PM2 5, and the department makes corresponding 

revisions to its PSD rules, Florida will continue to regulate major sources and major 

modifications in "unclassifiable/attainment" areas in accordance with EPA's October 23, 1997, 

guidance. 

On December 13,2007, I submitted a letter similar to this one to your office 

confirming that, to the best of my knowledge, Florida's SIP adequately addresses the 

elements required under sections 1 1 O(a)(l) and (2) of the Clean Air Act for 

implementation of the 8-hour ozone standard. As part of that letter, we included, at 

the request of your staff, the following information regarding Florida's authority to 

implement the "emergency powers" provisions of section 1 1 O(a)(2)(G). This section 

of the Clean Air Act requires that states "provide for authority comparable to that in 

section 303 and adequate contingency plans to implement such authority." 

Section 303 of the Act provides the EPA Administrator with authority to seek injunctive 

relief in the case of "an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health or 

welfare" and, where civil action is not practicable, authority to issue emergency orders 

"as may be necessary to protect public health or welfare or the environment. " We 

believe the following statutes give the state comparable authority: 

103.131 Injunctive reliex remedies.- 

(1,) The department may institute a civil action in a court of competentjurisdiction to 

seek injunctive relief to enforce compliance with this chapter or any rule, regulation, 

permit certzfication, or order: to enjoin any violation speczfied in s. 103.161 (1); and 

to seek injunctive relief to prevent irreparable injury to the air, waters, and property, 

including animal, plant, and aquatic life, of the state and to protect human health. 

safety, and welfare caused or threatened by any violation. 

And, for emergency orders 

120.569 (2)jn) Ifan agency headfinds that an immediate danger to the public health. 

safety, or welfare requires an immediate final order, it shall recite with particularity 
Mr. James I. Palmer, Jr. 

April 18, 2008 

Page 3 

the facts underlying such finding in theJinal order, which shall be appealable or 

enjoinable porn the date rendered. 

Section I I O(a)(2)(G) also requires that states provide contingency plans to implement the 

emergency powers. On April 15, 1996, Florida submitted a SIP revision consisting of a 

large number of rule recod2Jications and repeals, among which was the repeal of Florida 

Adminis~ative Code Rule 62-273, "Air Pollution Episodes. " This rule was originally 

adopted to implement the requirements of 40 CFR Part 51, Subpart H; speczJically, the 

contingency plan requirements at 40 CFR 51.152. In the SIP submittal, we requested 

exemption porn the requirements of 40 CFR 51.152 pursuant to EPA S authority at 40 

CFR 51.152:d) to approve such exemption. The basis for the state S request was that, 

while most urbanized areas of the state could be classified as Priority 1 for ozone, all 

such areas were classified as attainment, and all former I -hour ozone nonattainment 

areas had approved air quality maintenance plans. In addition, we pointed out that air 

pollutant concentrations at sign fieant harm levels had not been recorded in Florida for 

many years, fever. The SIP submittal was approved by EPA June 16, 1999 (64 FR 

32346). 

On March 27,2008 (73 FR 16205), EPA published a finding that Florida "has failed to 

submit a SIP addressing the emergency episode plan requirement of section 1 10(a)(2)(G)" with 

respect to the 8-hour ozone standard. We do not understand the reason for this finding, and we 

look forward to discussing the issue with your staff over the coming weeks. In the meantime, we 

continue to believe that the Florida Statutes for injunctive relief and emergency orders cited 

above give us authority comparable to EPA's emergency powers under Section 303 of the Act, 

not only for ozone but also for PM2.5 and all other pollutants. With respect to contingency plans, 

we note that EPA has not yet promulgated a significant harm level and associated provisions for 

PM2.5 under 40 CFR Part 5 1, Subpart H; therefore, we do not believe it is possible to address this 

requirement at this time. 

If you have any questions on this letter or need additional information. please contact me 

at (850) 488-01 14 or Larry George of my staff at (850) 921-9555. Thank you for your continued 

support of our efforts to fully implement the Clean Air Act in Florida. 

Sincerely, 

~osk~6 ~ahn! Director 

Division of Air Resource Management 

cc: Dick Schutt, Chief, Air Planning Branch, EPA Region 4 

Beverly Banister, Director, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division