STAT E O F N EVA D A jim Gibbons. Governor 

Department of Conservation & Natural Resources Allen Biaggi, Director 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Leo M. DrozdoK RE., Administrator 

protecting the future for generations 

Wayne Nastri 

Regional Administrator 

ORA- 1, USEPA Region 9 

75 Hawthorne Street 

San Francisco CA 94105 

February 26,2008 

RECEIVED 

MAR 0 7 2008 

Air Division, AIR - 

U.S. EPA, REGION 9 

Dear Mr. Nastri: 

On behalf of Governor Gibbons, as his appointed designee, I am submitting five copies of the 

Nevada Division of Environmental Protection's (NDEP) fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 

infrastructure State implementation plan (SIP): CAA 11 O(a)(2)(A)-(M) Requirements in the 

Current Nevada State Implementation Plan for PM2,s (Enclosure 1). This SIP is submitted 

pursuant to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) October 2,2007 "Guidance on 

SIP Elements Required Under Sections 1 1 O(a)(l) and (2) for the 1997 8-hour Ozone and PM2.5 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards" (NAAQS). Enclosure 1 addresses the infrastructure 

elements in the Nevada SIP for the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS for all areas within NDEP's jurisdiction. 

Attachment A to EPA's October 2,2007 guidance lists the "Required Section 11 0 SIP 

Elements." NDEP has followed EPA's list in its compilation of the State's PM2.5 infrastructure 

SIP, reproducing EPA's description of the required element in Enclosure 1 accompanied by a 

description of where in the SIP or other State authority the element is addressed. Copies of the 

regulatory and statutory elements of the current applicable Nevada SIP are enclosed for easy 

reference (Enclosures 2 and 3, respectively). 

NDEP notes that many of Nevada's current SIP regulatory provisions are seriously outdated and 

do not correspond to current State regulations, creating what EPA has referred to as the "SIP 

gap" (72 FR 71097). In February 2005, NDEP submitted a major SIP update with a revision in 

January 2006 and several supplemental submissions thereafter. EPA has acted on a portion of 

these submittals, but has proposed to disapprove the majority of Nevada's permitting program 

regulations update (72 FR 191 44, April 17,2007). In the Technical Support Document (March 

21,2007) for the proposed disapproval, EPA observes that most of Nevada's updated regulations 

are approvable. However, based on their determination that the majority of the regulations 

comprising Nevada's permitting program are not separable, EPA concludes that the bulk of the 

permitting program update must be disapproved. Of 94 permitting regulations submitted, EPA 

found 87 to be nonseparable. Of these 87, EPA found that 71 were actually approvable as 

submitted (although EPA did make minor comments on 10 of these). For the remaining 16 

regulations, Nevada submitted evidence (August 17,2007) showing that EPA's issues had been 

or were being addressed for 9 of them. NDEP further argued that the last 7 provisions were 

approvable as submitted. As of this date, EPA has not published a final determination regarding 

the update of Nevada's SIP permitting provisions. 

90 1 S. Stewart Street, Suite 400 1 Carson C~ty, Nevada 8970 1 p: 775.687.4670 f: 775.687.5856 www.ndep.nv.gov &3 

prjnted on rrcycied paper 
I. 

. -- 

. Page 2 

February 26,2008 

Guidance from EPA Headquarters, "Fom 1 Confirmation letter template," suggests that States 

include pending SIP revision submittals in their 1 10(a)(2) infrastructure SIPS. However, since 

EPA has proposed to disapprove NDEP's permitting program update, we thought it was not 

appropriate to include the pending permitting provisions in today's submittal. Many of the 

existing SIP provisions that the enclosed SIP relies on are 20 to 30 years old; if these outdated 

provisions were replaced with current regulations, Nevada's PM2.5 SIP would better address the 

11 0(a)(2) required elements. To make this infrastructure SIP more approvable, NDEP once 

again requests that EPA act to approve Nevada's permitting provisions update. 

In summary, NDEP certifies that the current Nevada applicable SIP satisfies all of the basic SIP 

requirements contained in section 1 1 O(a)(2)(A)-(M) of the Clean Air Act for the 1997 PM2.5 

NAAQS and requests EPA7s concurrence. Nevertheless, approval of Nevada's permitting 

program update to eliminate the "SIP gap" would strengthen Nevada's basic section 1 1 O(a) SIP. 

Therefore, we further request that EPA approve Nevada's permitting program update. 

If you should have any questions about this submittal or require additional clarification, you may 

contact Michael Elges, Chief, Bureau of Air Quality Planning at (775) 687-9329. 

Sincerely, L-h,'&& 

Leo M. Drozdoff, P. 

Administrator 

Enclosures 

cc: Michael Dayton, Chief of Staff, Office of the Governor 

Jodi Stephens, Legislative Assistant, Office of the Governor 

Allen Biaggi, Director, DCNR 

Colleen Cripps, Deputy Administrator, NDEP 

Dennis Ransel, Planning Manager, Clark County DAQEM 

Andrew Goodrich, Director, Air Quality Management Division, Washoe County DHD 

Lisa Hanf, Chief, Planning Office, Air Division, EPA Region IX (AIR-2) 

David Jesson, Planning Office, Air Division, EPA Region IX (AIR-2) 

Certified Mail No. 7007 0220 0003 5225 2298