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# 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 

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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 11O(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 11 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 110 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 accompaniedby 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 NDEP notes that many ofNevada's current SIP regulatory provisions are seriously outdated and do not correspond to current Stateregulations, creating what EPA has referred to as the "SIP gap" (72 FR 71097).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 disapprovethe majority ofNevada'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 ofNevada'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 94permitting 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 10ofthese). 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.

901 S. Stewart Street,Suite 400 1 Carson C~ty, Nevada 89701 p: 775.687.4670 f: 775.687.5856 www.ndep.nv.gov &3 prjnted on rrcycied paperI.

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## . Page 2 February 26,2008 Guidance from EPA Headquarters, "Fom 1 Confirmation letter template," suggests that States include pending SIP revision submittals in their 110(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 ofthe 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 PM2.5SIP 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 ofthe basic SIP requirements contained in section 11 O(a)(2)(A)-(M) of the Clean Air Act for the 1997PM2.5 NAAQS and requests EPA7s concurrence. Nevertheless, approval ofNevada's permitting program update to eliminate the "SIP gap" would strengthen Nevada's basic section 11 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 ofAir Quality Planning at (775) 687-9329. Sincerely,



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Leo M. Drozdoff, P. Administrator
Enclosures

cc: Michael Dayton, Chief of Staff, Office of the Governor Jodi Stephens, Legislative Assistant, Office ofthe 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