Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 17, 2024 / Proposed Rules 102031 

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (b)(1) 

Commissary account balance Percentage deducted for one-time initial payment 

$0.01–$249.99 ......................................... 0%. 

$250.00–$5,000.00 .................................. 50% of the amount between $250 and $5,000. 

$5,000.01 or more ................................... 50% of the amount between $250 and $5,000 and 100% of the amount above $5,000. 

(2) Financial plans. For an inmate 

who is unwilling or unable to make a 

single payment to satisfy the inmate’s 

entire financial obligation(s) at the time 

of the initial classification and review, 

Bureau staff will establish a financial 

plan for the inmate. These financial 

plans shall be structured as follows: 

(i) Allotment of institution resources. 

The inmate will be required to pay 10 

percent of all pay received for an 

institution or UNICOR work assignment 

to the IFRP payment process. This 

includes performance pay, bonus pay, 

and special bonus pay. 

(ii) Allotment of non-institution 

(community) resources. The inmate will 

be expected to allot a specified 

percentage of all deposits received from 

non-institution (community) resources 

toward the IFRP payment process. 

(iii) Establishing financial plan at 

program review. During program review, 

BOP staff will review the inmate’s 

commissary account balance, and total 

value of deposits into the inmate’s 

commissary account over the prior six 

months. Based on the total value of 

deposits over the prior six months, BOP 

staff will place the inmate on a financial 

plan that specifies that a certain 

percentage of each future deposit from 

non-institution (community) resources 

will be deducted and paid toward the 

IFRP payment process. The specific 

percentages are reflected in the 

following table: 

TABLE 2 TO PARAGRAPH (b)(2)(iii) 

Total value of deposits over prior six 

months Percentage of future outside deposits deducted and paid toward IFRP 

$.01–$249.99 ........................................... 0% if commissary account balance is $249.99 or smaller. 

25% if commissary account balance is $250.00 or larger. 

$250.00–$999.99 ..................................... 25%. 

$1,000–$2,499.99 .................................... 35%. 

$2,500–$4,999.99 .................................... 55%. 

≥$5,000 .................................................... 100%. 

(iv) Balances greater than or equal to 

$5,000. For any inmate who has a 

commissary account balance greater 

than or equal to $5,000 at the time of 

review of the inmate’s participation 

and/or progress in the IFRP, the inmate 

will be expected to pay all of the 

amount in the account, in excess of 

$5,000, toward the IFRP payment 

process. 

(3) Exceptions to allotment amounts. 

Any allotment that differs from that 

described in part (2) of this subpart 

must be approved by the unit manager, 

after consultation with the associate 

warden, and documented in writing. 

(c) Monitoring. Participation and/or 

progress in the IFRP, including the 

inmate’s financial plan, will be 

reviewed, at a minimum, during an 

inmate’s program review meeting. The 

percentage of non-institution 

(community) resources deducted for 

IFRP payments may be revised at this 

time, based on the total value of 

deposits into the inmate’s commissary 

account over the prior six months. 

Modifications to an inmate’s financial 

plan may be made at times other than 

the inmate’s program review meeting. 

(d) * * * 

* * * * * 

(7) The inmate will not receive a 

release gratuity unless approved by the 

warden; 

(8) The inmate will not receive an 

incentive for participation in residential 

drug treatment programs; and 

(9) The inmate will not be eligible to 

earn or apply First Step Act Time 

Credits, as described in 18 U.S.C. 3624 

and 3632(d)(4), and 28 CFR 523.40 

through 523.44. 

Colette S. Peters, 

Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29692 Filed 12–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

38 CFR Part 17 

RIN 2900–AS25 

Updates to Waiver of Charges for 

Copayments 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its 

medical regulations to allow VA to 

initiate a waiver request for debt 

accumulated from health care 

copayments on behalf of veterans in 

certain circumstances and to remove the 

requirement that veterans submit VA 

Form 5655 when seeking a waiver of 

copayment debt. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before February 18, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: Comments must be 

submitted through www.regulations.gov. 

Except as provided below, comments 

received before the close of the 

comment period will be available at 

www.regulations.gov for public viewing, 

inspection, or copying, including any 

personally identifiable or confidential 

business information that is included in 

a comment. We post the comments 

received before the close of the 

comment period on 

www.regulations.gov as soon as possible 

after they have been received. VA will 

not post public comments on 

www.regulations.gov that make threats 

to individuals or institutions or suggest 

that the commenter will take actions to 

harm an individual. VA encourages 

individuals not to submit duplicative 

comments. We will post acceptable 

comments from multiple unique 

commenters even if the content is 

identical or nearly identical to other 

comments. Any public comment 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
102032 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 17, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

received after the comment period’s 

closing date is considered late and will 

not be considered in the final 

rulemaking. In accordance with the 

Providing Accountability Through 

Transparency Act of 2023, a plain 

language summary (not more than 100 

words in length) of this proposed rule 

is available at www.regulations.gov, 

under RIN 2900–AS25. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Andrew Patrick, Executive Director, 

Revenue Operations, Office of Finance, 

(104RO), Veterans Health 

Administration, Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave. NW, 

Washington DC 20420, (202) 809–3030. 

(This is not a toll-free telephone 

number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority and Background 

Section 1710 of title 38, United States 

Code (U.S.C.) requires VA to furnish 

hospital care and medical services, and 

authorizes VA to provide nursing home 

care, that VA determines to be needed 

for eligible veterans. Section 1710 

authorizes VA to provide such care only 

when the veteran agrees to pay the 

applicable copayment. 38 U.S.C. 

1710(f)(1) and (g)(1). Additionally, 

section 1722A establishes that VA must 

require a copayment from certain 

veterans for medications. VA has set 

forth copayment requirements for 

inpatient hospital care and outpatient 

medical care in § 17.108 of title 38, Code 

of Federal Regulations (CFR), 

copayment requirements for medication 

in § 17.110, copayments for extended 

care services in § 17.111, and 

copayments for urgent care at § 17.4600. 

These types of medical copayments are 

generally referred to as ‘‘copayments’’ 

throughout this rulemaking. 

Under 31 U.S.C. 3711(a)(1), Federal 

agencies are required to ‘‘try to collect 

a claim of the United States Government 

for money or property arising out of the 

activities of, or referred to, the agency,’’ 

which means that VA must attempt to 

collect amounts owed by veterans to 

VA, including debts arising from 

copayments. However, VA is authorized 

to waive recovery of payments or 

overpayments of benefits, including 

copayments, when recovery would be 

against equity and good conscience and 

an application for relief is made within 

180 days from the date of notification of 

the indebtedness by VA. 38 U.S.C. 

5302(a)(1). VA has regulated the waiver 

of debts arising from medical 

copayments in 38 CFR 17.105(c). VA 

has also regulated the process for waiver 

applications in 38 CFR 1.963(b), the 

process to request a hearing in 

§ 1.966(a), and the application of the 

‘‘equity and good conscience’’ standard 

in §§ 1.965 and 1.966(a). 

Explained in more detail below, VA 

proposes to amend § 17.105(c) to: 

remove the requirement to submit a 

particular form when requesting a 

waiver of charges for copayments; add 

the ability for VA to initiate waiver 

requests on behalf of veterans; update 

VA staff position titles; and clarify the 

applicability of other regulations related 

to appeals of VA decisions on the 

waiver of copayments. These changes 

would provide clarity within the 

regulation, be consistent with the 

statutory authority for collection of 

copayments and waiver of copayments, 

reflect the current position title used by 

VA, and update cross-references to other 

regulatory sections. 

We note at the outset that current 

§ 17.105(c) references only claimants, 

not veterans. In the proposed changes to 

§ 17.105(c) discussed below, we would 

include references to both claimants and 

veterans. We would maintain the 

existing references to claimants when 

discussing the process for anyone other 

than VA to initiate a waiver request for 

charges of copayments, and we would 

use the word veteran when discussing 

the process whereby VA would initiate 

a request for waiver on behalf of a 

veteran. 

Changes to 38 CFR 17.105(c) 

In this rulemaking we propose to 

amend 38 CFR 17.105(c) related to 

waivers for copayments. We would first 

restructure current § 17.105(c) by 

breaking the single paragraph into 

proposed subparagraphs (c)(1) through 

(5), which would retain the majority of 

the language in current paragraph (c), 

but the further subparagraphs would 

make the proposed substantive and 

technical changes clearer. 

The first sentence of current 

§ 17.105(c) introduces the process for 

requesting a waiver of charges for 

copayments and states that ‘‘[if] the debt 

represents charges for outpatient 

medical care, inpatient hospital care, 

medication or extended care services 

copayments made under §§ 17.108, 

17.110, 17.111, or 17.4600, the claimant 

must request a waiver by submitting VA 

Form 5655 (Financial Status Report) to 

the Consolidated Patient Account 

Center (CPAC) Chief Financial Officer.’’ 

We would retain this sentence as a 

standalone proposed § 17.105(c), with 

the following revisions. 

We would first add the phrase ‘‘urgent 

care’’ to the list of debts from charges for 

care authorized to be waived. Current 

§ 17.105(c) does not include the phrase 

urgent care but does include reference 

to § 17.4600, which addresses 

copayments for urgent care. Therefore, 

to ensure a complete and parallel listing 

of all applicable care types, we would 

add the phrase ‘‘urgent care’’ to qualify 

§ 17.4600. 

We would then add language in 

proposed § 17.105(c) to establish that 

VA may initiate a waiver request in 

addition to a ‘‘claimant.’’ This change 

would be necessary because VA 

recognizes that situations may arise 

where it would be more equitable and 

efficient for VA staff to initiate waiver 

requests on behalf of veterans. We 

would not propose to list specific 

situations in which VA may initiate a 

waiver, so that VA may retain greater 

flexibility in assessing what we believe 

would be novel circumstances. 

However, one example for when VA 

might initiate a waiver request would be 

in cases of VA error, particularly when 

large groups of veterans are impacted by 

the same VA error or errors. 

Proposed § 17.105(c) would remove 

the requirement in current § 17.105(c) 

that claimants must submit VA Form 

5655 to request a waiver of charges of 

copayments. VA Form 5655 is a twopage form that requires each claimant 

provide detailed information regarding 

monthly expenses, debts, and other 

financial information. VA now finds 

that this level of specificity can be 

burdensome to the claimant and is often 

more information than VA requires to 

make a waiver determination. VA would 

still regulate other criteria for 

submission of waiver requests, but the 

requirement would be moved to 

proposed § 17.105(c)(1). 

Lastly, proposed § 17.105(c) would 

move the requirement that the form be 

sent to the Chief Financial Officer to 

§ 17.105(c)(1)(ii), and in that provision, 

change the position title from ‘‘Chief 

Financial Officer’’ to ‘‘Chief Fiscal 

Officer’’ to reflect the current position 

title. This is merely a technical change 

and would not change the process to 

submit a waiver or to whom the request 

is submitted. 

For the reasons stated above, 

proposed § 17.105(c) would read: ‘‘Of 

charges for copayments. If the debt 

represents charges for outpatient 

medical care, inpatient hospital care, 

medication, extended care services, or 

urgent care copayments made under 

§§ 17.108, 17.110, 17.111, or 17.4600, 

either a claimant or VA may initiate a 

waiver request.’’ 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(1) would 

establish requirements for claimants to 

submit requests for waiver of charges of 

copayments. Proposed paragraph (c)(1) 

would establish introductory language 

to state ‘‘[i]f the claimant requests a 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 17, 2024 / Proposed Rules 102033 

waiver, the claimant must:’’ where 

proposed subparagraphs (c)(1)(i)–(iv) 

would establish the specific criteria for 

a waiver request. 

The criteria in proposed paragraphs 

(c)(1)(i), (ii), and (iv) would remain the 

same as those listed in current 

§ 17.105(c), with the exceptions of the 

requirement to submit VA Form 5655 

and changing the title of the CPAC Chief 

Financial Officer to the Chief Fiscal 

Officer. 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(1)(i) would 

establish that claimants must make the 

request within the time period provided 

in § 1.963(b) of this chapter. This is 

identical to the submission timeframe in 

current § 17.105(c) as VA finds it is still 

sufficient for purposes of waiver 

requests for copayments. 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(1)(ii) would 

establish that claimants submit the 

request for waiver in writing to the 

Consolidated Patient Account Center 

(CPAC) Chief Fiscal Officer. We reiterate 

that removing the requirement for every 

claimant to submit VA Form 5655 

would reduce burden for most claimants 

and eliminate requests for information 

that is not relevant for VA to determine 

whether to grant waiver requests. 

Therefore, as we would no longer be 

requiring a certain form, we would state 

that the request must be in writing in 

accordance with §§ 1.911(c)(2), 

1.912(c)(2) and 1.912a(c)(2). As 

discussed below, the proposed removal 

of the requirement to submit VA Form 

5655 would not prevent VA from 

requesting VA Form 5655, or other 

information, from a claimant after 

submission of the initial waiver request 

if, in the course determining whether a 

waiver will be granted, VA determines 

more information is needed to make a 

waiver determination. 

To ensure that VA has the information 

required to make determinations related 

to waiver requests, proposed 

§ 17.105(c)(1)(iii) would state that 

claimants must provide any additional 

information that VA may request to 

determine whether the waiver request 

will be granted. This requirement is not 

expressly stated in current § 17.105(c), 

but is consistent with VA practice. 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(1)(iv) would 

direct claimants to request a hearing 

under § 1.966(a) of this chapter if a 

hearing is desired. This requirement is 

identical to what is stated in current 

§ 17.105(c), as VA finds it is still 

sufficient for purposes of waiver 

requests for copayments. 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(2) would 

establish requirements for VA to submit 

requests for waivers on behalf of 

veterans. VA believes that in certain 

circumstances it would be beneficial to 

veterans and VA if VA were permitted 

to submit requests for waivers on behalf 

of veterans. Proposed paragraph (c)(2) 

would provide that when VA requests a 

waiver on behalf of a veteran, VA would 

meet the criteria further outlined in 

proposed paragraphs (c)(2)(i)–(iv). The 

criteria in proposed § 17.105(c)(2)(i)– 

(iii) would essentially mirror the criteria 

required of claimants under proposed 

(c)(1)(i), (ii), and (iv). The waiver 

request requirements in proposed 

§ 17.105(c)(2)(i)–(iii) are again 

substantively the same as those stated in 

current § 17.105(c), with the exceptions 

of the requirement to submit a particular 

VA form, and the change in title of the 

CPAC Chief Financial Officer to the 

Chief Fiscal Officer. 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(2)(i) would state 

that VA must make the request within 

the time period provided in § 1.963(b) of 

this chapter, and proposed paragraph 

(c)(2)(ii) would direct VA to submit the 

waiver request to the designated CPAC 

Chief Fiscal Officer. Both of these 

requirements are consistent with what is 

stated in current § 17.105(c) and 

proposed paragraphs (c)(1)(i) and 

(c)(1)(ii), in terms of requirements for 

claimants’ submission of waiver 

requests. 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(2)(iii) would 

establish that VA must notify the 

veteran in writing that a request has 

been made on their behalf and that the 

veteran may request a hearing pursuant 

to § 1.966(a). The proposed requirement 

that VA notify the veteran when a 

waiver request has been initiated on 

their behalf is not in current § 17.105(c) 

because the process for VA to do so is 

newly proposed in this rulemaking. 

However, VA would ensure that the 

veteran is notified, in writing, so that 

way veterans are aware that VA has 

initiated a waiver request for the debt 

and that the veteran has the right to a 

hearing on the request under § 1.966(a). 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(2)(iv) would 

state that VA may request any 

additional information from the veteran 

that may be required to determine 

whether the waiver will be granted. 

Although this requirement is also not 

stated in current § 17.105(c), it reflects 

current VA practice, and it is included 

in proposed § 17.105(c)(1)(iii) as 

applicable to claimants who request a 

waiver. It is necessary to ensure VA has 

sufficient information by which to 

determine whether or not a waiver 

request should be granted. 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(3) would state 

that the CPAC Chief Fiscal Officer may 

extend the time period to submit a 

waiver request if the Chairperson of the 

Committee on Waivers and 

Compromises could do so under 

§ 1.963(b) of this chapter. This language 

would be consistent with current 

§ 17.105(c), except that proposed 

paragraph (c)(3) uses the term ‘‘waiver 

request’’ instead of the term ‘‘claim.’’ 

Using the term ‘‘waiver request’’ would 

be consistent with the terminology used 

in part 1 of Title 38, CFR, and 

referenced throughout this rulemaking, 

while not substantively changing the 

meaning of the provision. 

Proposed § 17.105(c)(4) would contain 

the standard of review for waiver 

requests, and would state that the CPAC 

Chief Fiscal Officer will apply the 

‘‘equity and good conscience’’ standard 

in accordance with §§ 1.965 and 

1.966(a) of this chapter, and may waive 

all or part of the claimant’s debts. This 

language would be identical to that in 

current § 17.105(c). 

Lastly, proposed § 17.105(c)(5) would 

establish that a decision by the CPAC 

Chief Fiscal Officer under this provision 

is final (except that the decision may be 

reversed or modified based on new and 

material evidence, fraud, a change in 

law or interpretation of law, or clear and 

unmistakable error shown by the 

evidence in the file at the time of the 

prior decision, as provided in § 1.969 of 

this chapter) and may be appealed in 

accordance with 38 CFR parts 19 and 20 

as applicable. This language would be 

consistent with current § 17.105(c), 

except that proposed paragraph (c)(5) 

would include the words ‘‘as 

applicable’’ to more clearly qualify that 

either or both 38 CFR parts 19 and 20 

may apply for purposes of appealing 

VA’s decisions related to waiver 

requests. 

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

14094 

Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory 

Planning and Review) directs agencies 

to assess the costs and benefits of 

available regulatory alternatives and, 

when regulation is necessary, to select 

regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential 

economic, environmental, public health 

and safety effects, and other advantages; 

distributive impacts; and equity). 

Executive Order 13563 (Improving 

Regulation and Regulatory Review) 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, 

reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and 

promoting flexibility. Executive Order 

14094 (Executive Order on Modernizing 

Regulatory Review) supplements and 

reaffirms the principles, structures, and 

definitions governing contemporary 

regulatory review established in 

Executive Order 12866 of September 30, 

1993 (Regulatory Planning and Review), 

and Executive Order 13563 of January 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
102034 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 17, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

18, 2011 (Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review). The Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs has 

determined that this rule is not a 

significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866, as amended by 

Executive Order 14094. The Regulatory 

Impact Analysis associated with this 

rulemaking can be found as a 

supporting document at 

www.regulations.gov. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

The Secretary hereby certifies that 

this proposed rule would or not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities as 

they are defined in the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601–612). The 

factual basis for this certification is that 

this proposed rule impacts only VA staff 

and veterans, and thus no small entities 

will be affected. Therefore, pursuant to 

5 U.S.C. 605(b), the initial and final 

regulatory flexibility analysis 

requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604 do 

not apply. 

Unfunded Mandates 

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 requires, at 2 U.S.C. 1532, that 

agencies prepare an assessment of 

anticipated costs and benefits before 

issuing any rule that may result in the 

expenditure by State, local, and tribal 

governments, in the aggregate, or by the 

private sector, of $100 million or more 

(adjusted annually for inflation) in any 

one year. This proposed rule would 

have no such effect on State, local, and 

tribal governments, or on the private 

sector. 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 

Although this proposed rule contains 

a collection of information under the 

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3521), there 

are no provisions associated with this 

rulemaking constituting any new 

collection of information or any 

revisions to the current collection of 

information. The collection of 

information for 38 CFR 17.105(c) is 

currently approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and has 

a valid OMB control number of 2900– 

0165. 

List of Subjects in 38 CFR Part 17 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Claims, Health care, 

Veterans. 

Signing Authority 

Denis McDonough, Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs, signed and approved 

this document on December 5, 2024, 

and authorized the undersigned to sign 

and submit the document to the Office 

of the Federal Register for publication 

electronically as an official document of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Consuela Benjamin, 

Regulation Development Coordinator, Office 

of Regulation Policy & Management, Office 

of General Counsel, Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the Department of Veterans 

Affairs proposes to amend 38 CFR part 

17 as set forth below: 

PART 17—MEDICAL 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 17 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, and as noted in 

specific sections. 

* * * * * 

■ 2. Amend § 17.105 by revising 

paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 17.105 Waivers 

* * * * * 

(c) Of charges for copayments. If the 

debt represents charges for outpatient 

medical care, inpatient hospital care, 

medication, extended care services, or 

urgent care copayments made under 

§§ 17.108, 17.110, 17.111, or 17.4600, 

either a claimant or VA may initiate a 

waiver request. 

(1) If the claimant requests the waiver, 

the claimant must: 

(i) Make the request within the time 

period provided in § 1.963(b) of this 

chapter. 

(ii) Submit the request in writing to 

the Consolidated Patient Account 

Center (CPAC) Chief Fiscal Officer. 

(iii) Provide any additional 

information that VA may request to 

determine whether the waiver will be 

granted. 

(iv) Request a hearing under § 1.966(a) 

of this chapter if a hearing is desired. 

(2) If VA requests a waiver on behalf 

of a veteran, VA will: 

(i) Make the request within the time 

period provided in § 1.963(b) of this 

chapter. 

(ii) Submit the request in writing to 

the designated CPAC Chief Fiscal 

Officer. 

(iii) Notify the veteran in writing that 

a waiver request has been made on the 

veteran’s behalf and that the veteran 

may request a hearing pursuant to 

§ 1.966(a). 

(iv) Request any additional 

information from the veteran that may 

be required to determine whether the 

waiver will be granted. 

(3) The CPAC Chief Fiscal Officer may 

extend the time period to submit a 

waiver request if the Chairperson of the 

Committee on Waivers and 

Compromises could do so under 

§ 1.963(b) of this chapter. 

(4) The CPAC Chief Fiscal Officer will 

apply the ‘‘equity and good conscience’’ 

standard in accordance with §§ 1.965 

and 1.966(a) of this chapter, and may 

waive all or part of the claimant’s debts. 

(5) A decision by the CPAC Chief 

Fiscal Officer under this provision is 

final (except that the decision may be 

reversed or modified based on new and 

material evidence, fraud, a change in 

law or interpretation of law, or clear and 

unmistakable error shown by the 

evidence in the file at the time of the 

prior decision, as provided in § 1.969 of 

this chapter) and may be appealed in 

accordance with 38 CFR parts 19 and 

20, as applicable. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2024–28999 Filed 12–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R02–OAR–2024–0573; FRL–12459– 

01–R2] 

Approval of Air Quality Implementation 

Plans; New Jersey; Permits and 

Certificates for Minor Facilities (and 

Major Facilities Without an Operating 

Permit), and Air Emission Control and 

Permitting Exemptions 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a 

revision to New Jersey’s State 

Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted 

by the New Jersey Department of 

Environmental Protection (NJDEP), to 

incorporate regulations concerning 

permits and certificates for minor source 

facilities and major source facilities 

without an operating permit. The 

intended effect of the NJDEP’s revisions 

to the SIP, is to regulate the construction 

and modification of stationary sources 

with adequate requirements to ensure 

that the National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards (NAAQS) are satisfied. In 

addition, the NJDEP’s revisions will 

strengthen the SIP by conforming it with 

the State regulations that were in effect 

at the time of the SIP submission. If the 

EPA finalizes this rulemaking as it is 

being proposed, the Federal air 

permitting program for New Jersey will 

be updated, which will better serve the 

regulated community and help to 

protect the quality of air in the State. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1