![](https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/nacaa-internal-banner-1024x210.jpeg)
July 29-August 4, 2023
In this week's issue:
- EPA Publishes and Seeks Comment on Interim Final Rule in Response to Judicial Stays of Good Neighbor SIP Disapproval Actions for Six States, Issues Memo in Response to Four Additional Partial Stays of Good Neighbor SIP Disapprovals (July 31 and August 3, 2023)
- Industry Petitioners Challenging EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan Ask D.C. Circuit to Stay Rule Pending Completion of Judicial Review (August 2, 2023)
- EPA Proposes Air Toxics Standards for Coke Ovens, Calling for Fenceline Monitoring (July 31, 2023)
- EPA Publishes Iron and Steel Air Toxics Rule, Sets Comment Deadline (July 31, 2023)
- EPA Announces Final Amendments to NSPS for Electric Arc Furnaces (August 1, 2023)
- U.S. DOT Proposes New Fuel Efficiency Standards for Passenger Cars, Light Trucks and Heavy-Duty Pickup Trucks (July 28, 2023)
- EPA Announces Availability of $115 Million in Funding for DERA Grants (August 2, 2023)
- California Announces Public Comment Period on Proposed Amendments to Heavy-Duty Truck Omnibus Regulation (August 1, 2023)
- GOP Senators Call for EPA to Withdraw Power Plant Proposal (August 1, 2023)
This Week in Review
![](https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/US-Capitol-4-492x328.jpeg)
EPA published in the Federal Register, and requested public comment on, an interim final rule (IFR) in response to judicial stays of Good Neighbor State Implementation Plan (SIP) disapprovals for six states (88 Fed. Reg. 49,295). In the July 31, 2023, IFR, EPA takes action to stay the effectiveness of its final Good Neighbor Plan for the 2015 8-hour ozone standard for emission sources in six states: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas. The final Good Neighbor plan (a Federal Implementation Plan, applicable to 23 states in total, to address the interstate transport requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) of the Clean Air Act) was signed by EPA on March 15, 2023, and published in the Federal Register on June 5, 2023, with an effective date of August 4, 2023. EPA states in the IFR that it is “also revising certain other regulations to ensure that sources in these [six] states will continue to be subject to previously established requirements to mitigate interstate air pollution with respect to other ozone NAAQS while the Good Neighbor Plan’s requirements are stayed.” These revisions will also “ensure that the stay is limited to requirements for which the EPA does not currently have authority to implement a FIP pending judicial review.” The revisions relate primarily to which trading program will apply in the six affected states and the state emissions budgets, unit-level allowance allocation provisions and banked allowance holdings. EPA is taking this interim final action in response to judicial orders that partially stay, pending judicial review, a February 13, 2023, final EPA action in which the agency disapproved Good Neighbor SIP revisions for the 2015 ozone NAAQS submitted by these and other states. In addition, for states for which the Good Neighbor Plan’s requirements are not being stayed, EPA is revising three near-term deadlines that are incorrect as published in the final Good Neighbor Plan. This IFR takes effect on August 4, 2023. Comments on the IFR must be submitted to EPA by August 30, 2023. In a related action, on August 3, 2023, Joseph Goffman, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, issued a memorandum announcing that the agency will take action in the to extend the July 31 IFR to stay the effectiveness of requirements the Good Neighbor Plan for sources in Minnesota, Nevada, Oklahoma and Utah, where courts have recently granted motions for partial stays of EPA’s February 2023 SIP disapproval actions. Goffman also notes in his memo, “Motions for partial stays of the SIP Disapproval Action regarding additional states remain pending in other courts. If those courts grant such motions, EPA will extend the Interim Final Rule to ensure that the Good Neighbor Plan’s requirements are not effective for sources in any additional state where EPA lacks federal implementation authority because of a stay order, and sources in such states would likewise not be required to comply with the Good Neighbor Plan. EPA plans to take action extending the Interim Final Rule once all pending motions for partial stays are resolved. This action will make clear that the status quo is maintained as to all such states. To the extent that sources in a given state are covered by previously established requirements to mitigate interstate air pollution with respect to other ozone NAAQS, EPA also intends to apply the provisions of the Interim Final Rule to the sources as needed to ensure that implementation of the previously established requirements continues while the effectiveness of the Good Neighbor Plan’s requirements is stayed.”
For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-07-31/pdf/2023-14180.pdf,
and
A coalition of 10 industry petitioners challenging EPA’s June 5, 2023, final Good Neighbor Plan for the 2015 8-hour ozone standard filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking to stay the final rule pending completion of judicial review with respect to all states subject to it. (The Good Neighbor Plan is a Federal Implementation Plan, applicable to 23 states, to address the interstate transport requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) of the Clean Air Act,) In their motion, the industry petitioners argue that they are likely to prevail in their challenge of the Good Neighbor Plan based on the merits of their case; that they will “suffer irreparable harm absent a stay”; and that “the balance of equities and the public interest favor a stay.” Other petitioners in this case have also motioned for a stay of the Plan pending the outcome of judicial review.
For further information:
EPA has proposed amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Coke Ovens: Pushing, Quenching, and Battery Stacks, and Coke Oven Batteries, based on the agency’s Risk and Technology Review of the original requirements in the 2005 NESHAP. The proposal calls for: fenceline monitoring for benzene that would require the facility to do a root cause analysis and take corrective action if monitoring shows levels exceeding a proposed action level; lower limits for emissions from coke oven doors, lids and offtakes; new standards for 15 previously unregulated hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from pushing, battery stacks and Heat and Nonrecovery facilities main stacks from steam generators; standards for two previously unregulated HAP (particulate matter metals and mercury) from certain types of emissions points; removal of exemptions for startup, shutdown and malfunction; and requirements for electronic reporting. EPA expects that most facilities will be able to comply with the proposed requirements without additional controls. There will be a 45-day public comment period after the proposal is published in the Federal Register.
For further information:
EPA has published in the Federal Register amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the Integrated Iron and Steel Manufacturing source category (88 Fed. Reg. 49402). The agency will accept public comment until September 14, 2023. The measure is the result of a technology review that revises the Risk and Technology Review standard issued on July 23, 2020. The proposal calls for fenceline monitoring for chromium (a surrogate for other hazardous air pollution metals) to address fugitive emissions and emission limits for several hazardous air pollutants from certain types of emission points or operations that the existing rule does not cover, including mercury, carbonyl sulfide, carbon disulfide, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen fluoride, total hydrocarbons, dioxins/furans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The proposal also includes new and revised opacity limits and new work practice standards.
For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-07-31/pdf/2023-15085.pdf
and
EPA announced a final rule titled, “New Source Performance Standards Review for Steel Plants: Electric Arc Furnaces Constructed After 10/21/74 & On or Before 8/17/83; Standards of Performance for Steel Plants: Electric Arc Furnaces & Argon-Oxygen Decarburization Constructed After 8/17/83 And On Or Before May 16, 2022; Standards of Performance for Steel Plants: Electric Arc Furnaces and Argon-Oxygen Decarburization Vessels Constructed After May 16, 2022.” The agency is taking this final action, which amends existing New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for electric arc furnaces (EAF) and argon-oxygen decarburization (AOD) vessels in the steel industry, after completing a statutorily mandated review of the standards. The Clean Air Act requires all NSPS to be reviewed and, as necessary, amended every eight years; the EAF and AOD NSPS were last amended in 2005. Under this final rule, EAF and AOD facilities that began construction, reconstruction or modification after May 16, 2022, must comply with a particulate matter (PM) standard in the format of facility-wide PM emitted per amount of steel produced, and opacity limits for melt shops of 0 percent during melting and refining and 6 percent during charging and tapping. The PM and opacity limits and other rule requirements apply at all times. In addition, periodic testing for compliance is required at least once every five years; electronic copies are required for performance tests and “demonstration of compliance with semiannual reports to be submitted through EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX) using the Compliance and Emissions Data Reporting Interface (CEDRI) and electronic reporting tool (ERT).” EPA is also finalizing amendments to the NSPS that apply to EAFs constructed after October 21, 1974, and on or before August 17, 1983, and EAF and AOD vessels constructed after August 17, 1983, and on or before May 16, 2022; the agency says these amendments are intended to clarify and refine certain provisions. This final action will take effect upon its publication in the Federal Register.
For further information:
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for MY 2027 through 2032 passenger cars and light trucks and MY 2030 through 2035 heavy-duty pickup trucks. Under the fuel efficiency proposal 1) the standards for passenger cars increase at a rate of 2 percent per year; 2) the standards for light trucks increase at a rate of 4 percent per year; and 3) the standards for heavy-duty pickup trucks increase at a rate of 10 percent per year. At this time, NHTSA projects that its proposed standards would require an industry-wide fleet average for passenger cars and light trucks of about 58 miles per gallon in MY 2032 and an industry-wide fleet average for heavy-duty pickup trucks of about 2.6 gallons per 100 miles in MY 2038. The proposed rule also includes a range of alternatives on which NHTSA seeks comment. With respect to benefits, NHTSA projects that the proposed standards would reduce average fuel costs over the lifetime of a passenger car or light truck by $1,043 and of a heavy-duty pickup truck by $439 and, overall, will save consumers over $50 billion on fuel over the lifetime of affected vehicles and conserve more than 88 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050. NHTSA states that the proposed standards “are directly responsive to the agency’s statutory mandate to improve energy conservation and reduce the nation’s energy dependence on foreign sources.” In addition, NHTSA estimates the proposed standards will prevent over 900 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which equates to taking over 233 million vehicles off the road from 2022 through 2050. Overall, the combined benefits of the proposal are expected to exceed costs by more than $18 billion. In the proposal, NHTSA also puts forth proposed “augural” standards for MY 2032 passenger cars and light-trucks that would continue to increase at 2 percent per year and 4 percent per year, respectively, compared to the previous year’s standards. The “augural” standards are NHTSA’s current estimate of what it would propose for MY 2032 and beyond if it had authority to set fuel economy standards for more than five MYs at a time. The augural standards do not, and will not, have any effect and will not be binding unless and until NHTSA adopts them in a subsequent rulemaking. NHTSA includes augural standards for MY 2032 in the proposal, consistent with past practice, “to give its best estimate of what those standards would be to provide as much predictability as possible to manufacturers and to be consistent with the time frame of the proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from motor vehicles” proposed in April 2023. Once the CAFE proposal is published in the Federal Register NHTSA will accept public comments for 60 days. NHTSA plans to hold one virtual hearing on the proposal during the public comment period; the date and web address of the virtual hearing and details of how to register will be provided in a supplemental Federal Register notice.
For further information:
and
https://www.nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/corporate-average-fuel-economy#75896
EPA today announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for grants under the 2022-2023 Deisel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program, intended “to accelerate the upgrade, retrofit, and turnover of the legacy diesel fleet.” The agency expects to award a total of about $115 million under this program, contingent upon, among other things, the availability of funding (about half of which will come from FY 2022 funds and half from FY 2023 funds) and the quality and number of applications received. Applications for these DERA funds must be submitted to EPA by December 1, 2023. EPA plans to award four to 10 grants in each of the 10 EPA regions; announce its selections in March 2024; and award the funds from June to August 2024. Those with questions should email them to dera@epa.gov. For technical support on grants.gov (the online portal through which applications for DERA funds are to be submitted) contact (800) 518-4726 or support@grants.gov. To receive ongoing information about this funding program sign up to receive EPA’s DERA News emails. EPA will hold informational webinars on this NOFO, the first of which is on Tuesday, August 22, 2023.
For further information:
and
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced a public comment period on a proposal to consider amendments to its September 2021 final Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Omnibus Regulation, in which it set more stringent nitrogen oxide and particulate matter standards for new medium- and heavy-duty diesel and gasoline engines beginning with model year (MY) 2024. Subsequent to final adoption of the Omnibus CARB became aware that manufacturers did not plan to produce compliant diesel engines for certain truck categories in the early (2024-2026) years of the program. CARB is, therefore, proposing to provide additional compliance flexibility by amending legacy engine provisions of the regulation to enable manufacturers to produce and certify more legacy engines in MYs 2024 through 2026, while also ensuring, through offset requirements, that the proposed amendments will not reduce the emissions benefits of the Omnibus regulation. The public comment period on this proposal will close on September 18, 2023. CARB will hold a public hearing on the proposal if one is requested by September 3, 2023. This action by CARB is consistent with the Clean Truck Partnership agreement reached by CARB and EMA last month.
For further information:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CARB/bulletins/3675785,
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/rulemaking/2023/hdomnibus2023?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
and
Thirty-nine Republican Senators have submitted a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan calling for the Agency to withdraw its May 23, 2023 proposed rule regulating GHG emissions from power plants. The letter was led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), the ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “The EPA has again grossly misinterpreted the scope of authority Congress granted under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act by proposing a rule that would … transform our nation’s power sector with neither a clear and explicit congressional authorization nor adequate process as required under the Administrative Procedure Act,” the senators wrote. Other Senators who signed the letter include Minority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-KY), Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. In addition to raising legal concerns, the letter also calls EPA’s basis of the best system of emission reduction on carbon capture and storage and hydrogen co-firing premature, saying these technologies “are still nascent and have not yet been adequately demonstrated” as required by the Clean Air Act. The letter also says the proposal was rushed and that if finalized, will create “a crisis in electricity supply that will dwarf the regional outages that we have seen in California, Texas, and New England in recent years. We request the EPA expeditiously withdraw this unlawful proposal.” Public comments on EPA’s proposal (Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0072) are due August 8, 2023.
For further information:
https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/39-senators.pdf