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February 10-16, 2024
In this week's issue:
- EPA Publishes Supplemental Proposal to Implement Federal Good Neighbor Plan in Five Additional States (February 16, 2024)
- EPA Announces Availability of $81 Million in IRA Funding for Air Monitoring Direct-Award Grants to State, Local and Tribal Air Agencies, with Additional $2 Million to Support Air Quality Sensors (February 16, 2024)
- EPA Requests Public Comment on Plan to Update T640 and T640X PM2.5 Monitoring Data in AQS (February 15, 2024)
- Study Finds that Climate Change Is Already Erasing Air Quality Gains (February 12, 2024)
- Motor Fuel Retailers Urge Senate EPW Chair to Support Year-Round Sale of E15 (February 13, 2024)
- At House Hearing, NAAQS Bill and New PM Standard Highlight Partisan Differences (February 15, 2024)
- EPA Updates Its Equity Action Plan (February 14, 2024)
- EPA Announces Air Toxics Rule for Taconite Iron Ore Processing Plants (February 9, 2024)
- EPA Publishes Interim Final Rule and Seeks Comment on Corrections to Final NSPS for Electric Arc Furnaces (February 14, 2024)
- EPA Extends Public Comment Period on Draft Emission Factors for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (February 14, 2024)
This Week in Review
![](https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/US-Capitol-7-533x328.jpeg)
EPA published in the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg. 12,666) supplemental proposed actions regarding the interstate transport provisions of the Clean Air Act as they relate to the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The actions apply to five states – Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico and Tennessee – in which EPA proposes to 1) partially approve and partially disapprove the 2015 ozone transport State Implementation Plans, 2) implement, beginning in 2025, Federal Implementation Plans, making the five states part of the March 2023 federal ”Good Neighbor Plan,” with coal-fired power plants subject to an allowance-based ozone-season NOx emissions trading program; and 3) establish nitrogen oxide emission limits for a number of industrial sources in Arizona, to take effect in 2027. EPA will accept public comments through May 16, 2024. The agency will hold a virtual public hearing beginning at 9:00 AM on March 4, 2024,
For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-02-16/pdf/2024-01064.pdf
and
EPA announced that approximately $81 million in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding is being made available to state, local and tribal air agencies in the form of noncompetitive, direct-award grants to support the establishment of new ambient air monitoring sites and maintain, operate or upgrade existing monitoring sites. The agency is also making available approximately $2 million to support the deployment and operation of air quality sensors in low-income and disadvantaged communities. No cost sharing will be required. The grants will be distributed to the ten EPA Regional Offices, which will make the awards to individual air agencies. EPA has posted two grant guidance documents for agencies to follow when applying for the awards. These documents outline the specific details, timelines, applicant eligibility criteria and eligible activities relating to this funding opportunity. State and local air agencies are encouraged to submit grant applications as soon as possible and no later than April 8, 2024. EPA will hold a webinar for grant-eligible entities on February 28, 2024 (further details TBA).
For further information:
EPA published in the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg. 11,831) a “Notice of Opportunity to Comment” on a proposed plan to retroactively update the PM2.5 data in EPA’s Air Quality System (AQS) from Teledyne T640 and T640X mass monitors. EPA plans to apply the Network Data Alignment equation approved in an April 2023 modification of the Federal Equivalent Method (FEM) designation for these monitors to all hourly, unaligned T640 and T640X PM2.5 concentrations in AQS for data beginning in 2017, when the equipment began to be deployed. The data from these continuous FEMs has consistently been reported as reading approximately 20% higher than collocated Federal Reference Method (FRM) monitors. EPA expects that this update to the AQS data will result in a much higher number of PM2.5 monitoring sites using the T640/T640X FEMs meeting the bias measurement quality objectives. The updated data are expected to be relevant to upcoming PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard implementation-related activities, including forthcoming initial area designations, any future redesignation actions, and findings of attainment that may rely on monitoring data from the previous three to five years.
For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-02-15/pdf/2024-02935.pdf
and
First Street, a climate risk consultancy, has released a new report that concludes that that climate change impacts are undoing air quality progress that the U.S. has made through the Clean Air Act and other regulations and policy. First Street used EPA Air Quality Index (AQI) data and a proprietary model to link climate-driven changes in environmental conditions, such as extreme heat, drought, and wildfires to increasing ozone and PM2.5 levels. “In California alone, the average number of Green Days seen across the state has decreased from 136 to 93 (-32%), and the average number of Yellow Days has decreased from 200 to 146 (-27%). Subsequently, the average number of Orange Days has increased from 15 to 55 (+267%), Red Days increased from 10 to 16 (+60%), Purple Days increased from 1 to 17 (+1,600%), and Maroon Days from 3 to 38 (+1,167%)”, the report states. First Street finds that some of the most at-risk areas include western U.S. cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, and Sacramento. The report finds that areas in central California will have poor air quality days extend by 50 percent because of this “climate penalty” while nationally, the number of Americans facing 10 or more poor air quality days a year from the combined effect of PM2.5 and ozone is expected to increase about 15 percent in 30 years thanks to the effects of climate change.
For further information:
Organizations representing retailers accounting for over 90 percent of U.S. motor fuel sales sent a letter to Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, encouraging him to “withdraw [his] opposition” to legislation that would allow the year-round sale of E15 (gasoline containing 10.5 to 15 percent ethanol). Although the signatories do not identify any specific congressional bill they write, “If enacted, such legislation would allow for more environmentally friendly fuel to be sold at a lower cost to consumers. As importantly, it would signal to the market that long-term investments in lower carbon transportation energy – including biofuels and EV charging stations – will be rewarded rather than punished. The legislation’s enactment would avoid unnecessary disruption, complexity, and price-increases in U.S. gasoline markets this coming summer.” The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), NATSO: Representing America’s Travel Centers and Truckstops and SIGMA: America’s Leading Fuel Marketers, continue their letter by telling Senator Carper, “Your opposition is the legislation’s primary roadblock. We understand that you have a genuine interest in protecting the jobs of hard-working constituents at refineries in the mid-Atlantic. Legislation providing for year-round E15 would not fix the various problems those refineries face in the marketplace; but it causes them no harm whatsoever.” In a press statement, a representative of NATSO is quoted as saying, “Senator Carper has insisted for years that any legislation allowing year-round E15 include poison-pill provisions that would gut policies aimed at addressing climate change. It is getting increasingly challenging to reconcile Senator Carper’s legacy championing climate causes with his office’s continued opposition to legislation allowing E15 to be sold year-round. This is all the more true given how much of a political problem this creates for President Biden as we enter the summer driving season in just a few months.” The three organizations conclude their letter by writing, “Legislation to allow year-round E15, particularly if coupled with robust incentives for biofuel production and blending, would unlock private capital for low carbon fuel investments, reduce transportation emissions, and lower gas prices for consumers.” On March 14, 2023, Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), joined by a bipartisan group of 16 cosponsors – nine Republicans and seven Democrats – reintroduced the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2023. The bill, S. 785, would amend the Clean Air Act’s provisions related to ethanol waivers and fuel volatility requirements in order to allow for the year-round sale of E15. In 2017, the Senate EPW Committee – then chaired by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) – held a hearing on a previous version of this bill. At the time, Senator Carper, Ranking Member of the Committee, expressed several concerns about the bill, including that “[t]he bipartisan bill before us today assumes gasoline with ethanol blends greater than 10 percent contribute to ozone pollution no more or no less than gasoline blends with 10 percent ethanol – and, therefore, the fuels should be treated the same under the Clean Air Act. My first and foremost concern is making sure that assumption is correct. Representing a downwind state with ozone pollution problems, I want to make sure passing this legislation will not increase ozone pollution that would make it more difficult for my state to reach attainment. Along this line, states with extreme ozone concerns – like Delaware – have the authority to regulate the fuels sold within its borders. I want to make sure this legislation does not inhibit states’ rights to address ozone pollution.”
For further information:
https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/E15-NATSO_SIGMA_NACS_Letter_to_Sen_Carper-021324.pdf
and
https://www.natso.com/topics/natso-fuel-retailers-urge-senator-carper-to-support-year-round-e15
and
https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/s785/BILLS-118s785is.pdf
and
https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=6FC4558A-0616-4CD8-BD3F-63DAB574FEFD
and
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The U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee hosted a Subcommittee Hearing on proposed legislation to amend how the NAAQS are implemented by state and local clean air agencies. The E&C Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials hearing was entitled “Safeguarding American Prosperity and People’s Livelihoods: Legislation to Modernize Air Quality Standards” and examined a draft discussion bill titled the “Air Quality Standards Implementation Act of 2024”. Witnesses included Christopher Netram, Managing Vice President of Policy at the National Association of Manufacturers; John Eunice, Deputy Director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division; Paul Noe, Vice President of Public Policy at the American Forestry and Paper Association; and, Seth Johnson, Senior Attorney at Earthjustice. The discussion bill reflects provisions of bills originally introduced by Republicans in 2014. Among other provisions, the bill would extend the frequency of NAAQS standard setting from five years to ten; require that permitting by state and local agencies reflect older NAAQS standards until guidance on implementation is finalized; require EPA to consider “attainability” when setting air quality standards; and would require the expansion of state representatives on the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee that considers the science underpinning new standards from one to three. Additional flexibilities around wildfires and contingency measures that seek to ease implementation have been added to the discussion draft before the current Congress, and the bill would prevent the application of Clean Air Act sanctions for “emissions emanating from outside the nonattainment area, (ii) emissions from an exceptional event, or (iii) emissions from mobile sources that are beyond the control of the State to reduce or eliminate.” In opening remarks, Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) warned of “permitting gridlock” and warned that new PM NAAQS finalized on February 7, 2024, by EPA would deter manufacturing across America. House E&C Committee Chairwoman Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said “we must re-think how we address pollution levels that are out of our control,” and seek “reasonable solutions” with the tightening of NAAQS levels. Democratic Members of Congress at the hearing noted that provisions of the bill that seeks to consider attainability are contrary to provisions of the Clean Air Act and judicial precedent that mandate that the setting of health-based standards must be driven by scientific consideration of health impacts. They noted that the existing system considers such issues at the implementation phase, when states craft their state implementation plans (SIPs) for compliance. Subcommittee Ranking Member Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) said the Clean Air Act “is working as intended” and the proposed amendments are harmful, while House E&C Committee Ranking Member Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said the draft is “a partisan Republican bill… that puts corporate polluters over people.” While the bill is not expected to advance in the Congressional session, it serves as a starting point for legislative negotiations in the event that Republicans extend political power in Washington DC in the 2024 election.
For further information:
and
https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/Discussion-Bill-NAAAQS.pdf
EPA has released an updated plan with strategies for improving equity in the agency’s actions, including reducing cumulative impacts and strengthening civil rights compliance. The new plan expands EPA’s priorities for acting on Environmental Justice (EJ) from six to eight, and now includes “improve access for communities to federal assistance;” “reduce cumulative impacts and health disparities;” “strengthen our civil rights compliance program;” “protect children from exposure to environmental harms;” “address inequitable access to resources for rural communities;” “ensure public access to EPA programs to address environmental harms for people with disabilities;” “ strengthen community-based participatory science to achieve environmental equity;” and “improve data and analytic capacity to better identify and remove barriers.” The announcement of the new plan also says that these goals will be advanced using regular program efforts and also by leveraging investments made by EPA using Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds, such as establishing 11 EJ Thriving Community Technical Assistance Centers to help local authorities access $500 million in federal grants, and technical assistance program to help eligible groups access $2 billion through the Environmental & Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program.
For further information:
https://www.4cleanair.org/wp-content/uploads/EPA-2024-equity-action-plan.pdf
EPA has announced that on January 31, 2024, the agency issued final amendments to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Taconite Iron Ore Processing Plants. The rule would set the first air limits on mercury from the source category and would also address emissions of acid gases, such as hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride. EPA expects the rule to reduce mercury emissions by about 33 percent, hydrochloric acid emissions by 72 percent, hydrofluoric acid emissions by 29 percent and particulate matter emissions by 35 percent. There are currently eight taconite iron ore processing plants in the country – six in Minnesota and two in Michigan (one Michigan plant is indefinitely idled and not expected to operate in the future). The revised regulation fills gaps that remained after the risk and technology review standard for the source category was issued in July 2020 and complies with a court mandate that EPA must address unregulated HAPs when it conducts the eight-year technology review.
For further information:
EPA published in the Federal Register (89 Fed. Reg. 11,198) an interim final rule (IFR) and request for public comment on corrections and clarifications to the August 25, 2023, New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for PM2.5 emissions from electric arc furnaces (EAF) and argon-oxygen decarburization (AOD) vessels used in the steel industry. EPA writes in the IFR that the corrections and clarifications are “to address unintended and inadvertent errors in the recently finalized standards,” particularly as they relate to the following: 1) EAFs constructed after October 21, 1974, and on or before August 17, 1983 (subpart AA); 2) EAFs and AOD Vessels constructed after August 17, 1983, and on or before May 16, 2022 (subpart AAa); and 3) EAFs and AOD Vessels constructed after May 16, 2022 (subpart AAb). This week’s IFR takes effect on February 14, 2024; comments on the IFR must be submitted to EPA by March 15 ,2024. The final NSPS were published by EPA on August 25, 2023 (see related article in the August 19-15, 2023, Washington Update).
For further information:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-02-14/pdf/2024-02634.pdf
and
https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-02/factsheet_eaf_nsps_interimfinal.pdf
and
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-08-25/pdf/2023-16747.pdf
and
EPA announced a 15-day extension of the public comment period on three new draft emission factors for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (AP-42 Chapter 2, Section 4). The proposed new emission factors were announced on January 12; EPA also reviewed and has elected not to revise three existing factors in this section. These updates are being made pursuant to the requirements of a consent decree. The draft emission factors, underlying data and updated draft section of AP-42 are available for public review on EPA’s website, along with a link for submitting comments by email. The public comment period, which was extended in response to a request, will now end on March 12, 2024.
For further information: