Regional Haze: Revisions to Provisions Governing Alternatives to Source-Specific Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) Determinations, Limited SIP Disapprovals, and Federal Implementation Plans

The EPA is finalizing revisions to our rules pertaining to the regional haze program. In this action, the EPA is finalizing our finding that the trading programs in the Transport Rule, also known as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), achieve greater reasonable progress towards the national goal of achieving natural visibility conditions in Class I areas than source-specific Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) in those states covered by the Transport Rule. In this action, the EPA is also finalizing a limited disapproval of the regional haze State Implementation Plans (SIPs) that have been submitted by Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Texas because these states relied on requirements of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to satisfy certain regional haze requirements. To address deficiencies in CAIR-dependent regional haze SIPs, in this action the EPA is promulgating Federal Implementation Plans (FIPs) to replace reliance on CAIR with reliance on the Transport Rule in the regional haze SIPs of Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Agency Contact: Ms. Martha Keating, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Air Quality Policy Division, Mail code C539-04, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, telephone (919) 541-9407;