NOTICES

Various Ozone Transport Region Measures under Consideration by the Ozone Transport Commission and the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union; Public Meetings

[36 Pa.B. 2071]

   The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is holding three public meetings regarding control measures under consideration for adoption by the Ozone Transport Commission (Commission). These meetings will be held at 10 a.m. as follows:

May 22, 2006	Department of Environmental Protection Rachel Carson State Office Building Room 105 Market Street Harrisburg, PA 17105
May 23, 2006	Department of Environmental Protection Southwest Regional Office, Waterfront    A & B 400 Waterfront Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15222
May 25, 2006	Department of Environmental Protection Southeast Regional Office, Library    2nd Floor 2 East Main Street Norristown, PA 19401

   At the meetings, Department staff will review the control measures, answer questions on them and seek public input. These meetings are being held consistent with the requirements of section 7.4 of the Air Pollution Control Act (35 P. S. § 4007.4). At the June 6, 2006, meeting of the Commission, the Environmental Commissioners of the Ozone Transport Region (OTR) jurisdictions are scheduled to vote on a number of action items and recommendations for additional programs to be considered by the OTR jurisdictions for implementation to reduce ground-level ozone and its precursors.

   Specific action items for follow up and/or to be voted on by the Commissioners are:

   1.  Authorizing the Chair of the Commission to send a letter to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging EPA's adoption of rulemaking to require small engine manufacturers to meet the most stringent technically and economically feasible emission reduction control measures.

   2.  Directing Commission executive staff to work with staff from Commission jurisdictions to develop revisions to the Commission Consumer Products model rule.

   3.  Directing Commission executive staff to work with staff from Commission jurisdictions to develop revisions to the Commission Architectural and Industrial Maintenance (AIM) Coatings model rule.

   4.  Directing Commission executive staff to work with staff from Commission jurisdictions to develop a model rule that mandates the installation and maintenance of software (chip reflashing) to correct the defeat device option on certain heavy-duty diesel engines.

   In addition, the Commissioners have directed the Commission executive staff to work with staff from Commission jurisdictions to advance air quality modeling efforts to ensure that the control strategy modeling for 2009 reflects the appropriate level of emission reductions from a number of control measures under consideration for model rule development. The candidate control measures include reducing emissions from the following source categories:

   1.  AIM Coatings.

   2.  Asphalt Paving.

   3.  Asphalt Production Plants.

   4.  Auto Refinish Coatings.

   5.  Consumer Products, including Portable Fuel Containers.

   6.  Diesel Truck Chip Reflash.

   7.  Electrical Generating Units.

   8.  EGU Peaking Units.

   9.  Glass Furnaces.

   10.  Lime Kilns.

   11.  Cement Plants.

   12.  Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Boilers.

   13.  Municipal Waste Combustors.

   14.  Refineries.

   15.  A Regional Motor Fuel based on Reformulated Gasoline Options.

   16.  A Regional Distillate Fuel Sulfur Content Limit of 500 parts per million.

   The Department is requesting comments regarding the four specific action items scheduled for consideration and the proposed inclusion in regional ozone air quality modeling of anticipated emission reductions from the 16 candidate control measures.

   In addition to the importance of these potential control strategies for the reduction of ozone, the strategies are being evaluated by the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU). The Department is also requesting comment on the implementation of the potential strategies to address the sulfate, nitrate and organic components of regional haze.

   Written comments should be sent by May 30, 2006, to J. Wick Havens, Chief, Division of Air Resource Management, Bureau of Air Quality, P. O. Box 8468, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8468, jhavens@state.pa.us. The Department will review and consider all written comments prior to voting on any mechanism that would commit the Commonwealth to adopt and implement these control strategies.

   Persons with a disability who wish to attend a meeting and require an auxiliary aid, service or other accommodation to participate in the meeting should contact Connie Cross at (717) 787-9498 or through the Pennsylvania AT&T Relay Service at (800) 654-5984 (TDD) to discuss how the Department may accommodate their needs.

   Information regarding the action items may be found at: www.otcair.org/document.asp?fview=meeting#.

   Information regarding the 16 candidate control strategies proposed for inclusion in regional ozone air quality modeling may be found at: www.otcair.org/projects_ details.asp?FID=93&fview=stationary

   The Commission is a multistate organization created under the Federal Clean Air Act. The Commission is responsible for advising the EPA on transport issues and for developing and implementing regional solutions to the ground-level ozone problem in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. The Commonwealth is a member of the Commission.

   MANE-VU was formed by the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states, tribes and Federal agencies to coordinate regional haze planning activities for the region and to encourage a coordinated approach to meeting the requirements of the EPA's regional haze rules and reducing visibility impairment in major National parks and wilderness areas in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region.

KATHLEEN A. MCGINTY,   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 06-715. Filed for public inspection April 28, 2006, 9:00 a.m.]

 

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