Environmental Protection Agency November 3, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action finalizes an amendment to the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for the Phosphoric Acid Manufacturing source category. The final amendment is in response to a petition for rulemaking on the mercury emission limit for existing phosphate rock calciners that was finalized on August 19, 2015 (``2015 Rule''). That emission limit was based on the maximum achievable control technology (MACT) floor for existing sources. All six of the existing calciners used to set this MACT floor are located at the PCS Phosphate Company, Inc. (``PCS Phosphate'') facility in Aurora, North Carolina (``PCS Aurora''). PCS Phosphate asserted that data received since the rule's promulgation indicate that the MACT floor did not accurately reflect the average emission limitation achieved by the units used to set the standard. Based on these new data, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a revision of the mercury MACT floor for existing calciners.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a final action to find that four states and territories (Indiana, Louisiana, Guam, and Puerto Rico) failed to submit State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to satisfy certain nonattainment area planning requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the 2010 1-Hour Primary Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The purpose of the development and implementation of nonattainment area SIPs is to provide for attainment of the NAAQS as expeditiously as practicable following the designation of an area as nonattainment. This action triggers certain CAA deadlines for the EPA to impose sanctions if a state or territory does not submit a complete SIP addressing the outstanding requirements and for the EPA to promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) if the EPA does not approve a state's or territory's SIP.