Public Notice: Texas Regional Haze Best Available Retrofit Technology Federal Implementation Plan and Cross State Air Pollution Rule Petition Response
Summary
Public hearing information on this proposal can be found in the section titled "Public Hearing Registration Information" further below on this page. A recording of the May 19, 2023 public hearing livestream is available to view.
The comment period for this proposal closed on August 2, 2023. Comments received can be found at the Federal eRulemaking Portal at Regulations.gov.
On April 19, 2023, EPA proposed a rule to address Clean Air Act requirements to protect visibility in national parks and wilderness areas, such as Big Bend National Park in Texas and Caney Creek Wilderness Area in Arkansas. This action proposes emission limits for sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM) at twelve electric generating units (EGUs) in Texas. EPA projects that these limits would reduce SO2 emissions in Texas by more than 80,000 tons per year. These sources are already meeting the proposed PM limits with existing PM control equipment.
EPA also proposed to affirm the current Regional Haze Rule provision allowing states whose EGUs participate in a CSAPR trading program for a given pollutant to continue to rely on CSAPR participation as a BART alternative for its BART-eligible EGUs for that pollutant. In so doing, EPA is denying a petition for partial reconsideration submitted by environmental groups objecting to an earlier decision that CSAPR continues to satisfy requirements as a BART alternative.
To learn more, please find the proposal and a summary fact sheet at the following links:
Official Version of the Texas RH BART FIP Proposal (pdf)
English Fact Sheet for the Texas RH BART FIP Proposal (pdf)
Spanish Fact Sheet (Hoja Informativa en Español) for the Texas RH BART FIP Proposal (pdf)
Special Note on Requesting Modeling Files Associated With This Rulemaking:
NPS air quality monitoring station webcam of Sierra del Carmen in Mexico from Big Bend National Park. Photos courtesy of NPS web cam archives.
As part of this rulemaking, EPA conducted visibility modeling using two modeling programs (CALPUFF and CAMx). The files both used and generated for the modeling work can be very large and therefore are not posted to the Regulations.gov website. These electronic files are available by request.
To facilitate requests for data, we have compiled a spreadsheet linked below which describes the modeling file and its approximate file size to inform your request as well as approximate disk drive space necessary to receive those files. Any data storage device necessary will need to be provided by the requestor. Please contact EPA prior to purchasing storage devices (i.e., hard drive(s)) to ensure adequate storage for your request and for shipping information. CALPUFF files are more manageable in size and therefore may be more readily available without the need for a data storage device.
Summary of Modeling Files for the Texas RH BART FIP Proposal (xlsx)
To obtain a copy of any modeling data files, please contact Erik Snyder (Snyder.erik@epa.gov, 214-665-7305) or Ron Thomas (Thomas.ronald@epa.gov, 214-665-7478).
Public Hearing Registration Information
The EPA held a virtual public hearing on the "Proposed Revisions to the Texas Regional Haze Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) and Affirmation of the Cross State Air Pollution Rule as Better than BART" on Friday, May 19, 2023. The hearing took place from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM Central Daylight Time (CDT).
List of Speakers:
The list of registered speakers for the public hearing on Friday, May 19, 2023, can be found below.
List of Speakers for the May 19, 2023 Public Hearing for the Texas RH BART FIP Proposal (pdf)
Public Hearing Livestream/Recording:
The public hearing livestream and recording on YouTube can be found at the link below.
YouTube Link to the Texas RH BART FIP Proposal Public Hearing