Comment on FR Doc # E7-10063

June 14, 2007 Ms. Kelly Fortin Air Permits Section, Air Planning Branch Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 61 Forsyth Street, SW. Atlanta, Georgia 30303?8960 Re: EPA?R04?OAR?2006?0130 Dear Ms. Fortin, This letter is submitted on behalf of the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environment Florida, Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, Gulf Coast Environmental Defense, League of Women Voters of Florida, ManaSota- 88, Inc., Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Taylor Residents United for the Environment, Inc., and Wildlaw. We are concerned with the direct final rule process EPA is using to approve the State of Florida?s Implementation Plan for the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements for power plants. The rule is controversial and certain to draw adverse comment. As outlined below, the direct final rule process does not provide adequate information or time for meaningful public participation. We urge the EPA to withdraw the final rule, supplement the record and extend the public comment time period to ensure an open public process. A direct final rule is not the appropriate procedure for approval of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) for PSD. This direct final rule deals with complex subject matters and has far-reaching implications that demand full notice and comment rulemaking. Power plants are the largest source of air pollution in the United States and the approval of Florida?s PSD program for power plants would have a significant impact on the public and regulated entities. For such weighty matters, the EPA should provide the public a full opportunity to participate, including a 60-day comment period. Moreover, the rulemaking process that EPA has undertaken in this case forecloses meaningful public participation because it is not open and transparent. The direct final rule notice and docket lack analysis by EPA or the State of Florida concerning the Florida PSD program's compliance with federal regulations. Instead the approval appears to rely on a prior 1983 Federal Register publication, yet the current docket does not include the 1983 docket information, and does not even affirmatively state that the 1983 analysis is what EPA is relying on for the current approval ? let alone justify EPA?s reliance on potentially stale information. Because the record does not substantiate EPA?s decision to approve Florida?s PSD program for power plants, the public is left with a severely limited basis upon which to provide meaningful comment. The rule that EPA seeks to adopt, approving amendments to Florida?s SIP, is subject to the procedural requirements of Clean Air Act (CAA) section 307(d), which requires among other things that the Agency provide a ?statement of basis and purpose? that includes ?the factual data upon which the proposed rule is based . . . The methodology used in obtaining the data and in analyzing the data, and . . . The major legal interpretations and policy considerations underlying the proposal.? CAA ? 307(d)(3). EPA?s current ?direct final? rule, and the accompanying proposal, do not meet these statutory standards. Among other things, when amending a SIP, EPA must show that the requirements of CAA section 110(l) have been met. Section 110(l) provides that ?the Administrator shall not approve a revision of a [SIP] if the revision would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress . . . or any other applicable requirement of this Act.? CAA ? 110(l). In this instance, EPA has failed utterly to address this standard or to evaluate in any way the consequences of approving the state?s PSD program for power plants, and therefore has failed to provide the public with the information that it needs to meaningfully participate. EPA also has not offered to convene a public hearing, to which the public is entitled under CAA ? 307(d)(5)(ii), and which might be appropriate depending on the substance of EPA?s justification for this SIP revision. To remedy these shortcomings, EPA should supplement the record with complete analysis and docket information. This analysis should include a comprehensive discussion of whether Florida?s PSD program complies with the Clean Air Act?s New Source Review and PSD scheme, and of the air quality implications of fully approving Florida?s PSD program. It should present any past analysis that EPA is relying on for its current action, describe any changes to the federal scheme made since 1983, and evaluate whether and how Florida's program accounts for those changes. The analysis should thoroughly address how Florida?s Power Plant Siting Act interacts with the state?s PSD program, and how the overall state regulatory framework will ensure compliance with all CAA requirements. Additionally, EPA should supplement the docket with the 1983 documents, as well as documents that contain the State?s analysis of its PSD program?s compliance with federal regulations. This background information and agency analysis is essential for full public participation. We respectfully request that the EPA withdraw the final rule, supplement the analysis and background information, and extend the public comment period. Sincerely, Joanne Spalding Sierra Club 85 Second Street, Second Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 415-977-5725 Patrice Simms Natural Resources Defense Council 1200 New York Ave. NW, Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20005 202-289-2437 Mark Ferrulo Environment Florida Environment Florida Research & Policy Center 926 E. Park Ave. Tallahassee, FL 32301 850-224-5944 Becky Ayech Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida 421 Verna Road Sarasota, FL 34240 941-322-2164 Enid Siskin, PhD Gulf Coast Environmental Defense P.O. Box 732 Gulf Breeze, FL 32562 Dianne Wheatley Giliotti League of Women Voters of Florida 2842 Country Woods Lane Palm Harbor, FL 34683 727-734-2968 Glen Compton ManaSota-88, Inc. P.O. Box 1728 Nokomis, FL 34274 941-966-6256 Steve Smith Southern Alliance for Clean Energy P.O. Box 1842 Knoxville, TN 37901 865-637-6055 Diane V. Whitfield Taylor Residents United for the Environment (TRUE), Inc. Jeanne Zokovitch Wildlaw ? Florida Office 1415 Devils Dip Tallahassee, FL 32308 805-878-6895