EPA/Enforcement
9/1/2009 7:38:34 PM EST
EPA stays PM2.5 "grandfather" rule another nine months
Partner, Ropers Majeski Kohn & Bentley
EPA will extend for an additional nine months the existing administrative stay of the so-called “grandfathering” requirement provision for particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) that was made part of the CAA Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program; the grandfathering requirement was originally published in the Federal Register on May 16, 2008. The grandfathering provision in essence allows a permitting authority to review PSD permit applications received before July 15, 2008 on the basis of EPA's 1997 requirements for particulate matter less than 10 micrometers (PM10) as a surrogate for meeting the new requirements for PM2.5. NRDC and the Sierra Club had filed a petition asking for reconsideration of the grandfathering rule on the grounds that it did not sufficiently protect public health. The stay that EPA had issued in response to the petition was set to expire Sept. 1, 2009; it was originally issued June 1, 2009.
EPA noted that this time period will allow sufficient time for EPA to propose, take public comment on, and issue a final action concerning the repeal of the grandfathering provision for PM2.5 in the Federal PSD program.
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