1LLINOS

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

AGENCY

1021

NORTH

GRAND

AVENUE

EAST,

P.O.

Box

19276,

SPRINGFIELD,

ILLINOIS

62794-9276

—(217)

782-3397

JAMES

R.

THOMPSON

CENTER,

100

WEST

RANDOLPH,

SUITE

11-300,

CHICAGO,

IL 60601

— (31

2)

814-6026

DOUGLAS

P.

SCOTT,

DIRECTOR

217/782-3397

TDD

217/782-9143

CEVED

CLERK’S

OFFICE

MAR

232009

March

20,

2009

STATE

OF

ILLINOS

PollutIon

Control

Board

Dr.

G. Tanner

Girard

Acting

Chairman

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board

100

West

Randolph Street

Chicago,

Illinois

60601

RE:

R07-19

&

R08-19:

Request

to Expedite

to

Avoid

Federal

Sanctions

Dear

Dr.

Girard:

I

am

writing

to

emphasize

the

urgent

need

for

the

adoption

of

two

pending

rulemakings

in

front

of

the

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board

(Board)

on

Nitrogen

Oxides

(NOx) Reasonably

Available

Control Technology

(RACT).

Specifically,

the

two

rules

are:

1.

R07-19:

NOx

Emissions

from

Stationary

Reciprocating

Internal

Combustion

Engines

and

Turbines:

Amendments

to 35

IAC

Section

201.146

and

Parts

211

and

217;

and

2.

R08-19:

Amendments

to

35

Iii.

Adm.

Code

217,

Nitrogen

Oxides

Emissions,

and

35

IAC

211.

The

State

of

Illinois

faces

potential

dire

consequences

in

the

form

of

federal

sanctions

should

either

of

these

rules

fail

to be

adopted

prior

to

September

24,

2009.

Please

find

attached

a

March

12,

2009

letter

sent

to

me from

the

Bharat

Mathur,

Acting

Regional

Administrator,

United

States

Environmental

Protection

Agency

(USEPA)

Region

V.

The

letter

provides

background

information

and

also

expresses

the

urgent

need

for

adoption

of

these

rules.

Note

that

the

USEPA letter

clearly

outlines

that

the first

of

these

sanctions

will

commence

September

24,

2009,

and

further

sanctions

follow

shortly

thereafter,

and

are

automatic.

Needless

to

say,

these

sanctions are

serious

and

would

jeopardize

Illinois’

efforts

to

receive

federal

stimulus money

from

the

American

Recovery

and

Reinvestment

Act

of

2009

(ARRA).

The

time

available

to

avoid

the

implementation

of sanctions

is

very

short.

Sanctions

pan

best

be

avoided if the

Board

acts

quickly

to

adopt

the

NOx

RACT

rules.

I encourage

the

Board

to

adopt

the

above-referenced

NOx

Rules

as

quickly

as possible

to

avoid

the

imposition

of

the

sanctions.

ROCKFORD

—4302

North

Main

Street,

Rockford,

IL 61103

—(815)

987-7760

o

DEs

PLAINES

—9511

W. Harrison

St.,

Des Plaines,

IL 60016

—(847)

294-4000

ELGIN

—595

South

State,

Elgin,

IL

60123

—

(847)

608-3131

0

PEORIA

—5415

N.

University

St., Peoria,

IL 61614—

(309)

693-5463

BUREAU

OF LAND

- PEORIA

— 7620

N. University

St., Peoria,

IL 61614—

(309)

693-5462

0

CHAMPAIGN

—

2125

South

First Street,

Champaign,

IL

61820

—(217)

278-5800

SPRINGFIELD —4500

5.

Sixth

Street

Rd.,

Springfield,

IL

62706—

(217)

786-6892

o

COLLINSVILLE

—

2009

MalI Street,

Collinsville,

IL 62234

— (618)

346-5120

MARION

—2309

W. Main

St.,

Suite

116,

Marion,

IL

62959

—(618)

993-7200

PRINTED

ON

RECYCLED

PAPER

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Please

let

me

know

of any

actions

that

I may

take

to

aid

in

the Board’s

adoption

of

these

rules

in

as

quick

a

manner

as

possible.

I sincerely

appreciate

your

efforts

as we

continue

forward

on our

joint

mission

to

protect

public

health

and the

environment.

Very

truly

yours,

Dougi

. Scott

Director

Attachment

2

---

oO

Sr

41.

I

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

.

77

WEST

JACKSON

REGION5

BOULEVARD

CHICAGO.

IL 60604-3590

MAR

12

2009

REPLY To

THE

ATTENTION OF

R-19J

Douglas P. Scott,

Director

Illinois

Environmental Protection Agency

1021 North

Grand Avenue

East

P.O.

Box 19276

Springfield, Illinois

62794-9276

Dear Mr.

Scott:

The

State of Illinois needs to address the

findings of failure to submit

required

ozone

State

Implementation

Plan (SIP) elements previously identified

by the

U.S.

Environmental

Protection

Agency in a

March

17, 2008, letter and in a

March

24,

2008, final rule

(73 FR 15416).

The

final rule

began a sanctions clock that, if not terminated

or stayed

by

EPA, will

result in

the

implementation

of several sanctions in the Chicago

and Metro-East St. Louis

8-hour ozone

nonattainment

areas, as early as September 2009. I am sending this

letter to request

expedited

action

by

the Illinois

Environmental

Protection Agency

(IEPA) and the

Illinois Pollution

Control

Board

(IPCB)

to complete

the ozone SIP development

and adoption

process

for the missing

SIP

elements

(discussed below) to avoid implementation

of

sanctions.

Failure

to submit the following SIP elements were

identified in the March

17, 2008,

letter

and the

March 24, 2008,

final rule.

1.

Chicago

ozone nonattainment area:

a.

an

8-hour ozone Reasonable Further

Progress (RFP)

plan

b.

an 8-hour ozone attainment

demonstration

c.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)

Reasonably

Available Control

Technology

(RACT)

rule certification

(or new rules for source

categories lacking

existing

RACT

rules) for source categories covered

by Control

Technique

Guidelines

(CTG5) issued prior to

September 15, 2006, or for

major non-CTG

sources

d.

Nitrogen

Oxides (NOx) RACT rules

2.

Metro-East St. Louis ozone nonattainment

area:

a.

NOx

RACT

rules

The

specific timing for the various

sanctions that could

be triggered if Illinois

continues

to

fail to

adopt and

submit the required

SIP elements are

as follows.

RecycIedIRcycIable

• Printed with

Vegetable Oil Based Inks

on

iOO%

Recycled Paper 50% Postconsurner)

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2

If, by

September

24,

2009,

Illinois

has

not

submitted

all

of

the

required

SIP

elements

listed

above

(including

final,

adopted

VOC

and

NOx

RACT

rules

where

applicable),

pursuant

to

section 179(a)

of

the

Act

and

40

CFR

52.31,

the

new

source

offset

sanction,

identified

in

section

I

79(b)(2)

of

the

Act,

will

apply

in

the

Chicago and

Metro-East

St.

Louis

areas.

The

increased

new

source

emissions

offset

ratio

(2:1)

will

make

it

more difficult

for

new

sources

to

locate

in

the

nonattainnient

areas.

If,

by

six

months

after

imposition

of

the

first

sanction,

Illinois

has

not

submitted

the

required

SIP

elements,

highway

sanctions

will

be

implemented

in

accordance

with

40

CFR

52.31.

This

may

adversely

affect

Federal

funding

of new

highway

projects,

including

highway

project funding

under

the

American

Recovery

and

Reinvestment

Act

of

2009,

and

would

restrict

the

types

of

highway projects

that

the

State

and

local

governments

can

implement.

Finally,

if by

March

24,

2010,

Illinois

has

not

submitted

the

required

SIP

elements

and

EPA

has

not

approved these

SIP

revisions,

section

110(c)

of

the

Act

provides

for

EPA to

promulgate

Federal

Implementation

Plans

(FIPs)

to

replace

the

missing

SIP

elements.

If

it

is

necessary

for

EPA to promulgate

a

FIP,

EPA

may

pay

the

costs

of

developing

and

promulgating

this

plan

with

section

105

funds

that

would

otherwise

be

given

to

Illinois.

EPA

is

very

concerned

that

the

time

available

to

avoid

the

implementation

of

sanctions

in

this

case

is

very

short.

We

look

forward

to

working

closely

with

Illinois

to

ensure

that

the

Act’s

requirements

are

met

in

a

timely

manner

and

to

avoid

adverse

consequences

of

failure

to

do

so.

If you

have

any

questions

about

this

issue,

please

contact

me

or

Cheryl

Newton

at

312-353-6730.

Sincely,

/

Bharat Mathur

Acting

Regional

Administrator

cc:

Laurel

Kroack,

Director

Bureau

of

Air,

Illinois

EPA

.