Fact Sheet Revisions to Public Notice Provisions in Clean Air Act Permitting Programs


FACT SHEET
Revisions to Public Notice Provisions in Clean Air Act Permitting Programs
Action
•	On December 21, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed
revisions to its public notice provisions for the New Source Review (NSR), title V
and Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) permit programs of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
The EPA is proposing to remove the mandatory requirement to provide public
notice of a draft permit (and certain other program actions) through publication in
a newspaper and to instead allow for electronic noticing ("e-notice") of these
actions.
•	The EPA believes that e-notice methods, which are already being practiced by
many agencies, would produce cost savings over newspaper publication and
would enable agencies to communicate these actions to the public more quickly
and efficiently.
•	The proposed rule revisions would apply to major source air permits issued by
the EPA and by all other air agencies - with the exception of major source
permits issued under the Tribal NSR Rule, which already allows for electronic
notice. Additionally, e-notice is already available to minor NSR permit actions
through previous EPA guidance, and this action proposes to amend the previous
guidance to specifically state that it also applies to permits for synthetic minor
sources.
•	The proposed revisions would require e-notice for the noticing of major source
permits by the EPA and delegated program agencies. As part of the e-notice
requirement, the agency would also need to post the draft permit on a website.
For air agencies that implement their own permitting rules approved by the EPA,
the proposed rule provides flexibility for these agencies to provide either e-notice
or traditional newspaper notice.
•	We are seeking comment on a number of aspects of the proposal including
whether an air agency must use a consistent noticing method for all permit
actions and whether an agency may use an alternative noticing method if its
website is offline for a period of time.
•	The proposed rule would not preclude the practices of agencies to provide other
additional means of notification to communities that may be affected by permit
actions, if those means would better reach particular communities.
Background
•	While the Clean Air Act requires permitting agencies to provide the opportunity
for public participation in the processing of air permits, the statute does not
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specify the best or preferred method for providing public notice. The EPA's air
permitting regulations provide more specificity regarding the methods of meeting
the public notice obligations.
•	The current rules for the major NSR, title V and OCS programs were issued in
the 1980's and 1990's, prior to the electronic media age. Consequently, these
rule sections were written to require that agencies notify the public of permitting
actions by way of newspaper publication, which was the most effective way to
advertise permits at the time.
•	Over the years, availability of and access to the Internet and other forms of
electronic media have increased significantly in the United States. One effect of
this development is that circulation of newspapers and other print media is
declining, making printed newspaper notice less effective in providing
widespread public notice of permit actions.
•	More recently, many air agencies began to supplement the required newspaper
publication with an electronic posting of permit notices using their agency
websites. Once the permitting agency develops a website and formats it to post
permitting notices, the agency has an effective, convenient, and cost-effective
way to communicate permitting-related information to the majority of the public.
Additional Information
•	Interested parties can download today's proposed rule from EPA's web site at:
www.epa.gov/nsr.
How to Comment
•	EPA will accept comments for 60 days beginning when this proposal is
published in the Federal Register. All comments should be identified by Docket
ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0090 and submitted to the Federal e-rulemaking
portal (http://www.regulations.gov). Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. If anyone requests a public hearing within 15 days of the proposal
date, one will be held at EPA headquarters in Research Triangle Park, NC.
•	For additional information about other ways to submit comments, please visit
http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.
•	For general information about this proposed rule, contact Dave Svendsgaard at
(919) 541-2380 and svendsgaard.dave@epa.gov, or Grecia Castro at (919) 541-
1351 and castro.grecia@epa.gov, of EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards.
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