Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; New York Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality and Nonattainment New Source Review

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final action to grant a partial approval to revisions of the New York State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on March 3, 2009. As a result of this action, New York will implement its own Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality (PSD) and Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) State regulations. These revisions create a new New York State PSD regulation program and modify the existing New York State NNSR regulations in the SIP. These revisions also address changes mandated by the revised Federal New Source Review (NSR) regulations, referred to as the "2002 NSR Reform Rules." In this action, EPA is taking final action to approve these revisions by issuing a partial approval, with the caveat that EPA is taking no action at this time on the PSD permitting threshold provisions to the extent that those provisions may require permits for sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that equal or exceed the 100/ 250 tons per year (tpy) GHG levels but are less than the thresholds identified in EPA's final Tailoring Rule; and the PSD significance level provisions of New York's rule to the extent that those provisions may treat as significant GHG emissions increases that are less than the thresholds identified in the final Tailoring Rule. The PSD applicability thresholds below the Tailoring Rule will be acted on, as necessary, as part of an EPA national rulemaking or in a separate EPA Region 2 rulemaking.