The Environmental Protection Agency released a final rule March 29 setting out the procedures states must use to control emissions of pollutants from power plants and other industrial facilities that form fine particulate matter, which the agency says is responsible for thousands of deaths every year.

Under the Clean Air Act, states must develop implementation plans to bring areas that have not been able to attain the national air quality standards for fine particles into compliance. The final rule tells states how to do that.

Among the key aspects of the rule, known as the Clean Air Fine Particle Implementation Rule, are guidelines to help states show that they have adopted all reasonably available control measures that are designed to bring nonattainment areas into attainment “as expeditiously as practicable,” EPA said.

The rule also provides guidance on how states can demonstrate attainment, recommended procedures for determining the earliest date by which an area can meet the fine particle standards, and guidance on air quality modeling, according to the agency.

It provides a road map for states to meet the air quality standards for fine particles, those 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller (PM-2.5), established in July 1997. The standards are 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over a year, and 65 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over 24 hours. EPA issued a proposed implementation rule in 2005 (36 ER 1893, 9/16/05).

The rule will be effective 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register.

Implementation of the standards under 40 C.F.R. Part 51 was delayed for years due to a number of factors, including litigation by the American Trucking Associations, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, other business groups, and states.

The rule does not address the stricter fine particle standards adopted by EPA in 2006. Implementation of those standards is still years away.

The new 24-hour standard was tightened to 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

Fine particles include carbon particles, or soot, from any combustion activity, such as burning coal or running diesel engines, and sulfate and nitrate particles that result from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. Exposure to fine particles has been linked to a variety of health problems, including aggravated asthma, chronic bronchitis, reduced lung function, and premature death for people with heart or lung disease, according to EPA.

Procedures for Control Measures.

The implementation rule lays out what EPA considers to be reasonably available control measures and other pollution-reduction measures to address fine particle pollution.

The final rule largely retains a provision in the proposed rule--opposed by state air quality regulators--that does not require power plants to install “reasonably available” pollution controls if they are located in states that participate in the EPA emissions cap-and-trade program known as the Clean Air Interstate Rule.

The interstate rule, also known as CAIR, uses an emissions trading program, and when fully implemented after 2020, it is expected to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from power plants in 28 eastern states and the District of Columbia (70 Fed. Reg. 25,162; 36 ER 1765, 8/26/05).

The PM implementation rule presumes that compliance with CAIR would satisfy the power plants' requirements to control emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, although the rule contains some conditions.

EPA spokesman John Millett said states still would be allowed to “go beyond CAIR” and impose pollution controls, although the rule does not require them to do so.

In the final rule, EPA acknowledged that further controls may be warranted. But it said states should be aware of the expected benefits of the market-based incentives under CAIR, the cost-effectiveness of the controls, and any “disbenefits” that would result from requiring “beyond CAIR” controls.

Implementation Plans Due in 2008.

Once an area is designated as nonattainment, the Clean Air Act requires the state to submit an implementation plan to EPA within three years. For the 1997 standards, state plans are due in April 2008.

States must meet the PM-2.5 standards by 2010. However, in their 2008 implementation plans, states may propose an attainment date extension for up to five years, according to EPA. Those areas for which EPA approves an extension must achieve clean air as soon as possible, but no later than 2015.

The implementation rule identifies five pollutants that contribute to fine particle formation. In addition to sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, they are direct PM-2.5 emissions, ammonia, and volatile organic compounds.

The rule establishes the following policies for evaluating and controlling sources of those emissions:

• PM-2.5 direct emissions (including organic carbon, elemental carbon, and crustal material) and sulfur dioxide emissions must be evaluated for emissions reduction measures in all nonattainment areas.

• Nitrogen oxides must be evaluated for emissions reduction measures in each area unless the state and EPA demonstrate that they are not a significant contributor to PM-2.5 concentrations in a specific area.

• Volatile organic compounds and ammonia are not required to be evaluated for emissions reduction measures in each area unless the state or EPA demonstrates that those pollutants significantly contribute to PM-2.5 concentrations in a specific area.

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For more information, contact Richard Damberg in EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards at (919) 541-5592, or by e-mail at damberg.rich@epa.gov.