Notice of Halting the Sanctions Clocks for the Commonwealth of Virginia's Failure To Submit Required State Implementation Plan for the NOX SIP Call

The EPA is announcing that the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision in response to the Nitrogen Oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>) SIP Call submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia (Virginia) is complete, thereby halting the sanctions clocks. Under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA's NO<INF>X</INF> SIP Call regulations, Virginia was required to submit SIP measures providing for NO<INF>X</INF> emissions reductions, by October 30, 2000. On December 26, 2000, EPA made a finding that Virginia had failed to submit a SIP in response to the NO<INF>X</INF> SIP Call, thus starting the 18-month and 24-month clocks, respectively, for the mandatory imposition of sanctions and the obligation for EPA to promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP). On June 30, 2002, Virginia submitted, as a SIP revision, its NO<INF>X</INF> Budget Trading Program, in response to the NO<INF>X</INF> SIP Call. On July 16, 2002, EPA found Virginia's SIP submission to be complete. The approval of the Virginia SIP revision in response to the NO<INF>X</INF> SIP Call will be addressed in a separate rulemaking action.