Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Louisiana; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan

The EPA is finalizing a partial limited approval and a partial disapproval of a revision to the Louisiana State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Louisiana through the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), on June 13, 2008, that addresses regional haze (RH) for the first implementation period. This revision was submitted to address the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the EPA's rules that require states to prevent any future and remedy any existing anthropogenic impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I areas (national parks and wilderness areas) caused by emissions of air pollutants from numerous sources located over a wide geographic area (also referred to as the "regional haze program"). States are required to assure reasonable progress toward the national goal of achieving natural visibility conditions in Class I areas. In a separate action, the EPA has finalized a limited disapproval of the Louisiana RH SIP, along with several other states' regional haze plans, because of deficiencies in the state's regional haze SIP submittal arising from the remand by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Circuit) to the EPA of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). In this action, the EPA is finalizing a partial disapproval because of deficiencies in Louisiana's RH SIP submittal that go beyond the issues addressed in the EPA's limited disapproval in that separate action. The EPA is also finalizing a partial limited approval of those elements of this SIP revision not addressed by our partial disapproval. The partial limited approval of the RH requirements for Louisiana is based on the conclusion that the revisions, as a whole, strengthen the Louisiana SIP. This action is being taken under section 110 and part C of the CAA.