Approval and Disapproval of Air Quality State Implementation Plans; Arizona; Regional Haze and Interstate Transport Requirements

EPA is taking final action to approve in part and disapprove in part a portion of Arizona's State Implementation Plan (SIP) to implement the regional haze program for the first planning period through 2018. This final rule completes our evaluation of Arizona's Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) control analyses and determinations, Reasonable Progress Goals (RPGs) for the State's 12 Class I areas, Long-term Strategy (LTS), and other elements of the State's regional haze plan as well as the Interstate Transport requirements for visibility. Today's action includes our responses to comments that we received on our proposed rules published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2012, and on May 20, 2013. Regional haze is caused by emissions of air pollutants from numerous sources located over a broad geographic area. The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires states to adopt and submit to EPA SIPs that assure reasonable progress toward the national goal of achieving natural visibility conditions in 156 national parks and wilderness areas designated as Class I areas. EPA will continue to work with Arizona to develop plan revisions to address the provisions of the SIP that we are disapproving today.