December
4,
2003
Mr.
Pat
Cummins
Western
Regional
Air
Partnership
1515
Cleveland
Place,
Suite
200
Denver,
Colorado
80202
Dear
Mr.
Cummins:

I
am
writing
to
update
you
on
the
status
of
our
work
to
repropose
the
best
available
retrofit
technology
(
BART)
provisions
of
the
Regional
Haze
Rule,
to
outline
the
planned
schedule,
and
to
reiterate
my
request
that
you
continue
your
work
with
the
States
and
Tribes
on
regional
haze
planning.
I
also
want
to
thank
you
for
the
work
you
have
done
to
this
point,
especially
gathering
and
submitting
preliminary
data
on
the
BART
source
population.

As
you
know,
on
May
24,
2002,
the
U.
S.
Court
of
Appeals
for
the
D.
C.
Circuit
issued
a
decision
in
American
Corn
Growers
et
al.
v.
EPA
291
F.
3d
1
(
D.
C.
Cir.
2002)
that
invalidated
part
of
our
Regional
Haze
Rule.
As
a
result,
we
are
reproposing
both
that
portion
of
the
Regional
Haze
Rule
and
the
proposed
guidelines
for
BART
determinations
(
Proposed
Guidelines
for
Best
Available
Retrofit
Technology
Determinations
Under
the
Regional
Haze
Regulations,
66
FR
38108,
July
20,
2001).

Our
rulemaking
effort
will
address
concerns
that
the
Court
raised
about
the
cumulative
nature
of
the
air
quality
analysis
necessary
both
to
determine
which
of
a
State's
or
Tribe's
BARTeligible
sources
should
be
subject
to
a
BART
review
and
to
evaluate
the
degree
of
visibility
improvement
from
individual
sources
that
potential
BART
controls
would
provide.
It
will
also
address
the
Court's
concern
that
we
did
not
include
a
mechanism
by
which
States
or
Tribes
could
exempt
individual
sources
from
BART
determinations.

As
we
indicated
in
our
letter
of
March
13,
2003,
the
Court
did
not
remand
any
portion
of
the
process
for
determining
which
sources
are
BART
eligible.
Therefore,
we
do
not
intend
to
change
the
source
identification
process
laid
out
in
Section
II
(
How
to
Identify
BART­
Eligible
Sources)
of
the
proposed
BART
guidelines.
Therefore,
States
and
Tribes,
where
appropriate,
should
continue
to
work
on
the
important
step
of
identifying
BART­
eligible
sources.
In
addition,
once
they
have
identified
BART­
eligible
sources,
States
and
Tribes
should
begin
both
the
process
of
determining
which
BART­
eligible
sources
will
be
subject
to
BART,
as
well
as
the
process
of
identifying
available
retrofit
control
measures
and
their
costs.
2
As
you
know,
we
have
recently
published
a
proposed
consent
decree
establishing
a
schedule
for
action
on
the
BART
rule
provisions
and
guidelines.
If
finalized,
the
consent
decree
would
require
us
to
publish
a
proposed
rulemaking
package
addressing
these
issues
in
the
Federal
Register
by
April
15,
2004.
The
proposal
will
include
issues
in
the
Regional
Haze
Rule
and
the
BART
guidelines.
We
intend
to
publish
the
final
rulemaking
package
in
the
Federal
Register
by
April
2005.
We
have
accelerated
the
schedule
for
this
rulemaking
as
much
as
possible.

I
am
also
writing
to
the
State
Air
Directors,
as
well
as
Tribal
contacts,
to
explain
the
BART
process
and
to
encourage
them
to
move
forward
with
planning
for
BART
implementation.
We
will
forward
a
copy
of
this
letter
to
you.

Thank
you
for
your
interest
in
this
important
matter,
and
for
all
the
good
work
that
you
have
done.
If
you
have
any
further
questions,
please
contact
Kathy
Kaufman
at
919­
541­
0102
or
Todd
Hawes
at
(
919)
541­
5591.

Sincerely,

Lydia
N.
Wegman
Director
Air
Quality
Strategies
and
Standards
Division
3
LETTERS
WERE
SENT
TO
THE
FOLLOWING:

Mr.
Chris
Recchia
Mid­
Atlantic/
Northeast
Visibility
Union
444
N.
Capitol
St.
NW,
Suite
638
Washington,
DC
20001
Mr.
John
Hornback
Visibility
Improvement
­
State
and
Tribal
Association
of
the
Southeast
526
Forest
Parkway,
Suite
F
Forest
Park,
Georgia
30297­
6140
Mr.
Mike
Koerber
Midwest
Regional
Planning
Organization
2250
East
Devon
Ave,
Suite
216
Des
Plaines,
Illinois
60018
Mr.
Chuck
Layman
Central
States
Regional
Air
Planning
Organization
10015
S.
Pennsylvania,
Suite
A
Oklahoma
City,
Oklahoma
73159
Mr.
Pat
Cummins
Western
Regional
Air
Partnership
1515
Cleveland
Place,
Suite
200
Denver,
Colorado
80202
Mr.
Bob
Gruenig
Western
Regional
Air
Partnership
2501
Rio
Grande
Blvd.,
Suite
A
Albuquerque,
NM
87104
