Ms.
Alison
Keane
Counsel,
Government
Affairs
National
Paint
and
Coatings
Association
Mr.
David
Darling
Director,
Environmental
Affairs
1500
Rhode
Island
Avenue,
NW
Washington,
DC
20005­
5597
Dear
Ms.
Keane
and
Mr.
Darling:

Thank
you
for
your
letter
of
October
24,
2003,
to
Mr.
Jeffrey
Holmstead,
in
which
you
request
that
we
make
various
changes
to
the
final
rule,
National
Emission
Standards
for
Hazardous
Air
Pollutants:
Miscellaneous
Coating
Manufacturing,
which
was
signed
on
August
29,
2003.
We
have
considered
your
request,
and
I
am
writing
to
outline
our
preliminary
response
and
plans
for
moving
forward.

I
understand
that
the
project
lead
from
my
office
has
discussed
these
issues
with
you
and
that
he
has
consulted
the
Office
of
Enforcement
and
Compliance
Assurance
(
OECA)
and
the
Office
of
General
Counsel
(
OGC).
We
are
in
general
agreement
with
the
corrections/
clarifications
in
items
2
through
4
of
your
letter.
Although
we
agree
in
principle
with
your
proposed
correction
in
the
first
item,
the
contradictions
in
the
preamble
and
the
rule
will
have
to
be
corrected
through
rulemaking.
In
addition,
your
letter
raises
two
new
issues
that
were
not
raised
during
the
public
comment
period.
We
plan
to
address
all
these
items
you
list
through
rulemaking
by
publishing
Federal
Register
notices
proposing
to
amend
the
final
rule.

It
is
possible
that
petitions
for
administrative
reconsideration
or
petitions
for
judicial
review
of
the
final
rule
could
be
filed
within
60
days
following
publication
of
the
final
rule
in
the
Federal
Register.
Such
petitions
and
any
related
settlement
discussions
could
include
the
same
issues
that
you
have
raised,
or
additional
issues.
Given
the
potential
need
to
consider
additional
changes
to
the
final
rule,
we
want
to
limit
amendments
to
one
rulemaking
process.
At
the
same
time,
we
understand
that
affected
sources
would
like
clarification
before
getting
started
on
their
compliance
strategies
and
that
the
period
for
seeking
judicial
review
of
the
final
rule
is
limited
to
60
days
from
its
publication.

Considering
your
requested
changes
and
the
timing
concerns,
we
believe
the
best
approach
is
to
issue
interim
guidance
close
to
publication
of
the
final
rule
and
to
publish
the
necessary
notice
proposing
amendments
in
the
Federal
Register
sometime
after
the
60­
day
period
following
publication
of
the
final
rule.
My
office
will
be
responsible
for
the
rulemaking,
and
2
OECA
has
agreed
to
develop
interim
guidance
on
items
2
through
4
of
your
letter.

Again,
thank
you
for
your
letter.
I
appreciate
the
opportunity
to
be
of
service.
If
you
have
further
questions,
please
contact
me
or
Randy
McDonald
at
(
919)
541­
5402.

Sincerely,

Stephen
D.
Page
Director
Office
of
Air
Quality
Planning
and
Standards
cc:
Jeffrey
Holmstead,
OAR
Sally
Shaver,
ESD
Randy
Waite,
ESD
Randy
McDonald,
ESD
Marcia
Mia,
OECA
bcc:
Kerry
Rodgers,
OGC
Barry
Elman,
OPEI
