Revisions to Public Notice Provisions in Clean Air Act Permitting Programs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising the public notice rule provisions for the New Source Review (NSR), title V and Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) permit programs of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) and corresponding onshore area (COA) determinations for implementation of the OCS air quality regulations. This final rule removes the mandatory requirement to provide public notice of a draft air permit (as well as certain other program actions) through publication in a newspaper. Instead, this final rule requires electronic notice (e-notice) for EPA actions (and actions by permitting authorities implementing the federal permitting rules) and allows for e-notice as an option for actions by permitting authorities implementing EPA-approved programs. When e-notice is provided, the final rule requires, at a minimum, electronic access (e-access) to the draft permit. However, this final rule does not preclude a permitting authority from supplementing e-notice with newspaper notice and/or additional means of notification to the public. The EPA anticipates that e-notice, which is already being practiced by many permitting authorities, will enable permitting authorities to communicate permitting and other affected actions to the public more quickly and efficiently and will provide cost savings over newspaper publication. The EPA further anticipates that e-access will expand access to permit- related documents.