Extension of Deadline for Action on the November 2016 Section 126 Petition From Maryland

In this action, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is determining that 60 days is insufficient time to complete the technical and other analyses and public notice-and-comment process required for our review of a petition submitted by the state of Maryland pursuant to section 126 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The petition requests that the EPA make a finding that 36 electric generating units located in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia emit air pollution that significantly contributes to nonattainment and interferes with maintenance of the 2008 and 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) in state of Maryland. Under section 307(d)(10) of CAA, the EPA is authorized to grant a time extension for responding to a petition if the EPA determines that the extension is necessary to afford the public, and the agency, adequate opportunity to carry out the purposes of the section 307(d) notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements. By this action, the EPA is making that determination. The EPA is therefore extending the deadline for acting on the petition to no later than July 15, 2017.