Notice of Final Rulemaking - Removal of Clean Air Act Title V Affirmative Defense Provisions

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the District of Columbia Register on July 5, 2024, at 71 DCR 007688 for a 30-day public notice and comment period. The public comment period ended on August 5, 2024, and DOEE received one comment letter in support of the rulemaking. The comment can be viewed in the Attachments section below.

Summary of Final Rulemaking

This final rulemaking amends § 302.1(c)(3)(C)(i) and repeals § 302.7. In 1993, the District adopted the emergency affirmative defense provisions in § 302 when it adopted the CAA Title V State Operating Program. On July 21, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") finalized a rulemaking entitled "Removal of Title V Emergency Affirmative Defense Provisions from State Operating Permit Programs and Federal Operating Permit Program," which removed all emergency affirmative defense provisions from the CAA Title V program. 88 Fed. Reg. 47029 (July 21, 2023). The Department now removes all emergency affirmative defense provisions to properly implement the CAA as delegated to the District under 40 CFR § 60.4(b)(10). In the cited Federal Register notice, the EPA provided guidance to states on the implementation and revision process to remove CAA Title V emergency affirmative defense provisions from state operating permit programs, and this rulemaking adheres to the EPA's guidance.

This final rulemaking also amends Chapter 3 to correct a grammatical error in § 302.1(a)(2) and a citation error in § 303.8(c).