Chapter 173-400 WAC, Chapter 173-401 WAC

On August 16, 2018, Ecology amended two rules:

General Regulations for Air Pollution Sources – Chapter 173-400 WAC – establishes the regulatory framework to ensure that healthy air quality exists in Washington, including meeting federal air quality standards.
Operating Permit Regulation – Chapter 173-401 WAC – establishes a permit program that consolidates all air quality requirements for large industries in a single permit.

Changes include:

Remove exceptions for emissions during startup, shutdown, and malfunction to comply with EPA’s direction in the startup, shutdown, malfunction SIP call. This includes provisions such as affirmative defense, director’s discretion, and automatic exemption.
Allow public notices to be posted on an agency website instead of exclusively requiring newspaper notice.
Simplify application of non-road engine requirements.
Update the adoption of federal rules and the definition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) based on changes to the federal definition.
Correct errors.
Make the rules easier to understand.

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Rulemaking timeline

Timeline

Date	Activity
July 21, 2015	Announced rulemaking (filed CR-101 form)
December 16, 2016	Withdrew previous rulemaking and re-announced rulemaking (re-filed CR-101 form)
November 2016 – November 2017	Held stakeholder meetings Developed and prepared rule language and other information
February 5, 2018	Proposed rule (filed CR-102 form) Started public comment period
March 13, 2018	Held public hearing, in-person and webinar
March 20, 2018	Ended public comment period
March 21 – May 14, 2018	Reviewed public comments and prepared adoption package
August 16, 2018	Adopted rule (filed CR-103 form)
September 16, 2018	Rule effective 31 days after filing

Announcement phase (CR-101)

Filing date:
Dec. 16, 2016

Announcement documents

Rule development phase

July 21, 2015 – February 4, 2018

Public input & involvement

Stakeholder Workgroup Meetings

November 17, 2016
- Draft rule (11/10/16)
December 6, 2016
- Draft rule (12/6/16)
- Other rule changes (12/6/16)
December 20, 2016
- Draft rule (12/20/16)
- Other rule changes (12/20/16)
January 4, 2017
- Draft rule (1/4/17)
January 9, 2017
- Continued discussing draft rule (1/4/17)
February 15, 2017
- Meeting agenda
February 22, 2017
- Draft rule (2/22/17)
- EPA SSM Policy
March 20, 2017
- Draft rule (3/20/17)
October 18, 2017
November 29, 2017
- Meeting agenda
- Draft rule 400 (11/29/2017)

Rule proposal phase (CR-102)

Filing date:

Feb. 5, 2018

Rule proposal documents:

Proposal notice – CR-102 form
Proposed rule language
- Chapter 173-400 WAC
- Chapter 173-401 WAC
Preliminary Regulatory Analyses
SEPA Determination of Nonsignificance and Environmental Checklist

Comment period

Comments were due March 20, 2018. We accepted comments the following ways:

Submit online
Attend the March 13, 2018 public hearing (includes webinar; see below)
Mail to: Elena Guilfoil
Department of Ecology – Air Quality Program
P.O. Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504-7600

Hearing location

March 13, 2018 public hearing presentation

Date/Time: March 13, 2018 at 10 a.m.
Location: In-person and webinar
Ecology
300 Desmond Drive SE
Lacey, WA 98503

Agenda: Presentation, question-and-answer session, followed by public hearing

Webinar information
We also held this public hearing via webinar. A webinar is an online meeting forum that you can attend from any computer with internet access.

We recommend you provide your phone number when you join the event to receive a free call back from the system. For audio only, call toll free 1-855-929-3239 and enter access code 283 512 545.

To request ADA accommodations, contact Hanna Waterstrat by March 6, 2018 at:

360-407-7668
877-833-6341 (TTY)
711 (Washington Relay Service)
hanna.waterstat@ecy.wa.gov

Rule adoption phase (CR-103)

Adoption date:

Aug. 16, 2018

Rule effective date:

Sept. 16, 2018

Rule adoption documents:

Additional languages

Español (Spanish)

El Departamento de Ecología adoptó cambios a dos reglamentos: Capítulo 173-400 WAC (Normas generales para fuentes de contaminación al aire) y Capítulo 173-401 WAC (Normas para permisos de operación). La EPA nos exigió que revisáramos nuestros reglamentos debido a decisiones en corte referente a la Ley de Aire Limpio. También estamos haciendo una serie de otros cambios. Para obtener información, por favor comuníquese con Elena Guilfoil en el 360-407-6855. Hay servicios de interpretación al español disponible.

中文 (Chinese)

華盛頓州生態管理署通過了兩個規則變化，173-400 WAC 的 (有關空氣污染的來源的一般規定)和173-401 WAC 的 (經營許可證的條例)。美國環境保護署(EPA)要求我們修改我們的規則, 因為法院作出關於聯邦清潔空氣法的決定。我們還提出了許多其他的變化。有關信息, 請聯繫 Elena Guilfoil 360-407-6855。我們提供口譯服務。

Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)

Bộ Môi Sinh đã phê chuẩn các thay đổi với hai đạo luật: Chương 173-400 WAC (Quy định chung về Nguồn Ô nhiễm Không khí) và Chương 173-401 WAC (Quy định Giấy phép Hoạt động). Dựa trên quyết định của tòa án về Đạo luật Không khí Sạch của Liên bang, Cơ quan Bảo vệ Môi trường Hoa Kỳ (EPA) đã yêu cầu Bộ Môi Sinh tu chỉnh hai đạo luật trên. Bộ Môi Sinh cũng đang thực hiện một số thay đổi khác. Để biết thêm thông tin, xin liên hệ với Elena Guilfoil tại số 360-407-6855. Dịch vụ thông dịch hiện có.

한국어 (Korean)

와싱턴주 환경부 에서는 현재 다음과 같은 두법규 개정안을 상정/채택 발효하였다: Chapter 173-400 WAC (대기오염원 일반 규제법) 과 Chapter 173-401 WAC (대기오염원 운영 허가법). 연방 대기오염 규제법 관련 판결결과 연방환경청에서는와싱턴주 환경부에게 관련 대기오염법을 개정하도록 명령하였다. 또한 다른 사항도 개정하며 이에 관련 정보는Elena Guilfoil (360-407-6855) 에게 연락. 통역도 가능함.

русский (Russian) ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi)

Contact information

Elena Guilfoil
Rulemaking Lead
elena.guilfoil@ecy.wa.gov
360-407-6855

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Accessibility

To request ADA accommodation for disabilities, or printed materials in a format for the visually impaired, contact Ecology's ADA Coordinator by email at ecyadacoordinator@ecy.wa.gov, or call 360-407-6831. People with impaired hearing may call Washington Relay Service at 711. People with speech disability may call TTY at 877-833-6341.