General Regulations for Air Pollution Sources, Chapter 173-400 WAC & Operating Permit Regulation, Chapter 173-401 WAC

We are revising two rules:

• Chapter 173-400 WAC, General Regulations for Air Pollution Sources – establishes standards and rules to control and prevent pollution from air contaminant sources
  • Rulemaking will update:
    • References in sections -040, -050, -060, and -105 to an updated publication date for Ecology’s Source Test Manual – Procedures for Compliance Testing, a technical manual used in source testing and certification. The manual is being updated during this rulemaking.
    • Section -025 to establish a new rule adoption date for adopting federal rules by reference.
• Chapter 173-401 WAC, Operating Permit Regulation – establishes Washington's air operating permit program to comply with Title V of the federal Clean Air Act
  • Rulemaking will:
    • Repeal section -645, which establishes emergency affirmative defense provisions in Washington. The purpose is to align state rules with federal rules as required under the federal Clean Air Act. In July 2023, EPA adopted a rule update that removed the emergency affirmative defense provisions from federal operating permit program regulations under Title V of the federal Clean Air Act.
    • Correct a minor typo.

This rulemaking will also update references to Chapters 70.94 and 70.120 RCW throughout both chapters to reflect a recodification in 2020 to Chapter 70A.15 RCW and Chapter 70A.25 RCW, respectively.

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

Accessibility: To request ADA accommodation for the public hearing, email Ecology’s ADA coordinator by October 18, 2024. Or call 360-407-6831, 711 (relay service), or 877-833-6341 (TTY).

Background

We write rules to implement and enforce state and federal environmental laws and rules.  Ecology follows a three-phase process for rulemaking:

1. Announcement and development
2. Proposal
3. Adoption

For each phase of the process, we update the rulemaking web page and notify interested parties. We also file notice in the Washington State Register. To learn more about Ecology’s rulemaking process, read the Frequently Asked Questions.