§ 51.309 Requirements related to the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission.
(a) What is the purpose of this section? This section establishes the requirements for the first regional haze implementation plan to address regional haze visibility impairment in the 16 Class I areas covered by the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission Report. For the period through 2018, certain States (defined in paragraph (b) of this section as Transport Region States) may choose to implement the Commission's recommendations within the framework of the national regional haze program and applicable requirements of the Act by complying with the provisions of this section. If a Transport Region State submits an implementation plan which is approved by EPA as meeting the requirements of this section, it will be deemed to comply with the requirements for reasonable progress with respect to the 16 Class I areas for the period from approval of the plan through 2018. Any Transport Region State electing not to submit an implementation plan under this section is subject to the requirements of § 51.308 in the same manner and to the same extent as any State not included within the Transport Region. Except as provided in paragraph (g) of this section, each Transport Region State is also subject to the requirements of § 51.308 with respect to any other Federal mandatory Class I areas within the State or affected by emissions from the State.
(b) Definitions. For the purposes of this section:
(1) 16 Class I areas means the following mandatory Class I Federal areas on the Colorado Plateau: Grand Canyon National Park, Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, Petrified Forest National Park, Mount Baldy Wilderness, San Pedro Parks Wilderness, Mesa Verde National Park, Weminuche Wilderness, Black Canyon of the Gunnison Wilderness, West Elk Wilderness, Maroon Bells Wilderness, Flat Tops Wilderness, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capital Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park.
(2) Transport Region State means one of the States that is included within the Transport Region addressed by the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming).
(3) Commission Report means the report of the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission entitled “Recommendations for Improving Western Vistas,” dated June 10, 1996.
(4) Fire means wildfire, wildland fire, prescribed fire, and agricultural burning conducted and occurring on Federal, State, and private wildlands and farmlands.
(5) Milestone means the maximum level of annual regional SO2 emissions, in tons per year, for a given year, assessed annually, through the year 2018, consistent with paragraph (d)(4) of this section.
(6) Continuous decline in total mobile source emissions means that the projected level of emissions from mobile sources of each listed pollutant in 2008, 2013, and 2018, are less than the projected level of emissions from mobile sources of each listed pollutant for the previous period (i.e., 2008 less than 2003; 2013 less than 2008; and 2018 less than 2013).
(7) Base year means the year for which data for a source included within the program were used by the WRAP to calculate emissions as a starting point for development of the milestone required by paragraph (d)(4)(i) of this section.
(8)–(12) [Reserved]
(13) Eligible renewable energy resource, for purposes of 40 CFR 51.309, means electricity generated by non-nuclear and non-fossil low or no air emission technologies.
(c) Implementation Plan Schedule. Each Transport Region State electing to submit an implementation plan under this section must submit such a plan no later than December 17, 2007. Indian Tribes may submit implementation plans after this deadline.
(d) Requirements of the first implementation plan for States electing to adopt all of the recommendations of the Commission Report. Except as provided for in paragraph (e) of this section, each Transport Region State must submit an implementation plan that meets the following requirements:
(1) Time period covered. The implementation plan must be effective through December 31, 2018 and continue in effect until an implementation plan revision is approved by EPA in accordance with § 51.308(f).
(2) Projection of visibility improvement. For each of the 16 mandatory Class I areas located within the Transport Region State, the plan must include a projection of the improvement in visibility conditions (expressed in deciviews, and in any additional ambient visibility metrics deemed appropriate by the State) expected through the year 2018 for the most impaired and least impaired days, based on the implementation of all measures as required in the Commission report and the provisions in this section. The projection must be made in consultation with other Transport Region States with sources which may be reasonably anticipated to contribute to visibility impairment in the relevant Class I area. The projection may be based on a satisfactory regional analysis.
(3) Treatment of clean-air corridors. The plan must describe and provide for implementation of comprehensive emission tracking strategies for clean-air corridors to ensure that the visibility does not degrade on the least-impaired days at any of the 16 Class I areas. The strategy must include:
(i) An identification of clean-air corridors. The EPA will evaluate the State's identification of such corridors based upon the reports of the Commission's Meteorology Subcommittee and any future updates by a successor organization;
(ii) Within areas that are clean-air corridors, an identification of patterns of growth or specific sites of growth that could cause, or are causing, significant emissions increases that could have, or are having, visibility impairment at one or more of the 16 Class I areas.