Hot Off The Press

The EPA is removing the “emergency” affirmative defense provisions from the EPA’s title V operating permit program regulations. These provisions established an affirmative defense that sources could have asserted in enforcement cases brought for noncompliance with technology-based emission limitations in operating permits, provided that the exceedances occurred due to qualifying emergency circumstances.
In general, any impermissible affirmative defense provisions within individual operating permits that are based on a title V authority and that apply to federally-enforceable requirements will need to be removed. Entities potentially directly affected by this rulemaking include federal, state, local, and tribal air pollution control agencies that administer title V operating permit programs. Entities potentially indirectly affected by this rulemaking include owners and operators of emissions sources in all industry groups who hold or apply for title V operating permits.
In this action, the EPA is removing the emergency affirmative defense provisions in 40 CFR 70.6(g) and71.6(g) because they are inconsistent with the EPA’s current interpretation of the enforcement structure of the CAA, in light of prior court decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit—primarily the court’s 2014 decision in NRDC v. EPA, 749 F.3d 1055 (D.C. Cir. 2014). The removal of these provisions is also consistent with other recent EPA actions involving affirmative defenses and will harmonize the EPA’s treatment of affirmative defenses across different CAA programs. The EPA previously provided background on the title V emergency provisions and articulated its justification for this action in the preamble to the 2016 and 2022 proposed rules preceding this final rule.
This final rule is effective on August 21, 2023. EPA expects that any necessary permit changes should occur in the ordinary course of business, such as during periodic permit renewals or revisions. At the latest, states would be expected to remove affirmative defense provisions from individual permits by the next periodic permit renewal that occurs following either (1) the effective date of this rule (for permit terms based on 40 CFR 70.6(g) or 71.6(g)) or (2) the EPA’s approval of state program revisions (for permit terms based on a state affirmative defense provision).
Read more from the EPA here.