Air Plan Approval; Pennsylvania; Interim Final Determination To Stay and Defer Sanctions Related to Reasonably Available Control Technology Requirements (RACT) for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) Control Technique Guidelines (CTG) Under the 2008 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
Key claim: EPA is making an interim final determination that Pennsylvania’s SIP revisions satisfy VOC CTG RACT requirements for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, thereby staying emission offset sanctions and deferring highway funding sanctions.
Abstract
(Rule · Environmental Protection Agency) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim final determination (IFD) that Pennsylvania has submitted revisions to the state implementation plan (SIP) that satisfy the requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to implement Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for volatile organic compounds (VOC) Control Technique Guidelines (CTG) for the 2008 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The effect of this IFD is to stay emission offset sanctions and defer the imposition of highway funding sanctions triggered by an August 16, 2024 EPA disapproval of a prior Pennsylvania SIP addressing VOC CTG RACT requirements for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. This IFD is consistent with a proposed action, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, in which the EPA is proposing approval of revisions to Pennsylvania’s SIP, as submitted on May 10, 2023, January 20, 2026, February 17, 2026 and April 10, 2026 to address VOC CTG RACT requirements for the 2008 and 2015 NAAQS.
Why this matters
CAA §179 sanctions (2:1 emission offsets and highway funding cutoffs) are the enforcement backstop when states miss SIP deadlines for ozone nonattainment areas, and interim final determinations like this Pennsylvania action are the routine mechanism EPA uses to pause those consequences once a state submits corrective RACT rules. The practical effect is to preserve permitting flexibility and federal-aid highway funding in Pennsylvania’s ozone nonattainment areas while EPA completes full SIP approval. It illustrates the recurring RACT-CTG compliance cycle tied to the still-active 2008 ozone NAAQS.