Your July 31 editorial, “Mainers should seek clean air, not exemptions,” omitted important information regarding the Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed waiver to the State Implementation Plan regarding Ozone Transport Region, New Source Review Requirements.
We dispute your claim that we try to keep changes from the public. DEP values transparency, which is why we placed a public notice on “Opportunities for Comment,” a centralized webpage with a direct link from our homepage.
Prior to this webpage, notifications were scattered around the hundreds of DEP webpages or not posted at all. Additionally, a notice ran in the June 29 issue of the Kennebec Journal. We have made it easier than ever before for the public to comment on proposed changes.
This is an opportunity for the state to encourage economic development and still meet the federal government’s strict air standards for new or expanded sources of Volatile Organic Compounds.
The Clean Air Act has provisions for states like Maine that are in attainment to make changes to their rules that are more appropriate, while still protecting the environment and public health.
We worked closely with EPA on how Maine might make changes and followed its guidance, including that we have a 30-day public comment period. Additionally, because we received a request for a public hearing, we will be hosting one in September.
The department strongly supports the opportunity for a public hearing so that more of the technical justifications for these changes can be understood by the public.
We value our clean air and public health, and have several technical and scientific analyses proving that additional reductions in nitrogen oxide and VOCs would not have an impact on ozone levels in Maine and demonstrate there would be no adverse effect on other states in the OTR.
The department agrees that the same rules should be applied so the competitive playing field is level. That’s why prior administrations asked for similar waivers from NOx standards for those areas of the state that were in attainment for ozone and EPA granted the requests.
This proposal is similar to those waivers except, today, the entire state has remained in attainment for ozone since 2004 and it includes a waiver for VOCs.
We want and should be on a level playing field with states that are in attainment rather than burdened with unnecessary regulations for states in non-attainment or states contributing to non-attainment.
We can protect Maine’s clean and healthy environment and have a robust and sustainable economy at the same time. Balancing the two means our environment and our economy prosper, ensuring Maine the way life should be.
Patricia Aho, commissioner, Maine DEP
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