On Friday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt visited with Arizona Governor Doug Ducey where he officially approved an Arizona Regional Haze State Implementation Plan (SIP) and a withdrawal of Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for Coronado Generation Station (“Coronado”).
This action approves a source-specific revision to the Arizona Regional Haze SIP for Coronado and withdraws from a FIP promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2012 for Coronado, a facility located in eastern Arizona and owned and operated by the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement District (SRP).
Governor Ducey and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality have delivered a thorough plan that aims to improve visibility and reduce emissions that cause regional haze,” said Pruitt. “Our goal at EPA is not to use a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing state environmental problems, but to empower our state partners to make their own plans to address their individual environmental needs.”
“Arizonans should chart their own destiny, rather than being forced to comply with one-size-fits-all policies from the federal government,” said Governor Ducey. “What a welcome change to have EPA Administrator Pruitt who understands these decisions are best made at the state level and that taxpayer dollars can be saved by shifting decisions out of Washington, D.C.”
Pruitt began his visit meeting with Governor Doug Ducey to discuss replacing the Obama-era FIP. Following their meeting, Pruitt and Governor Ducey held a roundtable with Arizona industry leaders where they discussed the FIP replacement, National Manufacturing Day, streamlining regulatory burdens and permitting, the Agency’s proposal to rescind the 2015 “Waters of the United States” rule, and the Agency’s review of the Clean Power Plan in light of President Trump’s executive order.