Determination To Defer Sanctions; Arizona; Maricopa County Air Quality Department; Gasoline Loading

What it does

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim final determination that the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has submitted rules on behalf of the Maricopa County Air Quality Department (MCAQD or "County") that addresses deficiencies in its Clean Air Act (CAA or "Act") State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from loading of organic liquids and gasoline. This determination is based on a proposed approval of MCAQD Rule 352 and conditional approval of MCAQD Rule 353, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, that regulate this category of sources. The effect of this interim final determination is that the application of offset and highway sanctions that was triggered by a previous limited disapproval by the EPA in 2025 is now deferred. If the EPA finalizes its approval and conditional approval of MCAQD's submission, relief from these sanctions will become permanent.

The Environmental Protection Agency's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

40 CFR 52

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The Environmental Protection Agency has published 243 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 263 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

This interim final determination is effective August 11, 2026. However, comments will be accepted on or before September 10, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket EPA-R09-OAR-2026-5743 on Regulations.gov
• Title 40 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register