Clarifying the Scope of “Applicable Requirements” Under State Operating Permit Programs and the Federal Operating Permit Program

What it does

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating the title V operating permit program regulations to codify the Agency's existing interpretations and policies concerning when and whether "applicable requirements" established in other Clean Air Act (CAA) programs may be reviewed, modified, and/or implemented through the title V operating permit program. Specifically, this final rule clarifies the limited situations in which requirements under the New Source Review (NSR) preconstruction permitting program would be reviewed using the EPA's title V oversight authorities. Additionally, this final rule clarifies that requirements related to an owner or operator's general duty to prevent accidental releases of hazardous substances are not "applicable requirements" for title V purposes and are, therefore, not implemented through title V.

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

What changed in the regulation

2 parts of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

40 CFR 70, 40 CFR 71

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.

Before this

No earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 2060-AW77 since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

This final rule is effective on October 26, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0401 on Regulations.gov
• Title 40 on eCFR

The record as published

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