New Hampshire Clean Air Act 176A Petition & I/M Program SIP Revision

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Proposed Actions for New Hampshire's Clean Air Act section 176A Petition and I/M SIP Revision

On August 11, 2026, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to grant the State of New Hampshire's petition under Clean Air Act section 176A(a)(2) to remove the state from the Ozone Transport Region (OTR). New Hampshire also submitted an associated State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision to remove the Motor Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program, which EPA also proposed to conditionally approve on August 11, 2026. EPA is accepting comments on both proposed actions for 45 days, until September 25, 2026.

Virtual Public Hearing on EPA's Proposed Response to Clean Air Act Section 176A Petition from New Hampshire 

EPA has scheduled a formal virtual public hearing on August 26, 2026, for the EPA's proposed Response to Clean Air Act Section 176A Petition from New Hampshire. This formal virtual public hearing is an opportunity to provide verbal comments on EPA's proposed response to the 176A Petition. Written comments may be submitted under Docket ID No. EPA-R01-OAR-2026-2147 at https://www.regulations.gov.

The virtual public hearing will begin at 6:00 p.m. EDT and end when all attendees wishing to provide verbal comments have done so, or at 8:00 p.m., whichever is sooner. However, if no parties join the virtual public hearing by 6:20 p.m. EDT, EPA will close the virtual public hearing then.

The August 26, 2026, virtual public hearing will be conducted in the English language, and closed captioning services will be provided. If you need a reasonable accommodation or have translation/interpretation needs, please contact Ayla Martinelli at (617) 918-1057 or email: martinelli.ayla@epa.gov by no later than August 18, 2026. You may also request interpretation services when you register to attend the virtual public hearing. The EPA may not be able to arrange accommodations without advanced notice.

To register to attend the virtual public hearing, please visit https://usepa.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/th-f9DrnT4mE1wdVHNzsSA. Registrants will receive a confirmation email with log in information to join the virtual public hearing, immediately after registering. The EPA is providing a general agenda and a list of pre-registered speakers at the link below.  Please note that the EPA may close the hearing 15 minutes after the last registered speaker has testified if there are no additional speakers. 

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Last updated on August 24, 2026