[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 92 (Monday, May 14, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 27056-27059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9131]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R07-OAR-2007-0015; FRL-8312-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of Iowa

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission 
by the state of Iowa which revises the air quality rules to include 
portions of the Federal New Source Review (NSR) regulations promulgated 
by EPA in December 2002. These revisions do not include the portion of 
the rules for nonattainment areas as there are currently no 
nonattainment areas in the state of Iowa. The definitions and 
applicability portions of the Prevention of Significant Deterioration 
(PSD) program were written into the state rules while the remaining 
portions of the PSD program were adopted by reference. All references 
to clean units and pollution control projects are not adopted by 
reference. Iowa has also not adopted portions of the Federal rule 
relating to exceptions from recordkeeping requirements.

DATES: This rule is effective on June 13, 2007.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
No. EPA-R07-OAR-2007-0015. All documents in the docket are listed on 
the http://www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the index, 
some information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other 
material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet 
and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly 
available docket materials are available either electronically through 
http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Environmental 
Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 901 North 5th 
Street, Kansas City, Kansas. The Regional Office's official hours of 
business are Monday through Friday, 8 to 4:30 excluding Federal 
holidays. The interested persons wanting to examine these documents 
should make an appointment with the office at least 24 hours in 
advance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Hamilton at (913) 551-7039, or 
by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This section provides 
additional information by addressing the following questions:

What is a SIP?
What is the Federal approval process for a SIP?
What does Federal approval of a State regulation mean to me?
What is the background for this action?
What is being addressed in this document?
Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?
What action is EPA taking?

What is a SIP?

    Section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires states to develop 
air pollution regulations and control strategies to ensure that state 
air quality meets the national ambient air quality standards 
established by EPA. These ambient standards are established under 
section 109 of the CAA, and they currently address six criteria 
pollutants. These pollutants are: carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, 
ozone, lead, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.
    Each state must submit these regulations and control strategies to 
us for approval and incorporation into the federally-enforceable SIP.
    Each federally-approved SIP protects air quality primarily by 
addressing air pollution at its point of origin. These SIPs can be 
extensive, containing state regulations or other enforceable documents 
and supporting information such as emission inventories, monitoring 
networks, and modeling demonstrations.

What is the Federal approval process for a SIP?

    In order for State regulations to be incorporated into the 
Federally-enforceable SIP, States must formally adopt the regulations 
and control strategies consistent with State and Federal requirements. 
This process generally includes a public notice, public hearing, public 
comment period, and a formal adoption by a state-authorized rulemaking 
body.
    Once a State rule, regulation, or control strategy is adopted, the 
State submits it to us for inclusion into the SIP. We must provide 
public notice and seek additional public comment regarding the final 
Federal action on the State submission. If adverse comments are 
received, they must be addressed prior to any final Federal action by 
us.
    All State regulations and supporting information approved by EPA 
under section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) are incorporated 
into the Federally-approved SIP. Records of such SIP actions are 
maintained in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at title 40, part 
52, entitled ``Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans.'' The 
actual state regulations which are approved are not reproduced in their 
entirety in the CFR outright but are ``incorporated by reference,'' 
which means that we have approved a given state regulation with a 
specific effective date.

What does Federal approval of a State regulation mean to me?

    Enforcement of the State regulation before and after it is 
incorporated into the Federally-approved SIP is primarily a State 
responsibility. However, after the regulation is Federally-approved, we 
are authorized to take enforcement action against violators. Citizens 
are also offered legal recourse to address violations as described in 
section 304 of the CAA.

What is the background of this action?

    The 2002 NSR Reform rules are part of EPA's implementation of parts 
C and D of title I of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7470-7515. Part C of title I 
of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7470-7492, is the Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration (PSD) program, which applies in areas that meet the 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), also known as 
``attainment areas'' and in areas for which there is insufficient 
information to determine whether the area meets the NAAQS, also known 
as ``unclassifiable'' areas.

[[Page 27057]]

    Part D of Title I of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7501-7515, is the 
nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) program, which applies in areas 
that are not in attainment of the NAAQS, also known as ``nonattainment 
areas.'' Collectively, the PSD and NNSR programs are referred to as the 
``New Source Review'' or NSR programs. EPA regulations implementing 
these programs are contained in 40 CFR 51.165, 51.166, 52.21 52.24 and 
part 51, appendix S. The SIP submittal from the State of Iowa does not 
include the portion of the rules relating to NSR reform provisions for 
nonattainment areas as the State of Iowa currently has no areas 
designated nonattainment.
    The 2002 NSR Reform rules made changes to five areas of the NSR 
programs. In summary, the 2002 rules: (1) Provide a new method for 
determining baseline actual emissions; (2) adopt an actual-to-
projected-actual methodology for determining whether a major 
modification has occurred; (3) allow major stationary sources to comply 
with plantwide applicability limits (PALs) to avoid having a 
significant emission increase that triggers the requirements of the 
major NSR program; (4) provide a new applicability provision for 
emissions units that are designated clean units; and (5) exclude 
pollution control projects (PCPs).
    After the 2002 NSR Reform rules were finalized and effective, 
various petitioners challenged numerous aspects of the 2002 NSR Reform 
rules, along with portions of EPA's 1980 NSR rules (45 FR 5276, August 
7, 1980). On June 24, 2005, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals 
issued a decision on the challenges to the 2002 NSR Reform Rules. New 
York v. United States, 413 F.3d (DC Cir. 2005). In summary, the Court 
of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated portions of the rules 
pertaining to clean units and pollution control projects, remanded a 
portion of the rules regarding exemption from recordkeeping, e.g., 40 
CFR 52.21(r)(6) and 40 CFR 51.166(r)(6), and let stand the other 
provisions included as part of the 2002 NSR Reform rules. EPA has not 
yet responded to the Court's remand regarding recordkeeping provisions.

What is being addressed in this document?

    The final action described in this section is identical to the 
action we proposed in the Federal Register February 26, 2007, notice of 
proposed rulemaking (72 FR 8329). We received no comments on any aspect 
of the proposal, and we are taking final action based on the rationale 
in the proposal and in this final rule.
    EPA is revising the Iowa SIP to include the PSD portion of the NSR 
regulations. In general, the Iowa revisions consist of incorporation by 
reference of substantial portions of the Federal Prevention of 
Significant Deterioration (PSD) rule and inclusion of other portions of 
the Federal rule almost verbatim. Iowa has not adopted provisions of 
the 2002 reform rule which were either vacated or remanded by the 
Court, as previously described. The Iowa Department of Natural 
Resources (IDNR) has identified portions of its rule which are at 
variance with the Federal rule and has provided conclusions with 
respect to equivalency of the State rule with the Federal requirements.
    Revisions to the Iowa Administrative Code (567-20.1 and 567-22.4) 
add language to reference the new Chapter 33 entitled ``Special 
Regulations and Construction Permit Requirements for Major Stationary 
Sources--Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) of Air 
Quality.'' These revisions are informational in nature and do not 
include substantive requirements.
    Chapter 33 of the Iowa rules contains the substantive PSD rule 
revisions which include EPA's NSR reform rules as previously described. 
The Federal provisions are adopted as follows: (1) The definitions, 
applicability provisions, public participation procedures, and source 
obligation provisions (the requirements in section 52.21(r) of the 
Federal rule with the exception of the provision in section 52.21(r)(6) 
which exempts certain emissions changes from the recordkeeping 
requirements) are set forth in language which tracks the relevant 
language of the corresponding Federal rules; and, (2) the remainder of 
the Federal PSD rules upheld by the Court are adopted by reference.
    The State's definition section (567-33.3(1)) contains several 
definitions with wording which differs from the wording in the Federal 
rule, but the differences are either not substantive or do not affect 
the stringency of the rule. These differences are described in the 
technical support document, and EPA believes that the differences do 
not affect the approvability of the rule. Another example of a 
difference is that the State does not incorporate by reference the 
Federal definitions relating to the clean unit exemption and pollution 
control project exclusion, which provisions were vacated by the court.
    The applicability section (567-33.3(2)) discusses the application 
of PSD program requirements as they apply to the construction of any 
new major stationary source, or any project at an existing major 
stationary source in an area designated as attainment or 
unclassifiable. This section extracts the language from 40 CFR 
51.166(a)(7), including the actual-to-projected-actual test for 
determining whether a modification is subject to the rule and other 
provisions of the Federal rule.
    The public participation procedures in the State rule (567-
33.3(17)) are substantially the same as the rules in the existing SIP. 
EPA believes that these procedures meet the corresponding requirements 
in 40 CFR 51.166.
    The following sections were adopted by reference as specified in 40 
CFR 52.21: Ambient air increments; Ambient air ceilings; Restrictions 
on area classifications; Redesignation; Stack heights; Exemptions; 
Control technology review; Source impact analysis; Air quality models; 
Air quality analysis; Source information, and Additional impact 
analyses.
    The provisions of the State rule relating to exclusions from 
increment consumption, sources impacting Federal Class I areas--
additional requirements, and innovative control technology adopt by 
reference the relevant portions of 40 CFR 51.166 except for the phrases 
that contain ``the plan may provide that,'' ``the plan provides that,'' 
``it shall also provide that,'' and ``mechanism whereby.'' These 
phrases are excluded to convert the language of section 51.166 to 
substantive rules rather than minimum program requirements. The EPA 
provisions for plantwide applicability limitations are adopted by 
reference except that the term ``Administrator'' used in the Federal 
rule means ``the department of natural resources'' in the State rule. 
These provisions were reviewed by EPA for consistency with the Federal 
requirements and are acceptable.
    The reference to Clean Units and Pollution Control Projects as set 
forth in 40 CFR 52.21 and 40 CFR 51.166 are not adopted by reference. 
In addition, the provision of the Federal rule (40 CFR 52.21(r)(6)), 
which exempts certain projects from recordkeeping, is not adopted, so 
that recordkeeping requirements apply to all modifications which use 
the actual-to-projected-actual test to show nonapplicability. Iowa 
intended these deviations from the Federal rule to address the Court 
ruling on EPA's reform rules, and EPA believes they are approvable.

[[Page 27058]]

Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?

    The State submittal has met the public notice requirements for SIP 
submissions in accordance with 40 CFR 51.102. The submittal also 
satisfied the completeness criteria of 40 CFR part 51, appendix V. In 
addition, as explained above and in more detail in the technical 
support document that is part of this docket, EPA believes that the 
revisions meet the substantive SIP requirements of the CAA, including 
section 110 and implementing regulations.

What action is EPA taking?

    We are approving revisions to Iowa's rule at Chapter 20, ``Scope of 
Title--Definitions--Forms--Rules of Practice,'' and Chapter 22, 
``Controlling Pollution,'' as the revisions relate to the NSR 
regulations. We are also approving new Chapter 33, ``Special 
Regulations and Construction Permit Requirements for Major Stationary 
Sources--Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) of Air 
Quality.'' It should be noted that Iowa has no nonattainment areas so 
those portions of the NSR reform rules are not being addressed with 
this rulemaking.

Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
final action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore 
is not subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For 
this reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211, 
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This final 
action merely approves State law as meeting Federal requirements and 
imposes no additional requirements beyond those imposed by State law. 
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that the final approvals in 
this final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this rule approves pre-existing 
requirements under State law and does not impose any additional 
enforceable duty beyond that required by State law, it does not contain 
any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect small 
governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(Pub. L. 104-4).
    This final rule also does not have tribal implications because it 
will not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, 
on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, 
or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the 
Federal Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 
13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not have 
Federalism implications because it does not have substantial direct 
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national 
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various levels of government, as specified 
in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This action 
merely approves a State rule implementing a Federal standard, and does 
not alter the relationship or the distribution of power and 
responsibilities established in the CAA. This final rule also is not 
subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 
1997), because it approves a State rule implementing a Federal 
standard.
    In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve State 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. In this 
context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the State 
to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority to 
disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be 
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP 
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise 
satisfies the provisions of the CAA. Thus, the requirements of section 
12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 
(15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This final rule does not impose an 
information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this rule and other 
required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by July 13, 2007. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial review nor does 
it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be 
filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or action. 
This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its 
requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: May 2, 2007.
John B. Askew,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.

0
Chapter I, Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as 
follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart Q--Iowa

0
2. In Sec.  52.820(c) the table is amended by:
0
a. Revising the entries for 567-20.1 and 567-22.4.
0
b. Adding in numerical order a heading for Chapter 33 and entries for 
567-33.1, 567-33.2, 567-33.3, 567-33.4 to 567-33.8, 567-33.9 and 567-
33.10.
    The revisions and additions read as follows:


Sec.  52.820  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

[[Page 27059]]



                                                              EPA-Approved Iowa Regulations
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                                                                      State
            Iowa citation                        Title           effective date           EPA approval date                       Explanation
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                                     Iowa Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Commission [567]
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
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                                            Chapter 20--Scope of Title--Definitions--Forms--Rule of Practice
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567-20.1.............................  Scope of Title..........             N/A  5/14/07 [insert FR page number       This rule is a non-substantive
                                                                                  where the document begins].          description of the Chapters
                                                                                                                       contained in the Iowa rules. EPA
                                                                                                                       has not approved all of the
                                                                                                                       Chapters to which this rule
                                                                                                                       refers.
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
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                                                            Chapter 22--Controlling Pollution
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
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567-22.4.............................  Special Requirements for       11/1/2006  5/14/07 [insert FR page number
                                        Major Stationary                          where the document begins].
                                        Sources Located in
                                        Areas Designated
                                        Attainment or
                                        Unclassified (PSD).
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
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 Chapter 33--Special Regulations and Construction Permit Requirements for Major Stationary Sources--Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) of Air
                                                                         Quality
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
567-33.1.............................  Purpose.................         11/1/06  5/14/07 [insert FR page number       ..................................
                                                                                  where the document begins].
567-33.2.............................  Reserved................         11/1/06  5/14/07 [insert FR page number       ..................................
                                                                                  where the document begins].
567-33.3.............................  Special construction             11/1/06  5/14/07 [insert FR page number       ..................................
                                        permit requirements for                   where the document begins].
                                        major stationary
                                        sources in areas
                                        designated attainment
                                        or unclassified (PSD).
567-33.4 to 567-33.8.................  Reserved................         11/1/06  5/14/07 [insert FR page number       ..................................
                                                                                  where the document begins].
567-33.9.............................  Plantwide applicability          11/1/06  5/14/07 [insert FR page number       ..................................
                                        limitations (PALs).                       where the document begins].
567-33.10............................  Exceptions to adoption           11/1/06  5/14/07 [insert FR page number       ..................................
                                        by reference.                             where the document begins.
 
                                                                      * * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. E7-9131 Filed 5-11-07; 8:45 am]
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