[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 14 (Friday, January 22, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3680-3682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1184]


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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2009-0960; FRL-9105-8]


Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the San Joaquin 
Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) portion of the 
California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern 
oxides of nitrogen (NOX) from residential water heaters. We 
are approving local rules that regulate these emission sources under 
the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). We are taking 
comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

DATES: Any comments must arrive by February 22, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-OAR-
2009-0960, by one of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the on-line instructions.
    2. E-mail: [email protected].
    3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel (Air-4), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105-3901.
    Instructions: All comments will be included in the public docket 
without change and may be made available online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes Confidential Business Information (CBI) or 
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Information that you consider CBI or otherwise protected should be 
clearly identified as such and should not be submitted through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Http://www.regulations.gov is an 
``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not know your identity or 
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. 
If you send e-mail directly to EPA, your e-mail address

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will be automatically captured and included as part of the public 
comment. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties 
and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to 
consider your comment.
    Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA 
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. While all 
documents in the docket are listed in the index, some information may 
be publicly available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted 
material), and some may not be publicly available in either location 
(e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule an 
appointment during normal business hours with the contact listed in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Idalia Perez, EPA Region IX, (415) 
972-3248, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to EPA.

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What rule did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of this rule?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revision?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is EPA evaluating the rule?
    B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. EPA Recommendations to Further Improve the rule
    D. Public Comment and Final Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rule did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rule addressed by this proposal with the date 
that it was adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the 
California Air Resources Board (CARB).

                                             Table 1--Submitted Rule
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Local agency                  Rule No.             Rule title             Adopted      Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SJVAPCD..................................         4902   Residential Water Heaters..     03/19/09      04/29/09
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On 07/20/09, EPA determined that the submittal for SJVAPCD Rule 
4902 met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR Part 51, Appendix V, which 
must be met before formal EPA review.

B. Are there other versions of this rule?

    We approved an earlier version of Rule 4902 into the SIP on 
February 17, 2004 (69 FR 7370).

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revision?

    NOX emissions help produce ground-level ozone, smog and 
particulate matter, which harm human health and the environment. 
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires States to submit regulations that 
control NOX emissions. Rule 4902 limits NOX, 
emissions from residential water heaters and was amended to extend the 
applicability of the rule and strengthen the emission limits for 
NOX. EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more 
information about this rule.

II. EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is EPA evaluating the rule?

    Generally, SIP rules for NOX emissions must be 
enforceable (see section 110(a) of the Act), must require Reasonably 
Available Control Technology (RACT) for each major source in ozone 
nonattainment areas classified as moderate or above (see sections 
182(b)(2) and 182(f)), and must not relax existing requirements (see 
sections 110(l) and 193). Although the SJVAPCD regulates a serious (8-
hour) and extreme (1-hour) ozone nonattainment area, submitted Rule 
4902 is not subject to RACT because it is applies only to sources that 
are not major sources of NOX.
    Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate 
enforceability requirements consistently include the following:
    1. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook).
    2. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
    B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
    We believe this rule is consistent with the relevant requirements, 
policy and guidance regarding enforceability and SIP relaxations. The 
TSD has more information on our evaluation.
    C. EPA recommendations to further improve this rule. We do not have 
further recommendations to improve this rule.
    D. Public comment and final action.
    Because EPA believes the submitted rule fulfills all relevant 
requirements, we are proposing to fully approve it under section 
110(k)(3) of the Act. We will accept comments from the public on this 
proposal for the next 30 days. Unless we receive convincing new 
information during the comment period, we intend to publish a final 
approval action that will incorporate this rule into the federally 
enforceable SIP.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a 
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and 
applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). 
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve State 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this action merely proposes to approve State law as 
meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by State law.
    For that reason, this proposed action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     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);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement

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Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because application of those 
requirements would be inconsistent with the Clean Air Act; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    In addition, this proposed rule does not have tribal implications 
as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), 
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in 
the State, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct 
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

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

    Dated: December 29, 2009.
Jane Diamond,
Acting Deputy Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2010-1184 Filed 1-21-10; 8:45 am]
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