[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 155 (Thursday, August 11, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49708-49710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20455]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R07-OAR-2011-0470, FRL-9450-8]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Iowa: 
Prevention of Significant Deterioration; Greenhouse Gas Permitting 
Authority and Tailoring Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the Iowa State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) relating to regulation of Greenhouse Gases 
(GHGs) under Iowa's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) 
program. This revision was submitted by the Iowa Department of Natural 
Resources (IDNR) to EPA on December 22, 2010. It is intended to align 
Iowa's regulations with the ``PSD and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring 
Final Rule.'' EPA is proposing to approve the revision because the 
Agency has made the preliminary determination that the SIP revision, 
already adopted by Iowa as a final effective rule, is in accordance 
with the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) and EPA regulations regarding PSD 
permitting for GHGs.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 12, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2011-0470, by one of the following methods:
    1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. E-mail: [email protected].
    3. Fax: (913) 551-7844.
    4. Mail: Air Planning and Development Branch, Air and Waste 
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7, 
901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
    5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Mr. Larry Gonzalez, Air Planning and 
Development Branch, Air and Waste Management Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas 
City, Kansas 66101. Such deliveries are only accepted during the 
Regional Office's normal hours of operation. The Regional Office's 
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m., excluding Federal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-
2011-0470. EPA's policy is that all comments received 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 information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail, information that you consider to be CBI 
or otherwise protected. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an 
``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. 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. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public 
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
http://www.regulations.gov index. 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 in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air Planning and Development 
Branch, Air and Waste Management Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 
66101. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the person 
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your 
inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday 
through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding the Iowa 
SIP, contact Mr. Larry Gonzalez, Air Planning and Development Branch, 
Air and Waste Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Mr. 
Gonzalez's telephone number is (913) 551-7047; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. What action is EPA proposing in today's notice?
II. What is the background for the PSD SIP approval proposed by EPA 
in today's notice?
III. What is EPA's analysis of Iowa's proposed SIP revision?
IV. Proposed Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What action is EPA proposing in today's notice?

    On December 22, 2010, IDNR submitted a request to EPA to approve 
revisions to the State's SIP and Title V program to incorporate recent 
rule amendments adopted by the Iowa Environmental Protection 
Commission. These adopted rules became effective in the Iowa 
Administrative Code on that date. These amendments establish thresholds 
for GHG emissions in Iowa's PSD and Title V regulations at the same 
emissions thresholds and in the same

[[Page 49709]]

time-frames as those specified by EPA in the ``PSD and Title V 
Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Final Rule'' (75 FR 31514), hereafter referred 
to as the ``Tailoring Rule,'' ensuring that smaller GHG sources 
emitting less than these thresholds will not be subject to permitting 
requirements for GHGs that they emit. The amendments to the SIP clarify 
the applicable thresholds in the Iowa SIP, address the flaw discussed 
in the ``Limitation of Approval of Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration Provisions Concerning Greenhouse Gas Emitting-Sources in 
State Implementation Plans Final Rule,'' 75 FR 82536 (December 30, 
2010) (the ``PSD SIP Narrowing Rule''), and incorporate state rule 
changes adopted at the state level into the Federally-approved SIP. In 
today's notice, pursuant to section 110 of the CAA, EPA is proposing to 
approve these revisions into the Iowa SIP.\1\
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    \1\ EPA intends to address Iowa's December 22, 2010, request to 
approve revisions to the Title V program relating to GHGs in a 
subsequent rulemaking.
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II. What is the background for the PSD SIP approval proposed by EPA in 
today's notice?

    This section briefly summarizes EPA's recent GHG-related actions 
that provide the background for today's proposed actions. More detailed 
discussion of the background is found in the preambles for those 
actions. In particular, the background is contained in what we called 
the PSD SIP Narrowing Rule,\2\ and in the preambles to the actions 
cited therein.
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    \2\ ``Limitation of Approval of Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration Provisions Concerning Greenhouse Gas Emitting-Sources 
in State Implementation Plans; Final Rule.'' 75 FR 82536 (December 
30, 2010).
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A. GHG-Related Actions

    EPA has recently undertaken a series of actions pertaining to the 
regulation of GHGs that, although for the most part distinct from one 
another, establish the overall framework for today's proposed action on 
the Iowa SIP. Four of these actions include, as they are commonly 
called, the ``Endangerment Finding'' and ``Cause or Contribute 
Finding,'' which EPA issued in a single final action,\3\ the ``Johnson 
Memo Reconsideration,'' \4\ the ``Light-Duty Vehicle Rule,'' \5\ and 
the ``Tailoring Rule.'' Taken together and in conjunction with the CAA, 
these actions established regulatory requirements for GHGs emitted from 
new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines; determined that such 
regulations, when they took effect on January 2, 2011, subjected GHGs 
emitted from stationary sources to PSD requirements; and limited the 
applicability of PSD requirements to GHG sources on a phased-in basis. 
EPA took this last action in the Tailoring Rule, which, more 
specifically, established appropriate GHG emission thresholds for 
determining the applicability of PSD requirements to GHG-emitting 
sources.
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    \3\ ``Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for 
Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act.'' 74 FR 
66496 (December 15, 2009).
    \4\ ``Interpretation of Regulations that Determine Pollutants 
Covered by Clean Air Act Permitting Programs.'' 75 FR 17004 (Apr. 2, 
2010).
    \5\ ``Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and 
Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards; Final Rule.'' 75 FR 25324 
(May 7, 2010).
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    PSD is implemented through the SIP system. In December 2010, EPA 
promulgated several rules to implement the new GHG PSD SIP program. 
Recognizing that some states had approved SIP PSD programs that did not 
apply PSD to GHGs, EPA issued a SIP Call and, for some of these states, 
a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP).\6\ Recognizing that other states 
had approved SIP PSD programs that do apply PSD to GHGs, but that do so 
for sources that emit as little as 100 or 250 tpy of GHG, and that do 
not limit PSD applicability to GHGs to the higher thresholds in the 
Tailoring Rule, EPA issued the PSD SIP Narrowing Rule. Under that rule, 
EPA withdrew its approval of the affected SIPs to the extent those SIPs 
covered GHG-emitting sources below the Tailoring Rule thresholds. EPA 
based its action primarily on the ``error correction'' provisions of 
CAA section 110(k)(6).
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    \6\ Specifically, by action dated December 13, 2010, EPA 
finalized a ``SIP Call'' that would require those states with SIPs 
that have approved PSD programs but do not authorize PSD permitting 
for GHGs to submit a SIP revision providing such authority. ``Action 
To Ensure Authority To Issue Permits Under the Prevention of 
Significant Deterioration Program to Sources of Greenhouse Gas 
Emissions: Finding of Substantial Inadequacy and SIP Call,'' 75 FR 
77698 (December 13, 2010). EPA made findings of failure to submit in 
some states which were unable to submit the required SIP revision by 
their deadlines, and finalized FIPs for such states. See, e.g. 
``Action To Ensure Authority To Issue Permits Under the Prevention 
of Significant Deterioration Program to Sources of Greenhouse Gas 
Emissions: Finding of Failure To Submit State Implementation Plan 
Revisions Required for Greenhouse Gases,'' 75 FR 81874 (December 29, 
2010); ``Action To Ensure Authority To Issue Permits Under the 
Prevention of Significant Deterioration Program to Sources of 
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Federal Implementation Plan,'' 75 FR 82246 
(December 30, 2010). Because Iowa's SIP already authorizes Iowa to 
regulate GHGs once GHGs became subject to PSD requirements on 
January 2, 2011, Iowa is not subject to the SIP Call or FIP.
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B. Iowa's Actions

    On July 20, 2010, Iowa provided a letter to EPA, in accordance with 
a request to all states from EPA in the Tailoring Rule, with 
confirmation that the State of Iowa has the authority to regulate GHGs 
in its PSD program. The letter also confirmed Iowa's intent to amend 
its air quality rules for the PSD program for GHGs to match the 
thresholds set in the Tailoring Rule. See the docket for this proposed 
rulemaking for a copy of Iowa's letter.
    In the PSD SIP Narrowing Rule, published on December 30, 2010, EPA 
withdrew its approval of Iowa's SIP (among other SIPs) to the extent 
that the SIP applies PSD permitting requirements to GHG emissions from 
sources emitting at levels below those set in the Tailoring Rule.\7\ As 
a result, Iowa's current approved SIP provides the State with authority 
to regulate GHGs, but only at and above the Tailoring Rule thresholds; 
and requires new and modified sources to receive a Federal PSD permit 
based on GHG emissions only if they emit or have potential to emit at 
or above the Tailoring Rule thresholds.
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    \7\ ``Limitation of Approval of Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration Provisions Concerning Greenhouse Gas Emitting-Sources 
in State Implementation Plans; Final Rule.'' 75 FR 82536 (December 
30, 2010).
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    The basis for this proposed SIP revision is that limiting PSD 
applicability to GHG sources to the higher thresholds in the Tailoring 
Rule is consistent with the SIP provisions that require assurances of 
adequate resources, and thereby addresses the flaw in the SIP that led 
to the PSD SIP Narrowing Rule. Specifically, CAA section 110(a)(2)(E) 
includes as a requirement for SIP approval that states provide 
``necessary assurances that the State * * * will have adequate 
personnel [and] funding * * * to carry out such [SIP].'' In the 
Tailoring Rule, EPA established higher thresholds for PSD applicability 
to GHG-emitting sources on grounds that the states generally did not 
have adequate resources to apply PSD to GHG-emitting sources below the 
Tailoring Rule thresholds,\8\ and no state, including Iowa, asserted 
that it did have adequate resources to do so.\9\ In the PSD SIP 
Narrowing Rule, EPA found that the affected states, including Iowa, had 
a flaw in their SIP at the time they submitted their PSD programs, 
which was that the applicability of the PSD programs was potentially 
broader than the resources available to them under

[[Page 49710]]

their SIP.\10\ Accordingly, for each affected state, including Iowa, 
EPA concluded that EPA's action in approving the SIP was in error, 
under CAA section 110(k)(6), and EPA rescinded its approval to the 
extent the PSD program applies to GHG-emitting sources below the 
Tailoring Rule thresholds.\11\ EPA recommended that states adopt a SIP 
revision to incorporate the Tailoring Rule thresholds, thereby (i) 
assuring that under state law, only sources at or above the Tailoring 
Rule thresholds would be subject to PSD; and (ii) avoiding confusion 
under the Federally approved SIP by clarifying that the SIP applies to 
only sources at or above the Tailoring Rule thresholds.\12\
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    \8\ Tailoring Rule, 75 FR at 31517.
    \9\ PSD SIP Narrowing Rule, 75 FR at 82540.
    \10\ Id. at 82542.
    \11\ Id. at 82544.
    \12\ Id. at 82540.
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III. What is EPA's analysis of Iowa's proposed SIP revision?

    On December 22, 2010, IDNR submitted a revision of its regulations 
to EPA for processing and approval into the SIP. This SIP revision puts 
in place the GHG emission thresholds for PSD applicability set forth in 
EPA's Tailoring Rule. EPA's approval of Iowa's SIP revision will 
incorporate the revisions of the Iowa regulations into the Federally-
approved SIP. Doing so will clarify the applicable thresholds in the 
Iowa SIP.
    The State of Iowa's December 22, 2010, proposed SIP revision 
establishes thresholds for determining which stationary sources and 
modification projects become subject to permitting requirements for GHG 
emissions under Iowa's PSD program. Specifically, Iowa's December 22, 
2010, proposed SIP revision includes changes--which are already 
effective--to Iowa's Administrative Code, revising the subrule 33.3(1) 
definition of ``regulated New Source Review (NSR) pollutant'' to 
specifically define the term ``subject to regulation'' for the PSD 
program, and to define ``greenhouse gases (GHGs)'' and ``tpy 
CO2 equivalent emissions (CO2e).'' Additionally, 
the amendments to subrule 33.3(1) specify the methodology for 
calculating an emissions increase for GHGs, the applicable thresholds 
for GHG emissions subject to PSD, and the schedule for when the 
applicability thresholds take effect.
    Iowa is currently a SIP-approved State for the PSD program, and has 
previously incorporated EPA's 2002 NSR reform revisions for PSD into 
its SIP. See 72 FR 27056 (May 14, 2007). The changes to Iowa's PSD 
program regulations are substantively the same as the Federal 
provisions amended in EPA's Tailoring Rule. As part of its review of 
Iowa's submittal, EPA performed a line-by-line review of Iowa's 
proposed revision and has preliminarily determined that it is 
consistent with the Tailoring Rule.

IV. Proposed Action

    Pursuant to section 110 of the CAA, EPA is proposing to approve 
Iowa's December 22, 2010 revisions to the Iowa SIP, relating to PSD 
requirements for GHG-emitting sources. Specifically, Iowa's December 
22, 2010, proposed SIP revision establishes appropriate emissions 
thresholds for determining PSD applicability to new and modified GHG-
emitting sources in accordance with EPA's Tailoring Rule. EPA has made 
the preliminary determination that this SIP revision is approvable 
because it is in accordance with the CAA and EPA regulations regarding 
PSD permitting for GHGs.
    If EPA does approve Iowa's changes to its air quality regulations 
to incorporate appropriate thresholds for GHG permitting applicability 
into Iowa's SIP, then section 52.822(b) of 40 CFR part 52, as included 
in EPA's PSD SIP Narrowing Rule--which codifies EPA's limiting its 
approval of Iowa's PSD SIP to not cover the applicability of PSD to 
GHG-emitting sources below the Tailoring Rule thresholds--is no longer 
necessary. In today's proposed action, EPA is also proposing to amend 
section 52.822(b) of 40 CFR part 52 to remove this unnecessary 
regulatory language.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, 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), 7661a(d); 40 CFR 52.02(a); 40 
CFR 70.1(c). Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to 
approve state choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. 
Accordingly, this proposed action merely approves the State's law as 
meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by the State's law. For that reason, 
the proposed approvals of Iowa's revision to its SIP relating to GHGs:
     Are not ``significant regulatory actions'' under the terms 
of Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and are 
therefore not subject to review under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 
(76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
     Do not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Are 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.);
     Do 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);
     Do not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Are not economically significant regulatory actions based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Are not significant regulatory actions subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Are not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the CAA; and
     Do 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 program 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, and Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

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

    Dated: August 3, 2011.
Karl Brooks,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.
[FR Doc. 2011-20455 Filed 8-10-11; 8:45 am]
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