[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49925-49927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19872]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2013-0394; FRL-9845-5]


Revisions to California State Implementation Plan, Antelope 
Valley Air Quality Management District and Ventura County Air Pollution 
Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the 
Antelope Valley Air Quality Air Management District (AVAQMD) and 
Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD) portions of the 
California State Implementation Plan (SIP). Under authority of the 
Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), we are rescinding local rules that 
concern sulfur oxide emissions from lead smelters for AVAQMD and 
volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions from the data storage for 
VCAPCD and vacuum producing device industries for VCAPCD.

DATES: These rules are effective on October 15, 2013 without further 
notice, unless EPA receives adverse comments by September 16, 2013. If 
we receive such comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register to notify the public that this direct final rule will 
not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-OAR-
2013-0394, by one of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-
line instructions.
    2. Email: [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

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change and may be made available online at 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 www.regulations.gov or email. 
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 email directly to EPA, your email 
address 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. Electronic files should avoid the use of 
special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects 
or viruses.
    Docket: Generally, documents in the docket for this action are 
available electronically at 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 at www.regulations.gov, some 
information may be publicly available only at the hard copy location 
(e.g., copyrighted material, large maps), 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: Robert Marinaro, EPA Region IX, (415) 
972-3019, [email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What rules did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of these rules?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. Public Comment and Final Action.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rules did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rule rescissions we are approving with the dates 
that they were rescinded by the local air agencies and submitted by the 
California Air Resources Board.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           Rule              Rule title             revised        Rescinded       Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AVAQMD...................         1101  Secondary Lead Smelters/        10/07/77         2/21/12        02/06/13
                                         Sulfur Oxides
                                         (rescinded).
VCAPCD...................           37  Project XL (rescinded)..        09/14/99         6/12/12        02/06/13
VCAPCD...................           67  Vacuum Producing Devices        07/05/83         6/12/12        02/06/13
                                         (rescinded).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On April 9, 2013, EPA determined that the submittal for AVAQMD Rule 
1101, and VCAPCD Rules 37 and 67 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 these rules?

    We approved versions of AVAQMD Rule 1101 into the SIP on September 
2, 1981 (46 FR 43968), VCAPCD Rule 37 on December 13, 1999 (64 FR 
69404), and VCAPCD Rule 67 on April 17, 1987 (52 FR 12522).

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?

    Section 110(a) of the CAA requires States to submit regulations 
that control volatile organic compounds, oxides of nitrogen, 
particulate matter, and other air pollutants which harm human health 
and the environment. These rules were developed as part of the local 
agency's program to control these pollutants.
    AVAQMD Rule 1101, Secondary Lead Smelters/Sulfur Oxides; VCAPCD 
Rule 37, Project XL; and VCAPCD Rule 67, Vacuum Producing Devices were 
originally adopted to help reduce these various air pollutants but are 
being rescinded because there are no longer any sources in the 
Districts subject to them and none are anticipated in the future.

II. EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?

    These rules describe requirements intended to help control 
emissions from lead smelters in AVAQMD, data storage in VCAPCD and 
vacuum producing devices in VCAPCD. These rule rescissions must not 
relax existing requirements consistent with CAA sections 110(l) and 
193. EPA policy that we used to evaluate these rule revisions includes 
``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the Implementation 
of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' 57 FR 13498 
(April 16, 1992); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).

B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    The Districts have requested rescission because they no longer have 
any sources subject to these rules, they do not expect any new sources 
in the future, and any new sources would be subject to restrictive NSR 
permitting requirements. The Districts have reviewed permit databases, 
emission inventories, and trade group contacts to determine that they 
have no sources, and we have reviewed their analysis and have no basis 
to question their analysis. Therefore, we believe these rule 
rescissions are consistent with relevant policy and guidance.

C. Public Comment and Final Action.

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, EPA is fully 
approving the submitted rule rescissions because we believe they 
fulfill all relevant requirements. We do not think anyone will object 
to this approval, so we are finalizing it without proposing it in 
advance. However, in the Proposed Rules section of this Federal 
Register, we are simultaneously proposing approval of the same 
submitted rule rescissions. If we receive adverse comments by September 
16, 2013, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register 
to notify the public that the direct final approval will not take 
effect and we will address the comments in a subsequent final action 
based on the proposal. If we do not receive timely adverse comments, 
the direct final approval will be effective without further notice on 
October 15, 2013. This will remove these rules from the federally 
enforceable SIP.
    Please note that if EPA receives adverse comment on an amendment, 
paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may be severed 
from the

[[Page 49927]]

remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions of the 
rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.

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 approves State law as meeting Federal 
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by State law. For that reason, this 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 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 disproportionate human health or environmental effects with 
practical, appropriate, and legally permissible methods under Executive 
Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    In addition, this 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.
    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 action 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 Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by October 15, 2013. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this action 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. Parties with objections to this direct final 
rule are encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel 
notice of proposed rulemaking for this action published in the Proposed 
Rules section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an 
immediate petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so 
that EPA can withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in 
the proposed rulemaking. 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: July 26, 2013.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Part 52, Chapter I, Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

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

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

Subpart F--California

0
2. Section 52.220, is amended by adding paragraphs (c)(70)(i)(B)(1), 
(c)(164)(i)(C)(5) and (c)(270)(i)(A)(2) to read as follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (70) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (B) * * *
    (1) Previously approved on September 2, 1981 in paragraph 
(c)(70)(i)(B) of this section and now deleted without replacement, for 
the Antelope Valley area only, Antelope Valley Rule 1101, previously 
South Coast Rule 1101. South Coast Rule 1101 remains in effect for the 
South Coast area.
* * * * *
    (164) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (C) * * *
    (5) Previously approved on April 17, 1987 in paragraph 
(c)(164)(i)(C)(1) of this section and now deleted without replacement, 
Ventura County Rule 67.
* * * * *
    (270) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (A) * * *
    (2) Previously approved on December 13, 1999 in paragraph 
(c)(270)(i)(A)(1) of this section and now deleted without replacement, 
Ventura County Rule 37.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2013-19872 Filed 8-15-13; 8:45 am]
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