[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 58460-58462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23096]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2013-0094; FRL-9833-1]


Revision of Air Quality Implementation Plan; California; Placer 
County Air Pollution Control District and Feather River Air Quality 
Management District; Stationary Source Permits

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule and technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval 
of two permitting rules submitted by California as a revision to the 
Placer County Air Pollution Control District (PCAPCD) and Feather River 
Air Quality Management District (FRAQMD) portion of the California 
State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions were proposed in the 
Federal Register on February 22, 2013 and concern construction and 
modification of stationary sources of air pollution within each 
District. We are approving local rules that regulate these emission 
sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA). Final 
approval of these rules makes the rules federally enforceable and 
corrects program deficiencies identified in a previous EPA rulemaking 
(76 FR 44809, July 27, 2011). EPA is also making a technical amendment 
to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to reflect this previous 
rulemaking, which removed an obsolete provision from the California 
SIP.

DATES: This rule is effective on October 24, 2013.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established docket number EPA-R09-OAR-2013-0094 for 
this action. Generally, documents in the docket for this action are 
available electronically at www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at EPA 
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. While all 
documents are listed at www.regulations.gov, some information may be 
publicly available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted 
material, large maps, multi-volume reports), and some may not be

[[Page 58461]]

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: Laura Yannayon, EPA Region IX, (415) 
972-3534, [email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. Proposed Action
II. Public Comments and EPA Responses
III. EPA Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Proposed Action

    On February 22, 2013 (78 FR 12267), EPA proposed a limited approval 
and limited disapproval of the following rules that were submitted for 
incorporation into the California SIP.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Local agency               Rule          Rule title             Amended        Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PCAPCD................................             502  New Source Review.......        10/13/11       11/18/11.
FRAQMD................................            10.1  New Source Review.......          2/7/12        9/21/12.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We proposed a limited approval because we determined that these 
rules improve the SIP and are largely consistent with the applicable 
CAA requirements. We simultaneously proposed a limited disapproval 
because some rule provisions do not satisfy the requirements of section 
110 and part D of the Act. Specifically:
     Both rules are missing a component of the definition for 
the term ``Regulated NSR Pollutant,'' as it relates to PM2.5 
condensable emissions.
     Placer County Rule 502 is not supported by a justification 
for the stated PM2.5 interpollutant offset ratios.
     Feather River Rule 10.1 contains certain language in new 
Sections B.4 and B.5 that entirely exempts from regulation pollutants 
when EPA redesignates the area from nonattainment to attainment. As 
worded, the provision is too broad, in that it exempts such pollutants 
from all the requirements of Section E of the rule, rather than just 
those provisions which apply to major sources of nonattainment 
pollutants.
    Our proposed rule and related Technical Support Document (TSD) 
contain more information on the basis for this rulemaking and on our 
evaluation of the submitted rules.

II. Public Comments and EPA Responses

    EPA's proposed action provided a 30-day public comment period. 
During this period, we received one comment from Harold Peterson of 
Huntsville, Alabama. We summarize the comment and provide our response 
below.
    Comment: The commenter opposed what he described as EPA's 
``proposal to terminate sanction clocks with respect to the July 27, 
2011 ruling,'' and explained that although ``it makes sense to stay the 
sanctions and pause the clock while the amended Rules 502 and 10.1 are 
being reviewed, . . . to remove all sanctions based on a limited 
approval/disapproval of the new rules [would be] inconsistent with the 
July 27 ruling to impose sanctions based on another limited approval/
disapproval.'' The commenter stated that ``[a] more logical approach 
would be to start a new 18 month clock based on the February 22, 2013 
[rulemaking].'' The commenter also stated that ``a new clock may 
already have been put in place in another docket'' and that, if so, he 
would find EPA's proposed action acceptable ``pending the inclusion of 
a reference to the other docket.''
    EPA Response: To the extent the commenter intended to state that 
EPA does not have a basis for terminating all sanctions clocks 
associated with PCAPCD Rule 502 and FRAQMD Rule 10.1 and that EPA's 
current action should, instead, start a new 18-month sanctions clock 
based on the new rule deficiencies identified in our February 22, 2013 
proposal, we agree. As explained in our February 22, 2013 proposed rule 
and in our simultaneous interim final determination to stay and defer 
sanctions based on that proposal, the amended versions of PCAPCD Rule 
502 and FRAQMD Rule 10.1 that California submitted in 2011 and 2012, 
respectively, corrected the deficiencies identified in our July 27, 
2011 disapproval action but contained new deficiencies that were the 
basis for a new limited disapproval and associated sanctions clock. See 
78 FR 12267, 12269 second column (``If EPA finalizes the limited 
approval and limited disapproval action, as proposed, then a sanctions 
clock, and EPA's obligation to promulgate a Federal implementation 
plan, would be triggered. . . .''); see also 78 FR 12243 (stating that 
EPA was proposing a limited approval/limited disapproval because the 
amended rules ``correct the deficiencies identified in our July 27, 
2011 disapproval action, but other revisions have created new 
deficiencies.''). EPA also stated that the interim final determination 
to stay and defer ``sanctions associated with PCAPCD Rule 502 and 
FRAQMD Rule 10.1 (as adopted 2010 and 2009 respectively) [was] based on 
our concurrent proposal to approve the State's SIP revision as 
correcting the deficiencies that initiated sanctions'' (emphasis 
added). 78 FR 12243, 12244.
    Consistent with our proposal, we are clarifying in this final rule 
that the effect of this action is to terminate only those sanctions 
clocks that were triggered by our July 27, 2011 final limited approval 
and limited disapproval of PCAPCD Rule 502, as adopted in 2010, and 
FRAQMD Rule 10.1, as adopted in 2009 (76 FR 44809, docket number EPA-
R09-OAR-2011-0461), and to start a new sanctions clock based on the new 
rule deficiencies identified in our February 22, 2013 proposal on the 
amended rules, as adopted in 2011 and 2012 (78 FR 12267, docket number 
EPA-R09-OAR-2013-0094). This is because, although EPA has determined 
that the amended rules submitted by the State in 2011 and 2012 correct 
the deficiencies forming the basis of EPA's July 27, 2011 limited 
disapproval, EPA has identified new, unrelated rule deficiencies in the 
amended rules that form the basis of a new limited disapproval that we 
are finalizing today. See 40 CFR 52.31(d) (sanction application 
sequencing). The commenter correctly notes that these two rulemakings 
have separate public dockets, as discussed above.

III. EPA Action

    No comments were submitted that change our assessment that 
submitted PCAPCD Rule 502 and FRAQMD Rule 10.1 satisfy the applicable 
CAA requirements in part. Therefore, under CAA sections 110(k)(3) and 
301(a) and for the reasons set forth in our February 22, 2013 proposed 
rule, we are finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval of 
PCAPCD Rule 502 (as amended October 31, 2011) and FRAQMD Rule 10.1 (as 
amended

[[Page 58462]]

February 7, 2012). This action incorporates the submitted rules into 
the PCAPCD and FRAQMD portions of the California SIP and makes them 
federally enforceable.
    We are also making a technical amendment to 40 CFR 52.220 to remove 
a previous SIP rule, PCAPCD Rule 508, from the PCAPCD portion of the 
California SIP, consistent with EPA's final rule at 76 FR 44809 (July 
27, 2011). As explained in the proposal for this 2011 rulemaking, both 
EPA and the District had intended for Rule 502 to replace the 
preexisting NSR program in Rule 508, which EPA had approved into the 
SIP in 1982. See 76 FR 28945 (May 19, 2011).\1\ In the regulatory text 
codifying this final action, however, EPA incorporated Rule 502 into 
the SIP but neglected to remove Rule 508. See 76 FR at 44811. We are 
making a technical amendment to 40 CFR 52.220 to correct this error by 
removing Rule 508 from the PCAPCD portion of the California SIP. This 
technical amendment makes no change to the substance of our July 27, 
2011 final action or to today's final limited approval and limited 
disapproval of amended PCAPCD Rule 502 and FRAQMD Rule 10.1.
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    \1\ EPA's Technical Support Document for this proposal stated 
incorrectly that Rule 508 had previously been approved into the SIP 
on May 18, 1981 at 46 FR 27115. See U.S. EPA, Region IX, Technical 
Support Document for EPA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the 
California SIP, Placer County Air Pollution Control District, Rule 
502 (New Source Review), May 6, 2011, at 1. The correct cite and 
date for this previous SIP action is 47 FR 29536 (July 7, 1982).
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IV. 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, in part, and does not impose additional requirements 
beyond those imposed by State law. For that reason, this final 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 final 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

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

    Dated: June 28, 2013.
Alexis Strauss,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.

0
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)(52)(xiii)(G), 
(c)(80)(i)(G), (c)(416)(i)(C) and (c)(423)(i)(F) to read as follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (52) * * *
    (xiii) * * *
    (G) Previously approved on July 7, 1982 in paragraph 
(c)(52)(xiii)(C) of this section and now deleted without replacement: 
Rule 508.
* * * * *
    (80) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (G) Previously approved on June 23, 1982 in paragraph (c)(80)(i)(E) 
of this section and now deleted without replacement: Rule 508.
* * * * *
    (416) New and amended regulations were submitted on November 18, 
2011, by the Governor's Designee.
    (i) Incorporation by Reference.
    (C) Placer County Air Pollution Control District.
    (1) Rule 502, ``New Source Review,'' as amended on October 13, 
2011.
* * * * *
    (423) New and amended regulations were submitted on September 21, 
2012, by the Governor's Designee.
    (i) Incorporation by Reference.
    (F) Feather River Air Quality Management District.
    (1) Rule 10.1, ``New Source Review,'' as amended on February 6, 
2012.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2013-23096 Filed 9-23-13; 8:45 am]
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