[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 6 (Thursday, January 9, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1612-1614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00160]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2012-0100; FRL-9904-97-Region 6]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; 
Reasonably Available Control Technology for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the 
Houston/Galveston/Brazoria (HGB) 1997 8-Hour ozone nonattainment Area 
(Area). The HGB Area consists of Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, 
Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller counties. 
Specifically, we are proposing to approve portions of two revisions to 
the Texas SIP submitted by the Texas Commission on Environmental 
Quality (TCEQ) as meeting certain Reasonably Available Control 
Technology (RACT) requirements for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) in 
the HGB Area. This action is in accordance with section 110 of the 
federal Clean Air Act (the Act, CAA).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 10, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2012-0100, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: Alan Shar at [email protected].
     Mail or delivery: Air Planning Section Chief (6PD-L), 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, 
Texas 75202-2733.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2012-0100. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the 
disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Do not submit information 
through www.regulations.gov or email that you consider to be CBI or 
otherwise protected from disclosure. The 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 email comment directly to EPA without 
going through www.regulations.gov, your email 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 and 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: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA Region 6, 
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. 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 at either location (e.g., CBI). 
To inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule an appointment with 
the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT paragraph 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Alan Shar (6PD-L), telephone (214) 
665-2164, email [email protected].

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

Outline

I. Background
    A. What actions are we proposing?
    1. The June 13, 2007 submittal
    2. The April 6, 2010 submittal
    B. What is RACT?
II. Evaluation
    A. What is TCEQ's approach and analysis to RACT?
    B. What CTG source categories are we addressing in this action?
    C. Are there any negative declarations associated with the VOC 
source categories in the HGB Area?
    D. Is Texas' approach to RACT determination based on the June 
13, 2007 and April 6, 2010 submittals acceptable?
    E. Is Texas' approach to RACT determination for VOC sources 
based on the June 13, 2007 and April 6, 2010 submittals acceptable?
III. Proposed Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

A. What actions are we proposing?

    We are proposing to approve portions of revisions to the Texas SIP 
submitted to EPA with two separate letters dated June 13, 2007 and 
April 6, 2010 from TCEQ. These two separate submittals are described 
below.
1. The June 13, 2007 Submittal
    The June 13, 2007 submittal concerns revisions to 30 TAC, Chapter 
115 Control of Air Pollution from Volatile Organic Compounds. In 
addition, the June 13, 2007 submittal included an analysis intended to 
demonstrate RACT was being implemented in the HGB Area as required by 
the CAA (Appendix D of the submittal). We approved selected revisions 
as meeting RACT under the 8-hour ozone NAAQS for some, but not all the 
submitted industry source categories in the HGB Area on April 2, 2013 
at 78 FR 19599. In today's action, we are addressing additional source 
categories covered in this SIP submittal.
2. The April 6, 2010 Submittal
    In conjunction with the June 13, 2007 submittal, we are also 
proposing to approve a part of the April 6, 2010 revision to the Texas 
SIP for VOC RACT purposes. Specifically, we are proposing to find, 
based on the analysis in Appendix D of the April 6, 2010 submittal that 
Texas has met certain RACT requirements under section 182(b). Appendix 
D of the April 6, 2010 submittal is titled ``Reasonably Available 
Control Technology Analysis.'' and includes source

[[Page 1613]]

categories affected by the newly EPA-issued CTGs. See section B for 
more information on RACT evaluation for the HGB Area.

B. What is RACT?

    The EPA has defined RACT as the lowest emissions limitation that a 
particular source is capable of meeting by the application of control 
technology that is reasonably available, considering technological and 
economic feasibility. See 44 FR 53761, September 17, 1979. Section 
172(c)(1) of the Act requires that SIPs for nonattainment areas 
``provide for the implementation of all reasonably available control 
measures as expeditiously as practicable (including such reductions in 
emissions from existing sources in the area as may be obtained through 
the adoption, at a minimum, of reasonably available control technology) 
and shall provide for attainment of the primary National Ambient Air 
Quality (NAAQS) standards.''
    Section 182(b)(2) of the Act requires states to submit a SIP 
revision and implement RACT for moderate and above ozone nonattainment 
areas. For a Moderate, Serious, or Severe Area a major stationary 
source is one which emits, or has the potential to emit, 100, 50, or 25 
tons per year (tpy) or more of VOCs or NOX, respectively. 
See CAA sections 182(b), 182(c), and 182(d). The EPA provides states 
with guidance concerning what types of controls could constitute RACT 
for a given source category through the issuance of Control Techniques 
Guidelines (CTG) and Alternative Control Techniques (ACT) documents. 
See http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/ozone/ctg_act/index.htm (URL dating 
May 23, 2012) for a listing of EPA-issued CTGs and ACTs for VOC.
    The HGB Area was designated as Severe for the 1997 8-Hour ozone 
NAAQS. See 73 FR 56983, October 1, 2008. Thus, per section 182(d) of 
the CAA, a major stationary source in the HGB Area is one which emits, 
or has the potential to emit, 25 tpy or more of VOCs or NOX. 
Under sections 182(b), the SIP for the HGB Area must implement RACT for 
source categories covered by CTGs, and for major sources with a 
potential to emit of 25 tpy or more not covered by a CTG. The inventory 
of VOC and NOX sources listed in Appendix D of the April 6, 
2010 submittal demonstrates these requirements are fulfilled.
    Under section 183(b), EPA is required to periodically review and, 
as necessary, update CTGs. EPA issued a number of new CTGs in 2006, 
2007, and 2008. Accordingly, Texas revised its Chapter 115 regulations 
to address these VOC RACT control measures.

II. Evaluation

A. What is TCEQ's approach and analysis to RACT?

    Under sections 182(b)(2)(A) and (B) states must insure RACT is in 
place for each source category for which EPA issued a CTG, and for any 
major source not covered by a CTG. As a part of its June 13, 2007 
submittal, TCEQ conducted a RACT analysis to demonstrate that the RACT 
requirements for CTG sources in the HGB 8-Hour ozone nonattainment Area 
have been fulfilled. The TCEQ revised and supplemented this analysis in 
its April 6, 2010 submittal. The TCEQ conducted its analysis by: (1) 
Identifying all categories of CTG and major non-CTG sources of VOC 
emissions within the HGB Area; (2) Listing the state regulation that 
implements or exceeds RACT requirements for that CTG or non-CTG 
category; (3) Detailing the basis for concluding that these regulations 
fulfill RACT through comparison with established RACT requirements 
described in the CTG guidance documents and rules developed by other 
state and local agencies; and (4) Submitting negative declarations when 
there are no CTG or major Non-CTG sources of VOC emissions within the 
HGB Area. We are proposing that TCEQ's submittal, for affected VOC 
sources in the HGB Area addressed in this notice, provide for the 
implementation of all reasonably available control measures as 
expeditiously as practicable and shall provide for attainment of the 
primary National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQS) standards.

B. What CTG source categories are we addressing in this action?

    Table 1 below contains a list of VOC CTG source categories and 
their corresponding sections of 30 TAC Chapter 115 to fulfill the 
applicable RACT requirements under section 182(b) of the Act.

                   Table 1--CTG Source Categories and Their Corresponding Texas VOC RACT Rules
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                                        Source category in HGB                                    Chapter 115,
              Entry No.                          area               CTG Reference document      fulfilling RACT
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1....................................  Aerospace...............  Control of Volatile Organic          Sec.  Sec.
                                                                  Compound Emissions from           115.420-429.
                                                                  Coating Operations at
                                                                  Aerospace Manufacturing and
                                                                  Rework Operations.
2....................................  Surface coating for       Control of Volatile Organic          Sec.  Sec.
                                        insulation of magnets.    Emissions from Existing           115.420-429.
                                                                  Stationary Sources--Volume
                                                                  IV: Surface Coating of
                                                                  Insulation of Magnet Wire.
3....................................  Surface coating of coils  Surface Coating of Cans,             Sec.  Sec.
                                                                  Coils, Paper, Fabrics,            115.420-429.
                                                                  Automobiles, and Light-Duty
                                                                  Trucks.
4....................................  Surface coating of        Surface Coating of Cans,             Sec.  Sec.
                                        fabrics.                  Coils, Paper, Fabrics,            115.420-429.
                                                                  Automobiles, and Light-Duty
                                                                  Trucks.
5....................................  Surface coating of cans.  Surface Coating of Cans,             Sec.  Sec.
                                                                  Coils, Paper, Fabrics,            115.420-429.
                                                                  Automobiles, and Light-Duty
                                                                  Trucks.
6....................................  Use of cutback asphalt..  Control of Volatile Organic          Sec.  Sec.
                                                                  Emissions from Use of             115.510-519.
                                                                  Cutback Asphalt.
7....................................  Wood furniture..........  Control of Volatile Organic          Sec.  Sec.
                                                                  Compound Emissions from           115.420-429.
                                                                  Wood Furniture
                                                                  Manufacturing Operations.
8....................................  Large petroleum dry       Control of Volatile Organic          Sec.  Sec.
                                        cleaners.                 Compound Emissions from           115.552-559.
                                                                  Large Petroleum Dry
                                                                  Cleaners.
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[[Page 1614]]

C. Are there any negative declarations associated with the VOC source 
categories in the HGB Area?

    Yes, Texas has declared that there are no Fiberglass Boat 
Manufacturing Materials Operations, Leather Tanning and Finishing 
Operations, Surface Coating for Flat Wood Paneling Operations, 
Automobile and Light-Duty Truck Assembly Coating Operations, and 
Vegetable Oil Manufacturing Operations that are major sources in the 
HGB Area. Previously, we have approved a negative declaration for the 
Rubber Tire Manufacturing Operations in the HGB Area. As such, TCEQ 
does not have to adopt VOC regulations relevant to these source 
categories at this time for the HGB Area. However, if a major source of 
these categories locates in the HGB Area in future, then TCEQ will need 
to take appropriate regulatory measures.

D. Is Texas' approach to RACT determination based on the June 13, 2007 
and April 6, 2010 submittals acceptable?

    As a part of 1-Hour ozone attainment demonstration plan for the HGB 
Area at 70 FR 58136, October 5, 2005; and 71 FR 52676, September 6, 
2006, we stated that Texas has met RACT for VOC and NOX 
sources. In the TSD developed for this action, we evaluated the 
corresponding sections of 30 TAC Chapter 115 for the source categories 
identified in Table 1 above in the HGB Area, and have reviewed these 
sections against our identified reference documents. In its April 6, 
2010, submittal to EPA, TCEQ states that it has reviewed the HGB VOC 
rules and certifies that they satisfy RACT requirements for the 8-Hour 
ozone standard by the application of control technology that is 
reasonably available considering technological and economic 
feasibility. In section B (Certifications) of EPA's May 18, 2006 RACT Q 
and A document, the framework described in the TSD (pages 3 and 4), and 
the 70 FR 71612, November 29, 2005, regarding permissible approaches 
for determining whether a State's level of control meets RACT, EPA 
provided guidance that a State's certification of its VOC rules is 
sufficient or acceptable for a finding that the rules satisfy the RACT 
requirements. We are proposing a determination that Texas VOC rules 
meet the CAA's RACT requirements. Consequently, by implementing these 
control requirements (Chapter 115) Texas is satisfying the RACT 
requirements for CTG source categories identified in Tables 1 of this 
document in the HGB Area under the 1997 8-Hour ozone standard.

E. Is Texas' approach to RACT determination for VOC sources based on 
the June 13, 2007 and April 6, 2010 submittals acceptable?

    Yes. The purpose of 30 TAC Chapter 115 rules for the HGB Area is to 
establish reasonable controls on the emissions of ozone precursors. 
Texas has reviewed its VOC rules and has certified that its rules 
satisfy RACT requirements. Based upon our evaluation, we are proposing 
to find that Texas has RACT-level controls in place for all required 
sources for the HGB Area under the 1997 8-Hour ozone standard.

III. Proposed Action

    Today, we are proposing to find that for VOC, CTG categories 
identified in Table 1, Texas has RACT-level controls in place for the 
HGB Area under the 1997 8-Hour ozone standard. We are also proposing to 
approve the negative declarations as explained in section II(B) of this 
action. The EPA had previously approved RACT for VOC and NOX 
into Texas' SIP under the 1-Hour ozone standard.

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. If a portion of the plan revision meets 
all the applicable requirements of this chapter and Federal 
regulations, the Administrator may approve the plan revision in part. 
42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, 
EPA's role is to approve state choices that meet the criteria of the 
Act, and to disapprove state choices that do not meet the criteria of 
the Act. Accordingly, this proposed action approves 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 Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the Clean Air Act;
     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); and
     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.

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

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: December 18, 2013.
Ron Curry,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2014-00160 Filed 1-8-14; 8:45 am]
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