[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 186 (Thursday, September 25, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57442-57445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22482]


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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2014-0512; FRL-9915-35-Region 9]


Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, South 
Coast Air Quality Management District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct 
final action to approve revisions to the South Coast Air Quality 
Management District (SCAQMD) portion of the California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern oxides of nitrogen 
(NOX) emissions from boilers, steam generators, and process 
heaters. We are approving local rules that regulate these emission 
sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on November 24, 2014 without further 
notice, unless EPA receives adverse comments by October 27, 2014. 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-
2014-0512, 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 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 94105-3901. 
While all documents in the docket are listed at

[[Page 57443]]

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: Nicole Law, EPA Region IX, (415) 947-
4126, [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 or rule revisions?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
    D. 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 rules we are approving with the dates that they 
were adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the California 
Air Resource Board (CARB).

                        Table 1--Submitted Rules
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Local agency      Rule No.      Rule title      Amended     Submitted
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCAQMD                   1146  Emissions of        11/01/13     05/13/14
                                Oxides of
                                Nitrogen from
                                Industrial,
                                Institutional,
                                and Commercial
                                Boilers, Steam
                                Generators,
                                and Process
                                Heaters.
SCAQMD                 1146.1  Emissions of        11/01/13     05/13/14
                                Oxides of
                                Nitrogen from
                                Small
                                Industrial,
                                Institutional,
                                and Commercial
                                Boilers, Steam
                                Generators,
                                and Process
                                Heaters.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On June 18, 2014, EPA determined that the submittal for SCAQMD 
Rules 1146 and 1146.1 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 earlier versions of Rule 1146 and 1146.1 into the SIP 
on April 8, 2002 (67 FR 16640) and September 6, 1995 (60 FR 46220). The 
SCAQMD adopted revisions to the SIP-approved versions on September 5, 
2008, CARB submitted them to us on July 20, 2010, and we proposed a 
simultaneous limited approval and limited disapproval of the two rules 
on July 8, 2011 (76 FR 40303). The proposed rulemaking was never 
finalized; therefore the current rule versions in the SIP are those 
approved on April 8, 2002 and September 6, 1995. SCAQMD has since 
revised their rules to address the deficiencies identified in our 
proposed limited approval/disapproval and CARB submitted the rule 
revisions to EPA on May 13, 2014.

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

    NOX helps 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 1146 limits NOX and 
carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from boilers, steam generators, and 
process heaters with a total rated heat input larger than 5 MMBtu/hour. 
Rule 1146.1 limits NOX and CO from boilers, steam 
generators, and process heaters with a total rated heat input larger 
than 2 MMBtu/hour. EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more 
information about these rules.

II. EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?

    Generally, SIP rules must be enforceable (see section 110(a) of the 
Act), must require Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for 
each category of sources covered by a Control Techniques Guidelines 
(CTG) document as well as each NOX or VOC 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). The SCAQMD regulates an ozone nonattainment 
area classified as extreme for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS (see 40 CFR Part 
81.305), so RACT is required for the area.
    Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate 
enforceability and RACT requirements consistently include the 
following:
    1. ``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).
    2. ``State Implementation Plans; Nitrogen Oxides Supplement to the 
General Preamble; Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 Implementation of 
Title I; Proposed Rule,'' (the NOX Supplement), 57 FR 55620, 
November 25, 1992.
    3. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook).
    4. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
    5. ``NOX Emissions from Industrial/Commercial/
Institutional (ICI) Boilers,'' EPA-453/R-94-022, March 1994.
    6. ``Determination of Reasonably Available Control Technology and 
Best Available Retrofit Control Technology for Industrial, 
Institutional, and Commercial Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process 
Heaters,'' CARB, July 18, 1991.
    Section 172(c)(1) of the Act requires implementation of all 
reasonably available control measures (RACM) as expeditiously as 
practicable in nonattainment areas. Because the South Coast Air Basin 
area is designated nonattainment for the 1997 and 2006 fine particulate 
matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
(NAAQS) (see 40 CFR Part 81.305), the RACM requirement in CAA section 
172(c)(1) applies to this area.\1\
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    \1\ EPA generally takes action on a RACM demonstration as part 
of our action on the State's attainment demonstration for the 
relevant NAAQS, based on an evaluation of the control measures 
submitted as a whole and their overall potential to advance the 
applicable attainment date in the area. See, e.g., 76 FR 69928 
(November 9, 2011) (final rule partially approving and partially 
disapproving PM2.5 attainment plan for South Coast).
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B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    We believe these rules are consistent with the relevant policy and 
guidance regarding enforceability, RACT, RACM, and SIP relaxations. The 
TSD has more information on our evaluation.

[[Page 57444]]

C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules

    The TSD describes additional rule revisions that we recommend for 
the next time the local agency modifies the rules.

D. Public Comment and Final Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, EPA is fully 
approving the submitted rules 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 rules. If we 
receive adverse comments by October 27, 2014, 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 November 24, 2014. This will incorporate 
these rules into 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 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 November 24, 2014. 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, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Dated: July 25, 2014.
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 paragraph (c)(441) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (441) New and amended regulations for the following APCDs were 
submitted on May 13, 2014 by the Governor's Designee.
    (i) Incorporation by Reference.
    (A) South Coast Air Quality Management District.
    (1) Rule 1146, ``Emissions of Oxides of Nitrogen from Industrial, 
Institutional, and Commercial Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process 
Heaters,'' amended November 1, 2013.
    (2) Rule 1146.1, ``Emissions of Oxides of Nitrogen from Small 
Industrial, Institutional, and Commercial Boilers,

[[Page 57445]]

Steam Generators, and Process Heaters,'' amended November 1, 2013.
* * * * *

[FR Doc. 2014-22482 Filed 9-24-14; 8:45 am]
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