[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 60 (Monday, March 30, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16573-16576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07124]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2015-0033; FRL-9925-19-Region 6]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; Public 
Participation for Air Quality Permit Applications

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a direct 
final action to approve two provisions submitted by the State of Texas 
as revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) on July 2, 
2010, specific to the applicability of the public notice requirements 
to applications for Plant-Wide Applicability (PAL) permits and standard 
permits for concrete batch plants without enhanced controls. Today's 
direct final action will complete the rulemaking process started in our 
December 13, 2012, proposal and approve the public notice provisions 
into the Texas SIP. The EPA is also taking direct final action to 
convert the public notice applicability provisions for Texas Flexible 
Permits from a final conditional approval to a full approval. The EPA 
is taking this action under section 110 and parts C and D of the Clean 
Air Act (CAA or the Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on May 29, 2015 without further notice, 
unless the EPA receives relevant adverse comments by April 29, 2015. If 
the EPA receives such comments, the EPA will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that this rule 
will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2015-0033, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions.
     Email: Adina Wiley at wiley.adin&
     Mail or delivery: Ms. Adina Wiley, Air Permits Section 
(6PD-R), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, 
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2015-0033. 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 http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or email, if you believe that it is 
CBI or otherwise protected from disclosure. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means that the 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 the EPA without going through http://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, the EPA recommends that you include your name and other 
contact information in the body of your comment along with any disk or 
CD-ROM submitted. If the EPA cannot read your comment due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the EPA may not 
be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use 
of special characters and any form of encryption and should be free of 
any defects or viruses. For additional information about the 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).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Adina Wiley, 214-665-2115,

[[Page 16574]]

[email protected]. To inspect the hard copy materials, please 
schedule an appointment with Ms. Adina Wiley or Mr. Bill Deese at 214-
665-7253.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. The EPA's Evaluation
    A. Public Notice Applicability for Applications for PALs and 
Standard Permits for Concrete Batch Plants Without Enhanced Controls
    B. Public Notice Applicability for Applications for New and 
Amended Flexible Permits
III. Final Action
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    The Clean Air Act at section 110(a)(2)(C) requires States to 
develop and implement permitting programs for attainment and 
nonattainment areas that cover both construction and modification of 
stationary sources. The EPA codified minimum requirements for these 
State permitting programs including public participation and 
notification requirements at 40 CFR 51.160--51.164.
    On June 2, 2010, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality 
(TCEQ) adopted amendments to 30 TAC Chapter 39, Public Notice; Chapter 
55, Requests for Reconsideration and Contested Case Hearings; Public 
Comment; and Chapter 116, Control of Air Pollution by Permits for New 
Construction or Modification; and corresponding revisions to the Texas 
SIP. Chairman Bryan W. Shaw, Ph.D., submitted these amendments to the 
EPA for approval as revisions to the Texas SIP in a letter dated July 
2, 2010.
    The EPA has taken final action on the majority of the July 2, 2010, 
SIP submittal for public notice. But, through inadvertent errors, we 
have neglected to complete the rulemaking process for the public notice 
applicability provisions for applications for PAL permits at 30 TAC 
section 39.402(a)(8), standard permits for concrete batch plants 
without enhanced controls at 30 TAC section 39.402(a)(11), and new and 
amended flexible permits at 30 TAC section 39.402(a)(4) and (a)(5).

II. The EPA's Evaluation

A. Public Notice Applicability for Applications for PALs and Standard 
Permits for Concrete Batch Plants Without Enhanced Controls

    The EPA proposed approval of the majority of the July 2, 2010, 
Texas SIP submittal on December 13, 2012, at 77 FR 74129. In this 
proposed rulemaking and our accompanying Technical Support Document, 
the EPA presented our evaluation and preliminary determination for the 
applicability of the public notice requirements for applications for 
PAL permits at 30 TAC 39.402(a)(8) and standard permits for concrete 
batch plants without enhanced controls at 30 TAC 39.402(a)(11). In both 
instances, we determined that the public notice provisions in Chapter 
39 for each type of permit application were consistent with all 
applicable federal requirements and would be fully approvable into the 
Texas SIP. However, we neglected to include the specific provisions at 
30 TAC 39.402(a)(8) and 39.402(a)(11) in our ``Proposed Action'' 
statement in the December 13, 2012, Federal Register document. While 
the public had the opportunity to review and comment on our evaluation 
and preliminary determination of approvability of these provisions, we 
never formally proposed these provisions for approval into the Texas 
SIP. As such, we did not finalize approval of 30 TAC 39.402(a)(8) and 
(a)(11) with the majority of the public notice provisions on January 6, 
2014 at 79 FR 551.
    Please see the EPA's December 13, 2012, proposed approval at 77 FR 
74129 for our technical evaluation. The evaluation of the applicability 
of the public notice provisions for PAL permit applications can be 
found at page 74136. The evaluation of the applicability of the public 
notice provisions for permit applications for standard permits for 
concrete batch plants can be found at pages 74136-74140. The Technical 
Support Document dated December 12, 2012, available in the rulemaking 
docket for this action, provides additional details to support our 
determination that the public notice applicability provisions at 30 TAC 
39.402(a)(8) and (a)(11) are consistent with federal requirements and 
fully approvable into the Texas SIP. We incorporate our previous 
evaluation of these two provisions into this action. We note that 
because the evaluation was included in our previous preamble and TSD, 
we did accept and respond to any comments received regarding the 
applicability of public notice provisions for applications for PALs and 
standard permits for concrete batch plants without enhanced controls. 
The EPA received and responded to comments about PAL public notice, but 
none specific to the applicability provision at 30 TAC section 
39.402(a)(8). See 79 FR 551, at 556 and 557-558. Our evaluation and 
preliminary determination of approvability did not change as a result 
of these comments. The EPA did not receive any comments specific to the 
applicability of the public notice provisions for standard permits for 
concrete batch plants without enhanced controls at 30 TAC 
39.402(a)(11); therefore our evaluation of that provision also remains 
unchanged.
    Today's final action is merely correcting our previous error in 
failing to propose and finalize incorporation of these two provisions 
into the SIP on the basis of our previous technical evaluation and 
preliminary determination. The EPA has not changed our rationale. We 
continue to believe that 30 TAC 39.402(a)(8) and (a)(11) are fully 
approvable and it is our intent to include these provisions in the 
Texas SIP.

B. Public Notice Applicability for Applications for New and Amended 
Flexible Permits

    The EPA finalized a conditional approval of the Texas Flexible 
Permits Program on July 14, 2014, at 79 FR 40666. Our final action 
included conditional approval of the public notice applicability 
provisions for applications for new and amended flexible permits at 30 
TAC sections 39.402(a)(4) and (a)(5) as submitted on July 2, 2010. As a 
result of this action, the public notice provisions at 30 TAC sections 
39.402(a)(4) and (a)(5) became a part of the Texas SIP contingent upon 
the TCEQ satisfying the conditions of the December 9, 2013, commitment 
letter.\1\
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    \1\ The December 9, 2013, commitment letter required changes to 
the Flexible Permits Program in 30 TAC Chapter 116, but did not 
require any changes to the public notice requirements for new and 
amended flexible permits at 30 TAC sections 39.402(a)(4) and (a)(5).
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    In a subsequent proposed rulemaking on December 31, 2014, the EPA 
determined that the TCEQ satisfied all commitments from the December 9, 
2013, commitment letter and thus we proposed to convert our final 
conditional approval of the Texas Flexible Permits Program to a full 
approval. See 79 FR 78752. However, we neglected to include the public 
notice applicability provisions at 30 TAC section 39.402(a)(4) and 
(a)(5) in that proposal.
    Today's final action is merely correcting our previous error in 
failing to include the public notice applicability provisions for 
Flexible Permits in our December 2014 proposal to convert the 
conditional approval to a full approval. Because the EPA has determined 
that the TCEQ satisfied all

[[Page 16575]]

commitments from the December 9, 2013, commitment letter, the public 
notice provisions for the Texas Flexible Permit program at 30 TAC 
sections 39.402(a)(4) and (a)(5) should be converted to a full 
approval. The conversion of the remainder of the conditionally approved 
Texas Flexible Permit program to a full approval will be addressed in a 
separate rulemaking.

III. Final Action

    We are approving through a direct final action revisions to the 
Texas SIP that pertain to the applicability of public notice provisions 
for PAL permit applications at 30 TAC section 39.402(a)(8) and for 
applications for standard permits for concrete batch plants without 
enhanced controls at 30 TAC section 39.402(a)(11). The EPA has 
determined that these two provisions are consistent with all applicable 
federal requirements for public notice requirements for PAL permit 
applications and minor NSR. Therefore, we are approving 30 TAC sections 
39.402(a)(8) and 39.402(a)(11) into the Texas SIP as submitted on July 
2, 2010. In today's direct final action, the EPA is also converting our 
final conditional approval to a final full approval for the 
applicability of public notice provisions for applications for new and 
amended flexible permits at 30 TAC sections 39.402(a)(4) and (a)(5). 
The EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because we view 
this as a non-controversial amendment and anticipate no adverse 
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal 
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will 
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if relevant adverse 
comments are received.
    Today's direct final rule will be effective on May 29, 2015 without 
further notice unless we receive relevant adverse comment by April 29, 
2015.
    If we receive relevant adverse comments, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule 
will not take effect. We will address those public comments in a 
subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. Any parties 
interested in commenting must do so at this time. The EPA will not 
institute a second comment period on this action. Please note that if 
we receive relevant adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or 
section of this rule and if that provision may be severed from the 
remainder of the rule, we may adopt as final those provisions of the 
rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with the requirements of 1 
CFR 51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of 
revisions to the Texas regulations concerning the applicability of 
public notice requirements as described in the amendments to 40 CFR 
part 52 set forth below. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, 
these documents generally available electronically through http://www.regulations.gov and/or in hard copy at the appropriate EPA office 
(see the ADDRESSES section of this preamble for more information).

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); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, the Regional Administrator's role is to 
approve state choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. 
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 Orders 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 
2011);
     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 (Public Law 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 CAA; and
     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).
    The SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or 
in any other area where the EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated 
that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian country, the 
rule does not have tribal implications and will not impose substantial 
direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law as specified 
by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
    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. The EPA will submit a report containing this rule 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by May 29, 2015. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this rule 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. 
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, Carbon monoxide, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate Matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.


[[Page 16576]]


    Dated: March 16, 2015.
Samuel Coleman,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.

    Therefore, 40 CFR part 52 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 SS--Texas

0
2. In Sec.  52.2270, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising 
the entry ``Section 39.402'' to read as follows:


Sec.  52.2270  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                    EPA Approved Regulations in the Texas SIP
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                                                             State
                                                           approval/
         State citation               Title/subject        submittal     EPA approval date       Explanation
                                                             date
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                                            Chapter 39--Public Notice
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                               Subchapter H--Applicability and General Provisions
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Section 39.402..................  Applicability to Air        6/2/2012  3/30/2015 [Insert    SIP includes
                                   Quality Permits and                   Federal Register     39.402(a)(1)-(a)(6
                                   Permit Amendments.                    citation].           ), (a)(8), and
                                                                                              (a)(11).
 
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[FR Doc. 2015-07124 Filed 3-27-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P