[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 172 (Friday, September 4, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53467-53469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22035]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2013-0808; FRL-9932-50-Region 6]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; 
Infrastructure Requirements for the 1997 Ozone and the 1997 and 2006 
PM2.5 NAAQS

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a 
change to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to reflect a 2014 EPA 
approval to a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision to regulate 
greenhouse gases (GHGs) in Texas Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration (PSD) permitting program and to show that the SIP 
deficiency identified in a prior partial disapproval for the 1997 Ozone 
and the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS) has been addressed.

DATES: This rule is effective on November 3, 2015 without further 
notice, unless EPA receives relevant adverse comment by October 5, 
2015. If EPA receives such comment, 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-
2013-0808, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions.
     Email: Carl Young at [email protected].
     Mail or delivery: Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, Air Planning 
Section (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-
2013-0808. 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 
electronically any information that you consider to be CBI or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 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. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) 
must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is 
considered the official comment and should include discussion of all 
points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments 
or comment contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e. on 
the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional 
information on submitting comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    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).

[[Page 53468]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carl Young, 214-665-6645, 
[email protected]. To inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule 
an appointment with Mr. Young.

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

I. Background

    In an action on April 4, 2008, we partially approved and partially 
disapproved the portions of a Texas SIP submittal for the 1997 ozone 
and 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS pertaining to prevention of significant 
deterioration (PSD) permitting (76 FR 81371, December 28, 2011). Our 
partial disapproval was based on the fact that at the time the Texas 
SIP did not regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the PSD permitting 
program. Afterwards Texas revised the SIP to regulate GHGs in their PSD 
permitting program. We approved this revision in 2014 (79 FR 66626, 
November 10, 2014). Now that Texas has a fully approved SIP for PSD 
permitting, the deficiency that led to our December 28, 2011 partial 
disapproval has been addressed. However, in our approval of the GHG 
program, we did not revise the CFR to reflect that the deficiency had 
been addressed. We are correcting that oversight in today's action.

II. Final Action

    Using our authority under 110(k)(6) of the Act, we are finalizing a 
change to 40 CFR 52.2270(c) to reflect a 2014 EPA approval to a SIP 
revision to regulate GHGs in Texas' PSD permitting program and to show 
that the SIP deficiency identified in our prior partial disapproval for 
the 1997 Ozone and the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS has been 
addressed.
    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. This rule will be effective on November 3, 2015 
without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse comment by 
October 5, 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 all public 
comments in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. We will 
not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties 
interested in commenting must do so now. 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.

III. 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 EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. This action merely 
revises the CFR to reflect a 2014 EPA approval to a SIP revision to 
regulate GHGs in Texas PSD permitting program and to show that the SIP 
deficiency identified in a prior partial disapproval for the 1997 Ozone 
and the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS) has been addressed. 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 (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 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).

In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation 
land or in any other area where 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. 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 3, 2015. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this action for the purposed 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, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

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

    Dated: August 26, 2015.
Ron Curry,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

[[Page 53469]]

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. The second table in Sec.  52.2270(e) titled ``EPA Approved 
Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas 
SIP'' is amended by revising the entry for ``Infrastructure and 
Interstate Transport for the 1997 Ozone and the 1997 and 2006 
PM2.5 NAAQS''.
    The revision reads as follows:


Sec.  52.2270  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                                  EPA Approved Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas SIP
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                                    Applicable geographic
       Name of SIP provision          or non-attainment    State approval/            EPA approval date                           Comments
                                             area          submittal date
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
Infrastructure and Interstate       Statewide............  12/12/2007, 3/  12/28/2011, 76 FR 81371...............  Approval for CAA elements
 Transport for the 1997 Ozone and                           11/2008, 4/4/                                           110(a)(2)(A), (B), (E), (F), (G),
 the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.                              2008, 11/23/                                           (H), (K), (L), and (M). Full
                                                                     2009                                           approval for CAA elements
                                                                                                                    110(a)(2)(C), (D)(i)(II), (D)(ii)
                                                                                                                    and (J) with approval of the GHG PSD
                                                                                                                    revision (11/10/2014, 79 FR 66626).
 
                                                                      * * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. 2015-22035 Filed 9-3-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P