[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 196 (Friday, October 9, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61109-61111]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25587]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2012-0696; FRL-9935-24-Region 4]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Georgia 
Infrastructure Requirements for the 2008 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final 
action to approve portions the May 14, 2012, State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) submission, provided by the Georgia Department of Natural 
Resources, Environmental Protection Division (hereafter referred to as 
GA EPD) for inclusion into the Georgia SIP. This final action pertains 
to the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) infrastructure requirements for 
the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). 
The CAA requires that each state adopt and submit a SIP for the 
implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS promulgated 
by EPA, which is commonly referred to as an ``infrastructure'' SIP. GA 
EPD certified that the Georgia SIP contains provisions that ensure the 
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in 
Georgia. With the exception of provisions pertaining to prevention of 
significant deterioration (PSD) permitting and interstate transport 
requirements, EPA is taking final action to approve Georgia's 
infrastructure SIP submission provided to EPA on May 14, 2012, as 
satisfying the required infrastructure elements for the 2008 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS.

DATES: This rule will be effective November 9, 2015.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2012-0696. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the 
index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., Confidential 
Business Information or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard 
copy at the Air Regulatory Management Section, Air Planning and 
Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you 
contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official 
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
excluding Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nacosta C. Ward, Air Regulatory 
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air, 
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 
30303-8960. Ms. Ward can be reached by phone at (404) 562-9140 and via 
electronic mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Upon promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, sections 110(a)(1) and 
(2) of the CAA require states to address basic SIP requirements, 
including emissions inventories, monitoring, and modeling to assure 
attainment and maintenance for that new NAAQS. Section 110(a) of the 
CAA generally requires states to make a SIP submission to meet 
applicable requirements in order to provide for the implementation, 
maintenance, and enforcement of a new or revised NAAQS within three 
years following the promulgation of such NAAQS, or within such shorter 
period as EPA may prescribe. For additional information on the 
infrastructure SIP requirements, see the proposed rulemaking published 
on July 20, 2015. See 80 FR 42777.
    On July 20, 2015, EPA proposed to approve portions of Georgia's May 
14, 2012, 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS infrastructure SIP submission with 
the exception of the PSD permitting requirements for major sources of 
sections 110(a)(2)(C), (D)(i)(II) prong 3 and (J); and the interstate 
transport requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) and (II) (prongs 
1, 2, and 4). See 80 FR 42777. EPA did not receive any comments, 
adverse or otherwise, on the July 20, 2015, proposed rule. On March 18, 
2015, EPA took final action to approve the PSD permitting requirements 
listed above (80 FR 14019), and is not taking any action on the 
interstate transport requirements listed above. EPA is taking final 
action to approve the portions of Georgia's infrastructure SIP 
submission proposed on July 20, 2015, as demonstrating that the State 
meets the applicable requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the 
CAA for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

II. Final Action

    With the exception of the PSD permitting provisions in sections 
110(a)(2)(C), (D)(i)(II) prong 3 and (J); and the interstate transport 
requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) and (II) (prongs 1, 2, and 
4), EPA is taking final action to approve Georgia's May 14, 2012, 
infrastructure SIP submission because it addresses the section 
110(a)(1) and (2) requirements of the CAA to ensure that the 2008 8-
hour

[[Page 61110]]

ozone NAAQS is implemented, enforced, and maintained in Georgia.

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. See 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 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 (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).
    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 as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by December 8, 2015. 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: September 24, 2015.
Heather McTeer Toney,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.

    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 L--Georgia

0
2. Section 52.570(e), is amended by adding an entry for ``110(a)(1) and 
(2) Infrastructure Requirements for the 2008 8-Hour Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards'' at the end of the table to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.570  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                                 EPA-Approved Georgia Non-Regulatory Provisions
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                                        Applicable           State
    Name of nonregulatory SIP         geographic or     submittal date/  EPA approval date       Explanation
            provision               nonattainment area  effective date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
110(a)(1) and (2) Infrastructure   Georgia............       5/14/2012  10/9/2015 [Insert    With the exception
 Requirements for the 2008 8-Hour                                        citation of          of sections:
 Ozone National Ambient Air                                              publication].        110(a)(2)(C),
 Quality Standards.                                                                           (D)(i)(II) prong 3
                                                                                              and (J) concerning
                                                                                              PSD permitting
                                                                                              requirements and
                                                                                              110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I)
                                                                                              and (II) (prongs
                                                                                              1, 2, and 4)
                                                                                              concerning
                                                                                              interstate
                                                                                              transport
                                                                                              requirements.
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[FR Doc. 2015-25587 Filed 10-8-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P