[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 248 (Monday, December 28, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 80719-80722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32509]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2015-0074; FRL-9940-58-Region 5]


Air Plan Approval; Indiana; Temporary Alternate Opacity Limits 
for American Electric Power, Rockport

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a revision to the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP), 
authorizing temporary alternate opacity limits (TAOLs) at the American 
Electric Power, Rockport (AEP Rockport) facility during periods of unit 
startup and shutdown. This action is consistent with the Clean Air Act 
(CAA) and EPA policy regarding emissions during periods of startup and 
shutdown. Indiana has provided an air quality analysis demonstrating 
that this revision will continue to protect the applicable National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter 
(PM2.5) in Spencer County.

[[Page 80720]]


DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 27, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2015-0074, by one of the following methods:
    1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. Email: [email protected].
    3. Fax: (312) 692-2490.
    4. Mail: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies Section, Air 
Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West 
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
    5. Hand Delivery: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies 
Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information. The Regional Office official hours of business are 
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal 
holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-
2015-0074. 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 whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. 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, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional 
instructions on submitting comments, go to Section I of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. 
We recommend that you telephone Matt Rau, Environmental Engineer, at 
(312) 886-6524 before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Rau, Environmental Engineer, 
Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604, (312) 886-6524, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information 
section is arranged as follows:

I. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
II. What is the background for this action?
III. What is EPA's analysis?
IV. What action is EPA taking?
V. Incorporation by Reference
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    When submitting comments, remember to:
    1. Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    2. Follow directions--EPA may ask you to respond to specific 
questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
    3. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
    4. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    5. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    6. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
    7. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    8. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline 
identified.

II. What is the background for this action?

    On July 16, 2002 (67 FR 46589), EPA approved a revision to 
Indiana's SIP to include 326 Indiana Administrative Code (IAC) 5-1-3, 
which provides a mechanism to establish TAOLs. The rule is consistent 
with the criteria contained in EPA's September 20, 1999, ``State 
Implementation Plans: Policy Regarding Excess Emissions During 
Malfunctions, Startup, and Shutdown'' memorandum. The criteria requires 
that: The frequency and duration of operation in startup or shutdown 
mode must be minimized to the extent possible; and the state must 
analyze the potential worst-case emissions that could occur during 
startup and shutdown to ensure that the NAAQS are protected. Indiana 
initially submitted TAOLs for 22 power plants with coal-fired boilers 
that use electrostatic precipitators (ESPs).\1\
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    \1\ These facilities are identified in the attachment to the 
October 10, 2001, letter from Janet McCabe, IDEM Assistant 
Commissioner to Stephen Rothblatt, US EPA Region 5 Air Programs 
Branch Chief. They are: Alcoa Generating, AEP Tanners Creek, 
Crawfordsville Electric, Hoosier Energy Merom, Hoosier Energy Ratts, 
IKEC Clifty Creek, IPL Perry ``K'', IPL Stout, IPL Pritchard, IPL 
Petersburg units 1-3, NIPCCO Bailly, NIPSCO Michigan City, NIPSCO 
Schahfer, PSI Cayuga, PSI Edwardsport, PSI Gallagher, PSI Gibson, 
PSI Noblesville, PSI Wabash River, Richmond Power & Light, SIGECO 
Brown unit 1, and SIGECO Culley.
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    326 IAC 5-1-3(d) provides for a TAOL, upon EPA approval, if the 
following criteria are met: (1) The source burns any combination of 
coal, wood, fuel oil, tire-derived fuel, or petroleum coke, (2) the 
source demonstrates that the TAOL is needed during periods of startup 
and shutdown and a demonstration is made that the TAOL will not 
interfere with the NAAQS, (3) Indiana determines that acceptable 
operating and maintenance procedures are being used, be based on 
information provided to the commissioner, (4) the commissioner may 
require the source to install a continuous opacity monitor (COM), (5) 
the TAOL shall be reviewed by the commissioner after two years of 
monitoring, (6) the commissioner may deny a request for a TAOL limit if 
economically and technically feasible

[[Page 80721]]

means are available to meet a more stringent opacity limit, and (7) the 
TAOL must be submitted to and approved by EPA.
    On January 13, 2015, Indiana requested a SIP revision to add 326 
IAC 5-1-8, which provides a mechanism to establish site-specific TAOLs. 
This provision was used to establish AEP Rockport Units #1 and #2 a 
TAOL during unit startup and shutdown. These two coal-fired boilers are 
each controlled by an ESP.
    The TAOL for unit startup is only allowed until the exhaust 
temperature reaches 250[emsp14][deg]F at the ESP inlet, up to a maximum 
of two hours (20 six-minute averaging periods). The TAOL for unit 
shutdown is only allowed when the exhaust temperature declines below 
250[emsp14][deg]F at the ESP inlet, up to a maximum of one and one-half 
(1.5) hours (15 six-minute averaging periods).

III. What is EPA's analysis?

    To support the SIP revision request, Indiana evaluated COMs data 
for Units #1 and #2, and air dispersion modeling. Air dispersion 
modeling was conducted using the AERMOD regulatory dispersion model 
with five years of meteorological data. The analysis included 
conservative suppositions for stack temperature and flow rate. Indiana 
used worst-case emission rates to predict the highest hourly emissions 
during a cold startup. The modeling results yielded an eighth high 24-
hour PM2.5 value of 22.2 micrograms per cubic meter 
([micro]g/m\3\), well below the 24-hour PM2.5 
standard of 35 [micro]g/m\3\. The air quality in the area will remain 
protected when Units #1 and #2 are operating with TOALs at the AEP 
Rockport facility.
    EPA has reviewed the COMs data provided in Indiana's submission on 
AEP Rockport's startups and shutdowns from 2001 until the first quarter 
of 2004. The AEP Rockport TAOLs appear to be set at appropriate levels, 
minimizing the TAOL duration. The startup TAOL for AEP Rockport is 
limited to two hours. The shutdown TAOL is limited to one hour, 30 
minutes. Both are less than the three-hour TAOL periods allowed under 
326 IAC 5-1-3(e)(2). Indiana has provided the facility's operation and 
maintenance procedures for its ESPs, which support the expectation that 
AEP Rockport will operate in a manner that will minimize emissions with 
well operating emission control. In addition, because the ESP exhaust 
must be warm enough for it to be safely operated, it is impractical to 
require operating the ESPs during startup and shutdown periods.
    Further, EPA reviewed the AEP Rockport COMs data from 2009 to 2013, 
which shows that it was in compliance with the opacity standards 99.81 
percent of the time. This indicates that the facility is generally in 
compliance with the opacity rule, even during the startup and shutdown 
periods covered by the TAOLs.
    EPA has determined the AEP Rockport TAOL meets the criteria 
contained in 326 IAC 5-1-3(d) as follows: (1) The AEP Rockport facility 
burns coal, (2) AEP Rockport has demonstrated that the TAOL is needed 
during periods of startup and shutdown, and that the TAOL will not 
interfere with the maintenance of the national ambient air quality 
standards, (3) Indiana has determined that acceptable operating and 
maintenance procedures are being used, based on information AEP 
Rockport provided, (4) AEP Rockport currently operates a COM for each 
boiler, (5) Indiana has determined that no economically and technically 
feasible controls are available to meet a more stringent limit, and (6) 
the TAOLs were submitted to EPA.\2\
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    \2\ The requirement in 326 IAC 5-1-3(d)(5) related to Indiana 
review of monitoring data does not apply in this case because AEP 
has previously installed COMs and provided the necessary data.
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IV. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is proposing to approve the addition of 326 IAC 5-1-8 to the 
Indiana SIP. The rule provides AEP Rockport Units #1 and Unit #2 with 
TAOLs during unit startup and shutdown periods. This action is 
consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA policy regarding 
emissions during periods of startup and shutdown. Indiana has provided 
an air quality analysis demonstrating that this revision will continue 
to protect the applicable National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
(NAAQS) for PM2.5 in Spencer County.

V. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference Indiana Regulation 326 IAC 5-1-8 entitled ``Site-specific 
temporary alternative opacity limitations'', effective December 6, 
2014. EPA has made, and will continue to make, these documents 
generally available electronically through www.regulations.gov and/or 
in hard copy at the appropriate EPA office (see the ADDRESSES section 
of this preamble for more information).

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA 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 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).
    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

[[Page 80722]]

governments or preempt tribal law as specified by Executive Order 13175 
(65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: December 14, 2015.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2015-32509 Filed 12-24-15; 8:45 am]
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