[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 25 (Monday, February 8, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6481-6483]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-02314]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2015-0807; FRL-9941-94-Region 9]


Approval of California Air Plan Revisions, Department of 
Pesticide Regulations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve revisions to the California Department of Pesticide Regulations 
(CDPR) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These 
revisions concern emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from 
pesticides. We are proposing to approve these rules to regulate these 
emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are 
taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final 
action.

DATES: Any comments must arrive by March 9, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2015-0807 at http://www.regulations.gov, or via email to 
[email protected]. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either 
manner of submission, the EPA may publish any comment received to its 
public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you 
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 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 submission methods, please contact the person 
identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full 
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia 
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please 
visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Levin, EPA Region IX, (415) 972-
3848, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to the 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 rules and rule 
revisions?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
    D. Public Comment and Proposed Action
III. Incorporation by reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

[[Page 6482]]

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rules did the State submit?

    This proposal addresses additions and amendments to Title 3 of the 
California Code of Regulations (3 CCR) made by CDPR Regulation 12-001 
(``Nonfumigant Regulations''). Table 1 lists the new and amended 
regulations with the dates that they were adopted by the CDPR and 
submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Adopted/
          Local agency                   Rule No.               Rule title            amended        Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6452               Reduced VOC Emissions         05/23/13        02/04/15
                                                           Field Fumigation
                                                           Methods.
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6452.2             VOC Emission Limits...        05/23/13        02/04/15
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6558               Recommendations for           05/23/13        02/04/15
                                                           Use of Nonfumigants
                                                           in the San Joaquin
                                                           Valley (SJV) Ozone
                                                           Nonattainment Area
                                                           (NAA).
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6577               Sales of Nonfumigants         05/23/13        02/04/15
                                                           for Use in the SJV
                                                           Ozone NAA.
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6864               Criteria for                  05/23/13        02/04/15
                                                           Identifying
                                                           Pesticides as Toxic
                                                           Air Contaminants.
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6880               Criteria to Designate         05/23/13        02/04/15
                                                           Low-VOC or High-VOC
                                                           Nonfumigant Pesticide
                                                           Products.
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6881               Annual VOC Emissions          05/23/13        02/04/15
                                                           Inventory Report.
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6883               Recommendation                05/23/13        02/04/15
                                                           Requirements in the
                                                           SJV Ozone NAA.
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6884               SJV Ozone NAA Use             05/23/13        02/04/15
                                                           Prohibitions.
CDPR...........................  3 CCR 6886               Dealer                        05/23/13        02/04/15
                                                           Responsibilities for
                                                           the SJV Ozone NAA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On August 4, 2015, the submittal for CDPR's Nonfumigant Regulations 
was deemed by operation of law to meet 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?

    There are no previous versions of 3 CCR 6558, 6577, 6864, 6880, 
6883, 6884, or 6886 in the SIP. We approved earlier versions of 3 CCR 
6452, 6452.2 and 6452.4 (now 6881) into the SIP on October 26, 2012 (77 
FR 65294).

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

    VOCs help produce ground-level ozone, smog and PM, which harm human 
health and the environment. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires States 
to submit regulations that control VOC emissions. The overall purpose 
of the new and amended regulations is to regulate certain nonfumigant 
pesticide products applied to certain crops in the SJV ozone NAA when 
VOC emissions meet or exceed 95% of the 18.1 tons per day limit on VOC 
emissions, or 17.2 tons per day. CDPR added or revised the rules 
specified above largely to establish limits on the sale and use of 
high-VOC formulations of nonfumigant pesticide products that contain 
abamectin, chlorpyrifos, gibberellins, or oxyfluorfen as their primary 
active ingredient, for use on any of the following seven crops: 
Alfalfa, almond, citrus, cotton, grape, pistachio, and walnut. These 
restrictions are only triggered when the VOC emissions meet or exceed 
17.2 tons per day, as reported in the CDPR's Annual VOC Emissions 
Inventory Report. They apply only during the May-October ``ozone 
season.'' Once high-VOC product prohibitions are in effect, they must 
remain in effect until the ``hypothetical emissions'' (i.e., the 
estimated VOC emissions if the prohibitions were not in effect) for 
pesticides in the SJV ozone NAA comply with the 17.2 tons per day limit 
for at least two consecutive years. The rules include a calculation to 
determine the ``hypothetical emissions.'' The rules also require pest 
control dealers to provide customers written information about these 
restrictions and to indicate on the invoice that the written 
information was provided. Pest control advisors are prohibited from 
recommending a restricted nonfumigant product, unless it qualifies 
under an exception.
    The EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more information 
about these rules.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?

    SIP rules must be enforceable (see CAA section 110(a)(2)), must not 
interfere with applicable requirements concerning attainment and 
reasonable further progress or other CAA requirements (see CAA section 
110(l)), and must not modify certain SIP control requirements in 
nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent or greater emissions 
reductions (see CAA section 193).
    Generally, SIP rules must require Reasonably Available Control 
Technology (RACT) for each category of sources covered by a Control 
Techniques Guidelines (CTG) document as well as each major source of 
VOCs in ozone nonattainment areas classified as moderate or above (see 
CAA section 182(b)(2)). Because there are no relevant EPA CTG documents 
and because there are no major sources of VOCs for nonfumigant 
pesticides, nonfumigant pesticides are not subject to RACT 
requirements. However, nonfumigant pesticide use is subject to other 
VOC limits and requirements described in the TSD.
    Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate 
enforceability, revision/relaxation and rule stringency requirements 
for the applicable criteria pollutants include the following:

1. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook, revised January 11, 
1990).
2. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).

B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    We believe these rules are consistent with CAA requirements and 
relevant guidance regarding enforceability, stringency, and SIP 
revisions. The TSD has more information on our evaluation.

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 but are not currently 
the basis for rule disapproval.

E. Public Comment and Proposed Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to 
fully approve the submitted rules because we believe they fulfill all 
relevant requirements. We will accept comments

[[Page 6483]]

from the public on this proposal until March 9, 2016. Unless we receive 
convincing new information during the comment period, we intend to 
publish a final approval action that will incorporate these rules into 
the federally enforceable SIP.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the 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, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference the CDPR rules as described in Table 1 of this notice. The 
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these documents available 
electronically through www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at the 
appropriate EPA office (see the ADDRESSES section of this preamble for 
more information).

IV. 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, the EPA's role is to approve State 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this proposed action merely proposes to approve State law 
as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by State law. For that reason, this 
proposed 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 the 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, 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).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: January 14, 2016.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2016-02314 Filed 2-5-16; 8:45 am]
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