[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 9, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6758-6761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-02417]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2015-0784, FRL-9940-19-Region 9]


Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Santa 
Barbara County Air Pollution Control District; Permit Program

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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[[Page 6759]]

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct 
final action to approve revisions to the Santa Barbara County Air 
Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD or District) portion of the 
California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern 
administrative and procedural requirements to obtain preconstruction 
permits which regulate emission sources under the Clean Air Act as 
amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on April 11, 2016 without further notice, 
unless the EPA receives adverse comments by March 10, 2016. If we 
receive such comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register to notify the public that this direct final rule will 
not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number [EPA-R09-OAR-
2015-0784, by one of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-
line instructions.
    2. Email: [email protected].
    3. Mail or deliver: Gerardo Rios (Air-3), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105-3901. Deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's 
normal hours of operation.
    Instructions: All comments 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 Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Information that you 
consider CBI or otherwise protected should be clearly identified as 
such and should not be submitted through www.regulations.gov or email. 
www.regulations.gov is an ``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not 
know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the 
body of your comment. If you send email directly to EPA, your email 
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the 
public comment. 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.
    Docket: Generally, documents in the docket for this action are 
available electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA 
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California 94105-3901. 
While all documents in the docket are listed at www.regulations.gov, 
some information may be publicly available only at the hard copy 
location (e.g., copyrighted material, large maps), and some may not be 
publicly available in either location (e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard 
copy materials, please schedule an appointment during normal business 
hours with the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ya-Ting (Sheila) Tsai, EPA Region IX, 
(415) 972-3328, [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 are the purposes of the submitted rules?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. Public Comment and Final Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rules did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rules addressed by this proposal with the dates 
that they were adopted or revised by the SBCAPCD and submitted by the 
California Air Resources Board (CARB).

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Adopted/
          Local agency              Rule No.                Rule title                revised        Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SBCAPCD........................             201  Permits Required...............      06/19/2008      10/20/2008
SBCAPCD........................             203  Transfer.......................      04/17/1997      03/10/1998
SBCAPCD........................             204  Applications...................      04/17/1997      03/10/1998
SBCAPCD........................             206  Conditional Approval of              10/15/1991      01/28/1992
                                                  Authority to Construct or
                                                  Permit to Operate.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On November 18, 2008, the EPA determined that the submittal for 
SBCAPCD Rule 201 met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, 
appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review. On May 21, 
1998, the submittals of Rules 203 and 204 were found to meet the 
completeness criteria. On April 28, 1992, the submittal for Rule 206 
was found to meet the completeness criteria.

B. Are there other versions of these rules?

    Table 2 lists the dates of the SIP approved versions of Rules 201, 
203 and 206. There is no previous version of Rule 204 approved in the 
SIP, although the SBCAPCD adopted and revised an earlier version of 
this rule on April 17, 1997, and CARB submitted it to us on March 10, 
1998. We approved an earlier version of Rule 201 into the SIP on May 5, 
1982. The SBCAPCD adopted revisions to the SIP-approved version on 
April 17, 1997 and CARB submitted it to us on March 10, 1998. While we 
can act on only the most recently submitted version, we have reviewed 
materials provided with previous submittals.

                                           Table 2--SIP Approved Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         SIP approval       Federal  Register
       Local agency            Rule No.             Rule title               date               citation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SBCAPCD...................             201  Permits Required..........      05/05/1982  47 FR 19330
SBCAPCD...................             203  Transfer..................      05/18/1981  46 FR 27116
SBCAPCD...................             206  Conditional Approval of         05/18/1981  46 FR 27116
                                             Authority to Construct or
                                             Permit to Operate.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 6760]]

C. What are the purposes of the submitted rules?

    Section 110(a) of the CAA requires States to submit regulations 
that will assure attainment and maintenance of the National Ambient 
Quality Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). These rules were developed as 
part of the local agency's general programmatic requirement to 
implement the requirement commonly referred to as the minor or general 
New Source Review (NSR) program. The revisions made by the submitted 
rules listed in Table 1 are mostly administrative in nature. New Rule 
204 lists information required to apply for an Authority to Construct 
(ATC) or a Permit to Operate (PTO). Rule 201 has been reformatted for 
clarity. Several additions were also made to add provisions related to 
state law. Rules 203 and 206 have been reformatted with minor revisions 
for clarity. There are no substantive changes to these rules.
    The 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). The submitted rules, except Rule 204, 
are revisions to existing SIP approved general NSR permit program 
requirements under 40 CFR 51.160-51.164. The revisions are primarily 
administrative in nature (reformatting, provide additional clarity), 
but we also discuss the rules or portions of each rule, that serve to 
satisfy any of these general permit program requirements. Rule 204 
contains requirements for ATC and PTO applications improving the 
clarity of the general NSR permit program.

B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    These rules are consistent with CAA requirements and relevant 
guidance regarding enforceability and SIP revisions. These changes are 
mostly administrative in nature and their approval will not interfere 
with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable 
further progress, or any other CAA applicable requirement.
    The TSD has more information on our evaluation.

C. Public Comment and Final Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA is fully 
approving the submitted rules because we believe they fulfill all 
relevant requirements. We do not think anyone will object to this 
approval, so we are finalizing it without proposing it in advance. 
However, in the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register, we are 
simultaneously proposing approval of the same submitted rules. If we 
receive adverse comments by March 10, 2016, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register to notify the public that the direct 
final approval will not take effect and we will address the comments in 
a subsequent final action based on the proposal. If we do not receive 
timely adverse comments, the direct final approval will be effective 
without further notice on April 11, 2016. This action will incorporate 
these rules into the federally enforceable SIP.
    Please note that if the EPA receives adverse comment on an 
amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may 
be severed from the remainder of the rule, the EPA may adopt as final 
those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse 
comment.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 
51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the 
SBCAPCD rules described in the amendments to 40 CFR part 52 set forth 
below. 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 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 Clean Air Act; and
     does not provide the 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 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 action

[[Page 6761]]

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 April 11, 2016. 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 this Federal Register, rather than file an immediate 
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that the 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, 
Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

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

    Dated: December 3, 2015.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 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 F--California

0
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraphs (c)(51)(xiii)(E), 
(F), and (G), (c)(187)(i)(E), (c)(254)(i)(C)(6) and (7), and 
(c)(361)(i)(A)(4) to read as follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (51) * * *
    (xiii) * * *
    (E) Previously approved on May 18, 1981 in paragraph 
(c)(51)(xiii)(A) of this section and now deleted with replacement in 
paragraph (c)(187)(i)(E)(1) of this section, Rule 206.
    (F) Previously approved on May 18, 1981 in paragraph 
(c)(51)(xiii)(A) of this section and now deleted with replacement in 
paragraph (c)(254)(i)(C) of this section, Rules 203 and 204.
    (G) Previously approved on May 18, 1981 in paragraph 
(c)(51)(xiii)(A) of this section and now deleted with replacement in 
paragraph (c)(361)(i)(A)(4) of this section, Rule 201.
* * * * *
    (187) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (E) Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District.
    (1) Rule 206, ``Conditional Approval of Authority to Construct or 
Permit to Operate,'' Revised October 15, 1991.
* * * * *
    (254) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (C) * * *
    (6) Rule 203, ``Transfer,'' revised April 17, 1997.
    (7) Rule 204, ``Applications,'' revised April 17, 1997.
* * * * *
    (361) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (A) * * *
    (4) Rule 201, ``Permits Required,'' revised June 19, 2008.
* * * * *

[FR Doc. 2016-02417 Filed 2-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P