[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 24, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 32652-32654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12096]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2015-0518; FRL-9946-76-Region 4]


Air Plan Approval; North Carolina; Regional Haze

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing 
approval of a revision to North Carolina's regional haze State 
Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the North Carolina Department 
of Environmental Quality (formerly known as the North Carolina 
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR)) on October 
31, 2014, that relies on an alternative to Best Available Retrofit 
Technology (BART) to satisfy BART requirements for electric generating 
units (EGUs) formerly subject to the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). 
EPA is also finalizing its determination that final approval of this 
SIP revision corrects the deficiencies that led to EPA's limited 
disapproval of the State's regional haze SIP on June 7, 2012, and is 
converting EPA's June 27, 2012, limited approval to a full approval. 
This submittal addresses the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or 
Act) and EPA's rules that require states to prevent any future, and 
remedy any existing, manmade impairment of visibility in mandatory 
Class I areas caused by emissions of air pollutants from numerous 
sources located over a wide geographic area

[[Page 32653]]

(also referred to as the regional haze program). States are required to 
assure reasonable progress toward the national goal of achieving 
natural visibility conditions in Class I areas.

DATES:  This rule is effective June 23, 2016.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for these actions under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2015-0518. 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: Michele Notarianni, 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. Notarianni can be reached via electronic mail at 
[email protected] or via telephone at (404) 562-9031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background and Overview

    Regional haze is visibility impairment that is produced by a 
multitude of sources and activities which are located across a broad 
geographic area and emit fine particles (e.g., sulfates, nitrates, 
organic carbon, elemental carbon, and soil dust) and their precursors 
(e.g., sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides 
(NOX), and in some cases, ammonia and volatile organic 
compounds). In section 169A of the 1977 Amendments to the CAA, Congress 
created a program for protecting visibility in the nation's national 
parks and wilderness areas. In the 1990 CAA Amendments, Congress 
amended the visibility provisions in the CAA to focus attention on the 
problem of regional haze.
    In 1999, EPA promulgated the regional haze rule (RHR), which 
requires states to develop and implement SIPs to ensure reasonable 
progress toward improving visibility in Class I areas by reducing 
emissions that cause or contribute to regional haze. See 64 FR 35713 
(July 1, 1999). The RHR requires each state, the District of Columbia, 
and the Virgin Islands to each submit a regional haze SIP no later than 
December 17, 2007. Under 40 CFR 51.308(e), the SIP must contain 
emission limitations representing BART and schedules for compliance 
with BART for each BART-eligible source, unless the SIP demonstrates 
that an emissions trading program or other alternative (BART 
Alternative) will achieve greater reasonable progress toward natural 
visibility conditions than would have resulted from the installation 
and operation of BART at all sources subject to BART and covered by the 
BART Alternative. An approvable BART Alternative must meet the criteria 
in 40 CFR 51.308(e)(2).
    North Carolina submitted its regional haze SIP on December 17, 
2007, the regional haze SIP submittal deadline. Fully consistent with 
EPA's regulations at the time, the SIP relied on CAIR to satisfy 
NOX and SO2 BART requirements for CAIR-subject 
EGUs in the State and to partially satisfy the requirement for a long-
term strategy sufficient to achieve the State-adopted reasonable 
progress goals. EPA finalized a limited disapproval of North Carolina's 
regional haze SIP on June 7, 2012 (77 FR 33642), triggering the 
requirement for EPA to promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) 
unless EPA approves a SIP revision that corrects the deficiency. EPA 
finalized a limited approval of North Carolina's regional haze SIP on 
June 27, 2012 (77 FR 38185), as meeting the remaining applicable 
regional haze requirements set forth in the CAA and the RHR. On October 
31, 2014, NC DENR submitted a revision to North Carolina's regional 
haze SIP to correct the deficiencies identified in the June 7, 2012, 
limited disapproval by replacing reliance on CAIR with reliance on a 
BART Alternative to satisfy NOX and SO2 BART 
requirements for EGUs formerly subject to CAIR.
    In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on April 5, 
2016 (81 FR 19519), EPA proposed to approve North Carolina's October 
31, 2014, BART Alternative regional haze SIP revision; to determine 
that final approval of the SIP revision would correct the deficiencies 
that led to EPA's limited disapproval of the State's regional haze SIP; 
and to convert EPA's limited approval of the State's regional haze SIP 
to a full approval, thereby eliminating the need for EPA to issue a FIP 
to remedy the deficiencies. The details of North Carolina's submission 
and the rationale for EPA's actions are explained in the NPRM. Comments 
on the proposed rulemaking were due on or before April 26, 2016.
    EPA received one set of comments supporting the proposed actions 
and no adverse comments. The supporting comments were provided by Duke 
Energy. Table 1 in EPA's NPRM indicates that Units 5-9 at Duke Energy's 
Buck power plant were converted from coal to natural gas. See 81 FR 
19521 (April 5, 2016). Duke Energy's supporting comments clarify that 
these five EGUs were retired from operation in 2011 and 2012 and that 
the units have been replaced by two new natural gas-fired combined 
cycle turbines equipped with Selective Catalytic Reduction for 
NOX control. This clarification does not impact EPA's 
conclusions because it does not alter the analysis supporting the BART 
Alternative.

II. Final Actions

    EPA is finalizing approval of North Carolina's October 31, 2014, 
regional haze SIP revision because EPA has determined that the BART 
Alternative contained therein meets the requirements of 40 CFR 
51.308(e)(2). EPA is also converting EPA's June 27, 2012, limited 
approval of North Carolina's regional haze SIP to a full approval 
because EPA finds that final approval of the State's October 31, 2014, 
regional haze SIP revision corrects the deficiencies that led to EPA's 
limited disapproval of the State's regional haze SIP.

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, these 
actions merely approve state law as meeting federal requirements and do 
not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. 
For that reason, these actions:
     Are not a significant regulatory action subject to review 
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58 
FR 51735,

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October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
     do not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     are 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.);
     do 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);
     do not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     are not an economically significant regulatory action 
based on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     are not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     are 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
     do 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 these actions 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. These actions are 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 these actions must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals 
for the appropriate circuit by July 25, 2016. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of these actions 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. These actions 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.

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

    Dated: May 12, 2016.
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 II--North Carolina

0
2. Section 52.1770(e), is amended by adding an entry for ``BART 
Alternative Plan'' at the end of the table to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1770  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                              EPA-Approved North Carolina Non-Regulatory Provisions
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                                        State       EPA Approval     Federal Register
            Provision              effective date       date             citation              Explanation
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                                                  * * * * * * *
BART Alternative Plan............      10/31/2014       5/24/2016  [Insert Federal      This plan modifies the
                                                                    Register citation].  Regional Haze Plan
                                                                                         approved with a state
                                                                                         effective date of 11/17/
                                                                                         2007 (see above) and
                                                                                         converts the June 27,
                                                                                         2012, limited approval
                                                                                         to a full approval.
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Sec.  52.1776  [Removed and Reserved]

0
3. Section 52.1776 is removed and reserved.

[FR Doc. 2016-12096 Filed 5-23-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P