[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 140 (Thursday, July 21, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47300-47302]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17177]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2016-0241; FRL-9948-08-Region 9]


Approval of California Air Plan Revisions, El Dorado County Air 
Quality Management District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct 
final action to approve a revision to the El Dorado County Air Quality 
Management District (EDCAQMD) portion of the California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP). We are approving a local emergency episode 
plan that describes actions that EDCAQMD must take in the event of 
dangerously high ambient ozone concentrations levels under the Clean 
Air Act (CAA or the Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on September 19, 2016 without further 
notice, unless the EPA receives adverse comments by August 22, 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 your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2016-0241 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: Andrew Steckel, EPA Region IX, (415) 
947 4115, [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 plan did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of this plan?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted plan?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the plan?
    B. Does the plan 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 plan did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the plan addressed by this action with the date that 
it was adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the California 
Air Resources Board (CARB).

                                             Table 1--Submitted Plan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Local agency                              Plan title                  Adopted        Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDCAQMD....................................  Ozone Emergency Episode Plan.......        01/12/16        04/06/16
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On April 21, 2016, the EPA determined that EDCAQMD's Ozone 
Emergency Episode Plan submittal met the completeness criteria in 40 
CFR part 51 Appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review.

B. Are there other versions of this plan?

    There are no previous versions of this plan adopted by EDCAQMD or 
approved by EPA in the SIP.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted plan?

    The CAA requires the EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS) for Ozone and five other pollutants that are harmful 
to public health and the environment. Each state is required to submit 
to the EPA, within three years after the promulgation of a primary or 
secondary NAAQS, or any revision thereof, an infrastructure SIP 
revision that provides for the implementation, maintenance, and 
enforcement of such NAAQS. CAA section 110(a)(2) describes the contents 
required of such a plan that constitute the ``infrastructure'' of a 
state's air quality management program. The EDCAQMD Ozone Emergency 
Episode Plan is intended to fulfill the CAA Sec.  110(a)(2)(G) 
infrastructure SIP requirement.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the plan?

    SIPs must be enforceable (see CAA section 110(a)(2)) and SIP 
revisions are restricted in how they can relax approved SIPs. This plan 
must also meet the infrastructure SIP requirements of CAA section 
110(a)(2)(G) and EPA's implementing regulations found in 40 CFR part 
51, subpart H (51.150 through 51.153).
    Guidance that we used to evaluate section 110(a)(2) CAA 
requirements includes: ``Guidance Document for Infrastructure State 
Implementation Plan Elements under Clean Air Act Sections 110(a)(1) and 
110(a)(2)'', EPA (September 2013).

B. Does the plan meet the evaluation criteria?

    We believe this plan is consistent with the relevant policy and 
guidance regarding enforceability, SIP relaxations and infrastructure 
SIPs. The EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more information 
about this plan and our evaluation.

[[Page 47301]]

C. Public Comment and Final Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA is fully 
approving the submitted plan because we believe it fulfills 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 plan. If we 
receive adverse comments by August 22, 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 September 19, 2016. This will incorporate the 
plan into the federally enforceable SIP.
    Please note that if the EPA receives adverse comment on an 
amendment, paragraph, or section of this plan and if that provision may 
be severed from the remainder of the plan, the EPA may adopt as final 
those provisions of the plan 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 
EDCAQMD plan 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 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IX (AIR4), 75 Hawthorne 
Street, San Francisco, CA, 94105-3901.]

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 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 September 19, 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 today's 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, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: June 13, 2016.
Alexis Strauss,
Acting 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 add ing paragraph (c)(473) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (473) A new regulation for the following AQMD was submitted on 
April 6, 2016 by the Governor's designee.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.

[[Page 47302]]

    (A) El Dorado County Air Quality Management District.
    (1) ``Ozone Emergency Episode Plan,'' adopted January 12, 2016.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2016-17177 Filed 7-20-16; 8:45 am]
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