[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 147 (Monday, August 1, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50348-50351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17912]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2016-0262; FRL-9948-10-Region 9]


Approval of California Air Plan Revisions, Placer County Air 
Pollution Control District and Ventura County Air Pollution Control 
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 revisions to the Placer County Air Pollution 
Control District (PCAPCD) and Ventura County Air Pollution Control 
District (VCAPCD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan 
(SIP). These revisions concern oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and 
carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from stationary gas turbines, boilers, 
steam generators, and process heaters. We are approving local rules 
that regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or 
the Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on September 30, 2016 without further 
notice, unless the EPA receives adverse comments by August 31, 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-2016-0262 at http://www.regulations.gov, or via email to Andrew 
Steckel, Rules Office Chief, at [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: Kevin Gong, EPA Region IX, (415) 972 
3073, [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 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?

[[Page 50349]]

    C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
    D. 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 action with the dates 
that they were adopted by the local air agencies and submitted by the 
California Air Resources Board.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Local agency                Rule No.           Rule title        Date of local action     Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PCAPCD............................             250  Stationary Gas         Amended 10/8/2015....      03/11/2016
                                                     Turbines.
VCAPCD............................         74.15.1  Boilers, Steam         Revised 6/23/2015....      11/13/2015
                                                     Generators, and
                                                     Process Heaters.
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    On January 19, 2016, the EPA determined that the submittal for 
VCAPCD Rule 74.15.1 met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, 
appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review. On April 19, 
2016, the EPA determined that the submittal for PCAPCD Rule 250 met the 
completeness criteria.

B. Are there other versions of these rules?

    We approved an earlier version of PCAPCD Rule 250 into the SIP on 
August 23, 1995, in 60 FR 43713, and an earlier version of VCAPCD Rule 
74.15.1 into the SIP on May 19, 2014, in 79 FR 28612.

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

    NOX helps produce ground-level ozone, smog and 
particulate matter (PM), which harm human health and the environment. 
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires States to submit regulations that 
control NOX emissions. PCAPCD Rule 250 and VCAPCD Rule 
74.15.1 both limit the emissions of NOX from their 
respective source categories. The revisions to PCAPCD Rule 250 include 
the removal of exemptions for emissions resulting from startup and 
shutdown operations, and simplification of the emission limits for 
stationary gas turbines. VCAPCD Rule 74.15.1 updates the testing regime 
and clarifies several exemptions for boilers, steam generators, and 
process heaters.
    The EPA's technical support documents (TSDs) have 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).
    SIP provisions cannot include exemptions from emission limitations 
for emissions during startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM) events. 
Thus, in order to be permissible in a SIP, emission limitations must 
apply continuously, i.e., they cannot include periods during which 
emissions are legally or functionally exempt from regulation (see CAA 
sections 110(a)(2) and 302(k)). EPA recently clarified this requirement 
for periods of startup, shutdown, and malfunction. See Restatement and 
Update of EPA's SSM Policy Applicable to SIPs, 80 FR 33839 (June 12, 
2015).
    Generally, SIP rules must require reasonably available control 
technology (RACT) for each major source of NOX in ozone 
nonattainment areas classified as moderate or above (see CAA sections 
182(b)(2) and 182(f)). PCAPCD regulates an ozone nonattainment area 
classified as Severe for the 1994 1-hour ozone National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard (NAAQS), and for the 1997 and 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
(40 CFR 81.305). VCAPCD also regulates an ozone nonattainment area 
classified as Severe for the 1994 1-hour ozone NAAQS and for the 1997 
and 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS (40 CFR 81.305). Therefore, PCAPCD Rule 250 
and VCAPCD Rule 74.15.1 must both implement RACT as the Districts 
regulate ozone nonattainment areas classified as Severe.
    Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate 
enforceability, revision/relaxation and rule stringency requirements 
for the applicable criteria pollutants include the following:

1. ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' 
(57 FR 13498, April 16, 1992 and 57 FR 18070, April 28, 1992).
2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations'' (``the Bluebook,'' U.S. EPA, May 25, 1988; revised 
January 11, 1990).
3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies'' (``the Little Bluebook'', EPA Region 9, August 21, 
2001).
4. ``State Implementation Plans; Nitrogen Oxides Supplement to the 
General Preamble; Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 Implementation of 
Title I; Proposed Rule'' (``the NOX Supplement,'' 57 FR 
55620, November 25, 1992).
5. ``Alternative Control Techniques Document--NOX 
Emissions from Stationary Gas Turbines,'' (EPA-453/R-93-007), 
Emissions Standards Division, EPA OAQPS, January 1993.
6. ``Control Techniques for Nitrogen Oxides Emissions from 
Stationary Sources--Second Edition,'' (EPA-450/1-78-001), January 
1978.
7. ``Alternative Control Techniques Document--NOX 
Emissions from Process Heaters (Revised),'' (EPA-453/R93-034), 
September 1993.
8. ``Determination of Reasonably Available Control Technology and 
Best Available Retrofit Control Technology for Industrial, 
Institutional, and Commercial Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process 
Heaters,'' California Air Resources Board RACT/BARCT guidance, July 
18, 1991.
9. ``Restatement and Update of EPA's SSM Policy Applicable to 
SIPs,'' 80 FR 33839, June 12, 2015.

B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    We believe these rules are consistent with the relevant policy and 
guidance regarding enforceability, RACT, SIP relaxations, and 
requirements for emissions that occur during SSM events. The TSDs have 
more information on our evaluation.

C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules

    The TSDs describe 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.

D. 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

[[Page 50350]]

fulfill all relevant requirements.\1\ 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 rule. If we receive adverse comments by August 31, 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 
30, 2016. This will incorporate these rules into the federally 
enforceable SIP.
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    \1\ Upon the effective date of this final action, submitted 
PCAPCD Rule 250 would supersede existing PCAPCD Rule 250, approved 
at 60 FR 43713 in the applicable SIP. Submitted VCAPCD Rule 74.15.1 
would supersede existing VCAPCD Rule 74.15.1, approved at 79 FR 
28612.
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    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 
PCAPCD and VCAPCD 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 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IX (Air-4), 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 30, 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, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: June 14, 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 adding paragraphs (c)(202)(i)(E)(3), 
(c)(429)(i)(A)(6), (c)(472)(i)(B), and (c)(474) to read as follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan--in part.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (202) * * *

[[Page 50351]]

    (i) * * *
    (E) * * *
    (3) Previously approved on August 23, 1995, in paragraph 
(c)(202)(i)(E)(1) of this section, and now deleted with replacement in 
(c)(474)(i)(A)(1), Rule 250, ``Stationary Gas Turbines,'' adopted on 
October 17, 1994.
* * * * *
    (429) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (A) * * *
    (6) Previously approved on May 19, 2014, in paragraph 
(c)(429)(i)(A)(3) of this section and now deleted with replacement in 
(c)(472)(i)(B)(1), Rule 74.15.1, ``Boilers, Steam Generators, and 
Process Heaters,'' amended on September 11, 2012.
* * * * *
    (472) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (B) Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.
    (1) Rule 74.15.1, ``Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process 
Heaters,'' revised June 23, 2015.
* * * * *
    (474) New and amended regulations were submitted on March 11, 2016, 
by the Governor's designee.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Placer County Air Pollution Control District.
    (1) Rule 250, ``Stationary Gas Turbines,'' amended on October 8, 
2015.

[FR Doc. 2016-17912 Filed 7-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P