[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 19, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33030-33032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15050]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2016-0740; FRL-9965-07-Region 9]


Approval of California Air Plan Revisions; Sacramento 
Metropolitan Air Quality Management District

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 Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management 
District (SMAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan 
(SIP). These revisions concern emissions of volatile organic compounds 
(VOC) from organic chemical manufacturing operations. We are proposing 
to approve a local rule and a rule rescission 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 August 18, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2016-0740 at https://www.regulations.gov, or via email to Andrew 
Steckel, Rulemaking Office Chief at [email protected]. For 
comments submitted at Regulations.gov, follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be removed or 
edited from Regulations.gov. For either manner

[[Page 33031]]

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 https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Arnold Lazarus, EPA Region IX, (415) 
972-3024, [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 and rule 
rescission?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule and rule rescission?
    B. Do the rule and rule rescission meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. Public Comment and Proposed 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 amended or repealed by the local air agency and 
submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

                                                                Table 1--Submitted Rules
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                  Local agency                      Rule No.                    Rule title                    Amended        Repealed        Submitted
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SMAQMD.........................................             455  Pharmaceutical Manufacturing...........  ..............         4/28/16         8/22/16
SMAQMD.........................................             464  Organic Chemical Manufacturing                  4/28/16  ..............         8/22/16
                                                                  Operations.
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    On September 27, 2016, the EPA determined that the submittal for 
SMAQMD Rule 455 and Rule 464 met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR 
part 51 Appendix V, which must be met before formal review by the EPA.

B. Are there other versions of these rules?

    We approved an earlier version of SMAQMD Rule 464 into the SIP on 
October 3, 2011 (76 FR 61057), and we approved SMAQMD Rule 455 into the 
SIP on January 24, 1985 (50 FR 3338).\1\
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    \1\ EPA's approval of Rule 455 refers to the Sacramento County 
Air Pollution Control District, which was then the name of the 
regulatory authority for air pollution in the Sacramento area.
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C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule and rule rescission?

    VOCs help produce ground-level ozone, also known as ``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 VOC emissions. SMAQMD Rule 455, ``Pharmaceutical 
Manufacturing,'' was approved into the SIP on January 24, 1985 (50 FR 
3338). EPA re-evaluated Rule 455 as part of our review of the SMAQMD's 
2006 Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) SIP, and concluded 
that Rule 455 did not meet the requirements of Federal CAA section 
110(a)(2) because it lacked test methods, recordkeeping, and monitoring 
requirements that are necessary to ensure that the rule is enforceable. 
81 FR 53280, 53281 (August 12, 2016). The SMAQMD subsequently repealed 
Rule 455 and simultaneously amended Rule 464 to include pharmaceutical 
and cosmetic manufacture. Rule 464 limits VOC emissions from organic 
chemical plants and pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturing; its 
controls for pharmaceutical manufacturing replace Rule 455. 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 rule and rule rescission?

    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 in ozone nonattainment areas classified as 
moderate or above must require RACT for each category of sources 
covered by a control techniques guidelines (CTG) document as well as 
each major source of VOCs (see CAA sections 182(b)(2)). The SMAQMD 
regulates an ozone nonattainment area classified as severe 
nonattainment for the 1997 and the 2008 8-hour ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) (40 CFR 81.305). Therefore, Rule 464 must 
implement RACT.
    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. ``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); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).
    2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, 
and Deviations,'' U.S. EPA, May 25, 1988; revised January 11, 1990 
(``The Bluebook'').
    3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (``The Little 
Bluebook'').
    4. ``Control of Volatile Organic Emissions from Manufacture of 
Synthesized Pharmaceutical Products,'' EPA-450/2-78-029, December 
1978.
    5. ``Control of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Reactor 
Processes and Distillation Operations Processes in the Synthetic 
Organic Chemical Manufacturing Industry,'' EPA-450/4-91-031, August 
1993.

B. Do the rule and rule rescission meet the evaluation criteria?

    We believe this rule and rule rescission are consistent with CAA 
requirements and relevant guidance regarding enforceability, RACT, and 
SIP revisions. The TSDs have more information on our evaluation.
    The EPA partially approved and partially disapproved the RACT SIP 
revisions submitted by California on July 11, 2007 and January 21, 2009 
for the SMAQMD severe ozone

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nonattainment area,\2\ based in part on our conclusion that the state 
had not fully satisfied CAA section 182 RACT requirements for the 
pharmaceuticals manufacturing CTG category and for the municipal waste 
landfill category. We are separately but contemporaneously proposing 
approval of submitted portions of SMAQMD Permits 24360 and 24361 for 
the Kiefer Landfill, which are intended to address the deficiencies 
identified in our 2016 partial disapproval of the SMAQMD's RACT SIP 
regarding the municipal waste landfill category.\3\ Final approval of 
Rule 464 and the submitted portions of the Kiefer Landfill permits 
would satisfy California's obligation to implement RACT under CAA 
section 182 for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and thereby terminate both 
the sanctions clocks and the Federal Implementation Plan clock 
associated with our August 12, 2016 final action.
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    \2\ See, 81 FR 53280 (August 12, 2016).
    \3\ We are submitting these two proposed actions together for 
publication, and expect the Federal Register notices to publish 
around the same time.
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C. Public Comment and Proposed Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to 
fully approve the submitted rule and rule rescission because we believe 
they fulfill all relevant requirements. We will accept comments from 
the public on this proposal until August 18, 2017. If we take final 
action to approve the submitted rule and rule rescission, our final 
action 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 SMAQMD rules described in Table 1 of this preamble. The 
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials available 
through https://www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region IX Office 
(please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT 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 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 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, Particulate matter, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: June 29, 2017.
Alexis Strauss,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2017-15050 Filed 7-18-17; 8:45 am]
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