[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 197 (Friday, October 13, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47930-47934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22126]



[[Page 47929]]

Vol. 82

Friday,

No. 197

October 13, 2017

Part V





Environmental Protection Agency





-----------------------------------------------------------------------





40 CFR Part 52





 Air Plan Approval; Georgia; Cross-State Air Pollution Rule; Final Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 82 , No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2017 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 47930]]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2017-0452; FRL-9969-30--Region 4]


Air Plan Approval; Georgia; Cross-State Air Pollution Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving 
portions of a revision to the Georgia State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
concerning the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the Clean Air 
Interstate Rule (CAIR) that was submitted by Georgia on July 26, 2017. 
Under CSAPR, large electricity generating units (EGUs) in Georgia are 
subject to Federal Implementation Plans (FIPs) requiring the units to 
participate in CSAPR's federal trading program for annual emissions of 
nitrogen oxides (NOX), one of CSAPR's two federal trading 
programs for annual emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), and 
one of CSAPR's two federal trading programs for ozone season emissions 
of NOX. This action approves the State's regulations 
requiring large Georgia EGUs to participate in new CSAPR state trading 
programs for annual NOX, annual SO2, and ozone 
season NOX emissions integrated with the CSAPR federal 
trading programs, replacing the corresponding FIP requirements. Under 
the CSAPR regulations, approval of these portions of the SIP revision 
automatically eliminates Georgia's units' obligations under the 
corresponding CSAPR FIPs addressing interstate transport requirements 
for the 1997 Annual Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS. Approval of 
these portions of the SIP revision satisfies Georgia's good neighbor 
obligation for the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS. In addition, 
approval of this revision removes from Georgia's SIP those state 
trading program rules adopted to comply with CAIR.

DATES: This rule is effective November 13, 2017.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2017-0452. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the 
index, some information may not be 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: Ashten Bailey, Air Regulatory 
Management Section, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Ms. Bailey can be reached by telephone at 
(404) 562-9164 or via electronic mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background on CAIR

    To help reduce interstate transport of ozone and PM2.5 
pollution in the eastern half of the United States, EPA finalized CAIR 
in May 2005.\1\ CAIR addressed both the 1997 Ozone and PM2.5 
NAAQS and required 28 states, including Georgia, and the District of 
Columbia to limit emissions of NOX and SO2. For 
CAIR, EPA developed three separate cap and trade programs that could be 
used to achieve the required reductions: The CAIR NOX ozone 
season trading program, the CAIR NOX annual trading program, 
and the CAIR SO2 trading program. Georgia was subject to 
CAIR requirements only with respect to annual NOX and 
SO2 emissions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 70 FR 25172 (May 12, 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On December 23, 2008, CAIR was remanded to EPA by the United States 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) in 
North Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 896 (D.C. Cir. 2008), modified on 
rehearing, 550 F.3d 1176. This ruling allowed CAIR to remain in effect 
until a new interstate transport rule consistent with the Court's 
opinion was developed. While EPA worked on developing a new rule to 
address the interstate transport of air pollution, the CAIR program 
continued as planned with the NOX annual and ozone season 
programs beginning in 2009 and the SO2 annual program 
beginning in 2010.
    In response to the remand of CAIR, EPA promulgated CSAPR on July 6, 
2011.\2\ Along with provisions discussed more fully in the following 
section, the rule contained provisions that would sunset CAIR-related 
obligations on a schedule coordinated with the implementation of CSAPR 
compliance requirements. CSAPR was to become effective January 1, 2012; 
however, the timing of CSAPR's implementation was impacted by a number 
of court actions. On December 30, 2011, the D.C. Circuit stayed CSAPR 
prior to its implementation, and EPA was ordered to continue 
administering CAIR on an interim basis.\3\ In a subsequent decision on 
the merits, the Court vacated CSAPR based on a subset of petitioners' 
claims.\4\ However, on April 29, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed 
that decision and remanded the case to the D.C. Circuit for further 
proceedings.\5\ Throughout the initial round of D.C. Circuit 
proceedings and the ensuing Supreme Court proceedings, the stay on 
CSAPR remained in place, and EPA continued to implement CAIR.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See 76 FR 48208 (August 8, 2011).
    \3\ Order of December 30, 2011, in EME Homer City Generation, 
L.P. v. EPA, D.C. Cir. No. 11-1302.
    \4\ EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 696 F.3d 7 (D.C. 
Cir. 2012), cert. granted 133 U.S. 2857 (2013).
    \5\ EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P., 134 S. Ct. 1584, 
1600-01 (2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Following the April 2014 Supreme Court decision, EPA filed a motion 
asking the D.C. Circuit to lift the stay in order to allow CSAPR to 
replace CAIR in an equitable and orderly manner while further D.C. 
Circuit proceedings were held to resolve remaining claims from 
petitioners. Additionally, EPA's motion requested to toll, by three 
years, all CSAPR compliance deadlines that had not passed as of the 
approval date of the stay. On October 23, 2014, the D.C. Circuit 
granted EPA's request, and on December 3, 2014 (79 FR 71663), in an 
interim final rule, EPA set the updated effective date of CSAPR as 
January 1, 2015, and tolled the implementation of CSAPR Phase 1 to 2015 
and CSAPR Phase 2 to 2017. In accordance with the interim final rule, 
the sunset date for CAIR was December 31, 2014, and EPA began 
implementing CSAPR on January 1, 2015.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ See 40 CFR 51.123(ff) (sunsetting CAIR requirements related 
to NOX); 40 CFR 51.124(s) (sunsetting CAIR requirements 
related to SO2).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 47931]]

II. Background on CSAPR and CSAPR-Related SIP Revisions

    As discussed previously, EPA issued CSAPR in July 2011 to address 
the requirements of Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) section 
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) concerning interstate transport of air pollution. As 
amended (including by the 2016 CSAPR Update \7\), CSAPR requires 27 
Eastern states to limit their statewide emissions of SO2 
and/or NOX in order to mitigate transported air pollution 
unlawfully impacting other states' ability to attain or maintain four 
NAAQS: The 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, the 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS, and the 2008 8-
hour Ozone NAAQS. The CSAPR emissions limitations are defined in terms 
of maximum statewide ``budgets'' for emissions of annual 
SO2, annual NOX, and/or ozone season 
NOX by each covered state's large EGUs. The CSAPR state 
budgets are implemented in two phases of generally increasing 
stringency, with the Phase 1 budgets applying to emissions in 2015 and 
2016 and the Phase 2 (and CSAPR Update) budgets applying to emissions 
in 2017 and later years. As a mechanism for achieving compliance with 
the emissions limitations, CSAPR establishes five federal emissions 
trading programs: a program for annual NOX emissions, two 
geographically separate programs for annual SO2 emissions, 
and two geographically separate programs for ozone-season 
NOX emissions. CSAPR also establishes FIP requirements 
applicable to the large EGUs in each covered state.\8\ Currently, the 
CSAPR FIP provisions require each state's units to participate in up to 
three of the five CSAPR trading programs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See 81 FR 74504 (October 26, 2016). The CSAPR Update was 
promulgated to address interstate pollution with respect to the 2008 
8-hour Ozone NAAQS and to address a judicial remand of certain 
original CSAPR ozone season NOX budgets promulgated with 
respect to the 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS. See 81 FR at 74505. The 
CSAPR Update established new emission reduction requirements 
addressing the more recent NAAQS and coordinated them with the 
remaining emission reduction requirements addressing the older ozone 
NAAQS, so that starting in 2017, CSAPR includes two geographically 
separate trading programs for ozone season NOX emissions 
covering EGUs in a total of 23 states. See 40 CFR 52.38(b)(1)-(2).
    \8\ States are required to submit good neighbor SIPs within 
three years (or less, if the Administrator so prescribes) after a 
NAAQS is promulgated. CAA section 110(a)(1) and (2). Where EPA finds 
that a state fails to submit a required SIP or disapproves a SIP, 
EPA is obligated to promulgate a FIP addressing the deficiency. CAA 
section 110(c). EPA found that Georgia failed to make timely 
submissions required to address the good neighbor provision with 
respect to the 1997 Annual PM2.5 and 8-hour Ozone NAAQS 
(70 FR 21147, April 25, 2005), and the 2008 8-hour Ozone NAAQS (80 
FR 39961, June 13, 2015). In addition, EPA disapproved Georgia's SIP 
revision submitted to address the good neighbor provision with 
respect to the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. 76 FR 43159 
(July 20, 2011). Accordingly, as a part of CSAPR and the CSAPR 
Update, EPA promulgated FIPs applicable to sources in Georgia 
addressing the good neighbor provision with respect to the 1997 
annual PM2.5, 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS, and the 2006 24-
hour PM2.5 NAAQS. As discussed below, when EPA finalized 
the CSAPR Update, EPA determined that Georgia did not interfere with 
nonattainment or maintenance for the 2008 8-hour Ozone NAAQS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CSAPR includes provisions under which states may submit and EPA 
will approve SIP revisions to modify or replace the CSAPR FIP 
requirements while allowing states to continue to meet their transport-
related obligations using either CSAPR's federal emissions trading 
programs or state emissions trading programs integrated with the 
federal programs, provided that the SIP revisions meet all relevant 
criteria.\9\ Through such a SIP revision, a state may replace EPA's 
default provisions for allocating emission allowances among the state's 
units, employing any state-selected methodology to allocate or auction 
the allowances, subject to timing conditions and limits on overall 
allowance quantities. In the case of CSAPR's federal trading programs 
for ozone season NOX emissions (or an integrated state 
trading program), a state may also expand trading program applicability 
to include certain smaller EGUs.\10\ If a state wants to replace CSAPR 
FIP requirements with SIP requirements under which the state's units 
participate in a state trading program that is integrated with and 
identical to the federal trading program even as to the allocation and 
applicability provisions, the state may submit a SIP revision for that 
purpose as well. However, no emissions budget increases or other 
substantive changes to the trading program provisions are allowed. A 
state whose units are subject to multiple CSAPR FIPs and federal 
trading programs may submit SIP revisions to modify or replace either 
some or all of those FIP requirements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See 40 CFR 52.38, 52.39. States also retain the ability to 
submit SIP revisions to meet their transport-related obligations 
using mechanisms other than the CSAPR federal trading programs or 
integrated state trading programs.
    \10\ States covered by both the CSAPR Update and the 
NOX SIP Call have the additional option to expand 
applicability under the CSAPR NOX Ozone Season Group 2 
Trading Program to include non-EGUs that would have participated in 
the former NOX Budget Trading Program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    States can submit two basic forms of CSAPR-related SIP revisions 
effective for emissions control periods in 2017 or later years.\11\ 
Specific conditions for approval of each form of SIP revision are set 
forth in the CSAPR regulations. Under the first alternative--an 
``abbreviated'' SIP revision--a state may submit a SIP revision that 
upon approval replaces the default allowance allocation and/or 
applicability provisions of a CSAPR federal trading program for the 
state.\12\ Approval of an abbreviated SIP revision leaves the 
corresponding CSAPR FIP and all other provisions of the relevant 
federal trading program in place for the state's units.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ CSAPR also provides for a third, more streamlined form of 
SIP revision that is effective only for control periods in 2016 and 
is not relevant here. See 40 CFR 52.38(a)(3), (b)(3), (b)(7); 
52.39(d), (g).
    \12\ 40 CFR 52.38(a)(4), (b)(4), (b)(8); 52.39(e), (h).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under the second alternative--a ``full'' SIP revision--a state may 
submit a SIP revision that upon approval replaces a CSAPR federal 
trading program for the state with a state trading program integrated 
with the federal trading program, so long as the state trading program 
is substantively identical to the federal trading program or does not 
substantively differ from the federal trading program except as 
discussed above with regard to the allowance allocation and/or 
applicability provisions.\13\ For purposes of a full SIP revision, a 
state may either adopt state rules with complete trading program 
language, incorporate the federal trading program language into its 
state rules by reference (with appropriate conforming changes), or 
employ a combination of these approaches.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ 40 CFR 52.38(a)(5), (b)(5), (b)(9); 52.39(f), (i).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The CSAPR regulations identify several important consequences and 
limitations associated with approval of a full SIP revision. First, 
upon EPA's approval of a full SIP revision as correcting the deficiency 
in the state's implementation plan that was the basis for a particular 
set of CSAPR FIP requirements, the obligation to participate in the 
corresponding CSAPR federal trading program is automatically eliminated 
for units subject to the state's jurisdiction without the need for a 
separate EPA withdrawal action, so long as EPA's approval of the SIP is 
full and unconditional.\14\ Second, approval of a full SIP revision 
does not terminate the obligation to participate in the corresponding 
CSAPR federal trading program for any units located in any Indian 
country within the borders of the state, and if and when a unit is 
located in Indian country within a state's borders, EPA may modify the 
SIP approval to exclude from the SIP, and include in the surviving 
CSAPR FIP instead, certain trading program provisions that apply 
jointly to units in the state and to units in Indian country

[[Page 47932]]

within the state's borders.\15\ Finally, if at the time a full SIP 
revision is approved EPA has already started recording allocations of 
allowances for a given control period to a state's units, the federal 
trading program provisions authorizing EPA to complete the process of 
allocating and recording allowances for that control period to those 
units will continue to apply, unless EPA's approval of the SIP revision 
provides otherwise.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ 40 CFR 52.38(a)(6), (b)(10)(i); 52.39(j).
    \15\ 40 CFR 52.38(a)(5)(iv)-(v), (a)(6), (b)(5)(v)-(vi), 
(b)(9)(vi)-(vii), (b)(10)(i); 52.39(f)(4)-(5), (i)(4)-(5), (j).
    \16\ 40 CFR 52.38(a)(7), (b)(11)(i); 52.39(k).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On July 28, 2015, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision on a number of 
petitions related to CSAPR, which found that EPA required more 
emissions reductions than may have been necessary to address the 
downwind air quality problems to which some states contribute. The 
Court remanded several CSAPR emission budgets to EPA for 
reconsideration, including the Phase 2 SO2 trading budget 
for Georgia.\17\ However, Georgia has voluntarily adopted into their 
SIP a CSAPR state trading program that is integrated with the federal 
trading program and includes a state-established SO2 budget 
equal to the state's remanded Phase 2 SO2 emission 
budget.\18\ EPA notes that nothing in the Court's decision affects 
Georgia's authority to seek incorporation into its SIP of a state-
established budget as stringent as the remanded federally-established 
budget or limits EPA's authority to approve such a SIP revision. The 
CSAPR regulations provide each covered state with the option to meet 
its transport obligations through SIP revisions replacing the federal 
trading programs and requiring the state's EGUs to participate in 
integrated CSAPR state trading programs that apply emissions budgets of 
the same or greater stringency. Under the CSAPR regulations, when such 
a SIP revision is approved, the corresponding FIP provisions are 
automatically withdrawn.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA (EME Homer City II), 
795 F.3d 118 (D.C. Cir. 2015). The D.C. Circuit also remanded 
SO2 budgets for Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas. The 
court also remanded Phase 2 ozone-season NOX budgets for 
eleven states, which did not include Georgia.
    \18\ See memo entitled ``The U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency's Plan for Responding to the Remand of the Cross-State Air 
Pollution Rule Phase 2 SO2 Budgets for Alabama, Georgia, 
South Carolina and Texas'' from Janet G. McCabe, EPA Acting 
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, to EPA Regional Air 
Division Directors (June 27, 2016), available at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2016-0598-0003. The memo 
directs the Regional Air Division Directors to share the memo with 
state officials. EPA also communicated orally with officials in 
Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas in advance of the memo.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the CSAPR rulemaking, EPA determined that air pollution 
transported from EGUs in Georgia would unlawfully affect other states' 
ability to attain or maintain the 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS, the 1997 
Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS, and included Georgia in the CSAPR ozone season NOX 
trading program and the annual SO2 and NOX 
trading programs.\19\ In the CSAPR Update rulemaking, EPA determined 
that Georgia was not linked to any identified downwind nonattainment or 
maintenance receptors for the 2008 8-hour Ozone NAAQS.\20\ Georgia's 
units meeting the CSAPR applicability criteria are consequently 
currently subject to CSAPR FIPs that require participation in the CSAPR 
NOX Annual Trading Program, the CSAPR NOX Ozone 
Season Group 1 Trading Program, and the CSAPR SO2 Group 2 
Trading Program.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ 76 FR 48208, 48213 (August 8, 2011).
    \20\ 81 FR 74504, 74506 (October 26, 2016). EPA also determined 
in the CSAPR Update rulemaking that Georgia had no further transport 
obligation under CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) with respect to the 
1997 Ozone NAAQS beyond the ozone season NOX emission 
reduction requirements established in the original CSAPR rulemaking. 
Id. at 74525.
    \21\ 40 CFR 52.38(a)(2), (b)(2); 52.39(c); 52.584; 52.585.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On July 26, 2017, Georgia submitted to EPA a SIP revision including 
provisions that, upon approval, incorporates into Georgia's SIP CSAPR 
state trading program regulations to replace the CSAPR regulations for 
all three of these federal trading programs with regard to Georgia 
units, and removes SIP provisions related to CAIR. In a notice of 
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on August 16, 2017 (82 FR 38866), 
EPA proposed to approve the portions of Georgia's July 26, 2017, SIP 
submittal designed to replace the CSAPR federal trading programs and 
remove CAIR from Georgia's SIP. The NPRM provides additional detail 
regarding the background and rationale for EPA's actions. Comments on 
the NPRM were due on or before September 15, 2017. EPA received no 
adverse comments on the proposed action.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 
51.5, EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of Georgia Rules 
for Air Quality Control, Rule 391-3-1-.02(12), Rule 391-3-1-.02(13), 
and Rule 391-3-1-.02(14), state effective on July 20, 2017, comprising 
Georgia's Cross State Air Pollution Rule NOX Annual Trading 
Program, Georgia's Cross State Air Pollution Rule SO2 Annual 
Trading Program, and Georgia's Cross State Air Pollution Rule 
NOX Ozone Season Trading Program, respectively. EPA has 
made, and will continue to make, these materials generally available 
through www.regulations.gov and/or at the EPA Region 4 Office (please 
contact the person identified in the ``For Further Information 
Contact'' section of this preamble for more information). Therefore, 
these materials have been approved by EPA for inclusion in the SIP, 
have been incorporated by reference by EPA into that plan, are fully 
federally enforceable under sections 110 and 113 of the CAA as of the 
effective date of the final rulemaking of EPA's approval, and will be 
incorporated by reference by the Director of the Federal Register in 
the next update to the SIP compilation.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \22\ 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Final Actions

    EPA is approving the portions of Georgia's July 26, 2017, SIP 
submittal concerning the establishment for Georgia units of CSAPR state 
trading programs for annual NOX, annual SO2 
emissions, and ozone season NOX emissions. This approval 
revises the Georgia Rules for Air Quality Control in the SIP to include 
CSAPR as follows: 391-3-1-.02(12) will be revised to include Georgia's 
``Cross State Air Pollution Rule NOX Annual Trading 
Program;'' 391-3-1-.02(13) will be revised to include Georgia's ``Cross 
State Air Pollution Rule SO2 Annual Trading Program;'' and 
391-3-1-.02(14) will be added to include ``Georgia's Cross State Air 
Pollution Rule NOX Ozone Season Trading Program.'' These 
Georgia CSAPR state trading programs will be integrated with the 
federal CSAPR NOX Annual Trading Program, the federal CSAPR 
SO2 Group 2 Trading Program, and the federal CSAPR 
NOX Ozone Season Group 1 Trading Program, respectively, and 
are substantively identical to the federal trading programs. Georgia 
units will generally be required to meet requirements under Georgia's 
CSAPR state trading programs equivalent to the requirements the units 
otherwise would have been required to meet under the corresponding 
CSAPR federal trading programs. EPA is approving these portions of the 
SIP revision because they meet the requirements of the CAA and EPA's 
regulations for approval of a CSAPR full SIP revision replacing a 
federal trading program with a state trading program.

[[Page 47933]]

    EPA promulgated FIPs requiring Georgia units to participate in the 
federal CSAPR NOX Annual Trading Program, the federal CSAPR 
SO2 Group 2 Trading Program, and the federal CSAPR 
NOX Ozone Season Group 1 Trading Program in order to address 
Georgia's obligations under CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) with respect 
to the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS in the absence 
of SIP provisions addressing those requirements. Approval of the 
portions of Georgia's SIP submittal adopting CSAPR state trading 
program rules for annual NOX, annual SO2, and 
ozone season NOX substantively identical to the 
corresponding CSAPR federal trading program regulations (or differing 
only with respect to the allowance allocation methodology) satisfies 
Georgia's obligation pursuant to CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) to 
prohibit emissions which will significantly contribute to nonattainment 
or interfere with maintenance of the 1997 Annual PM2.5 
NAAQS, the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 1997 8-hour 
Ozone NAAQS in any other state and therefore corrects the same 
deficiency in the SIP that otherwise would be corrected by those CSAPR 
FIPs. Under the CSAPR regulations, upon EPA's full and unconditional 
approval of a SIP revision as correcting the SIP's deficiency that is 
the basis for a particular CSAPR FIP, the obligation to participate in 
the corresponding CSAPR federal trading program is automatically 
eliminated for units subject to the state's jurisdiction (but not for 
any units located in any Indian country within the state's borders). 
Approval of the portions of Georgia's SIP submittal establishing CSAPR 
state trading program rules for annual NOX, annual 
SO2, and ozone season NOX emissions therefore 
results in automatic termination of the obligations of Georgia units to 
participate in the federal CSAPR NOX Annual Trading Program, 
the federal CSAPR SO2 Group 2 Trading Program, and the 
federal CSAPR NOX Ozone Season Group 1 Trading Program.
    As noted previously, the Phase 2 SO2 budget established 
for Georgia in the CSAPR rulemaking has been remanded to EPA for 
reconsideration. As this action finalizes approval of these portions of 
the SIP revision as proposed, Georgia will have fulfilled its 
obligations to provide a SIP that addresses the interstate transport 
provisions of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) with respect to the 1997 
Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, 
and the 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS. Thus, EPA is no longer under an 
obligation to (nor does EPA have the authority to) address those 
transport requirements through implementation of a FIP, and approval of 
these portions of the SIP revision eliminates Georgia units' 
obligations to participate in the federal CSAPR NOX Annual 
Trading Program, the federal CSAPR SO2 Group 2 Trading 
Program, and the federal CSAPR NOX Ozone Season Group 1 
Trading Program. Elimination of Georgia units' obligations to 
participate in the federal trading programs includes elimination of the 
federally-established Phase 2 budgets capping allocations of CSAPR 
NOX Annual allowances, CSAPR SO2 Group 2 
allowances, and CSAPR NOX Ozone Season Group 1 allowances to 
Georgia units under those federal trading programs. As approval of 
these portions of the SIP revision eliminates Georgia's remanded 
federally-established Phase 2 SO2 budget and eliminates 
EPA's authority to subject units in Georgia to a FIP, approval of this 
SIP action addresses the judicial remand of Georgia's federally-
established Phase 2 SO2 budget.
    In addition, EPA is approving the portions of Georgia's July 26, 
2017, SIP revision removing Georgia's state trading provisions adopted 
to implement CAIR: Georgia Rules for Air Quality control at provisions 
391-3-1-.02(12), ``Clean Air Interstate Rule NOX Annual 
Trading Program'' and 391-3-1-.02(13) ``Clean Air Interstate Rule 
SO2 Annual Trading Program.''

V. 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. 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 CAA; and
     does 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 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by December 12, 2017. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the

[[Page 47934]]

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. 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, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides.

    Dated: September 29, 2017.
Onis ``Trey'' Glenn, III
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 A--General Provisions


Sec.  52.38   [Amended]

0
2. Amend Sec.  52.38:
0
a. In paragraph (a)(8)(iii) after the word ``Alabama'' by adding the 
words ``and Georgia''; and
0
b. In paragraph (b)(12)(iii), by removing the text ``[none]'' and 
adding the word ``Georgia'' in its place.


Sec.  52.39   [Amended]

0
3. Amend Sec.  52.39 paragraph (m)(3) after the word ``Alabama'' by 
adding the words ``and Georgia''.

Subpart L--Georgia

0
4. In Sec.  52.570, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising 
the entries ``391-3-1-.02(12)'' and ``391-3-1-.02(13),''; and adding in 
numerical order an entry for ``391-3-1-.02(14)'' to read as follows:


Sec.  52.570   Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                        EPA-Approved Georgia Regulations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          State
        State citation              Title/subject       effective     EPA approval date         Explanation
                                                           date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
391-3-1-.02(12)...............  Cross State Air          7/20/2017  10/13/2017, [Insert
                                 Pollution Rule NOX                  Federal Register
                                 Annual Trading                      citation].
                                 Program.
391-3-1-.02(13)...............  Cross State Air          7/20/2017  10/13/2017, [Insert
                                 Pollution Rule SO2                  Federal Register
                                 Annual Trading                      citation].
                                 Program.
391-3-1-.02(14)...............  Cross State Air          7/20/2017  10/13/2017, [Insert
                                 Pollution Rule NOX                  Federal Register
                                 Ozone Season Trading                citation].
                                 Program.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2017-22126 Filed 10-12-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P