[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57418-57419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-26183]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2017-0555; FRL-9971-57-Region 3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
West Virginia; Removal of Source-Specific Requirements for Permanently 
Shutdown Facilities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of West Virginia. This revision pertains to the removal of 
source-specific SIP requirements for the following five facilities in 
West Virginia that have permanently shutdown: Mountaineer Carbon 
Company; Standard Lafarge; Follansbee Steel Corporation; International 
Mill Service, Inc.; and Columbian Chemicals Company. These sources have 
permanently ceased operation; therefore, SIP requirements for these 
sources are obsolete and no longer necessary for attaining and 
maintaining the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). This 
action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before January 4, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R03-
OAR-2017-0555 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, 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. 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: Irene Shandruk, (215) 814-2166, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The West Virginia SIP at 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 
52, subpart XX, Sec.  52.2520(d) contains source-specific requirements, 
which were incorporated into the West Virginia SIP over the course of 
many years to allow the State to demonstrate attainment with various 
NAAQS. Subsequently, several of these sources have permanently ceased 
operation rendering source-specific requirements for these facilities 
obsolete.
    SIP revisions pertaining to the removal of obsolete SIP 
requirements for sources that have permanently shutdown are considered 
administrative, non-substantive changes. If a source has permanently 
shutdown, the emissions are permanently reduced to zero, so removing 
source-specific SIP requirements for that source will not interfere 
with attainment and maintenance of any NAAQS, reasonable further 
progress or any other applicable CAA requirement. See CAA section 
110(l).

II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA Analysis

    On August 25, 2017, West Virginia submitted a SIP revision 
requesting that the consent orders for the sources listed in Table 1 be 
removed from the West Virginia SIP located at 40 CFR part 52, subpart 
XX, Sec.  52.2520(d).

              Table 1--Source-Specific Requirements Proposed for Removal From the West Virginia SIP
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                                                                                            EPA Approval date/
               Source name                             Order                  State       Federal Register (FR)
                                                                         effective date          citation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mountaineer Carbon Company...............  Consent Order...............          7/2/82                  9/1/82,
                                                                                                     47 FR 38532
Standard Lafarge.........................  Consent Order...............        11/14/91                 7/25/94,
                                           CO-SIP-91-30................                              59 FR 37696
Follansbee Steel Corporation.............  Consent Order...............        11/14/91                 7/25/94,
                                           CO-SIP-91-31................                              59 FR 37696
International Mill Service, Inc..........  Consent Order...............        11/14/91                 7/25/94,
                                           CO-SIP-91-33................                              59 FR 37696
Columbian Chemicals Company..............  Consent Order...............         1/31/00                  8/2/00,
                                           CO-SIP-2000-3...............                              65 FR 47339
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[[Page 57419]]

    According to West Virginia, the five facilities listed in Table 1 
have permanently shutdown and ceased operation. West Virginia's August 
25, 2017 submittal lists the dates of facility closures and closure 
inspections, and provides relevant documentation verifying the 
permanent closure of these sources (see Table 2). EPA has confirmed 
that all permits, where applicable, have been surrendered and are 
inactive (see Table 2). Because these five sources have permanently 
ceased operation and their emissions have been permanently reduced to 
zero, their source-specific SIP requirements have been rendered 
obsolete.

                              Table 2--Closure Dates and Closure Inspection Dates for Five Permanently Shutdown Facilities
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                                                                                                      Verification
                                                                                                       of closure
              Source name                      Source location           Title V        Permanent      inspection             Permit surrendered
                                                                        facility      closure date    conducted by
                                                                                                      West Virginia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mountaineer Carbon Company.............  Marshall County...........             Yes       10/9/2015        6/2/2017  Yes.
Standard Lafarge.......................  Hancock County............              No       7/20/2011        6/2/2017  Yes.
Follansbee Steel Corporation...........  Brooke County.............              No       7/12/2012       5/31/2017  Not applicable.\1\
International Mill Service, Inc........  Brooke County.............              No       6/27/2000       5/31/2017  Not applicable.\2\
Columbian Chemicals Company............  Marshall County...........             Yes       10/9/2015        6/2/2017  Yes.
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\1\ Follansbee Steel Corporation was grandfathered into the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection--Division of Air Quality's (WVDEP--DAQ)
  permitting program. Therefore, no permits were ever issued for this facility.
\2\ International Mill Service, Inc. was grandfathered into the WVDEP--DAQ permitting program. Therefore, no permits were ever issued for this facility.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA has reviewed West Virginia's SIP revision seeking removal of 
obsolete source-specific SIP requirements from the West Virginia SIP. 
These five sources have permanently ceased operation, rendering source-
specific SIP requirements for these sources obsolete. EPA has confirmed 
that all permits have been surrendered and are inactive. Therefore, EPA 
is proposing to approve the West Virginia August 25, 2017 SIP revision, 
which sought removal of source-specific revisions related to five now 
closed facilities in accordance with section 110 of the CAA. EPA is 
soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this document. 
These comments will be considered before taking final action.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable 
federal regulations. 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, 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 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);
     Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 
2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempted under 
Executive Order 12866;
     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).
    In addition, this proposed rule, pertaining to removal of source-
specific requirements from the West Virginia SIP, does not have tribal 
implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 
November 9, 2000), because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian 
country located in the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose 
substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides, 
Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: November 22, 2017.
Cosmo Servidio,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2017-26183 Filed 12-4-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P