[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 144 (Thursday, July 26, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35451-35454]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15924]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 70

[EPA-R07-OAR-2018-0536; FRL-9981-19--Region 7]


Air Plan Approval; Iowa; Approval of the State Implementation 
Plan and the Operating Permits Program

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 Iowa State Implementation Plan (SIP), and the 
Operating Permits Program. The proposed revisions clarify the types of 
mailing services that may be used for submitting construction and 
operating permit applications, and clarify that applications are not 
required to be submitted by certified mail. The

[[Page 35452]]

proposed revisions also eliminate the requirement for construction 
permit applications for projects that will not emit greenhouse gases 
(GHG) to submit the current separate three-page GHG form. In addition, 
a revision to the operating permit program is being made to require 
only one copy of the permit application instead of two. Finally, this 
proposed action includes minor grammatical corrections. EPA has 
reviewed these proposed revisions and determined that they will not 
impact air quality and will ensure consistency between the state and 
federally approved rules.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 27, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2018-0536 to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 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, 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: Heather Hamilton, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 11201 Renner 
Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219 at (913) 551-7039, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' and 
``our'' refer to EPA. This section provides additional information by 
addressing the following:

I. What is being addressed in this document?
II. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP and the operating 
permits program revision been met?
III. What actions are proposed?
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What is being addressed in this document?

    EPA is proposing to approve a submission from the state of Iowa to 
revise the Iowa SIP and Operating Permits Program. The proposed 
revisions to the SIP are to clarify the types of mailing services that 
may be used for submitting construction permit applications to include 
the U.S. Postal Service, private parcel delivery services, and hand 
delivery. Construction permit applications are not required to be 
submitted by certified mail. The proposed revisions also eliminate the 
requirement for construction permit applications for projects that will 
not emit greenhouses gases to submit the current three-page form.
    The proposed revisions to the operating permits program clarifies 
the types of mailing services that may be used for submitting operating 
permit applications to include the U.S. Postal Service, private parcel 
delivery services, and hand delivery. Operating permit applications are 
not required to be submitted by certified mail. This proposal to the 
operating permits program is being made to require only one copy of the 
operating permit application instead of two.
    This proposed action also includes minor grammatical corrections to 
the SIP for construction permit rules and minor grammatical corrections 
to the operating permits program rules.

II. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP and the operating 
permits program revision been met?

    The administrative rule amendments in this submission were first 
published in the Iowa Administrative Bulletin as a Notice of Intended 
Action on January 18, 2017. A public comment period was held from 
January 18, 2017, to February 20, 2017, with a public hearing on 
February 20, 2017. EPA submitted a comment during the public comment 
period stating that the portion of the proposed amendment allowing 
submittal of a construction permit application or a title V operating 
permit application by email would not be approved until Iowa's 
electronic document receiving system was approved pursuant to the Cross 
Media Electronic Reporting Rule (CROMERR) at 40 CFR part 3.\1\ In 
response to this comment, Iowa requested an applicability determination 
from EPA. A response from EPA dated May 25, 2017, was sent to Iowa 
stating email applications would not be considered CROMERR compliant.
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    \1\ On December 29, 2009 (See 74 FR 68692), EPA did not act on 
Iowa's provision that allowed for electronic submittal for 
construction permit applications (subrule 22.1(3)), and electronic 
submittal for operating permit applications (subrule 22.105(1)) 
because Iowa's electronic document receiving system was not approved 
pursuant to CROMERR.
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    In response to the applicability determination, the state of Iowa 
amended the rules to remove the provisions for email applications and 
republished the Notice of Intended Action for public comment on August 
16, 2017. A public comment period was held between August 16, 2017 and 
September 5, 2017, with a public hearing held on September 5, 2017. No 
comments were received during this period. The submission was sent to 
EPA on January 4, 2018, and received January 9, 2018.
    The state submittal met the public notice requirements for SIP 
submissions in accordance with 40 CFR 51.102. The submittal also 
satisfied the completeness criteria of 40 CFR part 51, appendix V. In 
addition, these revisions meet the substantive SIP requirements of the 
CAA, including section 110 and implementing regulations. These 
revisions are also consistent with applicable EPA requirements of Title 
V of the CAA and 40 CFR part 70.

III. What actions are proposed?

    EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Iowa SIP, and the 
Operating Permits Program. The proposed revisions clarify the types of 
mailing services that may be used for submitting construction and 
operating permit applications, and clarify that applications are not 
required to be submitted by certified mail. The proposed revisions also 
eliminate the requirement for construction permit applications or 
projects that will not emit greenhouse gases (GHG) to submit the 
current separate three-page GHG form. In addition, a revision to the 
operating permit program is being made to require only one copy of the 
permit application instead of two. Finally, this proposed action 
includes minor grammatical corrections.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this action, 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, EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference the Iowa Regulations described in the amendments to 40 CFR 
part 52 set forth below. EPA has made, and will continue to make, these 
materials generally available through www.regulations.gov and at the 
EPA Region 7 Office (please contact the person identified in the FOR

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FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this preamble for more 
information).

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), 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, 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 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 the National Technology 
Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTA) because this rulemaking does not 
involve technical standards; 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 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

40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

40 CFR Part 70

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Intergovernmental relations, Operating permits, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.


    Dated: July 16, 2018.
James B. Gulliford,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.
    For the reasons stated in the preamble, EPA proposes to amend 40 
CFR parts 52 and 70 as set forth below:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  2 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart Q--Iowa

0
2. In Sec.  52.820, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising 
the entry ``567-22.1'' to read as follows:


Sec.  52.820  Identification of plan.

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    (c) * * *

                                          EPA-Approved Iowa Regulations
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                                                        State
       Iowa citation                  Title           effective      EPA approval date          Explanation
                                                         date
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                                      Iowa Department of Natural Resources
                                    Environmental Protection Commission [567]
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                                        Chapter 22--Controlling Pollution
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567-22.1...................  Permits Required for       12/13/17  [Date of publication    Electronic submittal
                              New or Existing                      of the final rule in    referred to in
                              Stationary Sources.                  the Federal             22.1(3) is not SIP
                                                                   Register], [Federal     approved.
                                                                   Register citation of
                                                                   the final rule].
 
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PART 70--STATE OPERATING PERMIT PROGRAMS

0
3. The authority citation for part 70 continues to read as follows:

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

0
4. Appendix A to part 70 is amended by adding paragraph (s) under the 
heading ``Iowa'' to read as follows:

Appendix A to Part 70--Approval Status of State and Local Operating 
Permits Programs

* * * * *

Iowa

* * * * *
    (s) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources submitted for 
program approval revisions to rule 567-22.105. Electronic submittal 
referred to in 22.105 is not approved in the operating permits 
program. The state effective date is December 13, 2017. This 
revision is effective [date 60 days after

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date of publication of the final rule in the Federal Register].
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[FR Doc. 2018-15924 Filed 7-25-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P