[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49870-49872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21467]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2018-0559; FRL-9984-80--Region 9]
Air Plan Approval; California; Feather River 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 a revision to the Feather River Air Quality Management District
(FRAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP).
This revision concerns emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX)
from natural gas-fired water heaters, small boilers, and process
heaters. We are proposing to approve a local rule 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 November 2, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2018-0559, at https://www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted
at 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, 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://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Schwartz, EPA Region IX, (415)
972-3286, [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 rule did the State submit?
B. Are there other versions of this rule?
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rule
D. Public comment and proposed action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What rule did the State submit?
Table 1 lists the rule addressed by this proposal with the dates
that it was adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the
California Air Resources Board (CARB).
[[Page 49871]]
Table 1--Submitted Rule
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Local agency Rule number Rule title Adopted Submitted
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FRAQMD................................ 3.23 Natural Gas-Fired Water 10/03/2016 05/08/2017
Heaters, Small Boilers,
And Process Heaters.
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On November 1, 2017, the EPA determined that the submittal for
FRAQMD Rule 3.23 met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51
Appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review.
B. Are there other versions of this rule?
There are no previous versions of Rule 3.23 in the SIP.
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
Emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) contribute to
ground-level ozone, smog and particulate matter, which harm human
health and the environment. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states
to submit regulations that control NOX emissions. Rule 3.23
limits NOX emissions in the FRAQMD from natural gas-fired
water heaters, small boilers, and process heaters rated 0.075 MM \1\ to
1 MM Btu/hr \2\. The EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more
information about this rule.
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\1\ MM = million.
\2\ British thermal unit (Btu): The amount of heat required to
raise the temperature of one pound of water from 59 [deg]F to 60
[deg]F at one atmosphere.
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II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
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 must require Reasonably Available Control
Measures/Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACM/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)). 40 CFR
81.305 describes FRAQMD as regulating a portion of the Sacramento Metro
Area nonattainment area classified as Severe for the 1997 and 2008 8-
hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The rest of
FRAQMD is designated as unclassifiable/attainment. Rule 3.23 regulates
area sources that are too small to exceed the major source threshold of
25 tons per year for Severe ozone nonattainment areas (see CAA 182(d)
and (f)) and is therefore not subject to major source ozone RACT
requirements. Nonetheless, FRAQMD must implement all RACM/RACT for
NOX necessary to demonstrate attainment as expeditiously as
practicable and to meet any reasonable further progress (RFP)
requirements (CAA 172(c)(1), 40 CFR 51.912(d), 51.1112(c)).
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); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).
2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook, revised January 11,
1990).
3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
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 Industrial/Commercial/Institutional (ICI) Boilers'', US
EPA 453/R-94-022 (March 1994).
6. ``Alternative Control Techniques Document--NOX
Emissions from Process Heaters (Revised)'' (EPA-453/R-93-034 1993/09).
7. ``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, July 18, 1991).
B. Does the Rule Meet the Evaluation Criteria?
This rule is consistent with CAA requirements and relevant guidance
regarding enforceability, RACT, and SIP revisions. The TSD has more
information on our evaluation.
C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rule
The TSD describes additional rule revisions that we recommend for
the next time the local agency modifies the rule but are not currently
the basis for rule disapproval.
D. Public Comment and Proposed Action
As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to
fully approve the submitted rule because it fulfills all relevant
requirements. We will accept comments from the public on this proposal
until November 2, 2018. If we take final action to approve the
submitted rule, our final action will incorporate this rule 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 FRAQMD rule described in Table 1 of this preamble. The
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials available
through 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
[[Page 49872]]
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 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: September 21, 2018.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2018-21467 Filed 10-2-18; 8:45 am]
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