[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 4, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 62468-62470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26294]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2018-0676; FRL-9986-66-Region 6]
Air Plan Approval; Texas; Emission Statements
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a portion of a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Texas for
the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).
The portion of the SIP revision being approved pertains to CAA 2008
ozone NAAQS requirement for emission statements in the Dallas/Fort
Worth ozone nonattainment area (DFW area).
DATES: This rule is effective on March 4, 2019 without further notice,
unless the EPA receives relevant adverse comment by January 3, 2019. If
the EPA receives such comment, the EPA will publish a timely withdrawal
in the Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not
take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2018-0676, at https://www.regulations.gov or via email to [email protected]. 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 Ms. Karolina Ruan Lei,
214-665-7346, [email protected]. For the full EPA public
comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and
general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA Region 6,
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all documents in the
docket are listed in the index, some information may be publicly
available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted material),
and some may not be publicly available at either location (e.g., CBI).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karolina Ruan Lei, 214-665-7346,
[email protected]. To inspect the hard copy materials, please
schedule an appointment with Ms. Karolina Ruan Lei or Mr. Bill Deese at
214-665-7253.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' and
``our'' means the EPA.
I. Background
Section 110 of the CAA requires states to develop and submit to the
EPA a SIP to ensure that state air quality meets the NAAQS. These
ambient standards currently address six criteria pollutants: Carbon
monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, lead, particulate matter, and sulfur
dioxide. Each federally-approved SIP protects air quality primarily by
addressing air pollution at its point of origin through air pollution
regulations and control strategies. The EPA approved SIP regulations
and control strategies are federally enforceable.
In 2008, we revised the 8-hour ozone primary and secondary NAAQS to
a level of 0.075 parts per million (ppm) to provide increased
protection of public health and the environment (73 FR 16436, March 27,
2008). The 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS revised the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS
of 0.08 ppm. The DFW area was classified as a ``Moderate'' ozone
nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS (77 FR 30088, May
21, 2012). The DFW 2008 ozone nonattainment area consists of Collin,
Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and
Wise counties.
On August 21, 2018, Texas submitted a SIP revision addressing
oxides of nitrogen (NOx) reasonably available control
technology (RACT) for a cement manufacturing plant in Ellis County as a
part of its DFW 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS SIP update. That SIP revision
also included a description of how the CAA Section 182(a)(3)(B)
requirement for emission statements from stationary point sources are
met in the DFW area for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, using already-existing
measures previously
[[Page 62469]]
approved by EPA.\1\ EPA is only evaluating the emission statements
portion of the August 21, 2018 SIP submittal in this action.\2\ A copy
of the SIP revision submittal that includes the emission statement
requirement is included in the docket to this rulemaking and is
available online at www.regulations.gov, Docket number EPA-R06-OAR-
2018-0676. In the SIP revision submittal, Texas noted that the SIP
revision pertaining to emissions inventory requirements approved by EPA
on August 26, 1994 (59 FR 44036) meets the CAA requirement for emission
statements. The codification of the Texas SIP approved by EPA can be
found at 40 CFR 52.2270(c).
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\1\ See page 4-4 of the adopted SIP revision submittal by Texas
that is included in the docket to this action.
\2\ In a separate action we proposed to approve the remainder of
the August 21, 2018 SIP submittal. See Docket number EPA-R06-OAR-
2018-0675 online at www.regulations.gov.
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II. The EPA's Evaluation
CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) calls for SIPs for all ozone nonattainment
areas to require that the owner or operator of each stationary source
of nitrogen oxides or volatile organic compounds (ozone precursors)
provide the State with an annual statement of emissions along with a
certification that this information is accurate to the best knowledge
of the individual certifying the statement.
The Texas SIP includes 30 TAC Section 101.10 (Emissions Inventory
Requirements). The certification for emission statements is found at 30
TAC Section 101.10(d) (Certifying statement). We initially approved
this certification as meeting the CAA emission statement requirement on
August 26, 1994 (59 FR 44036).\3\ Most recently we approved revisions
to 30 TAC Section 101.10 (Emissions Inventory Requirements) on June 8,
2017 (82 FR 26598). The most recently EPA approved Texas regulation
continues to include appropriate provisions so that the owner or
operator of each stationary source must provide the State with a
statement with each emissions inventory attesting that the information
contained in the inventory is true and accurate to the best knowledge
of the certifying official (30 TAC Section 101.10(d)(1)). We find that
the SIP revision submittal that is the subject of this action continues
to be consistent with those requirements. Therefore, since the Texas
SIP already includes an approved CAA emission statement requirement, we
are approving this portion of the SIP revision as it pertains to the
2008 ozone standard.
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\3\ In that action, we approved revisions to 30 TAC Section
101.10: Emissions Inventory Requirements and the emission statement
program for stationary sources within ozone nonattainment areas as
the revisions satisfied CAA Section 182(a)(3)(B) requirements and
was consistent with EPA's draft Guidance on the Implementation of an
Emission Statement Program (July 1992).
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III. Final Action
We are approving the revision to the Texas SIP submitted on August
21, 2018, that pertains to the 2008 ozone NAAQS requirement for
emission statements for large stationary sources in the DFW area.
The EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because we
view this as a non-controversial amendment and anticipate no adverse
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if relevant adverse
comments are received. This rule will be effective on March 4, 2019
without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse comment by
January 3, 2019. If we receive relevant adverse comments, we will
publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the
public that the rule will not take effect. We will address all public
comments in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. We will
not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties
interested in commenting must do so now. Please note that if we receive
relevant adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this
rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the
rule, we may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not
the subject of an adverse comment.
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 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 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 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, 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).
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. The EPA will submit a report containing this rule 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
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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 February 4, 2019. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this rule 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, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: November 26, 2018.
Anne Idsal,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.
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 SS--Texas
0
2. In Sec. [thinsp]52.2270(e), the second table titled ``EPA Approved
Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas
SIP'' is amended by adding an entry at the end for ``Emission Statement
Requirements for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS''.
The revision reads as follows:
Sec. 52.2270 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
EPA Approved Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas SIP
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Applicable State
Name of SIP provision geographic or non- submittal/ EPA approval date Comments
attainment area effective date
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* * * * * * *
Emission Statement Requirements Dallas-Fort Worth, 8/21/2018 12/4/2018, [Insert .....................
for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS. TX. Federal Register
citation].
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[FR Doc. 2018-26294 Filed 12-3-18; 8:45 am]
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