[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 2, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31540-31541]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14017]



[[Page 31540]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2018-0819; FR-9995-57-Region 4]


Air Plan Approval; Georgia; Revisions to Sulfur Dioxide Ambient 
Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: On July 31, 2018, the State of Georgia, through the Georgia 
Environmental Protection Division (EPD), provided a revision to the 
Georgia State Implementation Plan (SIP). The Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve into the SIP a modification to 
Georgia's Ambient Air Quality Standards regulation. Specifically, the 
July 31, 2018, SIP revision updates Georgia's air quality standards for 
sulfur dioxide (SO2) to be consistent with the National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). EPA is proposing to approve the 
July 31, 2018, SIP revision because the changes are consistent with the 
Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 1, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2018-0819 at www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or 
removed from Regulations.gov. 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, the full EPA public comment 
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general 
guidance on making effective comments, please visit www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tiereny Bell, Air Regulatory 
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and 
Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 
Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is 
(404) 562-9088. Ms. Bell can also be reached via electronic mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In this rulemaking, EPA is proposing to approve changes into the 
Georgia SIP dated July 31, 2018.\1\ This rulemaking proposes to approve 
changes that revise Subparagraph (b), ``Sulfur Dioxide,'' of Georgia 
Rule 391-3-1-.02(4), ``Ambient Air Standards'' by updating Georgia's 
air quality standard to be consistent with the NAAQS. Georgia's July 
31, 2018, SIP revision can be found in the docket for this rulemaking 
at www.regulations.gov and is further summarized below.
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    \1\ The Agency received the SIP revision on August 2, 2018. EPA 
received several SIP revisions from Georgia through the July 31, 
2018, letter. EPA is considering action on the additional SIP 
revisions in actions separate from today's action.
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II. EPA's Analysis of Georgia's SIP revision

    The July 31, 2018, SIP submission revises the State's ambient air 
quality standards to reflect the historical and current NAAQS for 
SO2. Specifically, the changes update the former primary 
SO2 NAAQS for the 1971 annual and 24-hour ambient air 
quality standards to be consistent with the federal regulations.
    On June 22, 2010, EPA promulgated a revised primary SO2 
NAAQS. The revised SO2 NAAQS is an hourly standard of 75 
parts per billion (ppb), based on a 3-year average of the annual 99th 
percentile of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations. The June 22, 2010 
action that promulgated the revised primary SO2 NAAQS also 
addressed revocation of the 1971 24-hour and annual primary 
SO2 NAAQS. See 75 FR 35520. Pursuant to the June 22, 2010 
action and 40 CFR 50.4 the 1971 primary SO2 annual and 24-
hour NAAQS will continue to apply in an area until one year after the 
effective date of the designation of that area for the 2010 
SO2 NAAQS. See 42 U.S.C. 7407; 40 CFR 50.17.\2\ Accordingly, 
in the July 31, 2018, SIP submittal, Georgia revised Rule 391-3-
1-.02(4)(b) to provide clarity that the 1971 standard continues to 
apply in Georgia.\3\
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    \2\ See 75 FR at 35581. No areas in Georgia were designated as 
nonattainment for the 1971 standards at the time of promulgation of 
the 2010 1-hour SO2 annual and 24-hour SO2 
standards. See id.
    \3\ See 40 CFR 81.311 for designated areas in the State of 
Georgia for the 2010 SO2 standard. The EPA notes that 
Floyd County is the only county in Georgia that has not yet been 
designated for the 2010 SO2 standard, and thus is still 
subject to the 1971 annual and 24-hour SO2 standards. See 
81 FR 45039 (July 12, 2016); 83 FR 1098 (January 9, 2018).
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    EPA notes that the State's revision to Rule 391-3-1-.02(4)(b) in 
the July 31, 2018, submittal replaces the State's previous version of 
Rule 391-3-1-.02(4)(b). If EPA finalizes approval of the revision, the 
State's previous regulation containing the 1971 standard (expressed in 
micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/m\3\)) will be replaced by the 
version state effective on July 23, 2018 (expressed in parts per 
million (ppm)). EPA notes that the two expressions of the NAAQS are 
equivalent and thus there is no expected increase in emissions as a 
result of this change.\4\
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    \4\ See, e.g., 36 FR 8186 (April 30, 1971) (listing the sulfur 
dioxide NAAQS in both ppm and [mu]g/m\3\).
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    EPA has reviewed the changes to Subparagraph (b), ``Sulfur 
Dioxide'', of Rule 391-3-1-.02(4), ``Ambient Air Standards'' and has 
made the preliminary determination that the changes are consistent with 
the CAA. As mentioned above, EPA is proposing to approve these changes 
to the NAAQS into the Georgia SIP.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, 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 changes to Georgia's Rule 391-3-1-.02(4), ``Ambient Air 
Standards,'' effective July 23, 2018, which revises the State ambient 
air quality standards to be consistent with the NAAQS. EPA has made, 
and will continue to make, these materials generally available through 
www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 4 office (please contact the 
person identified in the For Further Information Contact section of 
this preamble for more information).

IV. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the aforementioned changes to the 
Georgia SIP dated July 31, 2018, as described above. These changes are 
consistent with the CAA.

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 
proposes to

[[Page 31541]]

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 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).
    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.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Sulfur oxides.

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

    Dated: May 28, 2019.
Mary S. Walker,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2019-14017 Filed 7-1-19; 8:45 am]
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