[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 9, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32672-32678]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14474]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R05-OAR-2015-0700; FRL-9996-34-Region 5]
Air Plan Approval; Indiana; Attainment Plan for the Morgan County
Sulfur Dioxide Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve as a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision the Morgan
County-related elements of an Indiana submission to EPA dated October
2, 2015, as supplemented on February 8, 2019. The October 2015
submission addresses attainment of the 2010 sulfur dioxide
(SO2) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for four
areas. The February 8, 2019 supplement provides additional modeling
information regarding the adequacy of the plan for Morgan County. EPA
proposes to conclude that Indiana has appropriately demonstrated that
the plan provisions provided for attainment of the 2010 SO2
NAAQS in the Morgan County area by the applicable attainment date and
that the plan meets the other applicable requirements under the Clean
Air Act.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 8, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2015-0700 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
[[Page 32673]]
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: John Summerhays, Environmental
Scientist, Attainment Planning and Maintenance Section, Air Programs
Branch (AR-18J), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-6067,
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following outline is provided to aid in
locating information in this preamble.
Table of Contents
I. Why was Indiana required to submit an SO2 plan for
Morgan County?
II. Requirements for SO2 Nonattainment Area Plans
III. Requirements for Attainment Demonstrations
IV. Review of Indiana's Modeled Attainment Plan for Morgan County
A. Model Selection and General Model Inputs
B. Meteorological Data
C. Emissions Data
D. Emission Limits
E. Background Concentrations
F. Summary of Results
V. Review of Other Plan Requirements
A. Emissions Inventory
B. RACM/RACT
C. New Source Review (NSR)
D. RFP
E. Contingency Measures
VI. EPA's Proposed Action
VII. Incorporation by Reference
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Why was Indiana required to submit an SO2 plan for Morgan
County?
On June 22, 2010, EPA promulgated a new 1-hour primary
SO2 NAAQS of 75 parts per billion (ppb), which is met at an
ambient air quality monitoring site when the 3-year average of the
annual 99th percentile of daily maximum 1-hour average concentrations
does not exceed 75 ppb, as determined in accordance with appendix T of
40 CFR part 50. See 75 FR 35520, codified at 40 CFR 50.17(a)-(b). On
August 5, 2013, EPA designated a first set of 29 areas of the country
as nonattainment for the 2010 SO2 NAAQS, including the
Indianapolis (Marion County), Morgan County, Southwest Indiana (Daviess
and Pike Counties), and Terre Haute (Vigo County) areas within Indiana.
See 78 FR 47191, codified at 40 CFR part 81, subpart C. These area
designations were effective October 4, 2013. Section 191(a) of the
Clean Air Act directs states to submit SIPs for areas designated as
nonattainment for the SO2 NAAQS to EPA within 18 months of
the effective date of the designation, i.e., by no later than April 4,
2015 in this case. Under Clean Air Act section 192(a), the states are
required to demonstrate that their respective areas will attain the
NAAQS as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than five years
from the effective date of designation, which is October 4, 2018.
In response to the requirement for SO2 nonattainment
plan submittals, Indiana submitted nonattainment plans for the above
four areas on October 2, 2015. EPA published proposed action on three
of these areas, namely the Indianapolis, Southwest Indiana, and Terre
Haute areas on August 15, 2018, at 83 FR 40487, and published final
action on two of these areas (Indianapolis and Terre Haute) on March
22, 2019, at 84 FR 10692. Today's action does not address those three
areas, but addresses the fourth area, in Morgan County. The remainder
of this preamble describes the requirements that SO2
nonattainment plans must meet in order to obtain EPA approval, provides
a review of the state's plan for Morgan County with respect to these
requirements, and describes EPA's proposed action on the plan for
Morgan County.
In addition to its submittal, Indiana sent multiple supplemental
letters addressing the Morgan County SO2 nonattainment plan.
On November 15, 2017, Indiana provided clarifications on the derivation
of emissions inventories and on other issues pertinent to the Morgan
County plan as well as to the other three plans in the state's October
2, 2015 submittal. On June 7, 2017, Indiana withdrew the control
requirements for Hydraulic Press Brick from consideration as part of
the Morgan County SIP. However, on February 12, 2019, Indiana
reactivated its request for action on these control requirements. Also,
on February 8, 2019, Indiana submitted additional technical information
in support of a conclusion that the Morgan County plan provides for
attainment even when analyzed with a more conservative background
concentration.
II. Requirements for SO2 Nonattainment Area Plans
Nonattainment SIPs must meet the applicable requirements of the
Clean Air Act, specifically Clean Air Act sections 110, 172, 191 and
192. EPA's regulations governing nonattainment SIPs are set forth at 40
CFR part 51, with specific procedural requirements and control strategy
requirements residing at subparts F and G, respectively. Soon after
Congress enacted the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act, EPA issued
comprehensive guidance on SIPs, in a document entitled the ``General
Preamble for the Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990,'' published at 57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992)
(General Preamble). Among other things, the General Preamble addressed
SO2 SIPs and fundamental principles for SIP control
strategies. Id., at 57 FR 13545-13549, 13567-13568. On April 23, 2014,
EPA issued guidance for meeting the statutory requirements in
SO2 SIPs submitted under the 2010 NAAQS, in a document
entitled, ``Guidance for 1-Hour SO2 Nonattainment Area SIP
Submissions,'' available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/20140423guidance_nonattainment_sip.pdf. In this
guidance EPA described the statutory requirements for a complete
nonattainment area SO2 SIP, which includes: An accurate
emissions inventory of current emissions for all sources of
SO2 within the nonattainment area; an attainment
demonstration; demonstration of reasonable further progress (RFP);
implementation of reasonably available control measures (RACM)
(including reasonably available control techniques (RACT)); new source
review (NSR); enforceable emissions limitations and control measures;
and adequate contingency measures for the affected area. A synopsis of
these requirements is also provided in the notice of proposed
rulemaking on the Illinois SO2 nonattainment plans,
published on October 5, 2017 at 82 FR 46434.
In order for EPA to fully approve a SIP as meeting the requirements
of Clean Air Act sections 110, 172 and 191-192 and EPA's regulations at
40 CFR part 51, the SIP for the affected area needs to demonstrate to
EPA's satisfaction that each of the aforementioned requirements have
been met. Under Clean Air Act sections 110(l) and 193, EPA may not
approve a SIP that would interfere with any applicable requirement
concerning NAAQS attainment and RFP, or any other applicable
requirement, and no requirement in effect (or required to be adopted by
an order, settlement, agreement, or plan in effect before November 15,
1990) in any area which is a nonattainment area for any air pollutant,
may be modified in any manner unless it ensures equivalent or
[[Page 32674]]
greater emission reductions of such air pollutant.
III. Requirements for Attainment Demonstrations
Clean Air Act sections 172(c)(1), 172(c)(6) and 192(a) direct
states with SO2 areas designated as nonattainment to
demonstrate that the submitted plan provides for attainment of the
NAAQS. 40 CFR part 51 subpart G further delineates the control strategy
requirements that SIPs must meet, and EPA has long required that all
SIPs and control strategies reflect four fundamental principles of
quantification, enforceability, replicability, and accountability.
General Preamble, at 13567-68. SO2 attainment plans must
consist of two components: (1) Emission limits and other control
measures that assure implementation of permanent, enforceable and
necessary emission controls, and (2) a modeling analysis which meets
the requirements of 40 CFR part 51, appendix W (Guideline on Air
Quality Models) and demonstrates that these emission limits and control
measures provide for timely attainment of the primary SO2
NAAQS as expeditiously as practicable, but by no later than the
attainment date for the affected area. In all cases, the emission
limits and control measures must be accompanied by appropriate methods
and conditions to determine compliance with the respective emission
limits and control measures and must be quantifiable (i.e., a specific
amount of emission reduction can be ascribed to the measures), fully
enforceable (specifying clear, unambiguous and measurable requirements
for which compliance can be practicably determined), replicable (the
procedures for determining compliance are sufficiently specific and
objective so that two independent entities applying the procedures
would obtain the same result), and accountable (source specific limits
must be permanent and must reflect the assumptions used in the SIP
demonstrations).
EPA's April 2014 guidance recommends that the emission limits be
expressed as short-term average limits (e.g., addressing emissions
averaged over one or three hours), but also describes the option to
utilize emission limits with longer averaging times of up to 30 days so
long as the state meets various suggested criteria. Indiana's plan for
Morgan County involves mostly work practice requirements (i.e.,
requirements that the primary boilers at Indianapolis Power and Light-
Eagle Valley burn natural gas and that Hydraulic Press Brick employ
sorbent injection generally achieving 50 percent emission control) and
does not rely on any longer term average limits.
Preferred air quality models for use in regulatory applications are
described in appendix A of EPA's Guideline on Air Quality Models.\1\ In
2005, EPA promulgated AERMOD as the Agency's preferred near-field
dispersion modeling for a wide range of regulatory applications
addressing stationary sources (for example in estimating SO2
concentrations) in all types of terrain based on extensive
developmental and performance evaluation. Supplemental guidance on
modeling for purposes of demonstrating attainment of the SO2
standard is provided in appendix A to the April 23, 2014 SO2
nonattainment area SIP guidance document referenced above. Appendix A
provides extensive guidance on the modeling domain, the source inputs,
assorted types of meteorological data, and background concentrations.
Consistency with the recommendations in this guidance is generally
necessary for the attainment demonstration to offer adequately reliable
assurance that the plan provides for attainment.
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\1\ EPA published revisions to the Guideline on Air Quality
Models on January 17, 2017.
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As stated previously, attainment demonstrations for the 2010
SO2 NAAQS must demonstrate future attainment and maintenance
of the NAAQS in the entire area designated as nonattainment (i.e., not
just at the violating monitor) by using air quality dispersion modeling
(see Guideline on Air Quality Models) to show that the mix of sources
and enforceable control measures and emission rates in an identified
area will not lead to a violation of the SO2 NAAQS. For a
short-term (i.e., 1-hour) standard, EPA believes that dispersion
modeling, using allowable emissions and addressing stationary sources
in the affected area (and in some cases those sources located outside
the nonattainment area which may affect attainment in the area) is
technically appropriate, efficient and effective in demonstrating
attainment in nonattainment areas because it takes into consideration
combinations of meteorological and emission source operating conditions
that may contribute to peak ground-level concentrations of
SO2.
The meteorological data used in the analysis should generally be
processed with the most recent version of AERMET. Estimated
concentrations should include ambient background concentrations, should
follow the form of the standard, and should be calculated as described
in section 2.6.1.2 of the August 23, 2010 clarification memo on
``Applicability of Appendix W Modeling Guidance for the 1-hr
SO2 National Ambient Air Quality Standard''.
IV. Review of Indiana's Modeled Attainment Plan for Morgan County
The following discussion evaluates various features of the modeling
that Indiana used in its attainment demonstration for Morgan County.
A. Model Selection and General Model Inputs
Indiana's attainment demonstrations used AERMOD, the preferred
model for these applications as identified in the Guideline on Air
Quality Models. Indiana's October 2015 submittal used version 14134 of
this model, which was the most recent version at the time the state
conducted its nonattainment planning. However, the supplemental
modeling that Indiana submitted in February 2019 used the current
version of AERMOD, version 18081. Indiana utilized the regulatory
default mode for all air quality modeling runs.
Indiana's receptor grid and modeling domain for the Morgan County
area generally followed the recommended approaches from the Guideline
on Air Quality Models. Receptor spacing for each modeled facility fence
line was every 50 meters, then 100-meter spacing of receptors out to a
distance of 0.5 kilometers, every 250 meters out to 2.5 kilometers,
every 500 meters out to 5 kilometers, and every 1000 meters out to 10
kilometers from each facility. The resulting receptor grid contained
10,445 receptors. An examination of the modest modeled spatial
gradients near the facility boundaries leads to the conclusion that no
facility in the area contributes to violations within any other
facility's property, so that the exclusion of receptors within facility
fencelines was acceptable.
Indiana determined that Morgan County should be modeled with rural
dispersion characteristics. Indiana did not provide an Auer analysis or
provide other rationale for this selection. Nevertheless, the
nonattainment area, consisting of two townships (Clay and Washington
Townships) have a 2016 estimated population of 21,379 people in an area
of 232.3 square kilometers, an average population density of 92 people
per square kilometer. By comparison, the Guideline on Air Quality
Models suggests that areas with less than 750 people per square
kilometer warrant being modeled with rural dispersion characteristics.
Therefore, EPA concurs with Indiana's determination that this
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area warrants being modeled with rural dispersion coefficients.
B. Meteorological Data
Indiana used the Indianapolis National Weather Service (NWS)
surface data and the Lincoln, Illinois upper air station (WBAN 048233)
data for modeling Morgan County. EPA finds these selections
appropriate.
C. Emissions Data
Indiana identified two sources in Morgan County emitting over 100
tons per year. Indianapolis Power and Light's Eagle Valley power plant,
which conducts continuous SO2 emissions monitoring, emitted
3,436 tons of SO2 in 2012. Hydraulic Press Brick, a
manufacturer of building aggregate, has a less certain emission rate
(in part due to uncertainties in the quantity of sulfur in the shale
that is a raw material in the process), but was estimated to have
emitted 350 tons of SO2 in 2010. Further discussion of the
modeled emissions is provided below.
D. Emission Limits
An important prerequisite for approval of an attainment plan is
that the emission limits that provide for attainment be quantifiable,
fully enforceable, replicable, and accountable. See General Preamble at
13567-68.
In preparing its plans, Indiana adopted revisions to a previously
approved state regulation governing emissions of SO2. These
rule revisions were adopted by the Indiana Environmental Rules Board
following established, appropriate public review procedures. For Eagle
Valley, the revised rule identifies the four primary emission sources
and requires these sources to burn natural gas. The nominal compliance
date for this requirement is January 1, 2017, but in fact Eagle Valley
stopped burning coal in April 2016, after which all electricity
generation at this facility has been based on burning natural gas. For
Hydraulic Press Brick, the revised rule requires use of a limestone
injection system to achieve either 50 percent control efficiency or 2.5
pounds of SO2 per million British thermal units (lbs/MMBTU),
and in no case to emit more than 6.0 lbs/MMBTU. These requirements were
also effective on January 1, 2017. These limits are codified in 326 IAC
7, titled ``Sulfur Dioxide Rules,'' specifically in 326 Indiana
Administrative Code 7-4-11.1 (326 IAC 7-4-11.1). Indiana also submitted
rules specifying the compliance date for these requirements (in 326 IAC
7-1.1-3) and the associated monitoring, testing, and recordkeeping and
reporting requirements (in 326 IAC 7-2-1). The rule provisions provide
unambiguous, permanent requirements for emission control which, if
violated, would be clear grounds for an enforcement action.
Given the requirement for Eagle Valley to burn natural gas, EPA
finds the low emission rate that Indiana modeled for this plant to be
an appropriate reflection of allowable emissions. Indiana did not
explicitly model Hydraulic Press Brick, choosing instead to address
this source as part of the background concentration. The adequacy of
Indiana's background concentration to reflect the impact of this source
and other unmodeled emissions in the area is addressed in the following
section.
E. Background Concentrations
Indiana determined background concentrations for Morgan County
using hourly measurements at the Centerton School monitor (site number
18-109-1001). In its original analysis, documented in its submittal of
October 2, 2015, Indiana determined background concentrations for this
area by selecting the 99th percentile of a monitoring data set that
excluded values when the monitor was downwind of either the Eagle
Valley plant or Hydraulic Press Brick, except that values below 10 ppb
were retained in the analysis. The 99th percentile among the pertinent
values was 9.4 ppb, or 24.6 micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/m\3\).
The purpose of background concentrations in a model simulation is
to represent the impact of emissions from sources that are not
explicitly modeled. Indiana explicitly modeled the allowable emissions
from Eagle Valley, and so Indiana's approach, determining background
concentrations in a manner that excluded occasions with significant
impacts from Eagle Valley, was appropriate for avoiding double counting
the impacts of this source. However, Indiana did not explicitly model
Hydraulic Press Brick, choosing instead to represent this source as
part of the background concentration in the modeling. For this reason,
EPA found it inappropriate that Indiana excluded occasions with impacts
from Hydraulic Press Brick in its determination of a background
concentration.
To address this concern, Indiana conducted additional analyses to
identify background concentrations that would better represent the
impacts of Hydraulic Press Brick and minor other SO2 sources
in the area, which it submitted on February 8, 2019. This analysis used
data from the same monitoring site as Indiana's prior analysis (site
number 18-109-1001), using data from the most recent available three
calendar years of data (2015 to 2017). Indiana again used
meteorological data from the Indianapolis National Weather Service site
for this analysis.
Examination of these data led to the finding that aside from
occasions when Eagle Valley was upwind of the monitor, the highest
concentrations were observed when winds were in a relatively narrow
band of wind directions approximately centered on Hydraulic Press Brick
being upwind of the monitor. Ordinarily background concentrations are
determined by examining concentrations for almost all wind directions,
excluding data for a modest set of directions when modeled sources are
upwind. However, in this case Indiana followed the reverse approach,
excluding occasions when Hydraulic Press Brick was not upwind of the
monitor and considering concentrations only for a relatively small band
of wind directions in which the largest unmodeled source (Hydraulic
Press Brick) was most directly upwind. In particular, the data set used
in this analysis included concentrations when the winds were from
between 25 degrees and 60 degrees (roughly from NNE to ENE). This
approach was designed to estimate the maximum background concentration
that could be attributed to unmodeled sources in the area, including a
conservative representation of the impacts of Hydraulic Press Brick.
EPA guidance offers both the option to determine a single
background concentration, to be used for all seasons and all hours, and
the option to determine separate season- and hour-specific background
concentrations. Indiana applied both options in this case. The
resulting single background concentration was 96.0 [mu]g/m\3\, or 36.7
ppb. The resulting season- and hour-specific background concentrations
ranged from 2.8 to 114.5 [mu]g/m\3\ (1.1 ppb to 43.7 ppb). Indiana then
used these background concentrations in additional model runs to
provide a supplemental assessment of whether its plan provides for
attainment.
F. Summary of Results
Modeling for Morgan County in Indiana's October 2, 2015 submittal
showed a design value of 35.9 [mu]g/m\3\ (13.7 ppb). Modeling in
Indiana's February 8, 2019 submittal used two approaches that provided
a more conservative representation of background concentrations. The
[[Page 32676]]
modeling run using a single background concentration for all seasons
and hours showed a design value of 103.69 [mu]g/m\3\ (39.6 ppb). The
modeling run using season- and hour-specific background concentrations
yielded a design value of 117.33 [mu]g/m\3\ (44.8 ppb), slightly higher
than the run using a single background concentration. Both of these
runs show design values well below 196.4 [mu]g/m\3\ (75 ppb).
Therefore, EPA concludes that Indiana's plan provides for attainment in
this area.
Pursuant to the requirements in Indiana's rules, Hydraulic Press
Brick began sorbent injection, to achieve either 50 percent control or
2.5 lbs/MMBTU of SO2, beginning by January 1, 2017. With
this approximate start date, the period from 2015 to 2017 used in
Indiana's assessment of background concentrations reflected two years
without this control measure and one year with it. While insufficient
data are available to estimate the air quality benefits of this control
measure, the continued implementation of this measure is expected to
result in lower future background concentrations and to assure that
background concentrations will not increase above these levels.
Indiana's letter of February 12, 2019 requests EPA approval of the
control requirements for Hydraulic Press Brick, which will help assure
that background concentrations will remain at or below the level in
Indiana's estimate, thereby helping assure that Indiana's plan provides
for attainment.
V. Review of Other Plan Requirements
A. Emissions Inventory
The emissions inventory and source emission rate data for an area
serve as the foundation for air quality modeling and other analyses
that enable states to: (1) Estimate the degree to which different
sources within a nonattainment area contribute to violations within the
affected area; and (2) assess the expected improvement in air quality
within the nonattainment area due to the adoption and implementation of
control measures. As noted above, the state must develop and submit to
EPA a comprehensive, accurate and current inventory of actual emissions
from all sources of SO2 emissions in each nonattainment
area, as well as any sources located outside the nonattainment area
which may affect attainment in the area. See Clean Air Act section
172(c)(3).
Indiana provided a comprehensive, accurate, and current inventory
of SO2 emissions for Morgan County. Indiana identified two
sources in the county that emitted over 100 tons of SO2 per
year, namely Eagle Valley and Hydraulic Press Brick. Indiana also
summarized emissions in the following source categories: Electric-
generating units (EGUs), non-EGUs (point), non-point (area), non-road,
and on-road sources of SO2. This summary of emissions is
shown in Table 1. Indiana uploads point source emissions to the
National Emissions Inventory (NEI) annually. For the 2011 base year
inventory, emissions from EGU and non-EGUs are actual reported
emissions. Data for airport, area, non-road, and on-road emissions were
compiled from the EPA Emissions Modeling Clearinghouse (SO2
NAAQS Emissions Modeling platform 2007/2007v5) for the 2008 NEI and the
2018 projected inventory year. Data were interpolated between 2008 and
2014 to determine the airport, area, non-road, and on-road emissions
2011 inventory and between 2014-2020 for 2018. These inventories can be
found in appendix H of the submitted attainment demonstration. Also,
for each of the four areas addressed in its submittal, including Morgan
County, Indiana provided modeling inputs that include a listing of the
individual sources with sufficient proximity to and impact on the
nonattainment areas to warrant being explicitly included in the
modeling analysis.
Indiana's emission inventory indicated that Eagle Valley in 2012
emitted 3,436 tons of SO2. This precisely matches the
emissions quantity that Eagle Valley reported to EPA under applicable
emissions monitoring and reporting requirements. Indiana indicated that
Hydraulic Press Brick in 2010 emitted 350 tons of SO2. This
is similar to the SO2 emission rate reported in the 2011
National Emission Inventory, though no emissions of SO2 are
reported in the 2014 National Emission Inventory. Notwithstanding the
difficulty of estimating emissions from this source, particularly as it
relates to the quantity of SO2 emissions that arises from
sulfur in the shale that the facility uses as a raw material, EPA
believes that Indiana's SIP submittal provides a suitable estimate of
the emissions from this source for planning purposes.
Table 1--2011 Actual Emissions Inventory for Morgan County
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011 Emissions in
Morgan County
(tpy)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGU.................................................. 10,875
Other Point.......................................... 387
Area................................................. 24
Non-road............................................. 1
On-road.............................................. 10
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Total............................................ 11,297
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By providing a comprehensive, accurate, and current inventory of
SO2 emissions for Morgan County, Indiana has met the
emission inventory requirement of Clean Air Act section 172(c)(3) for
this area. This inventory represents emissions in 2011, a time when the
areas were violating the standard. The state also provided allowable
attainment year emissions in its modeling analysis.
B. RACM/RACT
In its submission, Indiana discusses its rationale for concluding
that the nonattainment plans meet the RACM/RACT requirements in
accordance with EPA guidance. For most criteria pollutants, RACT is
control technology as needed to meet the NAAQS that is reasonably
available considering technological and economic feasibility. However,
Indiana cites EPA guidance that the definition of RACT for
SO2 is, simply, ``that control technology which is necessary
to achieve the NAAQS (40 CFR 51.100(o))''. See General Preamble, 57 FR
13547 (April 16, 1992), synopsizing the SO2 RACT requirement
in 40 CFR 51.100(o). Indiana in fact requires the control technology
that modeling shows to be necessary to ensure attainment of the
SO2 NAAQS by the applicable attainment date.
In addition, Indiana has adopted and submitted limits that require
effective control of the most significant sources in Morgan County. The
requirement for Eagle Valley to burn natural gas brings the emissions
of this source nearly to zero. The requirement for Hydraulic Press
Brick to operate a sorbent injection system in a manner that generally
achieves 50 percent emission control requires operating a control that
is cost effective and achieves a relatively high degree of control for
this type of source. Thus, while Indiana did not conduct a cost
effectiveness analysis of these controls, and EPA does not require such
an analysis, the controls required in this area appear to represent a
full set of reasonably available emission control.
Indiana has determined that these measures suffice to provide for
timely attainment. EPA concurs and proposes
[[Page 32677]]
to conclude that the state has satisfied the requirements in sections
172(c)(1) and (6) to adopt and submit all RACT/RACM and emission
limitations and control measures as needed to attain the standards as
expeditiously as practicable.
C. New Source Review (NSR)
As Indiana's submittal explains, EPA approved Indiana's
nonattainment new source review rules on October 7, 1994 (94 FR 24838).
As Indiana notes, these rules provide for appropriate new source review
for SO2 sources undergoing construction (or major
modification) in the Morgan County area. No modification of the
approved rules is necessary to meet the NSR requirements. Therefore,
EPA concludes that this requirement has already been met for these
areas.
D. RFP
Indiana's adopted rules in 326 IAC 7 require that control measures
be implemented no later than January 1, 2017. Indiana has concluded
that this plan requires that affected sources implement appropriate
control measures as expeditiously as practicable in order to ensure
attainment of the standard by the applicable attainment date. Indiana
concludes that this plan therefore provides for RFP in accordance with
the approach to RFP described in EPA's guidance. EPA concurs and
proposes to conclude that the plan provides for RFP.
E. Contingency Measures
Indiana's approach to contingency measures is one of the subjects
of a clarification memo that Indiana submitted on November 15, 2017. In
this memo, Indiana explained its rationale for concluding that its
plans met the requirement for contingency measures in accordance with
EPA guidance. Specifically, Indiana relies on EPA's guidance, noting
the special circumstances that apply to SO2, and explaining
on that basis why the contingency measures requirement in Clean Air Act
section 172(c)(9) is met for SO2 by having a comprehensive
program to identify sources of violations of the SO2 NAAQS
and to undertake an aggressive follow-up for compliance and enforcement
of applicable emissions limitations. Indiana stated that it has such an
enforcement program as codified in Indiana Code Title 13, Articles 14
and 15, identifying violators and taking prompt, appropriate
enforcement action. On this basis, EPA proposes to conclude that
Indiana's nonattainment plans satisfy contingency measure requirements
for the Morgan County nonattainment area.
Indiana's rules also provide for additional contingency measures as
necessary, following a review of any air quality problems that become
identified and following a review of options for mitigating the
problems that arise. However, Indiana is not relying on these
provisions to satisfy the requirements for contingency measures.
VI. EPA's Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve Indiana's SIP submission, which the
state submitted to EPA on October 2, 2015 and supplemented on November
15, 2017, June 7, 2017, February 8, 2019, and February 12, 2019, for
attaining the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS for the Morgan County
area. This SO2 nonattainment plan includes Indiana's
attainment demonstration for this area. The nonattainment plan also
addresses requirements for emission inventories, RACT/RACM, RFP, and
contingency measures. Indiana has previously addressed requirements
regarding nonattainment area NSR. EPA has determined that Indiana's
SO2 nonattainment plan for Morgan County meets the
applicable requirements of Clean Air Act sections 110, 172, 191, and
192.
The rules that underpin Indiana's attainment plan for Morgan County
include Indiana Administrative Code, Title 326, Rule 7-4-11.1 (326 IAC
7-4-11.1, entitled ``Morgan County sulfur dioxide emission
limitations''), as well as Rule 326 IAC 7-1.1-3 (entitled ``Compliance
date'') and Rule 326 IAC 7-2-1 (entitled ``Reporting requirements;
methods to determine compliance''). EPA has already approved the latter
two rules, as part of its rulemaking on the plans for Marion and Vigo
Counties. These rules provide compliance dates and recordkeeping and
compliance determination provisions that apply to all four areas in
Indiana's original submittal. Because these latter two rules are
already part of the Indiana SIP, and no further action on these rules
is necessary, EPA is proposing only to approve 326 IAC 7-4-11.1.
EPA is taking public comments for thirty days following the
publication of this proposed action in the Federal Register. EPA will
take all comments into consideration in our final action.
VII. 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 326 IAC 7-4-11.1, ``Morgan County sulfur dioxide emission
limitations'', effective at the state on October 2, 2015. EPA has made,
and will continue to make, these documents generally available through
www.regulations.gov, and at the EPA Region 5 Office. (Please contact
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this preamble for more information.)
VIII. 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, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act.
Accordingly, this proposed 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 Order
12866 58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21,
2011);
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 EPA with the discretionary authority to
address, as
[[Page 32678]]
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).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
Reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides.
Dated: June 26, 2019.
Cheryl L. Newton,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2019-14474 Filed 7-8-19; 8:45 am]
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