[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 22, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3556-3557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00778]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R02-OAR-2019-0674; FRL-10004-37-Region 2]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; New Jersey; 
Negative Declaration

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of New Jersey for purposes of making a negative declaration 
regarding the October 2016 Oil and Natural Gas Control Techniques 
Guidelines (2016 Oil and Gas CTG). This action is being taken in 
accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 21, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R02-OAR-2019-0674 at http://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 http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Omar Hammad, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 2 Office, 290 Broadway, New York, New York 10007-1866, 
at (212) 637-3347, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Supplementary Information section is 
arranged as follows:

Table of Contents

I. What action is the EPA proposing?
II. What is the background for this proposed rulemaking?
III. What did New Jersey submit?
IV. What is the EPA's evaluation of New Jersey's SIP submittal?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What action is the EPA proposing?

    The EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of New Jersey on May 
13, 2019, for purposes of making a negative declaration that no sources 
exist in the State of New Jersey that would be subject to the 2016 Oil 
and Gas CTG.

II. What is the background for this proposed rulemaking?

    On October 27, 2016, EPA published in the Federal Register the 
``Release of Final Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and 
Natural Gas Industry.'' See 81 FR 74798. The CTG provided information 
to state, local, and tribal air agencies to assist them in determining 
reasonably available control technology (RACT) for volatile organic 
compounds (VOC) emissions from select oil and natural gas industry 
emission sources. Clean Air Act (CAA) section 182(b)(2)(A) requires 
that for ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate, states must 
revise their SIPs to include provisions to implement RACT for each 
category of VOC sources covered by a CTG document issued between 
November 15, 1990, and the date of attainment. CAA section 184(b)(1)(B) 
extends this requirement to states in the Ozone Transport Region (OTR). 
States are required to adopt RACT controls that are at least as 
stringent as those found within the CTG.

III. What did New Jersey submit?

    On May 13, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental 
Protection (NJDEP) submitted to the EPA a SIP revision consisting of a 
negative declaration for the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG.
    The oil and natural gas industry includes oil and natural gas 
operations involved in the extraction and production of crude oil and 
natural gas, as well as the processing, transmission, storage, and 
distribution of natural gas. For oil, the industry includes all 
operations from the well to the point of custody transfer at a 
petroleum refinery. For natural gas, the industry includes all 
operations from the well to the customer.
    The NJDEP cross referenced the source operations covered in the 
2016 Oil and Gas CTG and its applicability to New Jersey. Its findings 
are in the table below.

Table 1--New Jersey's Evaluation of the Source Operations Covered in the
        2016 Oil and Gas CTG and Its Applicability to New Jersey
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Confirmation no
Source operations covered in      Applicability     source operations in
  the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG                                   NJ
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Storage Vessels (CTG Section  Crude oil,            Only distribution of
 4.0).                         condensate,           oil in the state;
                               intermediate          CTG specifically
                               hydrocarbon           excludes storage of
                               liquids, and          crude oil at
                               produced water        refineries.
                               storage in all
                               segments (except
                               distribution) of
                               the oil and gas
                               industry.
Compressors (CTG Section      Centrifugal and       No natural gas
 5.0).                         reciprocating         extraction occurs
                               compressors located   in state; only
                               between the           natural gas
                               wellhead and point    transmission and
                               of custody transfer   storage after
                               to the natural gas    natural gas has
                               transmission and      entered state
                               storage.              through pipeline.

[[Page 3557]]

 
Pneumatic Controller (CTG     Controllers located   No natural gas or
 Section 6.0).                 from wellhead to a    oil extraction
                               natural gas           occurs in state;
                               processing plant or   and no natural gas
                               from wellhead to      processing plant
                               point of custody      operates in state.
                               transfer to an oil
                               pipeline.
Pneumatic Pumps (CTG Section  Pumps located at      No natural gas
 7.0).                         natural gas           extraction occurs
                               processing plants     in state; and no
                               and well sites.       natural gas
                                                     processing plant
                                                     operates in state.
Equipment Leaks (CTG Section  All equipment         No natural gas
 8.0).                         (except compressors   processing plant
                               and sampling          operates in state;
                               connection systems)   and no wet gas
                               within a process      service.
                               unit located at a
                               natural gas
                               processing plant in
                               VOC service or in
                               wet gas service.
Fugitive Emissions (CTG       Collection of         No natural gas
 Section 9.0).                 fugitive emission     extraction occurs
                               components at a       in state; only
                               well site and         natural gas
                               gathering and         transmission and
                               boosting station,     storage after
                               that is located       natural gas has
                               from the wellhead     entered state
                               to the point of       through pipeline.
                               custody transfer to
                               the natural gas
                               transmission and
                               storage segment or
                               to an oil pipeline.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Through this negative declaration, New Jersey is asserting that 
there are no sources within its respective State that would be subject 
to the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG. New Jersey asserts that it is not 
anticipated that crude oil or natural gas extraction will be occurring 
in New Jersey for the foreseeable future.

IV. What is the EPA's evaluation of New Jersey's SIP submittal?

    On May 13, 2019, New Jersey submitted a SIP revision to make a 
negative declaration and address the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG requirements 
within the State. The EPA has reviewed New Jersey's submittal and 
agrees with the State's evaluation. The EPA compared the State's 
evaluation with their inventory and is concurring with their negative 
declaration. The EPA is proposing to approve the revision to the SIP 
submitted by the State to address the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG for the OTR 
and nonattainment RACT requirements for both the 2008 and 2015 ozone 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards and is approving their negative 
declaration that no sources exist in the State of New Jersey that would 
be subject to the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG.
    The EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in 
this proposal. These comments will be considered before the EPA takes 
final action. Interested parties may participate in the Federal 
rulemaking procedure by submitting written comments as discussed in the 
ADDRESSES section of this rulemaking.

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 CAA 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 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 Executive Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), and 13563 (76 FR 382, January 21, 
2011);
     Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 
2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempt 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, this proposed rulemaking action, pertaining to New 
Jersey's Negative Declaration SIP submission, would not be 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 any 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, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: January 2, 2020.
Peter D. Lopez,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 2020-00778 Filed 1-21-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P