[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 24, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16557-16559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06171]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[EPA-R01-OAR-2020-0083; FRL-10006-58-Region 1]


Approval and Promulgation of State Plan (Negative Declaration) 
for Designated Facilities and Pollutants: Vermont

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a direct 
final action to approve a negative declaration submitted to satisfy the 
requirements of the Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for 
Municipal Solid Waste Landfills for the State of Vermont. The negative 
declaration certifies that there are no existing facilities in the 
State of Vermont that must comply with this rule.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective May 26, 2020 without 
further notice, unless the EPA receives adverse comments by April 23, 
2020. If the EPA receives adverse comments, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register

[[Page 16558]]

informing the public that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OAR-2020-0083 at https://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, the EPA may publish any comments 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 https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Kilpatrick, Air Permits, 
Toxics, & Indoor Programs Branch, Air and Radiation Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, 5 Post Office Square, Mail 
Code: 05-2, Boston, MA 02109-0287. Telephone: 617-918-1652. Fax: 617-
918-0652. Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Regulations
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    Section 111(d) of the CAA establishes standards of performance for 
existing sources, specifically pertaining to the remaining useful life 
of a source. Air pollutants included under this section are those which 
have not already been established as air quality criteria pollutants 
via 42 U.S.C. 7408(a) or hazardous air pollutants via 42 U.S.C. 7412. 
Section 111(d)(1) requires states to submit to the EPA for approval a 
plan that establishes standards of performance. The plan must provide 
that the state will implement and enforce the standards of performance. 
A federal plan is prescribed if a state does not submit a state-
specific plan or the submitted plan is disapproved. If a state has no 
designated facilities for a standards of performance source category, 
it may submit a negative declaration in lieu of a state plan for that 
source category according to 40 CFR 60.23a(b) and 62.06.

II. Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Regulations

    A municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill is defined in 40 CFR 60.41f 
as, ``an entire disposal facility in a contiguous geographical space 
where household waste is placed in or on land.'' Other substances may 
be placed in the landfill which are regulated under RCRA Subtitle D, 40 
CFR 257.2. MSW landfills emit gases generated by the decomposition of 
organic compounds or evolution of new organic compounds from the 
deposited waste. The EPA regulations specifically delineate measures to 
control methane and nonmethane organic compound (NMOC) emissions, which 
can adversely impact public health.
    Standards of Performance for new MSW landfills, as codified at 40 
CFR part 60 subpart XXX (subpart XXX), set standards for air emissions, 
operating standards for collection and control systems, test methods 
and procedures, compliance provisions, monitoring of operations, 
reporting requirements, recordkeeping requirements, and specifications 
for active collection systems. Subpart XXX applies to facilities that 
commenced construction, reconstruction, or modification after July 17, 
2014. The Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Municipal Solid 
Waste Landfills, as codified at 40 CFR part 60 subpart Cf (subpart Cf, 
or Emission Guidelines) apply to states with MSW landfills that 
accepted waste after November 8, 1987 and commenced construction, 
reconstruction, or modification before July 17, 2014. Such landfills 
are considered to be ``existing'' landfills. In states with facilities 
meeting the applicability criteria of an existing MSW landfill, the 
Administrator of an air quality program must submit a state plan to the 
EPA that implements the Emission Guidelines.
    The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VT DEC) has 
determined that there is only one MSW landfill (a ``new'' landfill) in 
the State subject to federal Clean Air Act landfill regulations 
pursuant to part 60 subpart XXX. The landfill, New England Waste 
Services of Vermont, Inc. of Coventry, Vermont, commenced construction 
on an expansion to its design capacity on August 19, 2019, and is thus 
currently regulated under Subpart XXX. Therefore, the VT DEC submitted 
a negative declaration to EPA on September 10, 2019 pursuant to the 
requirements at 40 CFR 60.23a(b) and 62.06, certifying that there are 
no existing source MSW landfills in the State of Vermont subject to the 
requirements of 40 CFR part 60 subpart Cf.

III. Final Action

    The EPA is approving the Vermont negative declaration. This 
negative declaration satisfies the requirements of 40 CFR 60.23a(b) and 
62.06, serving in lieu of a CAA 111(d) state plan for existing source 
MSW landfills.
    The EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because 
the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates 
no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this 
Federal Register publication, the EPA is publishing a separate document 
that will serve as the proposal to approve the negative declaration 
should relevant adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective 
May 26, 2020 without further notice unless the Agency receives relevant 
adverse comments by April 23, 2020.
    If the EPA receives such comments, we will publish a notice 
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will 
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in 
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. The EPA will not 
institute a second comment period on the proposed rule. All parties 
interested in commenting on the proposed rule should do so at this 
time. If no such comments are received, the public is advised that this 
rule will be effective on May 26, 2020 and no further action will be 
taken on the proposed rule. Please note that if EPA receives adverse 
comments on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if 
that provision may be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may 
adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of 
adverse comments.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a 111(d) 
plan submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and 
applicable Federal regulations (40 CFR 62.04). Thus, in reviewing 
111(d) plan submissions, the EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that

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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 regulatory action because 
this action is not significant 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 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 rule 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. EPA will submit a report containing this action 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 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 Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by May 26, 2020. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this action 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)).
    Parties with objections to this direct final rule are encouraged to 
file a comment in response to the parallel notice of proposed 
rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules section of 
this issue of the Federal Register, rather than file an immediate 
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that the EPA 
can withdraw this direct final rule and address comment(s) in the final 
rulemaking.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 62

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: March 18, 2020.
Dennis Deziel,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.

    Part 62 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
is amended as follows:

PART 62--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF STATE PLAN FOR DESIGNATED 
FACILITIES AND POLLUTANTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 62 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart UU--Vermont

0
2. Revise Sec.  62.11485 to read as follows:


Sec.  62.11485  Identification of Plan--negative declaration.

    On September 10, 2019 the State of Vermont Department of 
Environmental Conservation submitted a letter certifying no Municipal 
Solid Waste Landfills subject to 40 CFR part 60 Subpart Cf operate 
within the State's jurisdiction.

[FR Doc. 2020-06171 Filed 3-23-20; 8:45 am]
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