[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 104 (Friday, May 29, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32324-32327]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11260]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2020-0213; FRL-10009-13-Region 9]


Air Plan Approval; California; Consumer Products Regulations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve revisions to the California Air Resources Board's Consumer 
Products portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). 
These revisions concern volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from 
consumer products and a supporting test method. The EPA is also 
proposing to approve revisions to California's Tables of Maximum 
Incremental Reactivity (MIR) Values to support its Aerosol Coating 
Products regulation. We are proposing to approve state rules to 
regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the 
Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a 
final action.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 29, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2020-0213 at https://www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at 
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, 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://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

[[Page 32325]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Buss, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 947-4152, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to the EPA.

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What rules did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of these rules?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Proposed Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. Public comment and proposed action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rules did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rules addressed by this proposal with the dates 
that they were amended and submitted by the California Air Resources 
Board (CARB). The rules rely on CARB Method 310, which was submitted by 
CARB to the EPA on June 4, 2019.
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    \1\ CARB adopted amendments to articles 1, 2 and 3 of subchapter 
8.5 and article 1 of subchapter 8.6 on September 26, 2013. The 
California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the 
amendments on September 17, 2014, effective January 1, 2015. CARB 
submitted the September 26, 2013 amendments to the EPA as a SIP 
revision on December 1, 2016. CARB adopted further amendments to 
articles 1 and 2 of subchapter 8.5 on May 25, 2018. The 2018 
amendments were approved by the California OAL on December 31, 2018, 
effective January 1, 2019. CARB also adopted amendments to Test 
Method 310 on May 25, 2018. CARB submitted articles 1 and 2 and Test 
Method 310, as amended on May 25, 2018, to the EPA as a SIP revision 
by letter dated June 4, 2019.
    \2\ Article 1 of subchapter 8.5 includes sections 94500, 94501, 
94502, 94503, 94503.5, 94504, 94505, 94506 and 94506.5.
    \3\ Article 2 of subchapter 8.5 includes sections 94507 through 
94517.
    \4\ Article 3 of subchapter 8.5 includes sections 94520 through 
94528.
    \5\ Article 1 of subchapter 8.6 includes sections 94700 and 
94701.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
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                                      California Code of
           Local agency                  Regulations               Title            Amended \1\      Submitted
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CARB..............................  Title 17, Division 3,  Antiperspirants and         5/25/2018      06/04/2019
                                     Chapter 1,             Deodorants \2\.
                                     Subchapter 8.5,
                                     Article 1.
CARB..............................  Title 17, Division 3,  Consumer Products \3\       5/25/2018      06/04/2019
                                     Chapter 1,
                                     Subchapter 8.5,
                                     Article 2.
CARB..............................  Title 17, Division 3,  Aerosol Coating            09/17/2014      12/01/2016
                                     Chapter 1,             Products \4\.
                                     Subchapter 8.5,
                                     Article 3.
CARB..............................  Title 17, Division 3,  Tables of Maximum          09/17/2014      12/01/2016
                                     Chapter 1,             Incremental
                                     Subchapter 8.6,        Reactivity (MIR)
                                     Article 1.             Values \5\.
CARB..............................  Method 310--           5/25/2018............        6/4/2019
                                     Determination of
                                     Volatile Organic
                                     Compounds (VOC) in
                                     Consumer Products
                                     and Reactive Organic
                                     Compounds (ROC) in
                                     Aerosol Coating
                                     Products.
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    CARB's December 1, 2016 SIP revision submittal became complete by 
operation of law on June 1, 2017. CARB's June 4, 2019 SIP revision 
submittal became complete by operation of law on December 4, 2019.

B. Are there other versions of these rules?

    We approved earlier versions of CARB's Consumer Products rules into 
the SIP as follows: Subchapter 8.5, Article 1 (``Antiperspirants and 
Deodorants'') at 74 FR 57074 (November 4, 2009); Article 2 (``Consumer 
Products'') at 79 FR 62346 (October 17, 2014); Article 3 (``Aerosol 
Coating Products'') at 74 FR 57074 (November 4, 2009), and Subchapter 
8.6, Article 1 (``Tables of Maximum Incremental Reactivity (MIR) 
Values'') at 70 FR 53930 (September 13, 2005). The EPA has not 
previously approved CARB Method 310 as part of the California SIP.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?

    Emissions of VOCs help produce ground-level ozone, smog and 
particulate matter, which harm human health and the environment. 
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations that 
control VOC emissions. VOC emissions from consumer products contribute 
to the formation of ozone. CARB's Staff Report: Initial Statement of 
Reasons for Proposed Rulemaking for its consumer products amendments 
states, ``For more than twenty years, the Board has taken actions 
pertaining to the regulation of consumer products. Three regulations 
[Antiperspirants and Deodorants, Consumer Products, and Aerosol 
Coatings] have set VOC limits for 129 consumer product categories. 
These three regulations, when fully effective, will reduce VOC 
emissions by about 50 percent compared to 1990 levels.'' \6\ CARB 
predicts that consumer products will, by 2020, become the largest 
source category of VOC emissions in the South Coast Air Basin,\7\ which 
is classified as an ``Extreme'' nonattainment area for the following 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS): 1979 1-hour ozone, 1997 
8-hour ozone, 2008 8-hour ozone, and the 2015 ozone NAAQS (see 40 CFR 
part 81).
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    \6\ ``Staff Report: Initial Statement of Reasons for Proposed 
Rulemaking,'' California Air Resources Board, August 7, 2013 
(``Staff Report'') at Executive Summary-2 available at https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/regact/2013/cp2013/cp13isor.pdf.
    \7\ Id. at Chapter II-9.
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    The current amendments to Article 1 (``Antiperspirants and 
Deodorants'') of 17 CCR Division 3 (``Air Resources''), chapter 1 
(``Air Resources Board''), subchapter 8.5 (``Consumer Products'') 
update certain definitions and references. The current amendments to 
Article 2 (``Consumer Products'') of subchapter 8.5 revise certain 
definitions, lower certain VOC standards, and clarify and update 
certain administrative and reporting requirements. Current amendments 
to Article 3 (``Aerosol Coating Products'') of subchapter 8.5 clarify 
applicability, revise certain definitions, delete mass-based VOC limits 
and add new, lower reactivity-based limits for general and specialty 
aerosol coatings. Lastly, the current amendments to Article 1 (``Tables 
of Maximum Incremental

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Reactivity (MIR) Values'') of 17 CCR Division 3, chapter 1, subchapter 
8.6 (``Maximum Incremental Reactivity'') update MIR values for many 
individual chemical compounds and hydrocarbon solvent groupings. CARB 
estimates that the current amendments will result in equivalent VOC 
emission reductions of approximately 4 tons per day (tpd) statewide, of 
which approximately 1.8 tpd would occur in the area under the 
jurisdiction of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
    The EPA's technical support documents (TSDs) have more information 
about these rules.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Proposed Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?

    Rules in the SIP must be enforceable (see CAA section 110(a)(2)), 
must not interfere with applicable requirements concerning attainment 
and reasonable further progress or other CAA requirements (see CAA 
section 110(l)), and must not modify certain SIP control requirements 
in nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent or greater emissions 
reductions (see CAA section 193). California's consumer products 
regulations cover VOC area sources. In 1998, the EPA promulgated a 
national rule to regulate VOC emissions from consumer products, 63 FR 
48831 (September 11, 1998), and in 2008, the EPA promulgated a national 
rule to regulate the ozone forming potential of aerosol coating 
products, 73 FR 15621 (March 24, 2008). The amendments from CARB that 
we are proposing to approve herein contain more stringent limits for 
consumer products than the corresponding limits in the national 
consumer products VOC rule. With respect to CARB's Aerosol Coatings 
Products rule, we find that the amendments we are proposing to approve 
herein contain limits that achieve lower ozone-forming potential 
relative to the reactivity-based limits for aerosol coating products in 
the EPA's national aerosol coatings rule.
    Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate 
enforceability, revision/relaxation and rule stringency requirements 
for the applicable criteria pollutants include the following:
    1. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook, revised January 11, 
1990).
    2. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
    3. ``National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for 
Consumer and Commercial Products,'' 40 CFR part 59; particularly, 
subpart C (``National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for 
Consumer Products,'' and subpart E (``National Volatile Organic 
Compound Emission Standards for Aerosol Coatings'').
    4. ``Model Rule for Consumer Products,'' Ozone Transport 
Commission, September 19, 2006.\8\
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    \8\ Available at https://otcair.org/document.asp?fview=modelrules.
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B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    When the EPA developed its national consumer products rules in 40 
CFR part 59, we reviewed existing consumer products and aerosol coating 
regulations from states including those from California.\9\ Since the 
EPA promulgated its national rules, California has periodically amended 
its consumer products and aerosol coating rules to add new product 
categories, combine similar product categories, generally reduce the 
VOC content limits for consumer products or product-weighted maximum 
incremental reactivity limits for aerosol coatings, and made other 
amendments to improve implementation and enforcement of its rules. CARB 
also updated its Tables of Maximum Incremental Reactivity consistent 
with newer science.
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    \9\ National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for 
Consumer Products--proposed rule 61 FR 14531 (April 2, 1996), and 
National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Aerosol 
Coatings--proposed rule 72 FR 38951 (July 16, 2007).
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    We compared CARB's amended rules against the EPA's rules and find 
that, overall, CARB's rules are the same or more stringent than the 
national rules. We noted in our TSD for aerosol coatings that there are 
a few limited instances where CARB adopted new aerosol coating 
categories or where it merged existing aerosol coating product 
categories, to streamline its regulation, that could result in a small 
emissions increase. More specifically, when CARB merged existing 
subcategories in the Hobby/Model/Craft aerosol coating category into a 
single category and merged the existing subcategories in the Shellac 
Sealer aerosol coating category into a single category, CARB estimated 
that these amendments could have resulted in approximately 0.1 tpd 
increase for 3-4 months, prior to 2015, if all of the products in these 
coatings were to reformulate.\10\ CARB points out, however, that the 
likelihood of an increase in the ozone forming potential for these 
product categories is small because all products are already in full 
compliance with the limits that took effect January 1, 2015. This 
hypothetical and temporary increase in emissions (approximately 0.1 tpd 
increase for 3-4 months) would not occur after January 1, 2015 because 
the 2015 limits, with only minor exceptions, are, on the whole, more 
stringent than the prior (i.e., 2003) limits for the affected 
categories whether merged or not merged.
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    \10\ CARB Staff Report at Chapter IV-60 and Chapter VIII-153.
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    The EPA notes that, although its national Consumer Products and 
Aerosol Coatings rules and CARB's rules are similar, they are not 
identical. Products will need to comply with the regulations in effect 
from each agency, and compliance with CARB's rules does not necessarily 
mean that the product complies with the EPA's national rules. This 
proposed rulemaking action is limited to an evaluation of CARB's 
amended rules for compliance with the requirements under the CAA and 
the EPA's regulations for SIP revisions and does not opine on whether a 
product that meets CARB's rules can also satisfy requirements in the 
national consumer product rules.
    In sum, this action is consistent with EPA regulations, policy and 
guidance. The EPA has promulgated a national consumer products 
regulation and a national aerosol coatings regulation (40 CFR part 59, 
subparts C and E). There are similarities and differences between the 
California regulations and the national regulations. The national 
consumer products and aerosol coatings regulations do not preclude 
states from adopting more stringent regulations. In this instance, 
CARB's Consumer Products regulations are both broader and, in many 
cases, the same or more stringent than the federal regulations. As 
noted above, CARB estimates that the current amendments will result in 
equivalent VOC emission reductions of approximately 4 tons per day 
(tpd) statewide, of which approximately 1.8 tpd would occur in the area 
under the jurisdiction of the South Coast Air Quality Management 
District.
    These rules are also consistent with CAA requirements and relevant 
guidance regarding enforceability and SIP revisions. The TSDs have more 
information on our evaluation.

C. Public Comment and Proposed Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to 
fully approve the submitted rules because they fulfill all relevant 
requirements. We will accept comments from the public on this proposal 
until June 29, 2020. If we take final action to approve

[[Page 32327]]

the submitted rules, our final action will incorporate these rules into 
the federally enforceable SIP.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the 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, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference the CARB rules described in Table 1 of this preamble. The EPA 
has made, and will continue to make, these materials available through 
www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region IX Office (please contact the 
person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this preamble for more information).

IV. 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, the EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this proposed action merely proposes to approve state 
regulations 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 Clean Air Act; and
     Does not provide the EPA with the discretionary authority 
to address disproportionate human health or environmental effects with 
practical, appropriate, 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 the EPA or an Indian tribe 
has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 
Indian country, the proposed 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

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: May 18, 2020.
John Busterud,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2020-11260 Filed 5-28-20; 8:45 am]
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