[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 109 (Friday, June 5, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34559-34561]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12060]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R08-OAR-2020-0110; FRL-10010-34-Region 8]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Colorado; Revisions to Air Pollution Emission Notice Rules

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions and renumbering 
submitted by the State of Colorado on May 8, 2019. Specifically, the 
EPA is proposing to approve amendments to Colorado's Stationary Source 
Permitting and Air Pollution Emission Notice Requirements in 5 CCR 
1001-5, Regulation Number 3. The EPA is taking this action pursuant to 
sections 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Comments: Written comments must be received on or before July 6, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R08-
OAR-2020-0110, to the Federal Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
www.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.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov. To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, 
for this action we do not plan to offer hard copy review of the docket. 
Please email or call the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section if you need to make alternative arrangements for access 
to the docket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Leone, Air and Radiation 
Division, EPA, Region 8, Mailcode 8ARD-IO, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, 
Colorado 80202-1129, (303) 312-6227, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.

I. Background

    On May 8, 2019, the State of Colorado submitted a SIP revision 
containing amendments to 5 CCR 1001-5, Regulation Number 3 (Stationary 
Source Permitting and Air Pollution Emission Notice Requirements). 
Specifically, these amendments revised Part A, VI.C. (Annual Emissions 
Fees) and VI.D. (Fee Schedule). These revisions are anticipated to 
cover revenue shortfalls and ensure continued program viability by 
increasing stationary source fees. The State of Colorado adopted these 
revisions on October 18, 2018, and they became State effective on 
November 30, 2018. We are proposing approval of all revisions submitted 
on May 8, 2019.

II. Analysis of State Submittal

    We evaluated the State's May 8, 2019, submittal regarding revisions 
Regulation Number 3, Part A, Section VI.

1. VI.C.2

    A reference to Section VI.D.1 is being revised to VI.D.3 to 
coincide with revisions to VI.D.

[[Page 34560]]

2. VI.D.1

    For air pollution emission notice filing fees, the phrase ``. . . 
shall be charged in accordance with and in the amounts and limits 
specified in the provisions of Colorado Revised Statutes Section 25-7-
114.1'' is being deleted and new phrase ``shall be $191.13'' is being 
added.
    We note that Colorado Revised Statutes Section 25-7-114.1 states:
    ``The maximum fee for filing an air pollution emission notice or 
amendment thereto under this section is one hundred ninety-one dollars 
and thirteen cents; except that, on each January 1 from 2019 to 2028, 
the maximum fee is automatically adjusted based on the annual 
percentage change in the United States department of labor, bureau of 
labor statistics, consumer price index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for 
all items and all urban consumers, or its successor index. The 
commissioner shall set the actual fee by rule. Beginning on July 1, 
2018, the commission, by rule, may periodically adjust the fee up to 
the maximum fee.''
    The revision to VI.D.1 would make the maximum fee ($191.13) the 
only filing fee for air pollution emission notices.

3. VI.D.2

    The new sentence ``Permit processing fees shall be $95.56 per 
hour'' is added.

4. VI.D.3

    The phrase ``Annual emission fees and permit processing fees shall 
be charged in accordance with and in the amounts and limits specified 
in the provisions of Colorado Revised Statutes Section 25-7-114.7.'' is 
being deleted.
    In addition, the phrase ``Annual emission fees for regulated 
pollutants shall be $22.90 per ton'' is being revised to state: 
``Annual emission fees for regulated pollutants shall be $28.63 per 
ton''; and the phrase ``Annual emission fees for hazardous air 
pollutants shall be $152.90 per ton'' is being revised to state: 
``Annual emission fees for hazardous air pollutants shall be $191.13 
per ton.''
    The new annual emission fees for regulated pollutants and hazardous 
air pollutants are the same as the maximum emission fees as stated in 
Colorado Revised Statutes Section 25-7-114.7.

III. The EPA's Proposed Action

    CAA Section 110(a)(2)(E) requires that a state implementation plan 
provide assurances that the state will have, among other items, 
adequate funding to carry out the implementation plan. Increasing the 
air pollution notice filing fee, permit processing fee and annual 
emission fees reflect both inflation and the increased complexity of 
permit to construct applications, thereby ensuring the State has 
adequate funding to carry out the implementation plan.
    In this action, the EPA is proposing to approve SIP amendments to 
Colorado's Regulation Number 3, shown in Table 1, submitted by the 
State of Colorado on May 8, 2019.

    Table 1--List of Colorado Amendments That the EPA Is Proposing To
                                 Approve
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   Amended sections in the May 8, 2019 submittal proposed for approval
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Regulation Number 3, Part A, Section VI.C: VI.C.2; Section VI.D: VI.D.1,
 VI.D.2, VI.D.3.
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IV. Consideration of Section 110(l) of the CAA

    Under section 110(l) of the CAA, the EPA cannot approve a SIP 
revision if the revision would interfere with any applicable 
requirements concerning attainment and reasonable further progress 
(RFP) toward attainment of the NAAQS, or any other applicable 
requirement of the Act. In addition, section 110(l) requires that each 
revision to an implementation plan submitted by a state shall be 
adopted by the state after reasonable notice and public hearing.
    The Colorado SIP revisions that the EPA proposes to approve do not 
interfere with any applicable requirements of the Act. Therefore, CAA 
section 110(l) requirements are satisfied.

V. 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 amendments described in sections II and III. The EPA has 
made, and will continue to make, these materials generally available 
through www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 8 Office (please 
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this preamble for more information).

VI. 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. 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 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 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).

[[Page 34561]]

    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 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 in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate 
matter, Sulfur oxides.

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

    Dated: May 29, 2020.
Gregory Sopkin,
Regional Administrator, Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2020-12060 Filed 6-4-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P