[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 133 (Friday, July 10, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41484-41486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14361]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[EPA-R06-OAR-2020-0315; FRL-10011-08-Region 6]


Approval and Promulgation of State Air Quality Plans for 
Designated Facilities and Pollutants; Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, 
New Mexico, and Albuquerque-Bernalillo County, New Mexico; Control of 
Emissions From Existing Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerator 
Units

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is notifying the public that we 
have received CAA section 111(d)/129 negative declarations from 
Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Albuquerque-Bernalillo 
County, New Mexico, for existing Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste 
Incinerator (HMIWI) units. These negative declarations certify that 
HMIWI subject to the requirements of sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA 
do not exist within the jurisdictions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, 
New Mexico, and Albuquerque-Bernalillo County. The EPA is proposing to 
accept the negative declarations and amend the CFR in accordance with 
the requirements of the CAA.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 10, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2020-0315, at https://www.regulations.gov or via email to [email protected]. 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 Karolina Ruan Lei, (214) 
665-7346, [email protected]. 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.
    Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at www.regulations.gov. While all documents in the 
docket are listed in the index, some information may not be publicly 
available due to docket file size restrictions or content (e.g., CBI).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karolina Ruan Lei, EPA Region 6 
Office, Air and Radiation Division--State Planning and Implementation 
Branch, (214) 665-7346, [email protected]. Out of an abundance 
of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA Region 6 
office will be closed to the public to reduce the risk of transmitting 
COVID-19. We encourage the public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov, as there will be a delay in processing mail and no 
courier or hand deliveries will be accepted. Please call or email the 
contact listed above if you need alternative access to material indexed 
but not provided in the docket.

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

I. Background

    Sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA require states to submit plans 
to control certain pollutants (designated pollutants) at existing solid 
waste combustor facilities (designated facilities) whenever standards 
of performance have been established under section 111(b) for new 
sources of the same type, and the EPA has established emission 
guidelines for such existing sources. CAA section 129 directs the EPA 
to establish standards of performance for new sources (NSPS)

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and emissions guidelines (EG) for existing sources for each category of 
solid waste incinerator specified in CAA section 129. Under CAA section 
129, NSPS and EG must contain numerical emissions limitations for 
particulate matter, opacity (as appropriate), sulfur dioxide, hydrogen 
chloride, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, lead, cadmium, mercury, 
and dioxins and dibenzofurans. While NSPS are directly applicable to 
new sources (affected facilities), EG for existing sources (designated 
facilities) are intended for states to use to develop a state plan to 
submit to the EPA. Once approved by the EPA, the state plan becomes 
federally enforceable. If a state does not submit an approvable state 
plan to the EPA, the EPA is responsible for developing, implementing, 
and enforcing a federal plan.
    The regulations at 40 CFR part 60, subpart B, contain general 
provisions applicable to the adoption and submittal of state plans for 
controlling designated pollutants from designated facilities. 
Additionally, 40 CFR part 62, subpart A, provides the procedural 
framework by which the EPA will approve or disapprove such plans 
submitted by a state. When designated facilities are located in a 
state, the state must then develop and submit a plan for the control of 
the designated pollutant(s). However, 40 CFR 60.23(b) and 62.06 provide 
that if there are no designated facilities of the designated 
pollutant(s) in the state, the state may submit a letter of 
certification to that effect (i.e., negative declaration) in lieu of a 
plan. The negative declaration exempts the state from the requirements 
of subpart B that require the submittal of a CAA section 111(d)/129 
plan.
    On September 15, 1997, the EPA first promulgated the HMIWI NSPS at 
40 CFR part 60, subpart Ec, and the HMIWI EG at 40 CFR part 60, subpart 
Ce (62 FR 48348). The HMIWI NSPS and EG were amended on October 6, 
2009, and on April 4, 2011 (74 FR 51368, 76 FR 18407). The federal plan 
for HMIWI subject to the EG at subpart Ce was first promulgated on 
August 15, 2000, at 40 CFR part 62, subpart HHH (65 FR 49868). The 
HMIWI federal plan was amended on May 13, 2013, to incorporate the 
HMIWI EG revisions (78 FR 28051).
    As provided under 40 CFR 60.32e(a), the designated facilities to 
which the EG apply are HMIWI that: (1) Commenced construction on or 
before June 20, 1996, or commenced modification on or before March 16, 
1998; or (2) commenced construction after June 20, 1996, but no later 
than December 1, 2008, or commenced modification after March 16, 1998, 
but no later than April 6, 2010, with limited exceptions as provided in 
paragraphs 40 CFR 60.32e(b) through (h).
    In order to fulfill obligations under CAA sections 111(d) and 129, 
the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Louisiana 
Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), Oklahoma Department of 
Environmental Quality (ODEQ), New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), 
and City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department (AEHD) 
submitted negative declarations for HMIWI for their individual air 
pollution control jurisdictions.\1\ The submittal of these negative 
declarations exempts Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico 
(including Albuquerque-Bernalillo County) from the requirement to 
submit a state plan for HMIWI under 40 CFR part 60, subpart Ce.
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    \1\ These HMIWI negative declarations from ADEQ, LDEQ, ODEQ, 
NMED and AEHD do not cover sources located in Indian country.
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    ADEQ, LDEQ, ODEQ, NMED and AEHD each determined that there are no 
existing HMIWI subject to CAA sections 111(d) and 129 requirements in 
their individual air pollution control jurisdictions. In order to 
fulfill obligations under CAA sections 111(d) and 129, ADEQ, LDEQ, 
ODEQ, NMED and AEHD submitted negative declaration letters to the EPA 
on May 21, 2012, June 25, 2012, April 1, 2020, February 11, 2014, and 
February 4, 2014, respectively. A copy of each negative declaration 
letter is included in the docket for this rulemaking (Docket No. EPA-
R06-OAR-2020-0315).

II. Proposed Action

    The EPA is proposing to amend 40 CFR part 62 to reflect receipt of 
the negative declaration letters from ADEQ, LDEQ, ODEQ, NMED and AEHD 
certifying that there are no existing HMIWI subject to 40 CFR part 60, 
subpart Ce, in their respective jurisdictions in accordance with 40 CFR 
60.23(b), 40 CFR 62.06, and sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA. If a 
designated facility (i.e., existing HMIWI) is later found within the 
aforementioned jurisdictions after publication of a final action, then 
the overlooked facility will become subject to the requirements of the 
federal plan for that designated facility, including the compliance 
schedule. The federal plan will no longer apply if we subsequently 
receive and approve the section 111(d)/129 plan from the jurisdiction 
with the overlooked facility.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a CAA 
section 111(d)/129 submission that complies with the provisions of the 
Act and applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7411(d); 42 U.S.C. 
7429; 40 CFR part 60, subparts B and Ce; and 40 CFR part 62, subpart A. 
With regard to negative declarations for designated facilities received 
by the EPA from states, the EPA's role is to notify the public of the 
receipt of such negative declarations and revise 40 CFR part 62 
accordingly. 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 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 CAA; and
     Does not provide the 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).
    This rule also does not have Tribal implications because it will 
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more

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Indian Tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and 
Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities 
between the Federal Government and Indian Tribes, as specified by 
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 62

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

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

    Dated: June 29, 2020.
Kenley McQueen,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2020-14361 Filed 7-9-20; 8:45 am]
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