[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 144 (Monday, July 27, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45154-45155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15649]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[EPA-R03-OAR-2019-0678; FRL-10011-93-Region 3]


Approval and Promulgation of State Plans for Designated 
Facilities and Pollutants: City of Philadelphia and District of 
Columbia

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve negative declarations submitted to satisfy the requirements of 
the Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Municipal Solid Waste 
Landfills for the City of Philadelphia, located in the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. The negative declarations 
certify that there are no existing municipal solid waste landfills in 
the City of Philadelphia or the District of Columbia that are subject 
to the requirements of 40 CFR part 60 subpart Cf.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 26, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R03-
OAR-2019-0678 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, 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. 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Willson, Permits Branch 
(3AD10), Air & Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. 
The telephone number is (215) 814-5795. Mr. Willson can also be reached 
via electronic mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) establishes standards of 
performance for certain existing sources. 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 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 the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (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. EPA regulations specifically delineate measures to control 
methane and nonmethane organic compound (NMOC) emissions, which can 
adversely impact public health.
    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 EPA 
that implements the Emission Guidelines.
    The City of Philadelphia Air Management Services (AMS) and the 
District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) have 
determined that there are no MSW landfills in their respective 
jurisdictions subject to Federal CAA landfill regulations pursuant to 
part 40 CFR part 60 subpart Cf. AMS and DOEE have submitted negative 
declarations to EPA on March 15, 2018 and November 15,

[[Page 45155]]

2019, respectively, pursuant to the requirements at 40 CFR 60.23a(b) 
and 62.06, certifying that there are no existing source MSW landfills 
in their respective jurisdictions subject to the requirements of 40 CFR 
part 60 subpart Cf. A typographical error in the letter from AMS was 
noted and clarified by Philadelphia AMS in an email on May 1, 2020

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the City of Philadelphia's and the 
District of Columbia's negative declarations. The negative declarations 
satisfy the requirements of 40 CFR 60.23a(b) and 62.06, serving in lieu 
of a CAA 111(d) state plan for existing MSW landfills. EPA is 
soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this document. 
These comments will be considered before taking final action.

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, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that 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 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 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 proposed rulemaking, certifying that there are no 
existing municipal solid waste landfills that are subject to the 
requirements of 40 CFR part 60 subpart Cf in the City of Philadelphia 
or the District of Columbia, does not have tribal implications as 
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), 
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in 
the State, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct 
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 62

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

    Dated: July 13, 2020.
Cosmo Servidio,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2020-15649 Filed 7-24-20; 8:45 am]
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