[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 163 (Friday, August 21, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51666-51668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16725]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2019-0220; FRL-10012-83-Region 1]


Air Plan Approval; Massachusetts; Negative Declaration for the 
Oil and Gas Industry

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts. The revision provides Massachusetts' determination, via 
a negative declaration, that there are no facilities within its borders 
subject to EPA's 2016 Control Technique Guideline (CTG) for the oil and 
gas industry with respect to both the 2008 and 2015 Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The intended effect of this 
action is to approve this item into the non regulatory portion of the 
Massachusetts SIP. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This rule is effective on September 21, 2020.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2019-0220. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed 
in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or 
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain 
other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the 
internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. 
Publicly available docket materials are available at https://www.regulations.gov, or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
EPA Region 1 Regional Office, Air and Radiation Division, 5 Post Office 
Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all possible, 
you contact the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official 
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 
excluding legal holidays and facility closures due to COVID-19.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ariel Garcia, Environmental Protection 
Specialist, Air and Radiation Division (Mail Code 05-2), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 
100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109-3912; (617) 918-1660. 
[email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. Background and Purpose
II. Response to Comment
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background and Purpose

    On May 18, 2020, EPA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(NPRM; see 85 FR 29678) with an associated Direct Final Rule (DFR; see 
85 FR 29628) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The DFR approved a 
negative declaration for Massachusetts for EPA's 2016 Control Technique 
Guideline (CTG) for the oil and gas industry. We received one relevant 
adverse comment on the NPRM, and so withdrew the DFR via a Withdrawal 
Notice published on June 26, 2020. See 85 FR 38327. Other specific 
requirements of Massachusetts' submittal and the rationale for EPA's 
action are explained in the DFR and will not be restated here. Our 
response to the adverse comment on the NPRM is summarized and responded 
to in section II below.

II. Response to Comment

    We received one relevant adverse comment on the NPRM. A summary of 
the comment, and our response, follows.
    Comment: EPA provides no explanation of why Massachusetts' SIP is 
acceptable. EPA's mere ``understanding'' is not enough to approve a 
SIP, EPA must evaluate the merits of the SIP and independently verify 
the accuracy of Massachusetts' assertions. EPA must check sources of 
information for any sources subject to the oil and natural gas industry 
CTG.
    Response: First, we note that the commenter does not provide any 
information to contradict Massachusetts' finding that no sources 
subject to EPA's 2016 CTG for the oil and gas industry exist within the 
Commonwealth. EPA is not aware of any information indicating that a 
facility subject to the 2016 oil and gas CTG exists within the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Additionally, we note that EPA has 
historically allowed states to submit a negative declaration for a 
particular CTG category if the state finds that no sources exist in the 
state which would be subject to that CTG. EPA has addressed the idea of 
negative declarations numerous times and for various NAAQS including in 
the General Preamble to the 1990 Amendments,\1\ the 2006 RACT Q&A 
Memo,\2\ and the 2008 Ozone Implementation Rule.\3\ In each of these

[[Page 51667]]

documents, EPA asserted that if no sources exist in the nonattainment 
area for a particular CTG category, the state would be allowed to 
submit a negative declaration SIP revision. This principle also applies 
to states in the ozone transport region.
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    \1\ ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' 
(57 FR 13498 at 13512 (April 16, 1992)).
    \2\ ``RACT Q's and A's--Reasonably Available Control Technology 
RACT: Questions and Answers'' Memorandum from William T. Harnett, 
May 18, 2006.
    \3\ ``Implementation of the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards for Ozone: State Implementation Plan Requirements,'' (80 
FR 12263 at 12278 (March 6, 2015)).
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    Second, we note that Massachusetts' finding is consistent with 
information contained within EPA data resources of industrial activity 
within the United States, such as the National Emissions Inventory 
(NEI) database of sources of air pollution, which is available at: 
https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories/national-emissions-inventory-nei. And last, we note that EPA Region 1 worked with 
Massachusetts, and EPA headquarters' technical experts on the CTG, to 
review the applicability criteria of EPA's 2016 oil and gas CTG to 
assist the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with its determination.

III. Final Action

    We are approving a negative declaration for EPA's 2016 CTG entitled 
``Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry'' 
into the Massachusetts SIP.

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, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
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, 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 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. Section 804, however, exempts from section 801 the 
following types of rules: rules of particular applicability; rules 
relating to agency management or personnel; and rules of agency 
organization, procedure, or practice that do not substantially affect 
the rights or obligations of non-agency parties. 5 U.S.C. 804(3). 
Because this is a rule of particular applicability, EPA is not required 
to submit a rule report regarding this action under section 801.
    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 October 20, 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).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: July 27, 2020.
Dennis Deziel,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the EPA amends Part 52 of 
chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart W--Massachusetts

0
2. In Sec.  52.1120, amend the table in paragraph (e) by adding the 
entry for ``Negative declaration for the 2016 Control Techniques 
Guideline for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry'' at the end of the 
table, to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1120  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

[[Page 51668]]



                                          Massachusetts Non-Regulatory
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                                        Applicable           State
    Name of nonregulatory SIP         geographic or     submittal date/ EPA approved date \      Explanations
            provision               nonattainment area  effective date           3\
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                                                  * * * * * * *
Negative declaration for the 2016  Statewide..........      10/18/2018  8/21/2020 [Insert    Negative
 Control Techniques Guidelines                                           Federal Register     declaration
 for the Oil and Natural Gas                                             citation].
 Industry.
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\3\ To determine the EPA effective date for a specific provision listed in this table, consult the Federal
  Register notice cited in this column for the particular provision.

[FR Doc. 2020-16725 Filed 8-20-20; 8:45 am]
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