[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 27 (Thursday, February 11, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9041-9043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02759]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2020-0166; FRL-10017-19-Region 6]


Air Plan Approval; Texas; Clean Air Act Requirements for 
Nonattainment New Source Review and Emission Statements for the 2015 
Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards

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 proposing to approve the 
portions of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of Texas that describes how CAA requirements for Nonattainment 
New Source Review (NNSR) and emission statements are met in the Dallas-
Fort Worth (DFW), Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB), and Bexar County 
ozone nonattainment areas for the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 15, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2020-0166, 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 Carl Young, 214-665-6645, 
[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: Carl Young, EPA Region 6 Office, 
Infrastructure and Ozone Section, 214-665-6645, [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

    Ground-level ozone is a gas that is formed by the reaction of 
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Oxides of Nitrogen 
(NOX) in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight. These 
precursors (VOC and NOX) are emitted by many types of 
pollution sources, including point sources such as power plants and 
industrial emissions sources; on-road and off-road mobile sources 
(motor vehicles and engines); and smaller residential and commercial 
sources, such as dry cleaners, auto body shops, and household paints, 
collectively referred to as area sources. Ozone is predominately a 
summertime air pollutant (83 FR 25777, June 4, 2018).
    On October 1, 2015, we revised the ozone NAAQS to a level of 0.070 
parts per million (ppm) (annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour 
average concentration, averaged over 3 years). See 80 FR 65296, October 
26, 2015; and 40 CFR 50, appendix U for more information on the revised 
2015 ozone NAAQS, including a detailed explanation of the calculation 
of the 3-year 8-hour average. The revised 2015 ozone NAAQS provide 
greater protection of public health and the environment than the 
previous ozone NAAQS of 0.075 ppm, set in 2008. Although the 2015 ozone 
NAAQS retain the same general form and averaging time as the NAAQS set 
in 2008, the lower level is more protective.
    The DFW and HGB areas were classified as Marginal ozone 
nonattainment areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS with an attainment 
deadline of August 3, 2021 (83 FR 25776, June 4, 2018). Bexar County 
(which includes the City of San Antonio) was also classified as a 
Marginal ozone nonattainment area with an attainment deadline of 
September 24, 2021 (83 FR 35136, July 25, 2018). The DFW area consists 
of Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Tarrant, 
and Wise Counties. The HGB area consists of Brazoria, Chambers, Fort 
Bend, Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery Counties.
    On June 24, 2020, Texas submitted a SIP revision for the DFW, HGB 
and Bexar County areas. The SIP revision included a description of how 
provisions previously approved by EPA meet the 2015 ozone NAAQS 
Marginal area CAA requirements for (1) NNSR

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and (2) Emission Statements from stationary point sources. A copy of 
the SIP revision is available online at www.regulations.gov, Docket 
number EPA-R06-OAR-2020-0166. In the SIP revision submittal, Texas 
determined that the NNSR SIP requirements of CAA section 182(a)(2)(C) 
are met for the 2015 NAAQS as the Texas SIP already includes 30 TAC 
Section 116.12 (Nonattainment and Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration Review Definitions) and 30 TAC Section 116.150 (New Major 
Source or Major Modification in Ozone Nonattainment Area). Texas also 
determined that 30 TAC Section 101.10 (Emissions Inventory 
Requirements) of the Texas SIP, which requires that stationary sources 
report NOX and VOC emissions, continues to address the 
emissions statements requirement of CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) for the 
2015 ozone NAAQS.

II. The EPA's Evaluation

A. CAA Requirements for NNSR

    A NNSR permitting program for ozone nonattainment areas is required 
by the CAA section 182(a)(2)(C). The NNSR requirements are further 
defined in 40 CFR 51 Subpart I (Review of New Sources and 
Modifications). NNSR permits for ozone authorize construction of new 
major sources or major modifications of existing sources of 
NOX or VOC in an area that is designated nonattainment for 
the ozone NAAQS. Emissions thresholds and pollutant offset requirements 
under the NNSR program are based on the nonattainment area's 
classification. Under these requirements new major sources or major 
modifications at existing sources in an ozone nonattainment area must 
comply with the lowest achievable emission rate and obtain sufficient 
emission offsets for emissions of NOX or VOC. For Marginal 
ozone nonattainment areas, major sources are any stationary source or 
group of sources located within a contiguous area and under common 
control that emits, or has the potential to emit, at least 100 tons per 
year of NOX or VOC (CAA sections 182(c) and 182(f)). The 
NNSR offset ratio for Marginal ozone nonattainment areas must be at 
least 1.1 to 1 (CAA section 182(a)(4)). As noted by the State, the 
Texas SIP already includes 30 TAC Section 116.12 (Nonattainment and 
Prevention of Significant Deterioration Review Definitions) and 30 TAC 
Section 116.150 (New Major Source or Major Modification in Ozone 
Nonattainment Area). For the Bexar County area these provisions require 
new major sources or major modifications at existing sources, that emit 
or has the potential to emit, at least 100 tons per year of 
NOX or VOC, to comply with the lowest achievable emission 
rate (LAER) and obtain emission offsets at the Marginal classification 
ratio of 1.1 to 1.
    More stringent NNSR requirements apply to the counties in the DFW 
and HGB areas as they are also classified as Serious nonattainment for 
the 2008 ozone standard of 0.075 ppm (40 CFR 81.344). For the DFW and 
HGB areas, these provisions require new major sources or major 
modifications at existing sources, that emit or has the potential to 
emit, at least 50 tons per year of NOX or VOC, to comply 
with the LAER and obtain emission offsets at the Serious classification 
ratio of 1.2 to 1. In 1995, we approved Texas' NNSR program for ozone, 
which includes Marginal and Serious classification requirements under 
CAA section 182 (60 FR 49781, September 27, 1995). Most recently, we 
approved revisions to the Texas SIP to address NNSR requirements in 
2012 (77 FR 65119, October 25, 2012) and 2014 (79 FR 66626, November 
10, 2014). Therefore, since the Texas SIP includes approved provisions 
addressing the CAA NNSR requirements for ozone nonattainment areas 
classified as Marginal, we are proposing to approve this portion of the 
SIP revision.

B. CAA Requirements for Emissions Statements

    CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) calls for SIPs for all ozone nonattainment 
areas to require that the owner or operator of each stationary source 
of NOX or VOC provide the State with an annual statement of 
emissions along with a certification that the information is accurate 
to the best knowledge of the individual certifying the statement. As 
noted by the State, the Texas SIP includes 30 TAC Section 101.10 
(Emissions Inventory Requirements). The certification for emission 
statements is found at 30 TAC Section 101.10(d) (Certifying statement). 
We initially approved this certification as meeting the CAA emission 
statement requirement in 1994 (59 FR 44036, August 26, 1994). Most 
recently we approved revisions to 30 TAC Section 101.10 in 2017 (82 FR 
26598, June 8, 2017). The most recently EPA-approved Texas regulation 
continues to include appropriate provisions so that the owner or 
operator of each stationary source must provide the State with a 
statement with each emissions inventory attesting that the information 
contained in the inventory is true and accurate to the best knowledge 
of the certifying official (30 TAC Section 101.10(d)(1)). Therefore, 
since the Texas SIP includes approved provisions addressing the CAA 
emission statement requirement, we are proposing to approve this 
portion of the SIP revision.

III. Proposed Action

    We are proposing to approve portions of a SIP revision submitted by 
the State of Texas on June 24, 2020, that describes how CAA 
requirements for NNSR and emission statements are met in the DFW, HGB, 
and Bexar County ozone nonattainment areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.

IV. 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);
     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

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     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 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and record keeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: February 5, 2021.
David Gray,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2021-02759 Filed 2-10-21; 8:45 am]
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