[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 28 (Friday, February 12, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9307-9308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02744]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2020-0542; FRL-10017-35-Region 5]


Air Plan Approval; Illinois; Volatile Organic Material Definition 
Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a revision to the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP). The 
revision will amend the Illinois Administrative Code (IAC) by updating 
the definition of volatile organic material (VOM) and volatile organic 
compounds (VOC) to exclude (Z)-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluorobut-2-ene. This 
revision is consistent with an EPA rulemaking in 2018, which exempted 
this compound from the Federal definition of VOC on the basis that the 
compound makes a negligible contribution to tropospheric ozone 
formation.

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

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2020-0542 at http://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 http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Lee, Physical Scientist, 
Attainment Planning and Maintenance Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-
18J), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-7645, 
[email protected]. The EPA Region 5 office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays and 
facility closures due to COVID-19.

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

I. Background Information

    Tropospheric ozone, commonly known as smog, is formed when VOC and 
nitrogen oxides (NOX) react in the atmosphere in the 
presence of sunlight. Because of the harmful effects of ozone, EPA and 
state governments implement rules to limit the amount of certain VOC 
and NOX that can be released into the atmosphere. VOC are 
those compounds of carbon (excluding carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, 
carbonic acid, metallic carbides or carbonates, and ammonium carbonate) 
that form ozone through atmospheric photochemical reactions. VOC have 
different levels of reactivity; they do not react at the same speed or 
form ozone to the same extent.
    The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the regulation of VOC for various 
purposes. Section 302(s) of the CAA specifies that EPA has the 
authority to define the meaning of VOC, and hence, what compounds shall 
be treated as VOC for regulatory purposes. EPA's longstanding policy is 
that compounds of carbon with negligible reactivity need not be 
regulated to reduce ozone and should be exempted from the regulatory 
definition of VOC. See 42 FR 35314 (July 8, 1977), 70 FR 54046 (Sept. 
13, 2005).
    EPA uses the reactivity of ethane as the threshold for determining 
whether a compound makes a negligible contribution to tropospheric 
ozone formation. Compounds that are less reactive than, or equally 
reactive to, ethane under certain assumed conditions may be deemed 
negligibly reactive and, therefore, suitable for exemption by EPA from 
the regulatory definition of VOC. EPA lists compounds it has determined 
to be negligibly reactive, and thus excluded from the regulatory 
definition of VOC, in 40 CFR 51.100(s).
    On November 28, 2018, EPA added cis-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluorobut-2-ene 
(also known as HFO-1336mzz-Z; Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) RN 692-
49-9), a hydrofluoroolefin, to the list of compounds excluded from the 
regulatory definition of VOC because it makes a negligible contribution 
to ground-level ozone formation. See 83 FR 61127.

II. The Illinois Submittal

    On October 20, 2020, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency 
(IEPA) submitted amendments to 35 IAC 211.7150 ``Volatile Organic 
Material (VOM) or Volatile Organic Compound (VOC)'' for approval as 
revisions to the Illinois SIP. Illinois' SIP currently includes a 
definition of VOM at 35 IAC 211.7150. See 81 FR 95475 (Dec. 28, 2016). 
Subsection (a) of 35 IAC 211.7150 includes a list of compounds excluded 
from the regulatory definition of VOC, which reflect some of the 
compounds EPA has excluded in 40 CFR 51.100(s), on the basis that they 
make a negligible contribution to tropospheric ozone formation.
    The proposed SIP revision updates the compounds excluded from the 
definition of VOM to conform to EPA's recent exemption of a chemical 
compound from regulations of ozone precursors. Specifically, the SIP 
revision excludes (Z)-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluorobut-2-ene from the 
definition of VOM or VOC at 35 IAC 211.7150. Illinois uses the 
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) preferred 
name of (Z)-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluorobut-2-ene instead of cis-1,1,1,4,4,4-
hexafluorobut-2-ene when addressing the compound. These changes do not 
interfere with the Federal listing of excluded compounds, and provide 
more specific chemical composition, structural, and isomeric 
identification information. Illinois also lists the compound by its 
other identifiers: HFO-1336mzz-Z and CAS No. 692-49-9.
    The Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) held a public hearing 
on the proposed SIP revision on July 16, 2020. IPCB received three 
comments at the public hearing that resulted in no

[[Page 9308]]

substantial changes to the amendment. IPCB also adopted minor 
administrative changes such as alphabetizing compound names and 
adopting IUPAC names for some compounds listed at 35 IAC 211.7150.

III. EPA's Analysis of the Proposed SIP Revision

    In 2014, EPA received a petition requesting that cis-1,1,1,4,4,4-
hexafluorobut-2-ene be exempted from VOC control based on its low 
reactivity, using ethane as a benchmark. Based on the mass maximum 
incremental reactivity value for the compound being less than that of 
ethane, EPA concluded that this compound makes negligible contributions 
to tropospheric ozone formation. Additionally, EPA considered risks not 
related to tropospheric ozone associated with currently allowed uses of 
the chemical to be acceptable. As a result, on November 28, 2018, EPA 
responded to the petition by amending 40 CFR 51.100(s) to exclude this 
chemical compound from the definition of VOC for purposes of preparing 
SIPs to attain the national ambient air quality standard for ozone 
under title I of the CAA. See 83 FR 61127 (Nov. 28, 2018). EPA's action 
became effective on January 28, 2019.
    By excluding cis-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluorobut-2-ene from the 
definition of VOM at 35 IAC 211.7150, Illinois' proposed SIP revision 
is consistent with EPA's action amending the definition of VOC at 40 
CFR 51.100(s).

IV. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is proposing to approve the revision to the Illinois SIP at 35 
IAC 211.7150 submitted on October 20, 2020. The proposed approval of 
the revision meets the criteria of the CAA and applicable Federal 
regulations.

V. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, 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, EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference revisions to 35 IAC 211.7150 ``Volatile Organic Material 
(VOM) or Volatile Organic Compound (VOC)'', effective August 18, 2020. 
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these documents generally 
available through www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 5 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 CAA 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 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 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 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).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: February 4, 2021.
Cheryl Newton,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2021-02744 Filed 2-11-21; 8:45 am]
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