[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 36 (Thursday, February 25, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11480-11482]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03197]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2018-0601; FRL-10019-96-Region 9]
Limited Approval, Limited Disapproval of California Air Plan
Revision; Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a
limited approval and limited disapproval of a revision to the Yolo-
Solano Air Quality Management District (YSAQMD) portion of the
California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision concerns
emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from solvent cleaning
and degreasing operations. We are proposing action on a local rule that
regulates these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the
Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a
final action.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 29, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2018-0601 at http://www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at
Regulations.gov, 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 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://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. If you need assistance in a
language other than English or if you are a person with disabilities
who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, please contact
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Arnold Lazarus, EPA Region IX (415)
972-3024, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and
``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. The State's Submittal
A. What rule did the State submit?
B. Are there other versions of this rule?
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
[[Page 11481]]
B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
C. What is the rule deficiency?
D. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rule
E. Proposed Action And Public Comment
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What rule did the State submit?
Table 1 lists the rule addressed by this proposal with the date
that it was adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the
California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Table 1--Submitted Rule
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local agency Rule No. Rule title Revised Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YSAQMD............................. 2.31 Solvent Cleaning and 04/12/2017 08/09/2017
Degreasing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On February 9, 2018, the submittal for YSAQMD Rule 2.31 was deemed
by operation of law to meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51
Appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review.
B. Are there other versions of this rule?
There is a previous version of Rule 2.31 in the SIP, revised on May
8, 2013, submitted to the EPA by CARB on February 10, 2014, and
approved into the SIP on April 28, 2015 (80 FR 23449). There have been
no other versions submitted since the SIP-approved version.
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
VOCs contribute to the production of ground-level ozone, smog, and
particulate matter, which harm human health and the environment.
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations that
control emissions of VOCs. The purpose of Rule 2.31 is to limit the
emissions of VOCs from solvent cleaning operations and solvent
degreasing operations, and from the storage and disposal of materials
used for such operations. The EPA's technical support document (TSD)
has more information about this rule.
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
Rules in the SIP must be enforceable (see CAA section 110(a)(2)),
must not interfere with applicable requirements concerning attainment
and reasonable further progress or other CAA requirements (see CAA
section 110(l)), and must not modify certain SIP control requirements
in nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent or greater emissions
reductions (see CAA section 193).
Generally, SIP rules must require Reasonably Available Control
Technology (RACT) for each category of sources covered by a Control
Techniques Guidelines (CTG) document as well as each major source of
VOCs in ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or above (see
CAA section 182(b)(2)). The YSAQMD regulates an ozone nonattainment
area classified as Severe nonattainment for the 2008 and 1997 8-hour
ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS); \1\ and Moderate
nonattainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.\2\ Therefore, this rule
must implement RACT.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ (40 CFR 81.305).
\2\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate
enforceability, revision/relaxation and rule stringency requirements
for the applicable criteria pollutants include the following:
1. ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,''
57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).
2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies,
and Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook, revised January
11, 1990).
3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
4. ``Control of Volatile Organic Emissions from Solvent Metal
Cleaning,'' EPA-450/2-77-022, November 1977.
5. ``Control Technique Guidelines for Industrial Cleaning
Solvents'' EPA-453/R-06-001, September 2006.
6. ``Control of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Coating
Operations at Aerospace manufacturing and Rework Operations'' EPA-
453/R-97-004, December 1997.
7. ``Control Technique Guidelines for Flexible Package
Printing'' EPA 453/R-06-003, September 2006.
B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
Rule 2.31 improves the SIP by establishing one more stringent
emission limit and by clarifying monitoring, recording and
recordkeeping provisions. The rule is largely consistent with CAA
requirements and with relevant guidance regarding enforceability and
SIP revisions. The rule provision that does not meet the evaluation
criteria is summarized below and discussed further in the TSD.
C. What is the rule deficiency?
The following provision does not satisfy the requirements of
section 110 and part D of title I of the Act and prevents full approval
of the SIP revision. Section 110.6 exempts from the requirements of
Rule 2.31 ``[a]ny solvent degreasing operations that are subject to the
NESHAP requirements of 40 CFR part 63 Subpart T- National Emission
Standards for Halogenated Solvent Cleaning.'' CAA Section 182(b)(2)
(``Reasonably available control technology'') states that ``[t]he State
shall submit a revision to the applicable implementation plan to
include provisions to require the implementation of reasonably
available control technology . . . .'' Historically, some states and
districts believed that they could rely on NESHAP requirements to
satisfy RACT SIP requirements, especially where a district had been
delegated authority to enforce the NESHAP rule. However, delegation of
authority to a district or state to enforce a NESHAP rule does not put
that rule or its emission limitations into the SIP. Thus, this
exemption under section 110.6 of YSAQMD rule 2.31 does not meet CAA
section 182(b)(2) because the RACT requirements for sources subject to
the NESHAP requirements of 40 CFR Subpart T are not included in the
SIP.
D. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rule
None, except to correct the deficiency regarding the NESHAP
exemption.
E. Proposed Action and Public Comment
As authorized in sections 110(k)(3) and 301(a) of the Act, the EPA
is proposing a limited approval and limited disapproval of the
submitted rule. We will accept comments from the public on this
proposal until March 29, 2021. If finalized, the action will
incorporate the submitted rule into the SIP, including the provision
identified
[[Page 11482]]
as deficient. This approval is limited because the EPA is
simultaneously proposing a limited disapproval of the rule under
section 110(k)(3).
In addition, a final limited disapproval would trigger sanctions
under CAA section 179 and 40 CFR 52.31 unless the EPA approves
subsequent SIP revisions that correct the rule deficiencies within 18
months of the effective date of the final action.
Note that the submitted rule has been adopted by the YSAQMD, and
the EPA's final limited disapproval would not prevent the local agency
from enforcing it. The limited disapproval also would not prevent any
portion of the rule from being incorporated by reference into the
federally enforceable SIP as discussed in a July 9, 1992 EPA memo found
at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-07/documents/procsip.pdf.
III. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, the 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, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by
reference the YSAQMD rules described in Table 1 of this preamble. The
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials available
through www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region IX Office (please
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section of this preamble for more information).
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Additional information about these statutes and Executive Orders
can be found at http://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/laws-and-executive-orders.
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
This action is not a significant regulatory action and was
therefore not submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for review.
B. Executive Order 13771: Reducing Regulations and Controlling
Regulatory Costs
This action is not expected to be an Executive Order 13771
regulatory action because this action is not significant under
Executive Order 12866.
C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
This action does not impose an information collection burden under
the PRA because this action does not impose additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law.
D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
I certify that this action will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA. This
action will not impose any requirements on small entities beyond those
imposed by state law.
E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538, and does not significantly or uniquely affect
small governments. This action does not impose additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law. Accordingly, no additional costs to
state, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, will
result from this action.
F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between
the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities among the various levels of government.
G. Executive Order 13175: Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments
This action does not have tribal implications, as specified in
Executive Order 13175, because the SIP is not approved to apply on any
Indian reservation land or in any other area where the EPA or an Indian
tribe has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction, and will not
impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal
law. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this action.
H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks
The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those
regulatory actions that concern environmental health or safety risks
that the EPA has reason to believe may disproportionately affect
children, per the definition of ``covered regulatory action'' in
section 2-202 of the Executive Order. This action is not subject to
Executive Order 13045 because it does not impose additional
requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
I. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211, because it is
not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.
J. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)
Section 12(d) of the NTTAA directs the EPA to use voluntary
consensus standards in its regulatory activities unless to do so would
be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. The EPA
believes that this action is not subject to the requirements of section
12(d) of the NTTAA because application of those requirements would be
inconsistent with the CAA.
K. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Population
The EPA lacks the discretionary authority to address environmental
justice in this rulemaking.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Particulate matter,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: February 9, 2021.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2021-03197 Filed 2-24-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P