[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 41 (Thursday, March 4, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12554-12556]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04060]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2020-0500; FRL-10018-04--Region 4]


Air Plan Approval; KY; Removal of Asbestos Requirements From 
Jefferson County Regulations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
correct the erroneous incorporation of asbestos National Emission 
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) requirements into the 
Jefferson County portion of the Kentucky State Implementation Plan 
(SIP). The continued presence of the asbestos requirements in the 
Jefferson County portion of the Kentucky SIP is inappropriate and 
potentially confusing and thus problematic for affected sources, the 
Commonwealth, local agencies, and EPA. EPA is proposing to remove the 
asbestos requirements because these requirements are not related to the 
attainment and maintenance of the national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) and are therefore unrelated to the Clean Air Act (CAA 
or ``Act'') requirements for SIPs.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 5, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2020-0500 at www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or 
removed from Regulations.gov. 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, the full EPA public comment 
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general 
guidance on making effective comments, please visit www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Akers, Air Regulatory Management 
Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth 
Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404) 
562-9089. Mr. Akers can also be reached via electronic mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 110 of the CAA requires states to develop and submit to EPA 
a SIP to ensure that state air quality meets the NAAQS. These ambient 
air quality standards currently address six criteria pollutants: Carbon 
monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, lead, particulate matter, and sulfur 
dioxide. Each federally-approved SIP protects air quality primarily by 
addressing air pollution at its point of origin through air pollution 
regulations and control strategies. EPA-approved SIP regulations and 
control strategies are federally enforceable.
    On October 23, 2001 (66 FR 53658), EPA approved revisions to the 
Jefferson County portion of the Kentucky SIP,\1\

[[Page 12555]]

which included miscellaneous rule revisions and the recodification of 
Air Pollution Control District (APCD) of Jefferson County regulations. 
These revisions were submitted to EPA on May 21, 1999, by the 
Commonwealth of Kentucky on behalf of Jefferson County. Among these 
revisions were requirements for permitting the demolition and 
renovation of facilities with asbestos, in accordance with 40 CFR part 
61, subpart M, ``National Emission Standard for Asbestos.'' The 
asbestos requirements were adopted by Jefferson County in paragraphs 
1.3, 5.3, and 5.6 of Regulation 2.03 ``Permit Requirements, Non-Title V 
Construction and Operating Permits and Demolition/Renovation Permits,'' 
and this regulation was part of the recodified rules included in the 
May 21, 1999 submittal. In the October 23, 2001, final rule, EPA 
inadvertently incorporated the asbestos requirements in Regulation 2.03 
``Permit Requirements, Non-Title V Construction and Operating Permits 
and Demolition/Renovation Permits'' into the Jefferson County portion 
of the Kentucky SIP. The version of the rules incorporated into the SIP 
were effective in Jefferson County on December 15, 1993.
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    \1\ In 2003, the City of Louisville and Jefferson County 
governments merged and the ``Jefferson County Air Pollution Control 
District'' was renamed the ``Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control 
District.'' See The History of Air Pollution Control in Louisville, 
available at https://louisvilleky.gov/government/air-pollution-control-district/history-air-pollution-control-louisville. However, 
each of the regulations in the Jefferson County portion of the 
Kentucky SIP still has the subheading ``Air Pollution Control 
District of Jefferson County.'' Thus, to be consistent with the 
terminology used in the SIP, EPA refers throughout this notice to 
regulations contained in the Jefferson County portion of the 
Kentucky SIP as the ``Jefferson County'' regulations.
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    Section 110(k)(6) of the CAA provides EPA with the authority to 
make corrections to prior SIP actions that are subsequently found to be 
in error in the same manner as the prior action, and to do so without 
requiring any further submission from the State.\2\ While section 
110(k)(6) provides EPA with the authority to correct its own ``error,'' 
nowhere does this provision or any other provision in the CAA define 
what qualifies as ``error.'' Thus, EPA believes that the term should be 
given its plain language, everyday meaning, which includes all 
unintentional, incorrect or wrong actions or mistakes.
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    \2\ Section 110(k)(6) states that ``Whenever the Administrator 
determines that the Administrator's action approving, disapproving, 
or promulgating any plan or plan revision (or part thereof), area 
designation, redesignation, classification, or reclassification was 
in error, the Administrator may in the same manner as the approval, 
disapproval, or promulgation revise such action as appropriate 
without requiring any further submission from the State. Such 
determination and the basis thereof shall be provided to the State 
and public.''
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    The May 21, 1999, submission contained changes to Regulation 2.03 
``Permit Requirements, Non-Title V Construction and Operating Permits 
and Demolition/Renovation Permits'' that contain asbestos requirements 
in paragraphs 1.3, 5.3 and 5.6. EPA's October 23, 2001, approval of 
these requirements into the Jefferson County portion of the Kentucky 
SIP was in error. These paragraphs are appropriate for state and local 
agencies to adopt and implement, but it is not necessary or appropriate 
to incorporate them into the applicable SIP because asbestos 
requirements are not related to the attainment and maintenance of the 
NAAQS. EPA is therefore proposing to remove these paragraphs from the 
SIP.

II. Incorporation by Reference

    In this document, EPA is proposing to amend regulatory text that 
includes incorporation by reference. Specifically, EPA is proposing to 
remove sections 1.3, 5.3, and 5.6 (asbestos requirements) of Regulation 
2.03 ``Permit Requirements, Non-Title V Construction and Operating 
Permits and Demolition/Renovation Permits'' from the Jefferson County 
portion of the Kentucky SIP, which is incorporated by reference in 
accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5. The remainder of Regulation 
2.03 ``Permit Requirements, Non-Title V Construction and Operating 
Permits and Demolition/Renovation Permits'' will remain incorporated in 
the Jefferson County portion of the Kentucky SIP. EPA has made, and 
will continue to make, these materials generally available through 
www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 4 office (please contact the 
person identified in the For Further Information Contact section of 
this preamble for more information).

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to remove paragraphs 1.3, 5.3, and 5.6 of APCD 
Regulation 2.03 ``Permit Requirements, Non-Title V Construction and 
Operating Permits and Demolition/Renovation Permits'' from the 
Jefferson County portion of the SIP because they are not related to the 
attainment and maintenance of the 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. See 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. This proposed action 
merely corrects errors in a previous rulemaking approving a SIP 
submission 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);
     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
     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).
    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 as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it impose substantial direct 
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Particulate matter, 
Reporting

[[Page 12556]]

and recordkeeping requirements and Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: February 23, 2021.
John Blevins,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2021-04060 Filed 3-3-21; 8:45 am]
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