[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 42 (Friday, March 5, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12827-12829]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04388]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0134; FRL-10020-94-Region 9]


Determination To Defer Sanctions; Arizona; Pinal County Air 
Quality Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Interim final determination.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim 
final determination that the Arizona Department of Environmental 
Quality (ADEQ) has submitted rules and other materials on behalf of the 
Pinal County Air Quality Control District (PCAQCD or District) that 
correct deficiencies in its Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) state 
implementation plan (SIP) provisions concerning ozone nonattainment 
requirements. This determination is

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based on a proposed approval, published elsewhere in this Federal 
Register, of PCAQCD's reasonably available control technology (RACT) 
SIP rules and negative declarations. The effect of this interim final 
determination is that the imposition of sanctions that were triggered 
by a previous partial disapproval and limited disapproval by the EPA in 
2019 is now deferred. If the EPA finalizes its approval of PCAQCD's 
submission, relief from these sanctions will become permanent.

DATES: This interim final determination is effective on March 5, 2021. 
However, comments will be accepted on or before April 5, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2021-0134 at https://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 https://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: Nicole Law, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4216 or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, the terms ``we,'' 
``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the EPA.

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. EPA Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    On August 9, 2019 (84 FR 39196), the EPA issued a final partial 
approval/partial disapproval and a limited approval/limited disapproval 
for revisions to the PCAQCD portion of the Arizona SIP that had been 
submitted by ADEQ to the EPA for approval (the 2017 RACT Submittal). 
The 2017 RACT Submittal action addressed the PCAQCD's RACT SIP 
requirements under the Act. In our 2017 RACT Submittal action, we 
determined that while PCAQCD's SIP revision submittal strengthened the 
SIP, the submittal did not fully meet the requirements for RACT SIPs 
under the CAA. Our 2017 RACT Submittal action included a final partial 
disapproval and limited disapproval action under title I, part D of the 
Act, relating to requirements for nonattainment areas. Pursuant to 
section 179 of the CAA and our regulations at 40 CFR 52.31, this 
partial disapproval and limited disapproval action under title I, part 
D started a sanctions clock for imposition of offset sanctions 18 
months after the action's effective date of September 9, 2019, and 
highway sanctions 6 months later.
    On August 5, 2020, PCAQCD revised its rules and adopted additional 
negative declarations and on August 20, 2020, ADEQ submitted the 
revised rules and negative declarations to the EPA for approval into 
the Arizona SIP (2020 RACT Submittal). These negative declarations and 
revised rules are intended to address the partial disapproval and 
limited disapproval issues under title I, part D that we identified in 
our 2017 RACT Submittal action. In the Proposed Rules section of this 
Federal Register, we have proposed approval of PCAQCD's 2020 RACT 
Submittal. Based on this proposed approval action, we are also taking 
this interim final determination, effective on publication, to defer 
imposition of the offset sanctions and highway sanctions that were 
triggered by our 2017 RACT Submittal action's partial disapproval and 
limited disapproval of PCAQCD's RACT SIP and rules, because we believe 
that the 2020 RACT Submittal corrects the deficiencies that triggered 
such sanctions.\1\
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    \1\ 40 CFR 52.31(d)(2).
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    The EPA is providing the public with an opportunity to comment on 
this deferral of sanctions. If comments are submitted that change our 
assessment described in this interim final determination and the 
proposed full approval of PCAQCD's 2020 RACT Submittal with respect to 
the title I, part D deficiencies identified in our 2017 RACT Submittal 
action, we would take final action to lift this deferral of sanctions 
under 40 CFR 52.31. If no comments are submitted that change our 
assessment, then all sanctions and any sanction clocks triggered by our 
2017 RACT Submittal action would be permanently terminated on the 
effective date of our final approval of PCAQCD's 2020 RACT Submittal.

II. EPA Action

    We are making an interim final determination to defer CAA section 
179 sanctions associated with our partial disapproval and limited 
disapproval action on August 9, 2019 of PCAQCD's RACT SIP and rules 
with respect to the requirements of part D of title I of the CAA. This 
determination is based on our concurrent proposal to fully approve 
PCAQCD's 2020 RACT Submittal, which resolves the deficiencies that 
triggered sanctions under section 179 of the CAA.
    Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that PCAQCD's 2020 
RACT Submittal addresses the deficiencies under part D of title I of 
the CAA identified in our 2017 RACT Submittal action and is fully 
approvable, relief from sanctions should be provided as quickly as 
possible. Therefore, the EPA is invoking the good cause exception under 
the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in not providing an opportunity 
for comment before this action takes effect (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)). 
However, by this action, the EPA is providing the public with a chance 
to comment on the EPA's determination after the effective date, and the 
EPA will consider any comments received in determining whether to 
reverse such action.
    The EPA believes that notice-and-comment rulemaking before the 
effective date of this action is impracticable and contrary to the 
public interest. The EPA has reviewed the State's submittal and, 
through its proposed action, is indicating that it is more likely than 
not that the State has submitted a revision to the SIP that corrects 
deficiencies under part D of the Act that were the basis for the action 
that started the sanctions clocks. Therefore, it is not in the public 
interest to impose sanctions. The EPA believes that it is necessary to 
use the interim final rulemaking process to defer sanctions while the 
EPA completes its rulemaking process on the approvability of the 
State's submittal. Moreover, with respect to the effective date of this 
action, the EPA is invoking the good cause exception to the 30-day 
notice requirement of the APA because the

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purpose of this notice is to relieve a restriction (5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(1)).

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action defers sanctions and imposes no additional 
requirements. 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 Clean Air Act; and
     Does not provide the EPA with the discretionary authority 
to address disproportionate human health or environmental effects with 
practical, appropriate, and legally permissible methods under Executive 
Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
     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. 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).
     Is subject to the CRA, and the EPA will submit a rule 
report to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of 
the United States. The CRA allows the issuing agency to make a rule 
effective sooner than otherwise provided by the CRA if the agency makes 
a good cause finding that notice and comment rulemaking procedures are 
impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest (5 U.S.C. 
808(2)). The EPA has made a good cause finding for this rule as 
discussed in section II of this preamble, including the basis for that 
finding.
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by May 4, 2021. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the EPA Administrator of this final rule does not 
affect the finality of this rule for the purpose of judicial review nor 
does it extend the time within which 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 CAA section 307(b)(2)).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

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

    Dated: February 23, 2021.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2021-04388 Filed 3-4-21; 8:45 am]
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