[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 10, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13679-13683]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02762]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2020-0165; FRL-10018-30-Region 6]


Air Approval Plans; Texas; Reasonably Available Control 
Technology in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Ozone Nonattainment Area

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 May 
13, 2020 revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
concerning Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) requirement 
for the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB), 2008 8-hour ozone National 
Air Quality Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) nonattainment area 
(NA). The HGB area, designated as serious for 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS, 
consists of Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, 
Montgomery and Waller counties. The RACT requirements apply to sources 
of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Oxides of Nitrogen 
(NOX) in this area. We are also proposing to approve 
negative declarations for certain VOC source categories subject to RACT 
in the HGB area.

[[Page 13680]]


DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 9, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2020-0165, 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 Robert M. Todd, (214) 
665-2156, [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://www2.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: Robert M. Todd, 214-665-2156, 
[email protected]. Out of an abundance of caution for members of the 
public and our staff, the EPA Region 6 office may 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 may 
be a delay in processing mail and courier or hand deliveries may not 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

    VOC and NOX help produce ground-level ozone, or smog, 
which harms human health and the environment. Sections 182(b)(2) and 
(f) require that SIPs for ozone nonattainment areas classified as 
moderate or above include implementation of RACT for any source covered 
by a Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) document and also for any 
major source of VOC or NOX not covered by a CTG. It is worth 
noting that for some CTG categories, RACT is applicable to minor or 
area sources. The EPA has defined RACT as the lowest emissions 
limitation that a particular source is capable of meeting by the 
application of control technology that is reasonably available, 
considering technological and economic feasibility. See September 17, 
1979 (44 FR 53761).
    For a Moderate, Serious, or Severe area a major stationary source 
is one that emits, or has the potential to emit, 100, 50, or 25 tons 
per year (tpy) or more of VOCs or NOX, respectively. See CAA 
sections 182(b), 182(c), and 182(d). The EPA provides states with 
guidance concerning what types of controls could constitute RACT for a 
given source category through the issuance of CTG and Alternative 
Control Techniques (ACT) documents. See https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/control-techniques-guidelines-and-alternative-control-techniques (URL dating November 12, 2020) for a listing of EPA-
issued CTGs and ACTs.
    On March 27, 2008, the EPA revised the primary and secondary Ozone 
(O3) standard to a level of 75 parts per billion (ppb). On 
October 26, 2015, (80 FR 65292) EPA adopted another revision to the 
Ozone standard, but the 2008 standard remains in place. This notice 
concerns the VOC RACT requirements under the 2008 standard.
    Promulgation of a NAAQS triggers a requirement for the EPA to 
designate areas as nonattainment, attainment, or unclassifiable, and to 
classify the NAs at the time of designation. On May 21, 2012, the EPA 
established initial area designations for most areas of the country 
with respect to the 2008 primary and secondary eight-hour O3 
NAAQS. The EPA published two rules addressing final implementation \1\ 
and air quality designations.\2\ The implementation rule established 
classifications, associated attainment deadlines, and revoked the 1997 
O3 standards for transportation conformity purposes. The 
designation rule finalized the NAA boundaries for areas that did not 
meet the 75 ppb standard. Furthermore, the finalized nonattainment 
areas were classified according to the severity of their O3 
air quality problems as determined by each area's design value.\3\ The 
O3 classification categories were defined as Marginal, 
Moderate, Serious, Severe, or Extreme.
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    \1\ See 77 FR 30160 ``Implementation of the 2008 National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone: Nonattainment Area 
Classifications Approach, Attainment Deadlines and Revocation of the 
1997 Ozone Standards for Transportation Conformity Purposes.''
    \2\ See 77 FR 30088, ``Air Quality Designations for the 2008 
Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards.''
    \3\ The air quality design value for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS is 
the three-year average of the annual fourth highest daily maximum 8-
hour average ozone concentration. See 40 CFR part 50, appendix I.
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    Originally the HGB area was classified as ``marginal'' (77 FR 30088 
and 77 FR 30160, May 21, 2012).\4\ However, the HGB area did not meet 
the revised attainment deadline of July 20, 2016 and was reclassified 
to moderate. Based on the moderate classification of the HGB area for 
the 2008 ozone standard, under section 182(b) of the CAA, a major 
stationary source in the area is one that emits, or has the potential 
to emit, 100 tpy or more of VOCs or NOX. However, on August 
23, 2019 (84 FR 44238), we found the HGB area did not meet the 
attainment date for the moderate classification under the 2008 
O3 NAAQS and designated the area to be a ``serious'' 
nonattainment area with an attainment date of July 20, 2021. Under the 
``serious'' designation the major source threshold is 50 tpy or more of 
VOC or NOX. In our action reclassifying HGB to serious, we 
set a deadline of August 3, 2021 for TCEQ to provide a demonstration 
that RACT was in place as necessary to meet the serious area 
requirements.
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    \4\ Subsequently the attainment deadlines were revised under the 
marginal classification. 80 FR 12264, March 6, 2015; 81 FR 26697, 
May 4, 2016).
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    On May 13, 2020 Texas submitted its SIP demonstration that serious 
level RACT for sources of VOC and NOX emissions in the HGB 
area is met for the 2008 NAAQS. Texas, in its SIP analyses \5\ to 
identify major stationary sources of NOX and VOC reviewed 
the TCEQ 2017 point source emissions inventory, New Source Review and 
Clean Air Act Title V databases to locate potential sources. All 
sources in the Title V database that were listed as a major source for 
NOX or VOC emissions are included in the RACT analysis. TCEQ 
noted that they reviewed sources that reported actual emissions as low 
as 25 tpy of NOX or VOC to account for the difference 
between actual and potential emissions. TCEQ also noted that sites

[[Page 13681]]

from the emissions inventory database with emissions equal to or 
greater than a threshold of 25 tpy or more of NOX or VOC 
definition that were not identified in the Title V database and could 
not be verified as minor sources by other means are also included in 
the RACT analysis.
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    \5\ See Appendix F, Reasonably Available control Technology 
Analysis, of the state's SIP submittal, available at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/assets/public/implementation/air/sip/hgb/hgb_serious_AD_2019/HGB_AD_SIP_19077SIP_AppendixF_adoption.pdf. Last 
accessed November 16, 2020.
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II. Evaluation

Reliance on Prior RACT Determination for HGB Area

    In TCEQ's May 13, 2020 submittal, Table F-1 titled ``State Rules 
Addressing VOC RACT Requirements in CTG Reference Documents'' lists VOC 
CTG source categories, their reference documents, and corresponding 
state rules addressing VOC RACT requirements. Table F-2 titled ``State 
Rules Addressing VOC RACT Requirements in ACT Reference Documents,'' in 
TCEQ's May 13, 2020 SIP, lists state rules addressing VOC RACT for ACT 
source categories. The implementation rule of March 6, 2015 (80 FR 
12264), explains that States should refer to existing CTG and ACT 
documents as well as all relevant technical information including 
recent technical information received during the public comment period 
to determine if RACT is being applied. States may conclude, in some 
cases, that sources already addressed by RACT determinations to meet 
the 1-hour and/or the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS do not need to implement 
additional controls to meet the 2008 ozone NAAQS RACT requirement (80 
FR 12279, March 6, 2015). The EPA has approved the 30 TAC Chapter 115 
VOC rules as RACT for the HGB area under the 1-hour and 1997 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS (71 FR, 52670, September 6, 2006; 78 FR 19599, April 2, 
2013; 79 FR 21144, April 15, 2014; 79 FR 45105, August 4, 2014; and 80 
FR 16291, March 27, 2015) and later the 2008 Moderate NAAQS area 
designation (84 FR 18145, April 30, 2019). The EPA determined that VOC 
RACT is in place for all CTG and non-CTG major sources in the HGB area 
for the 1-hour, 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and 2008 moderate area NAAQS 
(71 FR 52676, September 6, 2006; 79 FR 21144, April 15, 2014; and 84 FR 
18145, April 30, 2019), respectively. Texas's May 13, 2020 submittal 
relies on those EPA-approved Chapter 115 rules for the 1-hour, 1997 8-
hour and 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS to fulfill RACT requirement for CTG 
and non-CTG VOC major sources for the 2008 8-hour serious ozone 
NAAQS.\6\
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    \6\ See EPA-R06-OAR-2005-TX-0018, EPA-R06-OAR-2012-0100 and EPA-
R06-OAR-2017-0055, available through the Regulations.gov website at: 
https://www.regulations.gov/.
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    We are proposing to find that the rules we approved as meeting RACT 
for the 1-hour and 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS also meet RACT for the 2008 
8-hour ozone NAAQS. We have determined this is appropriate because the 
fundamental control techniques described in the CTG and ACT documents 
and implemented in the Texas Rules are still applicable. This is 
supported by the implementing rule for the 2008 ozone NAAQS.\7\ The 
Chapter 115 rules provide appropriate VOC emissions reductions that are 
equivalent to control options cited in the CTG and ACT documents and 
any non-CTG major sources are appropriately controlled.
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    \7\ See March 6, 2015 (80 FR 12279), final action and rationale 
and 80 FR 12280, first column, comments and responses.
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    The state did not include any revisions to implement the new CTG 
for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry (EPA-453/B-16-001, October 2016) 
in the HGB area.\8\ As explained in EPA's implementing memo \9\ for 
this CTG, Texas was required to adopt and submit revisions to the SIP 
by no later than two years after the availability of the said CTG. In 
this case, the date of the notice of availability was October 27, 2016 
(See 81 FR 74798). EPA issued a notice of failure to submit on November 
16, 2020 (85 FR 72963) \10\ establishing a 24-month deadline for EPA to 
either approve SIPs or finalize Federal Implementation Plans (FIPs) 
that address the Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG in the HGB area. See 
section 110(c) of the Act. The EPA is committed to working with Texas 
to expedite the development and submission of the required SIP 
revisions addressing the Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG for the 
affected areas, and to review and act on their submissions in 
accordance with the requirements of the CAA.
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    \8\ At the time of the submittal to EPA Region 6, TCEQ noted the 
existence of the O&G CTG, stating EPA had proposed to withdraw it on 
March 9, 2018 (83 FR 10478).
    \9\ See ``Implementing Reasonably Available Control Technology 
Requirements for Sources Covered by the 2016 Control Techniques 
Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry'' Memorandum from 
Anna Marie Wood, October 20, 2016. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-10/documents/implementing_reasonably_available_control_technology_requirements_for_sources_covered_by_the_2016_control_techniques_guidelines_for_the_oil_and_natural_gas_industry.pdf.
    \10\ See Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0485 available at 
www.regulations.gov.
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VOC RACT Analysis for Additional Controls or Newly Identified Sources

    The vast majority of major sources of VOC are in categories covered 
by CTGs but as explained previously, states must ensure that all major 
sources have implemented RACT even those not covered by CTG's. During 
the last RACT review for the 2008 ozone NAAQS conducted in response to 
the area's moderate area classification and based on the moderate area 
100 tpy major source threshold, the TCEQ identified a Vegetable Oil 
Manufacturing Operations source emitting VOCs in a quantity greater 
than the major source definition and not covered by CTG category or 
previously approved RACT rule. TCEQ's analysis showed that the source 
met a level of control consistent with RACT, i.e., the lowest 
achievable emission rate considering technical and economic 
feasibility. TCEQ did not identify any other major sources of VOC not 
covered by a rule previously approved as implementing RACT or achieving 
a level of control consistent with RACT considering technical and 
economic feasibility. Please see the Technical Support Document (TSD) 
prepared in conjunction with this action for additional information.

VOC RACT Negative Declarations

    States are not required to adopt RACT limits for CTG source 
categories for which no sources exist in a nonattainment area and can 
submit a negative declaration to that effect. The negative declaration 
would need to assert that there are no CTG sources in the area, and the 
accompanying analysis would need to support that conclusion. Texas has 
reviewed its emission inventory and determined that its previous 
negative declarations for fiberglass boat manufacturing materials, 
surface coating for flat wood paneling, letterpress printing, 
automobile and light-duty truck assembly coating, and rubber tire 
manufacturing categories submitted as part of its HGB Area VOC RACT SIP 
for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS are still applicable (79 FR 21144, 
April 15, 2014). We also are unaware of any sources in these CTG source 
categories in the area and therefore we propose to approve these 
negative declarations.
    See Table F-2 titled ``State Rules Addressing VOC RACT Requirements 
in ACT Reference Documents'' for a listing of source types for which a 
VOC Alternate Control Technology document has been issued, the state's 
determination of how the technologies in the ACT have been addressed 
and whether or not such a source is

[[Page 13682]]

currently located in the HGB NA area. We also are not aware of any 
major sources in the ACT source categories which TCEQ indicates that no 
sources are located in the HGB area.

HGB Area NOX RACT TCEQ Analysis

    Under CAA section 182(f) RACT is required for major sources of 
NOX. The EPA has issued ACT documents \11\ that describe 
available control technologies for NOX emissions, but do not 
define presumptive RACT levels. In TCEQ's May 13, 2020 submittal, Table 
F-3: State Rules Addressing NOX RACT Requirements in ACT Reference 
Documents provides the emission source categories, the ACT reference 
documents, and the state Chapter 117 rules addressing the RACT 
requirements for sources in the NOX ACT documents. TCEQ also 
identified a glass manufacturing furnace with major NOX 
emissions for which the state has not written a Chapter 117 rule 
controlling NOX emissions.
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    \11\ See https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/control-techniques-guidelines-and-alternative-control-techniques.
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    In 2013, EPA determined that NOX control measures in 30 
TAC Chapter 117 met 1997 8-hour RACT requirements for major sources of 
NOX in the HGB area under the 1-hour and 1997 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS (78 FR 19599, April 2, 2013). Our approval, under these previous 
standards, found that RACT was being implemented at all major sources 
under the severe area major source threshold of 25 tpy of 
NOX. We reaffirmed that determination at 84 FR 18145, April 
30, 2019 in response to the area's moderate classification under the 
2008 standard. Texas's submittal relies on those EPA-approved Chapter 
117 rules to fulfill RACT requirements for all but one NOX 
source category that exist in the HGB area. As noted, there was a major 
source glass manufacturer identified as part of the analysis approved 
in April 2019. At that time, we approved the controls in place at the 
facility as RACT with controls consistent with the ACT for this source 
type. (See section 3.2.2 of Appendix F of the TCEQ May 13, 2020 
submittal for details.)
    In our implementation rule for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, we made clear 
we believed that, in some cases, new RACT determinations would ``result 
in the same or similar control technology as the RACT determinations 
made for the 1-hour or 1997 standards.'' This is because the 
fundamental control techniques, as described in the CTG and ACT 
documents, are still applicable. Following this line of reasoning, 
Texas determined the existing Chapter 117 NOX reduction 
regulations provide appropriate NOX emissions reductions 
that meet RACT emission reduction requirements and adequately 
incorporate ACT document controls where appropriate. We are proposing 
to find that the existing Chapter 117 rules meet the RACT requirement 
in the HGB area for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
    As stated above, Texas noted their review of NOX sources 
in the HGB area identified only one major source that was not covered 
by a rule previously approved as RACT which was a facility falling 
under the Glass Manufacturing ACT category.\12\ The source has existing 
controls consistent with RACT. Texas did not locate any major sources 
subject to the NOX Emission from Cement Manufacturing ACT. 
For all the other NOX ACT sources, the state has established 
Chapter 117 regulations we have previously approved as RACT for the 
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, reaffirmed as RACT in a review conducted for 
the 2008 ozone moderate NA designation, and, as discussed above, we are 
proposing to find them as meeting RACT for the 2008 ozone serious NA 
designation.
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    \12\ See EPA Docket ID NOs EPA-R06-OAR-2012-0100 and EPA-R06-
OAR-2017-0055, available at: https://www.regulations.gov/.
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CAA 110(l) Analysis

    CAA section 110(l) requires that a SIP revision submitted to EPA be 
adopted after reasonable notice and public hearing. Section 110(l) also 
requires that we not approve a SIP revision if the revision would 
interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and 
reasonable further progress, or any other applicable requirement of the 
CAA.
    As a part of its submittal the TCEQ provided copies of the Public 
Notice of proposed serious attainment demonstration plans in the Texas 
Register and local newspapers. The TCEQ also held a public hearing on 
the revisions to the SIP on October 14, 2019 in Houston, Texas.
    There are no rule changes in control requirements in this RACT 
submittal. The evaluation of the submittal reveals that previously EPA-
approved RACT levels of control for the HGB area continue to be in 
effect, and there is no relaxation of those control measures for the 
affected sources in the proposed RACT in the HGB area. Therefore, we do 
not expect the existing NOX and VOC RACT controls measures 
to interfere with attainment and reasonable further progress of ozone 
pollution control requirements, or any other applicable requirement of 
the Act. Furthermore, records demonstrate that Texas adopted an 
attainment demonstration plan that includes this RACT analyses after 
reasonable notice, a public hearing, and an opportunity for public 
comment. Thus, the CAA Section 110(l) requirements are met. We propose 
that RACT is in place for affected sources of NOX and VOC 
emissions and that the existing controls requirements continue to 
represent RACT for the HGB area with the exception of those sources 
subject to the Oil and Gas CTG.

III. Proposed Action

    We are proposing to approve the May 13, 2020 revisions to the Texas 
SIP concerning the HGB 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS nonattainment area as 
meeting the VOC and NOX RACT requirements for an area 
designated as serious with the exception of the requirement to 
implement RACT for sources covered by the Oil and Gas CTG. The proposed 
approval is, in part, based on previous VOC and NOX RACT 
determinations made for this area under the 1-hour and the 1997 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS. We are also proposing to approve negative declarations 
made for fiberglass boat manufacturing materials, manufacturing of 
pneumatic rubber tires, flat wood paneling coatings, letterpress 
printing; and automobile and light-duty truck assembly coatings sectors 
in the HGB area under the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS designated as 
serious.

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.);

[[Page 13683]]

     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).
    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 recordkeeping 
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. 2021-02762 Filed 3-9-21; 8:45 am]
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