[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 78 (Monday, April 26, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 21942-21944]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08376]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2020-0209; FRL-10022-62-Region-1]


Air Plan Approval; New Hampshire; Sulfur Content Limitations for 
Fuels

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of New 
Hampshire on March 11, 2019. This revision establishes sulfur content 
limitations for fuels. In addition, the State requested withdrawal from 
the SIP of the existing sulfur limitations regulation, which will be 
superseded by the State's revised sulfur limitations regulation. The 
intended effect of this action is to approve the State's March 11, 2019 
submittal into the New Hampshire SIP and remove from the SIP the 
superseded sulfur in fuels limitations. This action is being taken 
under the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This rule is effective on May 26, 2021.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2020-0209. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed 
in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., 
confidential business information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as 
copyrighted material, is not placed on the internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket 
materials are available at https://www.regulations.gov or at the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1 Regional Office, Air and 
Radiation Division, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA 
requests that if at all possible, you contact the contact listed in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. 
The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through 
Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding legal holidays and facility 
closures due to COVID-19.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne McWilliams, Air Quality Branch, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office 
Square--Suite 100, (Mail code 05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel. (617) 
918-1697, email [email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. Background and Purpose
II. Response to Comments
III. Final Action
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

[[Page 21943]]

I. Background and Purpose

    New Hampshire's Env-A 400 Sulfur Content Limits of Fuels (Env-A 
400) was approved by EPA as a revision to the New Hampshire SIP on 
August 14, 1992 (57 FR 36603). Env-A 400 was subsequently renumbered by 
the State as Env-A 1600 Fuel Specifications (Env-A 1600). Env-A 1600 
was submitted to EPA as a revision to the SIP in 2003 with a subsequent 
amendment submitted in 2015. However, New Hampshire withdrew both 
submittals prior to EPA action. Effective July 1, 2018, New Hampshire's 
Revised Statutes Annotated (RSA) 125-C:10-d was amended to reduce the 
sulfur limits in liquid fuels imported into or distributed within the 
State. The State's March 11, 2019 SIP submittal of revised Env-A 1600 
Fuel Specifications implements the State statute, (RSA) 125-C:10-d as 
amended.
    Env-A 1600 is intended to prevent, abate, and control the use of 
fuels containing specific pollutant elements and compounds. In 
conjunction with the submittal of Env-A 1600, on May 22, 2019, the New 
Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NH DES) requested 
removal of Env-A 400, which currently exists in the New Hampshire SIP 
but has been superseded as a matter of State law by Env-A 1600. Env-A 
400 is now a State regulation unrelated to sulfur limitations in fuels. 
Other specific requirements of New Hampshire's sulfur in fuels 
requirements and the rationale for EPA's proposed action are explained 
in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) (86 FR 8566, February 8, 
2021) and will not be restated here.

II. Response to Comments

    During the comment period, two commenters expressed support for 
EPA's proposed rulemaking. One additional commenter provided comments 
that were unclear as to how the comments related to EPA's proposed 
approval and did not include any discussion of how the proposed 
rulemaking should change in any way. In closing, this commenter 
expressed overall support for the proposed rulemaking.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving Env-A 1600, Fuel Specifications, which was 
submitted to EPA by New Hampshire on March 11, 2019 as a revision to 
the New Hampshire SIP. In addition, EPA is removing previously SIP 
approved Env-A 400, Sulfur Content of Fuels, which has been superseded 
by Env-A 1600 as a matter of State law. Our proposed rulemaking 
included a demonstration that removal from the SIP of Env-A 400 meets 
the anti-backsliding requirements of CAA section 110(l).

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 
51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the New 
Hampshire Env-A 1600 ``Fuel Specifications'' described in the 
amendments to 40 CFR part 52 set forth below. The EPA has made, and 
will continue to make, these documents generally available through 
https://www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 1 Office (please 
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this preamble for more information). Therefore, these 
materials have been approved by EPA for inclusion in the State 
implementation plan, have been incorporated by reference by EPA into 
that plan, are fully federally enforceable under sections 110 and 113 
of the CAA as of the effective date of the final rulemaking of EPA's 
approval, and will be incorporated by reference in the next update to 
the SIP compilation.\1\
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    \1\ 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
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    Also in this rule, in accordance with the requirements of 1 CFR 
part 51, EPA is finalizing the removal of provisions of the Env-A 400 
``Sulfur Content Limits in Fuels'' from the New Hampshire State 
Implementation Plan, as described in the amendments to 40 CFR part 52 
set forth below.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act, 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, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
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);
     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).
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and 
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).

[[Page 21944]]

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by June 25, 2021. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this action for the purposes of 
judicial review nor does it extend the time within which a 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 section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: April 19, 2021.
Deborah Szaro,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.

    Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
is amended as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart EE--New Hampshire

0
2. In Sec.  52.1520(c), amend the table by removing the entry ``Env-A 
400'' and adding the entry ``Env-A 1600'' in numerical order to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1520  Identification of plan.

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    (c) * * *

                                     EPA-Approved New Hampshire Regulations
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                                                          State
         State citation             Title/subject    effective date   EPA approval date        Explanations
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                                                  * * * * * * *
Env-A 1600.....................  Fuel                    12/21/2018  April 26, 2021      Env-1600 replaces the
                                  Specifications.                     [Insert Federal     previously approved
                                                                      Register            Env-400 Sulfur Content
                                                                      citation].          Limits in Fuels.
 
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[FR Doc. 2021-08376 Filed 4-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P