[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 124 (Thursday, July 1, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35042-35044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14055]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R02-OAR-2020-0466, FRL 10025-61-Region 2]


Approval of Air Quality Implementation Plans; New York; Part 212, 
Process Operations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a revision to the New York State Implementation Plan concerning 
process operations. The intended effect of this revision is to 
streamline and update provisions, align those provisions with 
permitting regulations, and provide regulatory certainly for the 
regulated community. New York's comprehensive submittal also included 
Operating Permit Program requirements; however, the EPA will be acting 
on these revisions under a separate action.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 2, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-
R02-OAR-2020-0466, at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or withdrawn. 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, the full EPA public comment 
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general 
guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marina Cubias-Castro, Air Programs 
Branch, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, 290 Broadway, 25th 
Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-3713, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. EPA's Evaluation of New York's Submittal
III. Proposed Action
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve New 
York's State Implementation Plan (SIP) submittal consisting of 
revisions to Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (6 
NYCRR) Part 212, now entitled, ``Process Operations,'' which applies to 
process emission sources and/or emission points associated with a 
process operation, and which will streamline and update provisions, 
align those provisions with permitting regulations, and provide 
regulatory certainly for the regulated community. In addition, 
attendant revisions were made to 6 NYCRR Part 200, ``General 
Provisions,'' in order to add a new Subdivision (cy) to define 
``Polychlorinated Dibenzo-para-dioxins and Polychlorinated 
Dibenzofurans'' to Section 200.1. The EPA is proposing to approve these 
revisions, requested by

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New York, to strengthen the effectiveness of New York's SIP.

II. EPA's Evaluation of New York's Submittal

    On February 5, 2019, the New York State Department of Environmental 
Conservation (NYSDEC) submitted to the EPA the proposed revisions to 
Parts 200 and 212, along with supplemental materials, including 
documentation of the comment period and public hearings, and the 
NYSDEC's responses to public comments. On March 26, 2021, the NYSDEC 
submitted to the EPA additional proposed attendant revisions to Part 
212, along with documentation of the comment period and public 
hearings, and the NYSDEC's responses to public comments. These 
materials are in the EPA's docket for this proposal. The State's March 
26, 2021 comprehensive SIP submittal also proposes revisions to the 
Part 201 Operating Permit Program to require owners and operators of 
air contamination sources to obtain a permit or registration, and for 
Part 200.1 General Provisions for combustion installation, emergency 
power generating station internal combustion engine, fossil fuel and 
furnace. However, the EPA will act on these revisions in a separate 
action.

Revisions to Parts 200 and 212

    The EPA is proposing to approve the revisions to Parts 200 and 212. 
The revisions to Part 200 apply to a combination or mixture containing 
four to eight chlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins and/or chlorinated 
dibenzofurans and/or specific polychlorinated biphenyls. The revisions 
to Part 212 apply to process emission sources and/or emission points 
associated with a process operation. These revisions streamline and 
update provisions, align those provisions with permitting regulations, 
and provide regulatory certainly for the regulated community. The EPA 
proposes to approve these revisions to strengthen the New York's 
SIP.\1\
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    \1\ The NYSDEC repealed Part 212, which was previously entitled, 
``General Process Emission Sources,'' and replaced it with the 
current version, entitled, ``Process Operations.'' The NYSDEC 
proposes to revise the New York SIP to remove an outdated version of 
Part 212 that was previously approved by the EPA on July 12, 2013 
(78 FR 41846), and incorporate the current March 26, 2021 version of 
Part 212.
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    The proposed changes to Part 212 include: Establishing consistent 
terminology between Part 212 Part 200, as well as 6 NYCRR Part 201, 
``Permits and Registrations''; establishing a Toxic Best Available 
Control Technology (T-BACT) standard for toxic air contaminants; 
clarifying the interaction between Part 212 and the National Emission 
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs); offering a 
streamlined approach for demonstrating compliance with regulatory 
standards for air contaminants by adopting a mass emission rate option; 
replacing the current Part 212 control requirement, which provides the 
NYSDEC Commissioner with discretion to establish the degree of required 
air cleaning, with a performance of air dispersion modeling analysis in 
order to demonstrate compliance with the NYSDEC Guideline 
Concentrations or National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS); 
controlling High Toxicity Air Contaminants (HTACs) to the greatest 
extent possible; and generally reorganizing and clarifying Part 212. 
Aside from renumbering and replacement of the term ``Lower Orange 
County'' with a list of regulated Orange County towns, this proposed 
rulemaking does not change the language of existing Section 212.10, 
``Reasonably Available Control Technology for Major Facilities,'' which 
is renumbered in the proposed revisions as Subpart 212-3. Neither does 
this proposed rulemaking change the language of existing Section 
212.12, ``Control of Nitrogen Oxides for Hot Mix Asphalt Production 
Plants,'' other than renumbering the section to Section 212-2.4 in line 
with the proposed new numbering. Under Sections 212-3.1(c)(3) and 212-
4.1(c), process specific Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) 
determinations must be submitted to the EPA as SIP revisions and are 
effective only if approved by the EPA.
    In addition, Subdivision 212-1.4(a) is revised to clarify its 
requirements. Subdivision 212-1.4(k) is revised to address toxic 
emissions from the iron and steel industry. Paragraph 212-1.5(e)(2) is 
revised to include an alternative toxic impact assessment method. Table 
2 in Section 212-2.2 is revised to be consistent with Table 1 in 
Subpart 201-9 and to reflect the latest toxicological information. 
Table 6 in Subdivision 212-2.5(b) is revised to show permissible 
emission rates consistent with the formula presented in that 
Subdivision.

III. Proposed Action

    The EPA proposes to approve the revisions to New York's Title 6 of 
the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations Part 212, ``General Process 
Emission Sources'' and Section 200.1, ``Definitions,'' both with a 
State effective date of April 30, 2015, along with additional revisions 
to Part 212, with a State effective date of February 25, 2021, into New 
York's SIP, in order to strengthen enforcement of the State's air 
pollution control regulations. The EPA is soliciting public comments on 
the issues discussed in this proposed rulemaking action. These comments 
will be considered before taking final action.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, we are proposing to incorporate by 
reference the provisions described above in Section II.
    The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these documents 
generally available electronically through http://www.regulations.gov 
and/or in hard copy at the EPA Region 2 Office (please contact the 
person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this preamble for more information).

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Administrator is required to 
approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA 
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 CAA. Accordingly, 
this action merely proposes to approve state law that meets federal 
requirements 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 Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 
2011);
     Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 3, 
2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempted under 
Executive Order 12866;
     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);

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     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 the 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, this proposed rule does not have tribal implications 
as specified by Executive Order 13175, because the SIP is not approved 
to apply in Indian country located in the state, and the EPA notes that 
it will not impose substantial direct compliance costs on tribal 
governments or preempt tribal law. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not 
apply to this action.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

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

    Dated: June 26, 2021.
Walter Mugdan,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 2.
[FR Doc. 2021-14055 Filed 6-30-21; 8:45 am]
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