[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 212 (Friday, November 5, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61100-61101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23996]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0452; FRL-8834-01-R9]


Air Plan Approval; California; Opacity Testing of Heavy-Duty 
Diesel Vehicles

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 California State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
concerning particulate matter (PM) emissions from heavy-duty (HD) 
diesel vehicles. We are proposing to approve state rules to regulate 
these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are 
taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final 
action.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 6, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2021-0452 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: Jeffrey Buss, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4152 or by 
email at [email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What rules did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of these rules?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
    D. Public Comment and Proposed Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rules did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rules addressed by this proposal with the dates 
that they were adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and 
submitted to the EPA.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
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            Agency                     Rule No.                 Rule title            Amended        Submitted
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CARB.........................  Title 13, Division 3,     Heavy-Duty Diesel Smoke      07/01/2019      02/13/2020
                                Chapter 3.5.              Emission Testing and
                                                          Heavy-Duty Vehicle
                                                          Emission Control
                                                          System Inspections \1\.
CARB.........................  Title 13, Division 3,     Periodic Smoke               07/01/2019      02/13/2020
                                Chapter 3.6.              Inspections of Heavy-
                                                          Duty Diesel-Powered
                                                          Vehicles \2\.
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    On August 13, 2020, the submittal from CARB was deemed by operation 
of law to meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51 Appendix V, 
which must be met before formal EPA review.
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    \1\ Chapter 3.5 contains sections 2180-2189.
    \2\ Chapter 3.6 contains sections 2190-2194.
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B. Are there other versions of these rules?

    There are no previous versions of the submitted rules in the 
California SIP.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?

    Emissions of PM, including PM equal to or less than 2.5 microns in 
diameter (PM2.5) and PM equal to or less than 10 microns in 
diameter (PM10), contribute to effects that are harmful to 
human

[[Page 61101]]

health and the environment, including premature mortality, aggravation 
of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, decreased lung function, 
visibility impairment, and damage to vegetation and ecosystems. Section 
110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations that control PM 
emissions. The EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more 
information about these rules.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?

    Rules in the SIP must be enforceable (see CAA section 110(a)(2)), 
must not interfere with applicable requirements concerning attainment 
and reasonable further progress or other CAA requirements (see CAA 
section 110(l)), and must not modify certain SIP control requirements 
in nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent or greater emissions 
reductions (see CAA section 193).
    Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate 
enforceability, revisions, relaxation and rule stringency requirements 
for the applicable criteria pollutants include the following:

    1. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, 
and Deviations,'' (a.k.a., Bluebook) EPA OAQPS, May 25, 1988.
    2. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' (a.k.a., Little Bluebook), EPA Region 9, August 21, 
2001.
    3. ``Guidance to States on In-Use Smoke Test Procedure for 
Highway Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles,'' EPA OAR, April 3, 1997.
    4. ``Guidance to States on Smoke Opacity Cutpoints to be used 
with the SAE J1667 In-Use Smoke Test Procedure,'' EPA OAR, February 
25, 1999.

B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    These rules meet CAA requirements and are consistent with relevant 
guidance regarding enforceability and SIP revisions. The standards set 
forth in the rules listed above (referred to as the ``heavy-duty 
vehicle inspection program'' (HDVIP) and the ``periodic smoke 
inspection program'' (PSIP)) are more stringent than the opacity 
standards set forth in the EPA's guidance to states.\3\ Further, while 
EPA's 1999 guidance establishes recommendations for states to uniformly 
establish opacity standards, states have authority under CAA section 
209(d) to establish their own in-use standards for motor vehicles. The 
TSD has more information on our evaluation.
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    \3\ ``Guidance to States on Smoke Opacity Cutpoints to be used 
with the SAE J1667 In-Use Smoke Test Procedure,'' EPA OAR, February 
25, 1999.
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C. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules

    The TSD includes recommendations for the next time CARB modifies 
the rules.

D. Public Comment and Proposed Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to 
fully approve the submitted rules because they fulfill all relevant 
requirements. We will accept comments from the public on this proposal 
until December 6, 2021. If we take final action to approve the 
submitted rules, our final action will incorporate these rules into the 
federally enforceable SIP.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference the California rules described in Table 1 of this preamble. 
The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials available 
through https://www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region IX Office 
(please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this preamble for more information).

IV. 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, the EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this proposed 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 
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 (Publ. 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).
    In addition, the SIP 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).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.

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

    Dated: October 29, 2021.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2021-23996 Filed 11-4-21; 8:45 am]
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