[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 25, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3736-3738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00810]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0846; FRL-9304-01-R9]
Air Plan Approval; California; San Joaquin Valley Unified Air
Pollution Control District; South Coast Air Quality Management District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve revisions to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution
Control District (SJVUAPCD) and South Coast Air Quality Management
District (SCAQMD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan
(SIP). These revisions concern emissions of volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) from flares. We are
proposing to approve these local 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 February 24, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2021-0846 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: Donnique Sherman, EPA Region IX, 75
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4129 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 rule revisions?
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 or amended by the local air agencies and
submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to the EPA.
Table 1--Submitted Rules
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Adopted/
Local agency Rule No. Rule title amended Submitted
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SCAQMD....................... 1118.1...................... Control of 01/04/2019 04/24/2019
Emissions from Non-
Refinery Flares.
SJVUAPCD..................... 4311........................ Flares............. 12/17/2020 03/12/2021
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Under CAA section 110(k)(1), the EPA must determine whether a SIP
submittal meets the minimum completeness criteria established in 40 CFR
part 51, appendix V for an official SIP submittal on which the EPA is
obligated to take action. If the EPA does not make an affirmative
determination of completeness or incompleteness within six months of
receipt of a SIP submittal, the submittal is deemed to be complete by
operation of law. The submitted rules listed in Table 1 were deemed
complete by operation of law on the following dates: October 24, 2019
(SCAQMD Rule
[[Page 3737]]
1118.1), and September 12, 2021 (SJVUAPCD Rule 4311).
B. Are there other versions of these rules?
There are no previous versions of SCAQMD Rule 1118.1 in the SIP.
SCAQMD locally adopted this rule on January 4, 2019, and CARB submitted
it to us on April 24, 2019.
We approved an earlier version of SJVUAPCD Rule 4311 into the SIP
on November 3, 2011 (76 FR 68106). The SJVUAPCD adopted revisions to
the SIP-approved version on December 17, 2020, and CARB submitted them
to us on March 12, 2021. If we take final action to approve the
December 17, 2020 version of Rule 4311, this version will replace the
previously approved version of this rule in the SIP.
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?
Emissions of NOX and VOCs contribute to the production
of ground-level ozone, which harms human health and the environment.
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations that
control NOX emissions. The submitted rules set further
requirements to control NOX and other emissions from flares.
A description of these rules follows, and a more complete list of
revisions and rule discussion can be found in the technical support
documents (TSDs) and submitted district staff reports and rules for
this rulemaking:
SCAQMD Rule 1118.1 was adopted to fulfill reasonably
available control technology (RACT) requirements for non-refinery
flares and to facilitate the transition of the NOX RECLAIM
(Regional Clean Air Incentives Market) program to a command-and-control
regulatory structure. Rule 1118.1 is designed to reduce NOX
and VOC emissions from non-refinery flares. The proposed rule
establishes capacity thresholds for existing flares and emission limits
for NOX, VOC, and carbon monoxide (CO) for new, replaced, or
relocated non-refinery flares.
SJVUAPCD amended Rule 4311 to fulfill SJVUAPCD's control
measure commitments in their 2018 PM2.5 Plan and their 2016
Ozone Plan, for reducing flare emissions. SJVUAPCD amended Rule 4311 to
require owners and operators of flares to install Ultra Low
NOX (ULN) flaring technologies and to encourage alternative
uses of waste gas. Some of the revisions include establishing annual
throughput thresholds that flares must not exceed, and adding a
compliance schedule for meeting annual throughput limits.
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).
Generally, SIP rules must require RACT for each major source of
NOX in ozone nonattainment areas classified as moderate or
above (see CAA sections 182(b)(2) and 182(f)). The SCAQMD and SJVUAPCD
regulate ozone nonattainment areas classified as Extreme for the 2008
8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), and the
2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS (40 CFR 81.305). Therefore, these rules must
implement RACT.
Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate
enforceability, revision/relaxation and rule stringency requirements
for the applicable criteria pollutants include the following:
1. ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' 57
FR 13498 (April 16, 1992); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).
2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook, revised January 11,
1990).
3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
These rules meet CAA requirements and are consistent with relevant
guidance regarding enforceability, RACT, and SIP revisions. The TSDs
have more information on our evaluation.
C. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
The TSDs include recommendations for the next time the local
agencies modify their 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 February 24, 2022. 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 SCAQMD rule and the SJVUAPCD rule 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 (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);
[[Page 3738]]
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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.)
Dated: January 11, 2022.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2022-00810 Filed 1-24-22; 8:45 am]
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