[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 27 (Wednesday, February 9, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7410-7412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02675]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2022-0089; FRL-9546-01-R1]


Air Plan Approval; Connecticut; Negative Declaration for the Oil 
and Gas Industry

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of Connecticut. The revision provides the State's determination, 
via a negative declaration, that there are no facilities within its 
borders subject to EPA's 2016 Control Technique Guideline (CTG) for the 
oil and gas industry. The intended effect of this action is to approve 
this item into the Connecticut SIP. This action is being taken under 
the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 11, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OAR-2022-0089 at https://www.regulations.gov, or via email 
[email protected]. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either 
manner of submission, 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. 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: Eric Rackauskas, 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) 
918-1628, email [email protected].

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

[[Page 7411]]

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA Analysis
III. Proposed Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background and Purpose

    On October 27, 2016, EPA published in the Federal Register the 
``Final Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas 
Industry'' (81 FR 74798). The CTG provided information to state, local, 
and tribal air agencies to assist them in determining reasonably 
available control technology (RACT) for volatile organic compounds 
(VOC) emissions from select oil and natural gas industry emission 
sources. CAA section 182(b)(2)(A) requires that for ozone nonattainment 
areas classified as Moderate or above, states must revise their SIPs to 
include provisions to implement RACT for each category of VOC sources 
covered by a CTG document. CAA section 184(b)(1)(B) extends the RACT 
obligation to all areas of states within the Ozone Transport Region 
(OTR). In addition to Connecticut being classified as nonattainment for 
the 2008 and 2015 ozone standards in both the Connecticut portion of 
the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT area and Greater 
Connecticut areas, Connecticut is a member state of the OTR. States 
subject to RACT requirements are required to adopt controls that are at 
least as stringent as those found within the CTG either via the 
adoption of regulations, or by issuance of single source orders or 
permits that outline what the source is required to do to meet RACT. If 
no source for a particular CTG exists within a state, the state must 
submit as a SIP revision a negative declaration documenting this fact.

II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA Analysis

    On December 29, 2020, the Connecticut Department of Energy and 
Environmental Protection (DEEP) submitted a negative declaration for 
the 2016 Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG.\1\ The term ``negative 
declaration'' means that the state has explored whether any facilities 
subject to the applicability requirements of the CTG exist within the 
state and concluded that there are no such sources within its borders. 
As part of this determination, DEEP reviewed the inventory of sources 
for facilities covered by the CTGs, interviewed its field staff, and 
searched telephone directories and internet web pages, including other 
state government databases, to identify and evaluate sources that might 
meet the applicability requirements. Connecticut DEEP ultimately 
determined there are no sources covered by this CTG in the State. This 
is consistent with EPA's understanding of where sources subject to the 
Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG are located.
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    \1\ This submittal was part of Connecticut's larger RACT and 
Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) Certification submittal, 
which will be acted upon separately and are not part of this 
rulemaking.
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    EPA has historically allowed states to submit a negative 
declaration for a particular CTG category if the state finds that no 
sources exist in the state which would be subject to that CTG. EPA has 
addressed the idea of negative declarations numerous times and for 
various NAAQS including in the General Preamble to the 1990 
Amendments,\2\ the 2006 RACT Q&A Memo,\3\ and the 2008 Ozone 
Implementation Rule.\4\ In each of these documents, EPA asserted that 
if no sources exist in the nonattainment area for a particular CTG 
category, the state would be allowed to submit a negative declaration 
SIP revision. This principle also applies to states in the OTR. EPA is 
not aware of any information indicating that a facility subject to the 
2016 Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG exists within the State of 
Connecticut and so we are proposing to approve Connecticut's negative 
declaration into the SIP.
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    \2\ ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' 
(57 FR 13498at 13512 (April 16, 1992)).
    \3\ RACT Q's and A's--Reasonably Available Control Technology 
RACT: Questions and Answers Memorandum from William T. Harnett, May 
18, 2006.
    \4\ ``Implementation of the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards for Ozone: State Implementation Plan Requirements,'' (80 
FR 12263at 12278 (March 6, 2015)).
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III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve Connecticut's negative declaration for 
the 2016 Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG. EPA is soliciting public 
comments on the issues discussed in this notice or on other relevant 
matters. These comments will be considered before taking final action. 
Interested parties may participate in the Federal rulemaking procedure 
by submitting written comments to this proposed rule by following the 
instructions listed in the ADDRESSES section of this Federal Register.

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, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this proposed 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 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);
     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).

[[Page 7412]]

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: February 3, 2022.
Deborah Szaro,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2022-02675 Filed 2-8-22; 8:45 am]
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