[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10998-11001]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04112]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2021-0395; FRL-9563-01-R4]
Air Plan Approval; Kentucky; Emissions Statement Requirements for
the 2015 8-Hour Ozone Standard Nonattainment Areas
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 to EPA by
the Commonwealth of Kentucky through the Kentucky Division for Air
Quality (KDAQ) on October 15, 2020. The proposed changes were submitted
by KDAQ to address the emissions statement requirements for the 2015 8-
hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for Kentucky
counties in the Cincinnati, Ohio-Kentucky 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS
nonattainment area (Cincinnati, OH-KY Area), and for some of the
Kentucky counties in the Louisville, Kentucky-Indiana 2015 8-hour ozone
NAAQS nonattainment area (Louisville, KY-IN Area). Specifically, EPA is
proposing to approve the emissions statement requirements for portions
of Boone, Campbell, and Kenton Counties in the Cincinnati, OH-KY Area,
and Bullitt and Oldham Counties in the Louisville, KY-IN Area. EPA will
consider and take action, or has considered and taken action, on
submissions addressing the emissions statement requirements for the
remaining counties in these two nonattainment areas, including the
Jefferson County, Kentucky portion of the Louisville, KY-IN Area, in
separate rulemakings. EPA is proposing approval pursuant to the Clean
Air Act (CAA or Act).
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 30, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2021-0395 at www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions
for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or
removed from Regulations.gov. 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
[[Page 10999]]
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. 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 www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tiereny Bell, Air Regulatory
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and
Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61
Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is
(404) 562-9088. Ms. Bell can also be reached via electronic mail at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On October 1, 2015, EPA promulgated a revised 8-hour primary and
secondary ozone NAAQS, strengthening both from 0.075 parts per million
(ppm) to 0.070 ppm (the 2015 8-hour Ozone NAAQS). See 80 FR 65292. The
2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS is set at 0.070 ppm based on an annual fourth-
highest daily maximum 8-hour average concentration averaged over three
years. Under EPA's regulations at 40 CFR part 50, the 2015 8-hour ozone
NAAQS is attained when the 3-year average of the annual fourth-highest
daily maximum 8-hour average ambient air quality ozone concentration is
less than or equal to 0.070 ppm. See 40 CFR 50.19. Ambient air quality
monitoring data for the 3-year period must meet a data completeness
requirement. The ambient air quality monitoring data completeness
requirement is met when the average percentage of days with valid
ambient monitoring data is greater than 90 percent, and no single year
has less than 75 percent data completeness as determined using Appendix
U of part 50.
Upon promulgation of a new or revised ozone NAAQS, the CAA requires
EPA to designate as nonattainment any area that is violating the NAAQS
based on the three most recent years of ambient air quality data at the
conclusion of the designation process. On June 4, 2018 (effective
August 3, 2018), EPA designated the 7-county Cincinnati, OH-KY Area as
a Marginal ozone nonattainment area for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.\1\
Also on June 4, 2018 (effective August 3, 2018), EPA designated the 5-
county Louisville, KY-IN Area as a Marginal ozone nonattainment area
for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.\2\ The Cincinnati, OH-KY Area and the
Louisville, KY-IN Area were designated nonattainment for the 2015 8-
hour Ozone NAAQS using 2014-2016 ambient air quality data. See 83 FR
25776.
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\1\ The Cincinnati, OH-KY Area consists of the following
counties: Boone (Partial), Campbell (Partial), Kenton (Partial), in
Kentucky and the entire counties of Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and
Warren in Ohio. EPA has taken action on the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS
nonattainment area emissions statement requirements for the entire
counties of Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren in Ohio in a
separate action. See 86 FR 12270 (March 3, 2021).
\2\ The Louisville, KY-IN Area consists of Bullitt, Jefferson,
and Oldham Counties in Kentucky and Clark and Floyd Counties in
Indiana. EPA has proposed action on the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS
emissions statement requirements for the Jefferson County, Kentucky
portion of the Louisville, KY-IN area in a separate proposed
rulemaking, see 87 FR 2101 (January 13, 2022), and will take action
on the emissions statement requirements for Clark and Floyd Counties
in Indiana in a separate rulemaking.
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On December 6, 2018, EPA finalized a rule entitled ``Implementation
of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone:
Nonattainment Area State Implementation Plan Requirements'' (SIP
Requirements Rule) that establishes the requirements that state,
tribal, and local air quality management agencies must meet as they
develop implementation plans for areas where air quality exceeds the
2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.\3\ See 83 FR 62998. This rule establishes
nonattainment area attainment dates based on Table 1 of section 181(a)
of the CAA, including an attainment date three years after the August
3, 2018, designation effective date, for areas classified as Marginal
for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
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\3\ The SIP Requirements Rule addresses a range of nonattainment
area SIP requirements for the 2015 ozone NAAQS, including
requirements pertaining to attainment demonstrations, reasonable
further progress, reasonably available control technology,
reasonably available control measures, major new source review,
emission inventories, and the timing of SIP submissions and
compliance with emission control measures in the SIP.
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Ground level ozone is not emitted directly into the air but is
created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen
(NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence
of sunlight. Emissions from industrial facilities and electric
utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and chemical
solvents are some of the major sources of NOX and VOC.
Section 182(a)(3)(B) of the CAA requires states with ozone
nonattainment areas to submit a SIP revision requiring annual emissions
statements to be submitted to the state by the owner or operator of
each NOX and VOC stationary source. However, a state may
waive the emissions statement requirement for any class or category of
stationary sources which emit less than 25 tons per year (tpy) of VOC
or NOX if the state provides an inventory of emissions as
required by CAA section 182 that accounts for emissions from those
sources. See CAA section 182(a)(3)(B)(ii). The first statement is due
three years from the area's nonattainment designation, and subsequent
statements are due at least annually thereafter.
Based on the nonattainment designation, Kentucky was required to
develop a SIP revision satisfying, among other things, CAA section
182(a)(3)(B). On October 15, 2020,\4\ Kentucky submitted a SIP revision
addressing the emissions statement requirements related to the 2015 8-
hour ozone NAAQS for the Kentucky portion of the Cincinnati, OH-KY Area
and for Bullitt and Oldham Counties in the Kentucky portion of the
Louisville, KY-IN Area. EPA is proposing to approve the October 15,
2020, SIP submittal as meeting the requirements of section 182(a)(3)(B)
of the CAA and associated federal regulations. EPA's analysis of the
SIP revision and how it addresses the emissions statement requirements
is discussed in the next section of this notice.
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\4\ KDAQ's transmittal letter for the October 15, 2020, SIP
revision was dated October 15, 2020, and submitted to EPA on October
16, 2020.
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II. Analysis of the Commonwealth's Submittal
As discussed above, section 182(a)(3)(B) of the CAA requires states
to submit a SIP revision requiring the owner or operator of each
NOX and VOC stationary source located in an ozone
nonattainment area to submit to the state annual emissions statements.
The first statement is due three years from the area's nonattainment
designation, and subsequent statements are due at least annually
thereafter.
Due to previous nonattainment ozone designations, Kentucky has an
existing emissions statement program. The October 15, 2020, SIP
revision includes Kentucky's certification that the following SIP-
approved regulations contain provisions that meet the emissions
statement requirements of CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) for the 2015 8-hour
ozone NAAQS and that the Commonwealth continues to operate under these
approved provisions: 401 Kentucky Administrative Regulations (KAR)
52:020, Sections 22 and 23; 401
[[Page 11000]]
KAR 52:030, Sections 3 and 22; 401 KAR 52:040 Section 3; and 401 KAR
52:070 Section 3.\5\ On January 28, 2016, EPA approved Kentucky's
emissions statement program, which applies to sources located in ozone
nonattainment areas.\6\ See 81 FR 4896. The regulatory sections
identified in the October 15, 2020 submittal require sources that emit
25 tons per year or more of VOC or NOX within the Kentucky
portion of the Cincinnati, OH-KY Area and the Kentucky portion of the
Louisville, KY-IN Area, not including Jefferson County, to submit
annual certified statements showing actual VOC and NOX
emissions. EPA has preliminarily determined that the specific
regulatory sections identified in the October 15, 2020, submittal,
collectively, coupled with the waiver for stationary sources emitting
less than 25 tpy of NOX or VOC discussed in the two
paragraphs below, meet the emissions statement requirements of section
182(a)(3)(B).
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\5\ EPA notes that, in addition to the provisions identified in
Kentucky's October 15, 2020, SIP revision, the following are also
SIP-approved and apply to ozone nonattainment areas: the entirety of
401 KAR 52:030; and relevant provisions of 401 KAR 52:040, Sections
20 and 21. See 81 FR 4896 (January 28, 2016).
\6\ EPA's 2016 approval of Kentucky's emissions statement
program pertained to the Kentucky portion of the 2008 Cincinnati,
OH-KY Area, but the Kentucky regulations approved in that 2016
action apply to all ozone nonattainment areas in Kentucky's
jurisdiction, which include the counties and partial counties in the
2015 Cincinnati, OH-KY and Louisville, KY-IN Areas that are within
Kentucky's jurisdiction.
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As allowed by CAA section 182(a)(3)(B)(ii), Kentucky waived the
emissions statement requirements for stationary sources emitting less
than 25 tpy of NOX or VOC. CAA section 182(a)(3)(B)(ii)
allows a state to waive the application of emissions statements
requirements to any class or category of stationary sources which emit
less than 25 tons per year of VOC or NOX if the state, in
its submissions under section 182(a)(1) or 182(a)(3)(A), provides an
inventory of emissions from such class or category of sources, based on
the use of the emission factors established by the Administrator or
other methods acceptable to the Administrator.
Pursuant to CAA section 182(a)(3)(A), Kentucky is required to
submit a revised inventory meeting the requirements of section
182(a)(1) at the end of each 3-year period after submission of the
inventory under section 182(a)(1) until the Cincinnati, OH-KY Area and
the Louisville, KY-IN Area are redesignated to attainment. CAA section
182(a)(1) requires the submission of a comprehensive, accurate, current
inventory of actual emissions from all sources, as described in CAA
section 172(c)(3), in accordance with guidance provided by EPA.\7\ To
comply with CAA section 182(a)(3)(A)'s requirement to submit periodic
emissions inventories, Kentucky submits NOX and VOC
emissions data to EPA's National Emissions Inventory (NEI) \8\
consistent with 83 FR 62998, ``Implementation of the 2015 National
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone: Nonattainment Area State
Implementation Plan Requirements,'' and 40 CFR 51.1315. That emissions
data includes small stationary sources (namely, those emitting less
than 25 tpy of NOX or VOC) in accordance with CAA section
182(a)(3)(B)(ii).
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\7\ CAA section 172(c)(3) states, ``Such plan provisions shall
include a comprehensive, accurate, current inventory of actual
emissions from all sources of the relevant pollutant or pollutants
in such area including such periodic revisions as the Administrator
may determine necessary to assure that the requirements of this part
are met.''
\8\ To access EPA's NEI, please visit: U.S. EPA, National
Emissions Inventory (NEI), https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories/national-emissions-inventory-nei.
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For the reasons discussed above, EPA has preliminarily determined
that Kentucky's emissions statement regulations meet the requirements
under CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) and the SIP Requirements Rule for the
2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the entire Kentucky portion of the
Cincinnati, OH-KY Area and the Bullitt County, Kentucky and Oldham
County, Kentucky portion of the Louisville, KY-IN Area.
III. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve Kentucky's October 15, 2020, SIP
revision addressing the emissions statement requirements for the 2015
8-hour ozone NAAQS for portions of Boone, Campbell, and Kenton Counties
in the Cincinnati, OH-KY 2015 8-hour ozone nonattainment area, and
Bullitt and Oldham Counties in the Louisville, KY-IN 2015 8-hour ozone
nonattainment area. EPA is proposing to find that the Commonwealth's
submission meets the requirements of sections 110 and 182 of the CAA.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable
Federal regulations. See 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 they meet the criteria of the CAA. This 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);
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 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).
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 as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
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.
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Dated: February 17, 2022.
Daniel Blackman,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2022-04112 Filed 2-25-22; 8:45 am]
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