[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 21822-21825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07918]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2022-0253; FRL-9611-01-R9]
Air Plan Approval; California; San Diego County; Reasonably
Available Control Technology
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 Diego Air Pollution Control District
(SDAPCD or ``District'') portion of the California State Implementation
Plan (SIP). These revisions concern SDAPCD's negative declarations for
certain Control Techniques Guidelines (CTGs) as they apply to the 2008
and 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or
``standards'') reasonably available control technology (RACT) SIP. We
are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final
action.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 13, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2022-0253 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
[[Page 21823]]
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: Doris Lo, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne
St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 972-3959 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 document did the State submit?
B. Are there other versions of this document?
C. What is the purpose of the negative declarations?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the negative declarations?
B. Do the negative declarations meet the evaluation criteria?
C. Public Comment And Proposed Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What document did the State submit?
Table 1 lists the negative declarations addressed by this proposal,
with the date that they were adopted by the local air agency and
submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
TABLE 1--SUBMITTED DOCUMENT \1\
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Local agency Document Adopted Submitted
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SDAPCD..................................... ``2020 Reasonably Available Control 10/14/2020 12/29/2020
Technology Demonstration for the
National Ambient Air Quality
Standards For Ozone in San Diego
County, October 2020 (2020 RACT
SIP)--Negative Declarations for
the 2008 and 2015 NAAQS:.
Control of Volatile Organic
Emissions from Manufacture of
Synthesized Pharmaceutical
Products (EPA-450/2-78-029).
Control Techniques Guidelines for
Fiberglass Boat Manufacturing
Materials (EPA-453/R-08-004).
Control of Volatile Organic
Emissions from Miscellaneous Metal
and Plastic Parts Coatings (EPA-
453/R-08-003); Table 3--Plastic
Parts and Products, Table 4--
Automotive/Transportation and
Business Machine Plastic Parts,
Table 5--Pleasure Craft Surface
Coating, Table 6--Motor Vehicle
Materials.
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On June 29, 2021, the submittal of the SDAPCD 2020 RACT SIP, with
the exception of the negative declaration for the CTG for the Oil and
Natural Gas Industry (EPA-453/B-16-001, 2016/10), 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.\2\
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\1\ The EPA is only acting on the negative declarations for the
Control Techniques Guidelines (CTGs) for Synthesized Pharmaceutical
Products, Fiberglass Boat Manufacturing Materials, and Miscellaneous
Metal and Plastic Products, Tables 3-6. The EPA will propose
separate action on the remainder of the 2020 SDAPCD RACT SIP
submittal at a future date.
\2\ On May 6, 2021, in a letter from Elizabeth J. Adams, EPA to
Richard Corey, CARB, the EPA determined that the following element
was deemed complete: Negative Declaration for Control Techniques
Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry (EPA-453/B-16-001,
2016/10).
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B. Are there other versions of this document?
There are no previous versions of the negative declarations listed
in Table 1 in the SDAPCD portion of the California SIP for the 2008 or
2015 ozone NAAQS.
C. What is the purpose of the negative declarations?
Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of
nitrogen (NOX) contribute to the production of ground-level
ozone, smog, and particulate matter (PM), which harm human health and
the environment. Section 110(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires
states to submit regulations that control VOC and NOX
emissions. CAA section 182(b)(2) requires states to submit SIP
revisions to implement reasonably available control technology (RACT)
for, among other things, each category of VOC sources in the
nonattainment areas covered by Control Technique Guidelines (CTGs).
SDAPCD is subject to this requirement as it regulates the San Diego
County 2008 and 2015 ozone nonattainment areas (NAAs) classified as
``Severe.'' \3\ In lieu of adopting local regulations to implement a
CTG, air agencies must adopt a negative declaration if the
nonattainment area has no sources covered by a CTG.\4\ SDAPCD's
submittal of negative declarations is the District's certification that
there are no sources covered by the CTGs.
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\3\ 86 FR 29522 (June 2, 2021) ``Designation of Areas for Air
Quality Planning Purposes; California; San Diego County Ozone
Nonattainment Area; Reclassification to Severe.'' Section 182
applies to ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate and
above.
\4\ Memorandum from William T. Harnett to Regional Air Division
Directors, dated May 18, 2006, ``RACT Qs & As--Reasonably Available
Control Technology (RACT) Questions and Answers.''
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On December 3, 2020 (85 FR 77996), the EPA partially approved and
partially disapproved SDAPCD's RACT demonstrations for the 2008 8-hr
ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) (also referred to
as the ``2016 RACT SIP'').\5\ Specifically, the EPA found that certain
CTG categories were not addressed by either a negative declaration or a
RACT rule.
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\5\ The nonattainment area was classified as ``Moderate'' when
the 2016 RACT SIP was submitted.
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II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the negative declarations?
Generally, CAA section 110(a)(2)(A) requires SIPs to ``include
enforceable
[[Page 21824]]
emission limitations and other control measures, means, or techniques .
. . as may be necessary or appropriate to meet the applicable
requirements of [the CAA],'' and SIPs must be consistent with the
requirements of CAA sections 110(l) and 193. SIPs must also require
RACT for each category of sources covered by a CTG document and each
major source in ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or
above (see CAA sections 182(b)(2) and (f)).
States should also submit, for SIP approval, negative declarations
for those source categories for which they have not adopted CTG-based
regulations (because they have no sources above the CTG-recommended
applicability threshold), regardless of whether such negative
declarations were made for an earlier SIP.\6\ To do so, the submittal
should provide reasonable assurance that no sources subject to the CTG
requirements currently exist in the portion of the ozone nonattainment
area that is regulated by the SDAPCD.
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\6\ 57 FR 13498, 13512 (April 16, 1992).
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Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate CAA section
182 RACT requirements 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. EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, ``Issues
Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,''
May 25, 1988 (``the Bluebook,'' revised January 11, 1990).
3. EPA Region IX, ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC &
Other Rule Deficiencies,'' August 21, 2001 (``the Little Bluebook'').
4. ``State Implementation Plans; Nitrogen Oxides Supplement to the
General Preamble; Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 Implementation of
Title I; Proposed Rule,'' (the NOX Supplement), 57 FR 55620,
(November 25, 1992).
5. Memorandum dated May 18, 2006, from William T. Harnett,
Director, Air Quality Policy Division, to Regional Air Division
Directors, Subject: ``RACT Qs & As--Reasonably Available Control
Technology (RACT): Questions and Answers.''
6. ``Final Rule to Implement the 8-hour Ozone National Ambient Air
Quality Standard--Phase 2,'' 70 FR 71612 (November 29, 2005).
7. ``Implementation of the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for Ozone: State Implementation Plan Requirements,'' 80 FR
12264 (March 6, 2015).
8. ``Implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for Ozone: Nonattainment Area State Implementation Plan
Requirements,'' 83 FR 62998 (December 6, 2018).
B. Do the negative declarations meet the evaluation criteria?
The submittal contains the District's certification that there are
no sources within the 2008 or 2015 ozone nonattainment areas under
District jurisdiction that are subject to the CTGs listed in Table 1.
The District based its certifications on reviews of permit files and
emission inventories. We accessed CARB databases and performed internet
searches and did not find indications that any sources exist for which
the CTGs would apply.
The EPA's technical support document (TSD) for this action has more
information about the District's submittal and the EPA's evaluation
thereof.
C. Public Comment and Proposed Action
We propose to approve the negative declarations listed in Table 1,
as submitted by CARB on December 29, 2020. We also propose that these
negative declarations remedy the deficiencies for the following CTGs
identified in our partial disapproval of the 2016 RACT SIP: Control of
Volatile Organic Emissions from Manufacture of Synthesized
Pharmaceutical Products (EPA-450/2-78-029); Control Techniques
Guidelines for Fiberglass Boat Manufacturing Materials (EPA-453/R-08-
004); and Control of Volatile Organic Emissions from Miscellaneous
Metal and Plastic Parts Coatings (EPA-453/R-08-003); Table 3--Plastic
Parts and Products, Table 4--Automotive/Transportation and Business
Machine Plastic Parts, Table 5--Pleasure Craft Surface Coating, Table
6--Motor Vehicle Materials. We will accept comments from the public on
the proposed approval for the next 30 days.
III. 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);
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.
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Dated: April 7, 2022.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2022-07918 Filed 4-12-22; 8:45 am]
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