[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33650-33652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11972]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2022-0439; FRL-9870-03-R9]


Determination To Defer Sanctions; California; San Diego County 
Air Pollution Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Interim final determination.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim 
final determination that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has 
submitted revised rules on behalf of the San Diego County Air Pollution 
Control District (SDCAPCD or District) that correct deficiencies in its 
Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) state implementation plan (SIP) provisions 
concerning ozone nonattainment requirements for controlling volatile 
organic compounds (VOCs) from the transfer of organic compounds into 
mobile transport tanks and concerning a negative declaration for non-
Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) major VOC sources. This 
determination is based on a proposed approval, published elsewhere in 
this Federal Register, of SDCAPCD's Rule 61.2 regulating the above 
source category and of the negative declaration for non-CTG major VOC 
sources. The effect of this interim final determination is that the 
imposition of sanctions that were triggered by a previous disapproval 
by the EPA in 2020 is now deferred. If the EPA finalizes its approval 
of the SDCAPCD's submissions, relief from these sanctions will become 
permanent.

DATES: This rule is effective on June 3, 2022. However, comments will 
be accepted on or before July 5, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2022-0439 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. Background
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    On December 3, 2020 (85 FR 77996), the EPA issued a final partial 
approval/partial disapproval for the SDCAPCD's 2008 Eight-Hour Ozone 
Reasonably Available Control Technology Demonstration for San Diego 
County (2008 RACT demonstration) that had been submitted by CARB to the 
EPA for approval. The 2008 RACT demonstration action addressed the 
SDCAPCD's 2008 ozone standard RACT SIP requirements under the Act. In 
our 2008 RACT demonstration action, we determined that while the 
SDCAPCD's SIP revision submittal strengthened the SIP, the submittal 
did not fully meet the requirements for RACT SIPs under the CAA. Our 
2008 RACT demonstration action included a final partial disapproval 
action under title I, part D of the Act, relating to requirements for 
nonattainment areas. Pursuant to section 179 of the CAA and our 
regulations at 40 CFR 52.31, this partial disapproval action under 
title I, part D started a sanctions clock for imposition of offset 
sanctions 18 months after the action's effective date of January 4, 
2021, and highway sanctions 6 months later.
    On December 29, 2020, CARB submitted to the EPA the SDCAPCD's 2020 
RACT submittal, which addressed requirements for the 2015 ozone

[[Page 33651]]

standard, and also included a negative declaration adopted for non-CTG 
major VOC sources for the 2008 ozone standard. On April 20, 2021, CARB 
submitted to the EPA an amended Rule 61.2 that included a decrease in 
the emission limit for bulk terminals to 0.08 pound per 1000 gallons. 
This negative declaration and revised rule were intended to address the 
partial disapproval issues under title I, part D that we identified in 
our 2008 RACT demonstration action. In the Proposed Rules section of 
this Federal Register, we have proposed approval of the SDCAPCD's 2020 
RACT submittal's negative declaration for non-CTG major VOC sources and 
Rule 61.2. Based on this proposed approval action, we are also taking 
this interim final determination, effective on publication, to defer 
imposition of the offset sanctions and highway sanctions that were 
triggered by our 2008 RACT demonstration action, because we believe 
that the 2020 RACT submittal's negative declaration for non-CTG major 
VOC sources and Rule 61.2 correct the deficiencies that triggered such 
sanctions.
    The EPA is providing the public with an opportunity to comment on 
this deferral of sanctions. If comments are submitted that change our 
assessment described in this interim final determination and the 
proposed full approval of the SDCAPCD Rule 61.2 and the negative 
declaration for non-CTG VOC major sources with respect to the title I, 
part D deficiencies identified in our 2008 RACT demonstration action, 
we would take final action to lift this deferral of sanctions under 40 
CFR 52.31. If no comments are submitted that change our assessment, 
then the sanction clocks triggered by our 2008 RACT demonstration 
action for mobile transport tanks and non-CTG major VOC sources would 
be permanently terminated on the effective date of our final approval 
of the SDCAPCD Rule 61.2 and negative declaration for non-CTG VOC major 
sources.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

    We are making an interim final determination to defer CAA section 
179 sanctions associated with our partial disapproval on the 2008 RACT 
demonstration with respect to the requirements of part D of title I of 
the CAA. This determination is based on our concurrent proposal to 
approve SDCAPCD's 2020 RACT Negative Declaration for Non-CTG Major VOC 
Sources submittal and Rule 61.2, which resolve the deficiencies that 
triggered sanctions under section 179 of the CAA.
    Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that the 2020 RACT 
submittal and Rule 61.2 address the deficiencies under part D of title 
I of the CAA identified in our 2008 RACT demonstration action and is 
fully approvable, relief from sanctions should be provided as quickly 
as possible. Therefore, the EPA is invoking the good cause exception 
under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in not providing an 
opportunity for comment before this action takes effect (5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(3)). However, by this action, the EPA is providing the public 
with a chance to comment on the EPA's determination after the effective 
date, and the EPA will consider any comments received in determining 
whether to reverse such action.
    The EPA believes that notice-and-comment rulemaking before the 
effective date of this action is impracticable and contrary to the 
public interest. The EPA has reviewed the State's submittals and, 
through its proposed action, is indicating that it is more likely than 
not that the State has submitted a revision to the SIP that corrects 
deficiencies under part D of the Act that were the basis for the action 
that started the sanctions clocks. Therefore, it is not in the public 
interest to impose sanctions. The EPA believes that it is necessary to 
use the interim final rulemaking process to defer sanctions while the 
EPA completes its rulemaking process on the approvability of the 
State's submittal. Moreover, with respect to the effective date of this 
action, the EPA is invoking the good cause exception to the 30-day 
notice requirement of the APA because the purpose of this notice is to 
relieve a restriction (5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1)).

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action defers sanctions and imposes no additional 
requirements. For that reason, this 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).
     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).
     Is subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), 5 U.S.C. 
801 et seq., and the EPA will submit a rule report to each House of the 
Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. The CRA 
allows the issuing agency to make a rule effective sooner than 
otherwise provided by the CRA if the agency makes a good cause finding 
that notice and comment rulemaking procedures are impracticable, 
unnecessary or contrary to the public interest (5 U.S.C. 808(2)). The 
EPA has made a good cause finding for this rule as discussed in section 
II of this preamble, including the basis for that finding.
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by August 2, 2022. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the EPA Administrator of this final rule does not 
affect the finality of this rule for the purpose of judicial review nor 
does it extend the time within which petition for judicial review may 
be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or 
action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to

[[Page 33652]]

enforce its requirements (see CAA section 307(b)(2)).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Oxides of 
nitrogen, Ozone, Volatile Organic Compounds, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

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

    Dated: May 31, 2022.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2022-11972 Filed 6-2-22; 8:45 am]
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