[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 21, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36769-36771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13161]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2021-0610; FRL-9081-02-R4]


Air Plan Approval; North Carolina; North Carolina BART Rule 
Revisions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing 
approval of a North Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision, 
submitted through a letter dated April 13, 2021. The SIP revision 
includes changes to North Carolina's SIP-approved rule addressing best 
available retrofit technology (BART) for regional haze. EPA is 
approving North Carolina's SIP revision because the changes are 
consistent with Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) requirements.

DATES: This rule is effective July 21, 2022.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2021-0610. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the 
index, some information may not be publicly available, i.e., 
Confidential Business Information or other information whose disclosure 
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard 
copy at the 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. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the 
person 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 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Notarianni, 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. Ms. Notarianni can be 
reached via telephone at (404) 562-9031 or electronic mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Regional haze is visibility impairment that is produced by a 
multitude of sources and activities which are located across a broad 
geographic area and emit fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 
(e.g., sulfates, nitrates, organic carbon, elemental carbon, and soil 
dust) and their precursors (e.g., sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and 
in some cases, ammonia and volatile organic compounds). Fine particle 
precursors react in the atmosphere to form PM2.5, which 
impairs visibility by scattering and absorbing light. Visibility 
impairment (i.e., light scattering) reduces the clarity, color, and 
visible distance that one can see.
    In sections 169A and 169B of the CAA, Congress created a program 
for protecting visibility in the nation's national parks and wilderness 
areas. The CAA establishes as a national goal the prevention of any 
future, and the remedying of any existing, anthropogenic impairment of 
visibility in 156 national parks and wilderness areas designated as 
mandatory Class I federal areas. Section 169A of the CAA directs states 
to evaluate the use of retrofit controls at certain larger, often 
uncontrolled, older stationary sources in order to address visibility 
impacts from these sources, often referred to as BART sources. The BART 
process includes evaluating retrofit controls for certain older 
sources, built between 1962 and 1977, which are identified as causing 
or contributing to visibility impairment at one or more Class I areas.
    On April 27, 2022 (87 FR 24930), EPA proposed approval of an April 
13, 2021, SIP revision from North Carolina, which modifies North 
Carolina's SIP-approved rule at 15A North Carolina Administrative Code 
(NCAC) 02D .0543, Best Available Retrofit Technology (NC BART Rule) and 
applies to BART-eligible sources.\1\ See 87 FR 24930. Comments on the 
April 27, 2022, NPRM were due on or before May 27, 2022. No public 
comments, adverse or otherwise, were received on the April 27, 2022, 
NPRM. For additional background on regional haze, BART, and the NC BART 
Rule, see the April 27, 2022 NPRM.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The North Carolina SIP revision is dated April 13, 2021, and 
was submitted to EPA on April 14, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Incorporation by Reference

    In this document, EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In

[[Page 36770]]

accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, as descried in Section I of 
the preamble, EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of North 
Carolina rule 15A NCAC 02D .0543, entitled ``Best Available Retrofit 
Technology,'' which became state effective November 1, 2020. EPA has 
made, and will continue to make, these materials generally available 
through www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 4 Office (please 
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this preamble for more information). Therefore, these 
materials have been approved by EPA for inclusion in the SIP, have been 
incorporated by reference by EPA into that plan, are fully federally 
enforceable under sections 110 and 113 of the CAA as of the effective 
date of the final rulemaking of EPA's approval, and will be 
incorporated by reference in the next update to the SIP compilation.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Final Action

    EPA is finalizing approval of North Carolina's April 13, 2021, SIP 
revision, which makes changes to North Carolina's SIP-approved rule 
addressing BART for regional haze, because the rule changes are 
consistent with CAA requirements.

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 that they meet the criteria of the CAA. This 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 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.
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and 
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).
    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 22, 2022. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this action for the purposes of judicial review nor 
does it extend the time within which a 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 
enforce its requirements. See section 307(b)(2).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate 
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides, 
Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: June 13, 2022.
Daniel Blackman,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the EPA amends 40 CFR part 
52 as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart II--North Carolina

0
2. In Sec.  52.1770 amend the table in paragraph (c)(1) by revising the 
entry for ``Section .0543.''
    The revision reads as follows:


Sec.  52.1770   Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

[[Page 36771]]



                                   (1) EPA-Approved North Carolina Regulations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          State
        State citation             Title/subject        effective     EPA approval date         Explanation
                                                          date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
Section .0543................  Best Available           11/1/2020   6/21/2022, [Insert     .....................
                                Retrofit Technology.                 citation of
                                                                     publication].
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2022-13161 Filed 6-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P