[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 72 (Friday, April 14, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 22976-22978]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07682]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R07-OAR-2023-0193; FRL-10815-01-R7]


Air Plan Approval; State of Missouri; Restriction of Particulate 
Matter to the Ambient Air Beyond the Premises of Origin

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing 
approval of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of Missouri on March 7, 2019. Missouri requests that the EPA 
approve revisions to a state regulation for the Restriction of 
Particulate Matter to the Ambient Air Beyond the Premises of Origin. 
These revisions include adding definitions that are specific to the 
rule, restructures the rule into the standard rule organization format, 
and removes unnecessary words. The revisions are administrative in 
nature and do not impact the stringency of the SIP or air quality. The 
EPA's proposed approval of this rule revision is in accordance with the 
requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 15, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2023-0193 to www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this rulemaking. Comments received will be posted without 
change to www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Written Comments'' 
heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Brown, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 7 Office, Air Quality Planning Branch, 11201 Renner 
Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219; telephone number: (913) 551-7718; 
email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' and 
``our'' refer to the EPA.

Table of Contents

I. Written Comments
II. What is being addressed in this document?
III. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?
IV. What action is the EPA taking?
V. Incorporation by Reference
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Written Comments

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-2023-
0193, at www.regulations.gov. 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, the full EPA 
public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, 
and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit 
www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

II. What is being addressed in this document?

    The EPA is proposing to approve a SIP revision submitted by the 
State of Missouri on March 7, 2019. Missouri requests the EPA approve 
revisions to their SIP by replacing the existing rule, Title 10, 
Division 10 of the Code of State Regulations (CSR), (10 CSR 10-6.170) 
``Restriction of Particulate Matter to the Ambient Air Beyond the 
Premises of Origin'', with a revised and restructured version of the 
same rule. The state has revised the rule to add definitions specific 
to this rule, organize the rule into state standard rule organizational 
format, and remove unnecessary words. After review and analysis of the 
revisions, the EPA concludes that these changes do not have adverse 
effects on air quality. The full text of these changes can be found in 
the State's submission, which is included in the docket for this 
action. The EPA's analysis of the revisions can be found in the 
technical support document (TSD), also included in the docket.

III. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?

    The State submission has met the public notice requirements for SIP 
submissions in accordance with 40 CFR 51.102. The submission also 
satisfied the completeness criteria of 40 CFR part 51, appendix V. The 
State provided public notice on this SIP revision from 8/01/2018 to 8/
30/2018 and received a total of eight comments. The comments and 
responses are summarized herein. Comment 1: The EPA commented that they 
previously recommended that the department add provisions to the rule 
to make it clear what a ``reasonable degree'' is, which ``techniques'' 
the director might approve, and how the director might make that 
determination. Response: The state responded saying the necessary 
measures for determining the origin and nature of particulate matter 
emissions that travel beyond a property line are handled on a case-by-
case basis. In many cases the nature and origin of fugitive particulate 
matter emissions is obvious and does not require any scientific 
measurements. After further review, the EPA agrees that this type of 
review is done on a case-by-case basis and since the rule applies to 
any operation, process, or activity, specific techniques or scientific 
methods would not always apply to determine the nature and origins of 
the particulate matter fugitive emissions. An example an application of 
this rule may be the evaluation of the handling or transporting of 
materials that cause dust to be seen in the air or dust residue left on 
surfaces after this type of activity. In this example, the state air 
program would investigate and decide on the nature and origin of the 
particulate matter emissions based on the evidence available. Applying 
a specific scientific methodology to investigate the origin and nature 
of the particulate matter is not pertinent in this situation. EPA 
believes these are the types of case-by-case scenarios that this rule 
was primarily intended to address. No changes were made to the rule 
text as a result of this comment. Comment 2: The EPA recommended that 
the department provide regulatory language on what record keeping and 
reporting requirements would exist for a facility to determine 
compliance with the rule. Response: The state responded that since the 
rule does not prescribe monitoring or control requirements the 
department cannot designate record keeping or reporting requirements. 
Since the rule is not necessarily subject to a facility but to an 
action or processes, the EPA agrees that recordkeeping and reporting 
are not required. No changes were made to the rule text as a result of 
this comment. Comment 3: The St. Louis County Department of Public 
Health commented on a semi colon placed after

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the word facility. No changes were made to the rule text as a result of 
this comment. Comment 4 and 5: The St. Louis County Department of 
Public Health, and Newman, Comley, and Ruth P.C., commented that the 
rule did not include an upper particle size limit. Response: As a 
result of those comments, the state added an upper size limit to the 
definition of particulate matter in subsection (2)(F) of this rule that 
particles greater than one hundred micrometers (100 [mu]m) are not 
defined as particulate matter. Comment 6: Newman, Comley, and Ruth P.C. 
commented that facilities constructed before November 30, 1990, and 
located within the city limits of any municipality should be exempt 
from this rule. Response: Since the commenter did not provide 
justification for this exemption, and the state was not able to justify 
this exemption, no changes were made to the rule text as a result of 
the comment. Comment 7 and 8: Newman, Comley, and Ruth P.C., and the 
St. Louis County Department of Public Health commented that removing 
the word ``shall'' from a rule requirement could be interpreted that 
the requirement is no longer necessary. The commenter stated that 
regulations must be clear and concise as to the intent of the 
regulation. The department should review all instances of deleting the 
word ``shall'' and consider retaining it. Response: As a result of 
those comments, the state revised the language in paragraphs (3)(A)1. 
and (3)(A)2. to retain the word ``shall'' in order to clarify the 
obligation for facilities.
    In addition, as explained above and in more detail in the technical 
support document, which is part of this docket, the revision meets the 
substantive SIP requirements of the CAA, including section 110 and 
implementing regulations.

IV. What action is the EPA taking?

    The EPA is proposing to amend the Missouri SIP by approving the 
State's request to revise 10 CSR 10-6.170 ``Restriction of Particulate 
Matter to the Ambient Air Beyond the Premises of Origin.'' We are 
processing this as a proposed action because we are soliciting comments 
on this proposed action. Final rulemaking will occur after 
consideration of any comments.

V. Incorporation by Reference

    In this document, the EPA is proposing to include regulatory text 
in an EPA final rule that includes incorporation by reference. In 
accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is finalizing the 
incorporation by reference of the Missouri rule 10 CSR 10-6.170 
discussed in section II of this preamble and as set forth below in the 
proposed amendments to 40 CFR part 52. The EPA has made, and will 
continue to make, these materials generally available through 
www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 7 Office (please contact the 
person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this preamble for more information).

VI. 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 Clean Air 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 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); and
     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;
    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).
    Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629, 
Feb. 16, 1994) directs Federal agencies to identify and address 
``disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental 
effects'' of their actions on minority populations and low-income 
populations to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law. 
EPA defines environmental justice (EJ) as ``the fair treatment and 
meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, 
national origin, or income with respect to the development, 
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and 
policies.'' EPA further defines the term fair treatment to mean that 
``no group of people should bear a disproportionate burden of 
environmental harms and risks, including those resulting from the 
negative environmental consequences of industrial, governmental, and 
commercial operations or programs and policies.''
    Missouri did not evaluate environmental justice considerations as 
part of its SIP submittal; the CAA and applicable implementing 
regulations neither prohibit nor require such an evaluation. EPA did 
not perform an EJ analysis and did not consider EJ in this action. 
Consideration of EJ is not required as part of this action, and there 
is no information in the record inconsistent with the stated goal of 
E.O. 12898 of achieving environmental justice for people of color, low-
income populations, and Indigenous peoples.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Particulate matter.

    Dated: April 6, 2023.
Meghan A. McCollister,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the EPA proposes to amend 
40 CFR part 52 as set forth below:

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PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

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

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

Subpart AA--Missouri

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2. In Sec.  52.1320, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising 
the entry ``10-6.170'' to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1320  Identification of plan.

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    (c) * * *

                                        EPA-Approved Missouri Regulations
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                                                           State
       Missouri citation                Title         effective date    EPA approval date        Explanation
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                                    Missouri Department of Natural Resources
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                                                  * * * * * * *
    Chapter 6--Air Quality Standards, Definitions, Sampling and Reference Methods, and Air Pollution Control
                                      Regulations for the State of Missouri
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                                                  * * * * * * *
10-6.170......................  Restriction of             3/30/2019  [Date of publication  ....................
                                 Particulate Matter                    of the final rule
                                 to the Ambient Air                    in the Federal
                                 Beyond the Premises                   Register], [Federal
                                 of Origin.                            Register citation
                                                                       of the final rule].
 
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[FR Doc. 2023-07682 Filed 4-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P