[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 14, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38754-38757]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12490]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2020-0239; FRL-10597-02-R9]


Air Plan Actions; Nevada; Clark County--Department of Environment 
and Sustainability; Stationary Source Permits

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing an 
approval, a partial approval and partial disapproval, and a limited 
approval and limited disapproval of certain revisions to the Clark 
County portion of the Nevada State Implementation Plan (SIP). These 
revisions primarily concern the Clark County Department of Environment 
and Sustainability's (``DES'' or ``Department'') general definitions 
rule and New Source Review (NSR) permitting program for new and 
modified sources of air pollution under the Clean Air Act (CAA or 
``Act'').

DATES: This rule is effective on July 14, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2020-0239. All documents in the docket are 
listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in 
the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the 
disclosure of which 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 through https://www.regulations.gov, or please 
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section. 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: Laura Yannayon, EPA Region IX, Air-3-
2, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 972-3534, 
[email protected].

[[Page 38755]]


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

Table of Contents

I. Proposed Action
II. Public Comments
III. EPA Action
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Proposed Action

    On February 2, 2023, the EPA proposed an approval, a partial 
approval and partial disapproval, and a limited approval and limited 
disapproval of four rules listed in Table 1 into the Clark County 
portion of the Nevada State Implementation Plan (SIP), and proposed to 
rescind from the Nevada SIP one rule listed in Table 1, as discussed 
below.\1\
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    \1\ 88 FR 7046. Table 1 lists the submitted rules addressed by 
this action, including the dates on which they were adopted by the 
Clark County Board of County Commissioners, and the dates on which 
they were submitted by the Nevada Division of Environmental 
Protection to the EPA.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Cover letter
              Section                       Section title             Adopted          date       Submittal date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0..................................  Definitions................         7/20/21         1/31/22         1/31/22
10.................................  Compliance Schedules               12/18/18          6/6/19         6/10/19
                                      (Request to rescind).
12.0...............................  Applicability and General           1/21/20         3/13/20         3/16/20
                                      Requirements.
12.1...............................  Permit Requirements for            12/18/18         4/12/19         4/12/19
                                      Minor Sources.
12.11..............................  General Permits for Minor          12/18/18         4/12/19         4/12/19
                                      Stationary Sources.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The submitted rules are intended to update the Nevada SIP with 
recent revisions to the Department's Air Quality Regulations. See our 
notice of proposed rulemaking and Technical Support Document (TSD) for 
additional information about the submitted rules and our evaluation of 
them.
    In our proposed action, we proposed partial approval and partial 
disapproval of Section 0, because the revisions to the rule were 
approvable, except that the submitted rule removed a definition for 
``Clearing and Grubbing'', a term still used in the SIP. Therefore, we 
proposed to retain in the SIP the definition of ``Clearing and 
Grubbing'' from the current SIP-approved version of Section 0. We also 
proposed approval of the request to rescind Section 10 from the SIP, 
because the rule has been repealed locally and is no longer relevant. 
In addition, we proposed full approval of Section 12.0 because we 
determined that the revisions to the rule satisfy the applicable 
statutory and regulatory provisions governing regulation of stationary 
sources under CAA section 110(a)(2)(C).
    We also proposed a limited approval and limited disapproval of 
Sections 12.1 and 12.11, because we determined that these rules mostly 
satisfy the applicable statutory and regulatory provisions governing 
regulation of stationary sources under CAA section 110(a)(2)(A) and 
(C), but they do not satisfy all of these requirements. Specifically, 
we identified the following six deficiencies. First and second, the 
provisions in Sections 12.1.2(c)(7) and (8), which exempt ancillary 
parts washers and degreasers that use only certified clean air solvents 
from permitting requirements, are deficient because the term 
``certified clean air solvents'' is not defined in any Section 12 
series rule, which makes the provision unenforceable. Third, the 
provision in Section 12.1.2(c)(10) allowing the Control Officer to deem 
any other emission unit or activity to be insignificant on a case-by-
case basis with no specific criteria for making this determination is 
deficient because it contains impermissible Director's discretion. 
Fourth, the provision in Section 12.1.4.1(z) contains impermissible 
Control Officer discretion to decide whether certain conditions should 
be added to portable minor source permits. Fifth, Section 12.11 
contains an unenforceable cross-reference relating to certain emissions 
inventory report requirements, and sixth, Section 12.11 does not 
satisfy the requirement in 40 CFR 51.160(f) that the screening model 
used pursuant to Section 12.11.1(f) be based on the applicable models, 
databases, and other requirements specified in 40 CFR part 51, appendix 
W.

II. Public Comments

    The EPA's proposed action provided a 30-day public comment period. 
During this period, no comments were submitted regarding our proposal.

III. EPA Action

    No comments were submitted that change our assessment of the rules 
as described in our proposed action. Therefore, as authorized in 
section 110(k)(3) and 301(a) of the Act, the EPA is finalizing our 
action as proposed. Specifically, the EPA is finalizing an approval of 
the request to rescind Section 10 from the SIP, an approval of Section 
12.0, a partial approval and partial disapproval of Section 0, and a 
limited approval and limited disapproval of Sections 12.1 and 12.11. 
This action incorporates the submitted rules (except Section 10) into 
the Clark County portion of the Nevada State Implementation Plan (SIP), 
including those provisions identified as deficient.
    A portion of this approval is limited because EPA is simultaneously 
finalizing a limited disapproval of Sections 12.1 and 12.11 under 
section 110(k)(3). Our limited disapproval action triggers an 
obligation for the EPA to promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan 
(FIP) unless the State corrects the deficiencies, and the EPA approves 
the related plan revisions, within two years of this final action. The 
EPA intends to work with the Department to correct the deficiencies in 
a timely manner.
    Note that Sections 12.1 and 12.11 have been adopted by the 
Department, and the EPA's final limited disapproval does not prevent 
the local agency from enforcing these rules. The limited disapproval 
would also not prevent any portion of the rule from being incorporated 
by reference into the federally enforceable SIP, as discussed in a July 
9, 1992 EPA memo found at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-07/documents/procsip.pdf.
    We note for clarity that, with this final action, the version of 
Section 0 listed in Table 1 will be approved into the SIP, and a 
separate entry for the definition of ``Clearing and Grubbing'' from the 
current SIP-approved version of Section 0, approved into the SIP on 
October 17, 2014, will be retained in the SIP. Therefore, our partial 
disapproval action for Section 0 will require no further action from 
the Department to remedy the identified deficiency. More generally, the 
incorporation of the submitted version of Section 0 into the SIP will 
replace the older version of

[[Page 38756]]

Section 0 that had been in the SIP, except for the definition of 
``Clearing and Grubbing''; that older version of Section 0 is being 
removed from the SIP (except for the specified definition). In 
addition, our approval of certain definitions in the submitted version 
of Section 0 will replace in the SIP the older versions of those same 
definitions that are currently included in SIP-approved Section 1; 
these older versions of the definitions are being removed from the SIP. 
Similarly, with our approval into the SIP of the versions of Sections 
12.0 and 12.1 listed in Table 1, this action removes the older versions 
of these rules that had been in the SIP. Our proposed rule and TSD 
provide more information in this regard.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 
51.5, the EPA is incorporating by reference the following Clark County 
DES rules: Sections 0, 12.0, 12.1 and 12.11, as described in Table 1 of 
this notice concerning definitions and New Source Review permit program 
requirements. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these 
materials available through https://www.regulations.gov and at the EPA 
Region IX Office (please contact the person identified in the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice for more 
information).
    Also in this document, as described in the amendments to 40 CFR 
part 52 set forth below, the EPA is removing provisions from the EPA-
approved rules for the Clark County portion of the Nevada SIP, which is 
incorporated by reference in accordance with the requirements of 1 CFR 
part 51.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Additional information about these statutes and Executive orders 
can be found at https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/laws-and-executive-orders.

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive 
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review

    This action is not a significant regulatory action and was 
therefore not submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review.

B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)

    This action does not impose an information collection burden under 
the PRA because this action does not impose additional requirements 
beyond those imposed by state law.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)

    I certify that this action will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA. This 
action will not impose any requirements on small entities beyond those 
imposed by state law.

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)

    This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in 
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538, and does not significantly or uniquely affect 
small governments. This action does not impose additional requirements 
beyond those imposed by state law. Accordingly, no additional costs to 
state, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, will 
result from this action.

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have 
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between 
the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government.

F. Executive Order 13175: Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments

    This action does not have tribal implications, as specified in 
Executive Order 13175, because 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, and will not 
impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal 
law. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this action.

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health Risks and Safety Risks

    The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those 
regulatory actions that concern environmental health or safety risks 
that the EPA has reason to believe may disproportionately affect 
children, per the definition of ``covered regulatory action'' in 
section 2-202 of the Executive Order. This action is not subject to 
Executive Order 13045 because it does not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by state law.

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use

    This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211, because it is 
not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.

I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)

    Section 12(d) of the NTTAA directs the EPA to use voluntary 
consensus standards in its regulatory activities unless to do so would 
be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. The EPA 
believes that this action is not subject to the requirements of section 
12(d) of the NTTAA because application of those requirements would be 
inconsistent with the CAA.

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

    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.''
    Under the CAA, 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 review state choices, 
and approve those choices if they meet the minimum criteria of the Act. 
Accordingly, this final action addresses whether the relevant state 
rule submittals meet federal requirements and does not impose 
additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law.

[[Page 38757]]

    Clark County DES 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. The EPA did not perform an EJ analysis and did not consider 
EJ in this action. Due to the nature of the action being taken here, 
this action is expected to have a neutral to positive impact on the air 
quality of the affected area. 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 Executive Order 12898 of achieving 
environmental justice for people of color, low-income populations, and 
Indigenous peoples.

L. Congressional Review Act (CRA)

    This action is subject to the CRA, and the EPA will submit a rule 
report to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of 
the United States. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 
U.S.C. 804(2).

M. Petitions for Judicial Review

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by August 14, 2023. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this rule 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

    Administrative practice and procedure, Environmental protection, 
Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, Incorporation by reference, 
Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur dioxide, 
Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: June 6, 2023.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended 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 DD--Nevada

0
2. In Sec.  52.1470, paragraph (c), table 3 is amended by:
0
a. Removing the entry for ``Section 0'' and adding two new entries for 
``Section 0'' in its place;
0
b. Removing the entries for ``Section 1 (``Definitions''): Subsection 
1.1'', ``Section 1 (``Definitions''): Subsection 1.26'', ``Section 1 
(``Definitions''): Subsection 1.29'', ``Section 1 (``Definitions''): 
Subsection 1.36'', ``Section 1 (``Definitions''): Subsection 1.51'', 
``Section 1 (``Definitions''): Subsection 1.57'', ``Section 1 
(``Definitions''): Subsection 1.95'' and ``Section 10''.
0
c. Revising the entries for ``Section 12.0'' and ``Section 12.1''; and
0
d. Adding an entry for ``Section 12.11'' after the entry for ``Section 
12.9.1''.
    The additions and revisions read as follows:


Sec.  52.1470  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                 Table 3--EPA-Approved Clark County Regulations
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                                                            County
         County citation               Title/subject      effective     EPA approval date        Additional
                                                             date                                explanation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section 0........................  Definitions.........       8/3/21  [Insert Federal       Submitted
                                                                       Register citation],   electronically on
                                                                       6/14/23.              January 31, 2022,
                                                                                             as an attachment to
                                                                                             a letter dated
                                                                                             January 31, 2022.
Section 0........................  Definitions                4/1/14  79 FR 62351, 10/17/   Amended by Clark
                                    (``Clearing and                    14.                   County Board of
                                    Grubbing'' only).                                        County
                                                                                             Commissioners on
                                                                                             March 18, 2014
                                                                                             through Ordinance
                                                                                             No. 4189. Submitted
                                                                                             by NDEP on 4/1/14.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
Section 12.0.....................  Applicability and          2/4/20  [Insert Federal       Submitted
                                    General                            Register citation],   electronically on
                                    Requirements.                      6/14/23.              March 16, 2020, as
                                                                                             an attachment to a
                                                                                             letter dated March
                                                                                             13, 2020.
Section 12.1.....................  Permit Requirements        1/1/19  [Insert Federal       Submitted
                                    for Minor Sources.                 Register citation],   electronically on
                                                                       6/14/23.              April 12, 2019, as
                                                                                             an attachment to a
                                                                                             letter dated April
                                                                                             12, 2019.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
Section 12.11....................  General Permits for        1/1/19  [Insert Federal       Submitted
                                    Minor Stationary                   Register citation],   electronically on
                                    Sources.                           6/14/23.              April 12, 2019, as
                                                                                             an attachment to a
                                                                                             letter dated April
                                                                                             12, 2019.
 
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[FR Doc. 2023-12490 Filed 6-13-23; 8:45 am]
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