[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 184 (Monday, September 25, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65647-65649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20669]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2023-0355; FRL-11176-01-R9]


Air Quality Plans; Approvals and Promulgations: California; 
Amador Air District; New Source Review

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a permitting rule submitted as a revision to the Amador Air 
District (AAD or ``District'') portion of the California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision concerns the District's New 
Source Review (NSR) permitting program for new and modified sources of 
air pollution under part D of Title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA or 
``Act''). This action will update the District's applicable SIP with a 
rule revised to address deficiencies identified in a previous limited 
disapproval action. This action also proposes to revise regulatory text 
to clarify that the District is not subject to the Federal 
Implementation Plan related to protection of visibility. We are taking 
comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 25, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2023-0355 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 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the 
disclosure of which 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 a 
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 systems). 
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 reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, please contact 
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karima Zulfo, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. Phone: (415) 972-3953 or 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 rule did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of this rule?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
    B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. Proposed Action and Public Comment
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rule did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rule addressed by this proposal with the dates 
when it was revised by the District and submitted to the EPA for SIP 
approval by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). This rule 
constitutes part of the District's program for preconstruction review 
and permitting of new or modified stationary sources under its 
jurisdiction. The rule revisions that are the subject of this action 
represent an update to the AAD's preconstruction review and permitting 
program and are intended to satisfy the requirements under part D of 
Title I of the Act (``Nonattainment NSR'' or ``NNSR'') including the 
implementing regulations at 40 CFR 51.160-165, and the relevant 
regulatory requirements at 40 CFR 51.307, as well as the requirements 
of sections 110(l) and 193 of the Act.

                                             Table 1--Submitted Rule
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               Rule No.                             Rule title                Revision date     Submitted date
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400..................................  Requirements for New and Modified           1/17/2023            3/3/2023
                                        Major Sources in Nonattainment
                                        Areas.
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    CARB's March 3, 2023 SIP submittal package meets the completeness 
criteria in 40 CFR part 51, which must be met before formal EPA review. 
The EPA's signed notice of proposed rulemaking for our proposed action 
on this submittal will serve as the EPA's formal completeness 
determination for this submittal.

B. Are there other versions of this rule?

    The previously SIP-approved version of AAD Rule 400 is identified 
in Table 2.

                                           Table 2--SIP Approved Rule
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                                                                               SIP approval    Federal Register
               Rule No.                             Rule title                     date            citation
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400..................................  Requirements for New and Modified           1/12/2022          87 FR 1683
                                        Major Sources in Nonattainment Area.
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    Our action approving this previous version of Rule 400 into the SIP 
was a limited approval and limited disapproval. If the EPA finalizes 
the action proposed herein, this rule will be replaced in the SIP by 
the submitted rule listed in Table 1. Additionally, as described below, 
the EPA's final approval of Rule 400 will resolve all deficiencies 
forming the basis for our previous limited disapproval.

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C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?

    The submitted rule is intended to resolve the NSR program 
deficiencies we identified in our January 12, 2022 final action (``2022 
NSR Action''),\1\ which included limited disapproval of a prior version 
of Rule 400. In addition, the District made minor revisions to correct 
typographical errors, provide clarifying edits, and make other similar 
minor editorial revisions.
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    \1\ 87 FR 1683.
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II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?

    The EPA has evaluated the submitted rule to determine whether it 
addresses the deficiencies identified in our 2022 NSR Action. We have 
also evaluated various additional minor revisions to Rule 400 that were 
made for clarity and accuracy. We have reviewed the rule as revised for 
consistency with the Act's NNSR requirements, including the 
implementing regulations at 40 CFR 51.160-165, and the relevant 
regulatory requirements at 40 CFR 51.307, as well as the requirements 
in sections 110(l) and 193 of the Act for SIP revisions.

B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?

    We find that the revisions to Rule 400 correct all deficiencies 
identified in the 2022 NSR Action, and we find that the other minor 
revisions to the rule are approvable. The technical support document 
(TSD) for this proposed rulemaking contains a more detailed analysis 
and is included in the docket for this action.
    The submitted rule complies with the substantive and procedural 
requirements of CAA section 110(l). With respect to the procedural 
requirements, based on our review of the public process documentation 
included with the submitted rule, we find that the District has 
provided sufficient evidence of public notice and opportunity for 
comment and public hearings prior to the submittal of this SIP revision 
and has satisfied these procedural requirements under CAA section 
110(l).
    With respect to the substantive requirements of CAA section 110(l), 
we have determined that our approval of the submitted rule would not 
interfere with the area's ability to attain or maintain the NAAQS or 
with any other applicable requirements of the CAA. Similarly, we find 
that the submitted rule is approvable under section 193 of the Act 
because it does not modify any control requirement in effect before 
November 15, 1990, without ensuring equivalent or greater emission 
reductions. The submitted rule is otherwise consistent with the 
criteria for the EPA's approval of regulations submitted for inclusion 
in the SIP.
    For the reasons stated above and explained further in our TSD, we 
find that submitted Rule 400 satisfies the applicable requirements 
under part D of Title I of the Act and other applicable requirements of 
the Act. This submittal also corrects the deficiencies described in our 
2022 NSR Action.

C. Proposed Action and Public Comment

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA is proposing 
approval of Rule 400 into the California SIP. We are proposing this 
action based on our determination that the submitted rule satisfies the 
applicable statutory and regulatory provisions governing the regulation 
of stationary sources under part D of title I of the Act and 
accompanying regulations at 40 CFR 51.160-165, as well as 40 CFR 51. 
307. In support of our proposed action, we have concluded that our 
approval would comply with sections 110(l) and 193 of the Act because 
the amended rule will not interfere with the continued attainment of 
the NAAQS in Amador County and does not relax any requirements in the 
SIP.
    This action would also revise the regulatory provisions at 40 CFR 
52.281(d) concerning the applicability of the visibility Federal 
implementation plan (FIP) at 40 CFR 52.28 as it pertains to California, 
to provide that this FIP does not apply to sources subject to review 
under the District's SIP-approved NNSR program. As described in more 
detail in the TSD for this action, the EPA has previously found 
Subsections 3.6 and 5.1 of Rule 400 acceptable to meet the visibility 
provisions for sources subject to the NNSR program at 40 CFR 51.307.\2\
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    \2\ See TSD for 2018 NSR Action, Section 6.2.
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    We will accept comments from the public on this proposal until 
October 25, 2023. If we finalize this action as proposed, our action 
will resolve the limited disapproval of Rule 400, incorporate the 
submitted rule into the SIP and our action would be codified through 
revisions to 40 CFR 52.220, ``Identification of plan--in part.'' In 
conjunction with our final approval into the SIP of the submitted 
version of Rule 400, we would remove from the SIP the previous version 
of the rule, identified in Table 2 above.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rulemaking, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA 
rule regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In 
accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to 
incorporate by reference the rule identified and discussed in section 
I.A. of this preamble that includes revisions concerning the District's 
NSR permitting program for new and modified sources of air pollution 
under part D of Title I of the CAA. 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 preamble for 
more information).

IV. 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 14094 (88 FR 21879, April 11, 2023);
     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 subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, 
April 23, 1997) because it proposes to approve a state program;

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     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 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).
    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. 
The 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.'' The 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.''
    The State 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 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, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, and Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: September 18, 2023.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2023-20669 Filed 9-22-23; 8:45 am]
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