[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 211 (Thursday, November 2, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 75234-75236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23740]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2017-0760, EPA-R09-OAR-2020-0476, and EPA-R09-OAR-2021-
0176; FRL-11409-01-R9]


Air Plan Revisions; California; Antelope Valley Air Quality 
Management District; Imperial County Air Pollution Control District; 
Correcting Amendments

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final 
action to correct sections in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 
erroneously caused by administrative oversight, to reflect the current 
status of conditional approval provisions in the California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP). These corrections concern Antelope Valley 
Air Quality Management District's (AVAQMD's) reasonably available 
control technology (RACT) SIP demonstration requirements for the 1997 
and 2008 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) 
and Imperial County Air Pollution Control District's (ICAPCD's) RACT 
SIP demonstration requirements for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

DATES: These correcting amendments are effective on November 2, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established dockets for this action under Docket 
ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2017-0760, EPA-R09-OAR-2020-0476, and EPA-R09-

[[Page 75235]]

OAR-2021-0176. All documents in the dockets 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 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 through 
https://www.regulations.gov, or please contact the person identified in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section for additional availability 
information. 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: Elijah Gordon, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 972-3158 or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Table 1 lists the documents addressed by 
this corrective action with the dates they were locally adopted, 
revised, or amended, and submitted by the California Air Resources 
Board (CARB).

                             Table 1--RACT SIP Demonstrations and SIP-Approved Rules
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             Local agency                         Document                    Local action           Submitted
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AVAQMD...............................  AVAQMD 8-Hour Reasonably        Adopted 09/19/2006.......      01/31/2007
                                        Available Control Technology--
                                        State Implementation Plan
                                        Analysis (RACT SIP Analysis)--
                                        1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS
                                        ``2006 RACT SIP''.
AVAQMD...............................  AVAQMD 8-Hour Reasonably        Adopted 07/21/2015.......      10/23/2015
                                        Available Control Technology--
                                        State Implementation Plan
                                        Analysis (2015 RACT SIP
                                        Analysis)--2008 8-hour Ozone
                                        NAAQS ``2015 RACT SIP''.
AVAQMD...............................  Rule 1151.1--Motor Vehicle      Adopted 6/20/2017........        8/9/2017
                                        Assembly Coating Operations.
AVAQMD...............................  Rule 1110.2--Emissions from     Amended 09/18/2018.......      10/30/2018
                                        Stationary, Non-Road and
                                        Portable Internal Combustion
                                        Engines.
ICAPCD...............................  Reasonably Availability         Adopted 09/12/2017.......      11/14/2017
                                        Control Technology Analysis
                                        for the 2017 Imperial County
                                        State Implementation Plan for
                                        the 2008 8-Hr Ozone Standard
                                        ``2017 RACT SIP''.
ICAPCD...............................  Rule 415--Transfer and Storage  Revised 11/03/2020.......      02/19/2021
                                        of Gasoline.
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    The EPA conditionally approved revisions to the AVAQMD portion of 
the California SIP on October 10, 2017 (82 FR 46923). These revisions 
concerned AVAQMD's demonstration regarding RACT requirements for the 
AVAQMD portion of the Western Mojave Desert nonattainment area for the 
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, and the AVAQMD portion of the West Mojave 
Desert nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. In the 
October 10, 2017 action, we added paragraphs (b), (b)(1), (b)(2), 
(b)(3), and (b)(4) to the ``Identification of plan--conditional 
approval'' section of 40 CFR part 52, subpart F (40 CFR 52.248), 
addressing RACT demonstrations for rules deemed to not meet RACT 
requirements. According to 40 CFR 52.248(b), if the State failed to 
meet its commitment to address the identified deficiencies by November 
9, 2018, the conditional approval would be treated as a disapproval. 
The State submitted SIP revisions addressing all identified 
deficiencies for the rules listed in paragraphs 40 CFR 52.248(b)(1) 
through (4) in advance of this November 9, 2018 deadline.
    We subsequently approved the SIP revisions addressing the 
identified deficiencies. We finalized approval of Rule 1151.1 on May 
24, 2018 (83 FR 24033). In that rulemaking action, we evaluated Rule 
1151.1 for RACT-level stringency, and stated in our proposal that Rule 
1151.1 regulates activities covered by the CTG document ``Control 
Techniques Guidelines for Automobile and Light-Duty Truck Assembly 
Coatings'' (EPA-453/R-08-006, September 2008).\1\ Our approval of Rule 
1151.1 as establishing RACT for this CTG cured the identified 
deficiencies associated with our conditional approval of the portion of 
the District's RACT SIP associated with Rule 1151 in 40 CFR 
52.248(b)(3).
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    \1\ 83 FR 11944 (March 19, 2018). In the District's commitment 
letter to CARB (dated 06/26/2017) and CARB's forwarded letter to the 
EPA (dated 06/27/2017), AVAQMD stated that rather than adopt a 
modification to Rule 1151 to address the RACT deficiency, it would 
adopt a new rule, Rule 1151.1, to correct the identified deficiency. 
They also stated their commitment to revise and correct identified 
deficiencies within Rule 1110.2.
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    Additionally, we finalized approval of Rule 1110.2 on September 10, 
2021 (86 FR 50645). In that rulemaking action, we evaluated Rule 1110.2 
for RACT-level stringency, and stated in our proposal that Rule 1110.2 
was submitted in order to address the RACT deficiencies identified in 
our previous conditional approval for major source NOX 
RACT.\2\ Our approval of Rule 1110.2 as establishing RACT for the major 
stationary sources regulated by this rule cured the identified 
deficiency associated with our conditional approval of the portion of 
the District's RACT SIP associated with Rule 1110.2 in 40 CFR 
52.248(b)(2).
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    \2\ 86 FR 17567 (April 5, 2021).
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    Due to an administrative oversight, our notices approving these new 
revisions neglected to remove the conditional approval language from 40 
CFR 52.248(b)(2), 40 CFR 52.248(b)(3), and, consequently, 40 CFR 
52.248(b). This action addresses this administrative oversight.
    Separately, the EPA conditionally approved a revision to the ICAPCD 
portion of the California SIP on February 13, 2020 (85 FR 8181). This 
revision concerned ICAPCD's demonstration regarding RACT requirements 
for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the Imperial County ozone 
nonattainment area. In the February 13, 2020 action, we added paragraph 
(i) to 40 CFR 52.248, addressing RACT demonstrations for Rule 415, and 
stating that if the State failed to meet its commitment to address 
these identified deficiencies by one year from the date of the 
conditional approval, the conditional approval would be treated as a 
disapproval.\3\ The State submitted a revised Rule 415, addressing 
these deficiencies in advance of this deadline.
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    \3\ In the District's commitment letter to CARB (dated 05/08/
2019) and CARB's forwarded letter to the EPA (dated 05/28/2019), 
ICAPCD stated their commitment to revise and correct identified 
deficiencies within Rule 415.
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    We finalized approval of the revised Rule 415 on September 2, 2021 
(86 FR 49248). In that rulemaking action, we evaluated Rule 415 for 
RACT-level stringency, and stated in our proposal

[[Page 75236]]

that Rule 415 regulates activities covered by the CTG document 
``Control of Hydrocarbons from Tank Truck Gasoline Loading Terminals'' 
(EPA-450/2-77-026, October 1977).\4\ That proposal stated that Rule 415 
was revised in response to the EPA's previous conditional approval and 
that the updated version of Rule 415 corrected the identified 
deficiencies. Therefore, our approval of Rule 415 as establishing RACT 
for this CTG cured the identified deficiency associated with our 
conditional approval of the portion of the District's RACT SIP 
associated with Rule 415 in 40 CFR 52.248(i). Due to an administrative 
oversight, our notice approving Rule 415 neglected to remove the 
conditional approval language from 40 CFR 52.248(i). This action 
addresses this administrative oversight.
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    \4\ 86 FR 24835 (May 10, 2021).
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    For the reasons described above, this action corrects the 
regulatory text to reflect the current status of AVAQMD's RACT SIP 
demonstration for the 1997 and 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The EPA is 
removing Rule 1110.2, ``Emission from Stationary, Non-road & Portable 
Internal Combustion Engines,'' and Rule 1151, ``Motor Vehicle and 
Mobile Equipment Coating Operations,'' from the regulatory text at 40 
CFR 52.248(b)(2) and 40 CFR 52.248(b)(3), respectively. Consequently, 
AVAQMD has met its RACT SIP obligations for these 1997 and 2008 8-hour 
NAAQS and, therefore, the EPA is removing the prior conditional 
approvals for these RACT SIP demonstrations from the Code of Federal 
Regulations (40 CFR 52.248(b)), leaving only the subsequently approved 
rules in the California SIP. This action also corrects the regulatory 
text to reflect the current status of ICAPCD's RACT SIP demonstration 
for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. ICAPCD has met its RACT SIP 
obligations for this NAAQS and, therefore, the EPA will remove the 
prior conditional approval for this RACT SIP demonstration from the 
Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR 52.248(i)), leaving only the 
subsequently approved rule in the California SIP.
    The EPA has determined that this action falls under the ``good 
cause'' exemption in section 553(b)(3)(B) of the Administrative 
Procedure Act (APA) which, upon finding ``good cause,'' authorizes 
agencies to dispense with public participation where public notice and 
comment procedures are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to 
public interest. Public notice and comment for this action is 
unnecessary because the underlying rules and RACT evaluations were 
already subject to a 30-day comment period, and this action is merely 
making administrative changes and updating the regulatory text 
accordingly. Further, this action is consistent with the purpose and 
rationale of the final rules. Because this action does not change the 
EPA's analyses or overall actions, no purpose would be served by 
additional public notice and comment. Consequently, additional public 
notice and comment are unnecessary.
    The EPA also finds that there is good cause under APA section 
553(d)(3) for these amendments to become effective on the date of 
publication of this action. Section 553(d)(3) of the APA allows an 
effective date of less than 30 days after publication ``as otherwise 
provided by the agency for good cause found and published with the 
rule.'' 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). The purpose of the 30-day waiting period 
prescribed in APA section 553(d)(3) is to give affected parties a 
reasonable time to adjust their behavior and prepare before the final 
rule takes effect. This rule does not create any new regulatory 
requirements such that affected parties would need time to prepare 
before the rule takes effect. This action merely corrects incomplete 
amendatory instructions in previous rulemakings. For these reasons, the 
EPA finds good cause under APA section 553(d)(3) for these changes to 
become effective on the date of publication of this action.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

    Dated: October 19, 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 F--California


Sec.  52.248  [Amended]

0
2. Section 52.248 is amended by removing and reserving paragraphs (b) 
and (i).

[FR Doc. 2023-23740 Filed 11-1-23; 8:45 am]
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