[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 23, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4242-4243]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01228]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2023-0576; FRL-11679-01-R1]


Air Plan Approval; New Hampshire; Single Source Order for PAK 
Solutions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of New Hampshire. This revision proposes to approve reasonable 
available control technology (RACT) requirements for PAK Solutions, 
LLC, located in Lancaster, New Hampshire. This action is being taken 
under the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 22, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OAR-2023-0576 at https://www.regulations.gov, or via email to Patrick 
Lillis at: [email protected]. For comments submitted at 
Regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
Regulations.gov. For either manner of submission, 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, 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. Publicly available docket materials are available at https://www.regulations.gov or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 
Region 1 Regional Office, Air and Radiation Division, 5 Post Office 
Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all possible, 
you contact the contact 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 legal holidays and facility closures due to COVID-19.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Lillis, Air Quality Branch 
(AQB), Air and Radiation Division (ARD) (Mail Code 5-MD), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 
100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109-3912; (617) 918-1067; 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.

 Table of Contents

I. Background and Purpose
II. Proposed Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background and Purpose

    On December 14, 2022, the New Hampshire Air Resources Division 
(ARD) submitted a revision to its State Implementation Plan (SIP). The 
revision consists of an order establishing reasonably available control 
technology (RACT) requirements for PAK Solutions, LLC, located in 
Lancaster, New Hampshire. The RACT requirements are intended to limit 
emissions of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) from the facility.
    PAK Solutions, LLC (PAK) conducts commercial printing operations on 
a variety of plastic and film substrates with VOCs and solvent-
containing inks. PAK owns and operates three printing presses that coat 
a variety of plastic and film substrates at its facility located on 16 
Page Hill Road in Lancaster, New Hampshire. PAK operates a Ship & Shore 
Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO) to control VOC emissions from three 
printing presses. On August 24, 2022, PAK submitted an application for 
a RACT Order (Order) that would allow the company to generate and use 
Discrete Emissions Reductions (DERs) in order to comply with the VOC 
reduction requirements during periods when the RTO is shut down due to 
maintenance or malfunction.
    RACT Order RO-0007 issued on December 14, 2022, by the New 
Hampshire DES requires PAK Solutions to comply with the VOC control 
standards specified in Env-A 1215 Rotogravure and Flexographic 
Printing. PAK Solutions shall conduct monitoring and testing activities 
of the RTO as well as operate and maintain equipment to continuously 
monitor the temperature of the combustion chamber of the RTO. This 
Order also outlines the consistent maintenance of the RTO based on the 
manufacture's recommendations. For times that the capture and control 
system is unable to meet the 60% capture and 90% reduction requirement 
specified in Env-A 1215.03(b) and Env-A 1215.04(b)(3) due to a 
malfunction or during routine maintenance of the RTO, PAK shall be 
allowed to use DERs in accordance with RACT Order RO-0007. This is for 
the purpose of complying with the VOC RACT requirements. According to 
the instructions of RACT Order RO-0007, PAK shall be allowed to 
generate DERs for VOC emission reductions that exceed the reductions 
specified in this Order and be allowed to use these DERs for RACT 
compliance. PAK is also allowed to sell DERs to other entities within 
the State of New Hampshire. PAK Solutions will also maintain sufficient 
recordkeeping and timely annual reporting.
    Regarding reporting and recordkeeping requirements, PAK is required 
to submit an annual report to NHDES on the projected use of credits 
(DERs) for the upcoming calendar year by November 30th. The 
requirements for this report are outlined in Env-A 3104.08, Notice of 
Intent and Use of DERs. PAK is also required to submit an annual report 
by April 15th to NHDES on the balance of credits (DERs) for the 
previous calendar year. The requirements for this report are outlined 
in Env-A 3103.08, Notice and Certification of Generation and Env-A 
3104.09, Notice and Certification of Use. Records are required to be 
maintained on site and submitted upon request for control device 
monitoring and maintenance. PAK Solutions is also

[[Page 4243]]

subject to the applicable recordkeeping and reporting requirements of 
SIP-approved Env-A 900 Owner or Operator Recordkeeping and Reporting 
Obligations, which requires annual reporting to the state of emissions 
data and other information relating to compliance. Any additional 
recordkeeping requirements are outlined within Table 5 in the state's 
permit to operate. Any additional reporting requirements are outlined 
within Table 6 in the state's permit to operate.
    EPA has reviewed RACT Order RO-0007 issued by the New Hampshire DES 
to PAK Solutions of Lancaster dated December 14, 2022. EPA is proposing 
an approval of this RACT Order into the New Hampshire SIP.

II. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve RACT Order RO-0007 issued by the New 
Hampshire DES to PAK Solutions of Lancaster on December 14, 2022, as a 
revision to the New Hampshire SIP. EPA is soliciting public comments on 
the issues discussed in this notice or on other relevant matters. These 
comments will be considered before taking final action. Interested 
parties may participate in the Federal rulemaking procedure by 
submitting written comments to this proposed rule by following the 
instructions listed in the ADDRESSES section of this Federal Register.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, 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 RACT Order RO-0007 dated December 14, 2022, issued by the New 
Hampshire DES to Pak Solutions of Lancaster, as discussed in Section I 
of this preamble. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these 
documents generally available through https://www.regulations.gov and 
at the EPA Region 1 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. 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 Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this proposed 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 proposed action:
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review 
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders12866 (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.''
    The New Hampshire 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. 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, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile 
organic compounds.

    Dated: January 18, 2024.
David Cash,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2024-01228 Filed 1-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P