[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 47 (Friday, March 8, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16698-16700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04921]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2023-0568; FRL-11558-03-R9]


Determination To Defer Sanctions; California; South Coast Air 
Quality Management District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Interim final determination.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim 
final determination that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has 
submitted a revised rule on behalf of the South Coast Air Quality 
Management District (SCAQMD) that corrects deficiencies in its Clean 
Air Act (CAA or Act) state implementation plan (SIP) provisions 
concerning ozone nonattainment requirements for controlling volatile 
organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) from 
refinery flares. This determination is based on a proposed approval, 
published elsewhere in this Federal Register, of SCAQMD Rule 1118 
regulating that source category. The effect of this interim final 
determination is that the imposition of sanctions that were triggered 
by a previous disapproval by the EPA in 2022 is now deferred. If the 
EPA finalizes its approval of SCAQMD's submission, relief from these 
sanctions will become permanent.

DATES: This rule is effective on March 8, 2024. However, comments will 
be accepted on or before April 8, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2023-0568 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 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. 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: Donnique Sherman, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4129 or by 
email at [email protected].

[[Page 16699]]


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

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    On September 22, 2022, (87 FR 57838), the EPA issued a final 
limited approval and limited disapproval for the SCAQMD Rule 1118 that 
had been submitted by CARB to the EPA on February 16, 2018. In our 2022 
action, we determined that while the SCAQMD SIP revision submittal 
strengthened the SIP, Section (j) of Rule 1118 allowed the Executive 
Officer the authority to approve another test method than those 
identified in the rule and without further specificity regarding how 
this authority will be exercised, it could functionally allow for a 
revision of the SIP without complying with the process for SIP 
revisions required by the CAA. As a result, this undermines the 
enforceability of the submission, constitutes a SIP deficiency, and 
conflicts with CAA Section 110. Pursuant to section 179 of the CAA and 
our regulations at 40 CFR 52.31, this limited disapproval action under 
title I, part D started a sanctions clock for imposition of offset 
sanctions 18 months after the action's effective date of October 22, 
2023, and highway sanctions 6 months later.
    The District submitted an amended Rule 1118 (amended January 6, 
2023), which was transmitted by CARB to the EPA on May 11, 2023, that 
added California Air Resources Board and the EPA as approvers of other 
test methods. In the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register, 
we have proposed approval of SCAQMD's 2023 submittal of Rule 1118. 
Based on this proposed approval action, we are also taking this interim 
final determination, effective on publication, to defer imposition of 
the offset sanctions and highway sanctions that were triggered by our 
2022 limited disapproval of Rule 1118, because we believe that the new 
version corrects the deficiency that triggered such sanctions.
    The EPA is providing the public with an opportunity to comment on 
this deferral of sanctions. If comments are submitted that change our 
assessment described in this interim final determination and the 
proposed full approval of Rule 1118, we would take final action to lift 
this deferral of sanctions under 40 CFR 52.31. If no comments are 
submitted that change our assessment, then all sanctions and any 
sanction clocks triggered by our 2022 action would be permanently 
terminated on the effective date of our final approval of Rule 1118.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

    We are making an interim final determination to defer CAA section 
179 sanctions associated with our limited disapproval on the 2018 
submittal of Rule 1118. This determination is based on our concurrent 
proposal to approve the 2023 submittal of Rule 1118, which resolves the 
deficiency that triggered sanctions under section 179 of the CAA.
    Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that new version of 
Rule 1118 is fully approvable, relief from sanctions should be provided 
as quickly as possible. Therefore, the EPA is invoking the good cause 
exception under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in not providing 
an opportunity for comment before this action takes effect (5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(3)). However, by this action, the EPA is providing the public 
with a chance to comment on the EPA's determination after the effective 
date, and the EPA will consider any comments received in determining 
whether to reverse such action.
    The EPA believes that notice-and-comment rulemaking before the 
effective date of this action is impracticable and contrary to the 
public interest. The EPA has reviewed the State's submittal and, 
through its proposed action, is indicating that it is more likely than 
not that the State has submitted a revision to the SIP that corrects 
deficiencies under part D of the Act that were the basis for the action 
that started the sanctions clocks. Therefore, it is not in the public 
interest to impose sanctions. The EPA believes that it is necessary to 
use the interim final rulemaking process to defer sanctions while the 
EPA completes its rulemaking process on the approvability of the 
State's submittal. Moreover, with respect to the effective date of this 
action, the EPA is invoking the good cause exception to the 30-day 
notice requirement of the APA because the purpose of this notice is to 
relieve a restriction (5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1)).

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action defers sanctions and imposes no additional 
requirements. 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);
     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; and
     Does not provide the EPA with the discretionary authority 
to address disproportionate human health or environmental effects with 
practical, appropriate, and legally permissible methods under Executive 
Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
     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).
     Is subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), 5 U.S.C. 
801 et seq., and the EPA will submit a rule report to each House of the 
Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. The CRA 
allows the issuing agency to make a rule effective sooner than 
otherwise provided by the CRA if the agency makes a good cause finding 
that notice and comment rulemaking procedures are impracticable, 
unnecessary or contrary to the public interest (5 U.S.C. 808(2)). The 
EPA has made a good cause finding for this rule as discussed in section 
II of this preamble, including the basis for that finding.
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate

[[Page 16700]]

circuit by May 7, 2024. Filing a petition for reconsideration by the 
EPA Administrator of this final rule does not affect the finality of 
this rule for the purpose of judicial review nor does it extend the 
time within which 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 
CAA section 307(b)(2)).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Oxides of 
nitrogen, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: February 29, 2024.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2024-04921 Filed 3-7-24; 8:45 am]
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