[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 78 (Monday, April 22, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29259-29260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08441]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0142; FRL-11848-02-R9]


Determination To Defer Sanctions; California; Antelope Valley Air 
Quality Management District and Mojave Desert 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 Antelope Valley Air Quality 
Management District (AVAQMD) and Mojave Desert Air Quality Management 
District (MDAQMD) that corrects deficiencies identified in its Clean 
Air Act (CAA or Act) state implementation plan (SIP) provisions 
concerning rules submitted to address section 185 of the Clean Air Act 
(CAA or the Act) with respect to the 1-hour ozone standard. This 
determination is based on a proposed approval, published elsewhere in 
this Federal Register, of AVAQMD Rule 315 and MDAQMD Rule 315, which 
establish a section 185 fee program in the AVAQMD and MDAQMD portions 
of the Southeast Desert Modified Air Quality Management Area. 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 AVAQMD Rule 
315 and MDAQMD Rule 315 submission, relief from these sanctions will 
become permanent.

DATES: This interim final determination is effective on April 22, 2024. 
However, comments will be accepted on or before May 22, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2024-0142 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].

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 29, 2022 (87 FR 59021), the EPA issued a disapproval 
of AVAQMD Rule 315 and MDAQMD Rule 315 that had been submitted by CARB 
to the EPA on December 14, 2011. In our 2022 action, we determined that 
the rules were largely consistent with general CAA requirements 
regarding SIP submissions. However, the rules were found to have the 
following summarized deficiencies: no justification for the method 
chosen to calculate alternate baseline emissions for facilities with 
emissions that are irregular, cyclical, or otherwise vary 
significantly; the rules establish an area-wide equivalency ``Tracking 
Account'' across AVAQMD, MDAQMD, and South Coast Air Quality Management 
District (SCAQMD) but SCAQMD did not have a rule that contained the 
same provisions rendering the area-wide tracking system unenforceable; 
the formula for calculation for the penalty fee did not properly 
reflect the inflation adjustment based on the Consumer Price index; and 
AVAQMD Rule 315 defined the term ``Major Facility'' as defined in 
``District Rule 1301'' but the current SIP-approved Rule 1301 for 
AVAQMD did not contain a definition of ``Major Facility.'' Therefore, 
we disapproved the rules because they contained provisions that did not 
meet our evaluation criteria and affected rule enforceability and 
stringency.
    Pursuant to section 179 of the CAA and our regulations at 40 CFR 
52.31, the full 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 31, 2022, and highway sanctions 6 
months later.
    On May 11, 2023, CARB submitted MDAQMD Rule 315 (amended February 
27, 2023) and on February 14, 2024, CARB submitted AVAQMD Rule 315 
(amended November 21, 2023) to correct the deficiencies of the full 
disapproval and to satisfy the requirements of CAA

[[Page 29260]]

sections 182(d)(3) and 185 by utilizing a fee equivalency approach 
consistent with the principles of CAA section 172(e). In the Proposed 
Rules section of this Federal Register, we have proposed approval of 
AVAQMD's 2024 submittal of Rule 315 and MDAQMD's 2023 submittal of Rule 
315. Based on this proposed approval action, we are also making this 
interim final determination, effective on publication, to defer 
imposition of the offset sanctions and highway sanctions that were 
triggered by our 2022 full disapproval of AVAQMD Rule 315 and MDAQMD 
Rule 315, because we believe that the new rule submissions correct the 
deficiencies 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 AVAQMD Rule 315 and MDAQMD Rule 315, 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 AVAQMD Rule 315 and MDAQMD Rule 315.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

    We are making an interim final determination to defer CAA section 
179 sanctions associated with our September 29, 2022 (87 FR 59021) 
disapproval of the 2011 submittal of AVAQMD Rule 315 and MDAQMD Rule 
315. This determination is based on our concurrent proposal to approve 
the 2023 submittal of MDAQMD Rule 315 and the 2024 submittal of AVAQMD 
Rule 315, which resolves the deficiency that triggered sanctions under 
section 179 of the CAA.
    Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that the 2023 
submittal of MDAQMD Rule 315 and the 2024 submittal of AVAQMD Rule 315 
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 submittals 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 circuit by June 21, 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Oxides of nitrogen, Ozone, 
Volatile Organic Compounds, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

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

    Dated: April 16, 2024.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2024-08441 Filed 4-19-24; 8:45 am]
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