[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 12, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49815-49817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12786]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2023-0448; FRL-11677-02-R9]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of 
California; Coachella Valley; Extreme Attainment Plan for 1997 8-Hour 
Ozone Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final 
action to approve elements of a state implementation plan (SIP) 
submittal from the State of California to meet Clean Air Act (CAA) 
Extreme area requirements for the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient 
air quality standards (NAAQS) in the Riverside Co. (Coachella Valley), 
CA nonattainment area (``Coachella Valley''). We are specifically 
approving the reasonably available control measures (RACM) 
demonstration and attainment demonstration and finding the State has 
satisfied the clean fuels for boilers requirement. The EPA previously 
proposed to approve these elements in conjunction with a proposal to 
approve the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) offset demonstration and the 
reasonable further progress (RFP) demonstration for the Coachella 
Valley. The EPA intends to take final action on the area's VMT offset 
demonstration and RFP demonstration in a future rulemaking.

[[Page 49816]]


DATES: This rule is effective July 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2023-0448. All documents in the docket 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 a 
disability 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: Tom Kelly, Geographic Strategies and 
Modeling Section (AIR-2-2), EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 
Francisco, CA 94105; phone: (415) 972-3856; or email: 
[email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. Proposed Action
II. Public Comments and the EPA's Responses
III. Environmental Justice Considerations
IV. The EPA's Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Proposed Action

    On April 16, 2024,\1\ the EPA proposed to approve portions of the 
``Final Coachella Valley Extreme Area Plan for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone 
Standard,'' dated December 2020 (``Coachella Valley Ozone Plan'' or 
``Plan''), into the California SIP, along with the entirety of a second 
submittal, the ``VMT Offset Demonstration.'' \2\ For the Coachella 
Valley Ozone Plan, we proposed to approve all elements of the Plan 
except the reasonably available control technology demonstration, which 
we planned to address in subsequent proposal. Our proposed action 
contains more information on the two submittals and our evaluation.
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    \1\ 89 FR 26817.
    \2\ California Air Resources Board, ``Staff Report, 2020 
Coachella Valley Vehicle Miles Traveled Emissions Offset 
Demonstration,'' January 22, 2021.
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II. Public Comments and the EPA's Responses

    The EPA's proposed action provided a 30-day public comment period. 
During this period, we received comments from Air Law for All (ALFA). 
These comments addressed the EPA's proposed approval of the Coachella 
Valley Ozone Plan's RFP demonstration and other issues related to 
nonattainment planning elements not addressed in the EPA's proposal. No 
adverse comments were directed at the EPA's proposal to approve the 
Plan's RACM demonstration, attainment demonstration, or the EPA's 
proposed finding that the State has satisfied the clean fuels or 
advanced control technology for boilers requirement. In this action, 
the EPA is taking final action only on these elements of the Coachella 
Valley Ozone Plan for which we received no adverse comment. The EPA 
intends to address our proposed approval of the Plan's RFP 
demonstration and the separately submitted VMT Offset Demonstration in 
a future rulemaking.

III. Environmental Justice Considerations

    This final action will generally be neutral or not contribute to a 
reduction in adverse environmental and health impacts on all 
populations in the Coachella Valley, including people of color and low-
income populations in the area. At a minimum, the approved action would 
not worsen any existing air quality and is expected to ensure the area 
is meeting requirements to attain air quality standards. Further, there 
is no information in the record indicating that this action is expected 
to have disproportionately high or adverse human health or 
environmental effects on a particular group of people. In responding to 
public concerns about environmental justice in Eastern Coachella 
Valley, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) noted 
that (1) Assembly Bill 617 funding has reduced pollutant emissions in 
Eastern Coachella Valley by 63.1 tpy of nitrogen oxides 
(NOX), 7.5 tpy of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), and 5.3 
tpy of diesel particulate matter,\3\ and (2) the SCAQMD has provided 
$966,667 in energy efficiency upgrades, reducing energy costs for homes 
within designated environmental justice areas of Indio and Eastern 
Coachella Valley.\4\ The SCAQMD Final 2016 Air Quality Management Plan, 
which included additional information for the Coachella Valley Ozone 
Plan such as more detailed information regarding emissions inventory 
development, also identifies an Environmental Justice Advisory Group 
established to ``advise and assist SCAQMD in protecting and improving 
public health in SCAQMD's most impacted communities through the 
reduction and prevention of air pollution.'' \5\
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    \3\ Coachella Valley Ozone Plan, p. 9-8. SCAQMD's website 
identifies Assembly Bill 617 Community Air Initiatives as 
``community based efforts that focus on improving air quality and 
public health in environmental justice communities.'' See https://www.aqmd.gov/nav/about/initiatives/environmental-justice/ab617-134.
    \4\ Id.
    \5\ SCAQMD, ``Final 2016 Air Quality Management Plan,'' dated 
March 2017, submitted electronically by CARB to the EPA on April 27, 
2017, p. 9-7.
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IV. The EPA's Action

    Pursuant to section 110(k)(3) of the CAA, and for the reasons 
provided in our April 16, 2024 proposed rule, the EPA is taking final 
action to approve into the California SIP the following elements of the 
``Final Coachella Valley Extreme Area Plan for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone 
Standard,'' dated December 2020 under CAA section 110(k)(3):
     The RACM demonstration as meeting the requirements of CAA 
section 172(c)(1) and 40 CFR 51.1105(a)(1) and 51.1100(o)(17); and
     The attainment demonstration as meeting the requirements 
of CAA section 182(c)(2)(A) and 40 CFR 51.1105(a)(1) and 
51.1100(o)(12).
    We are also finalizing our proposal to find that the State has 
satisfied the clean fuel or advanced control technology for boilers 
requirement in CAA section 182(e)(3) for the Coachella Valley for the 
1997 ozone NAAQS.
    These requirements and related parts of the SIP submittal were 
evaluated separately from the RFP demonstration and the substitution of 
NOX emissions reductions for VOC emissions reductions in the 
EPA's April 16, 2024 notice of proposed rulemaking.

V. 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 action merely approves State law as meeting Federal 
requirements and does not impose

[[Page 49817]]

additional requirements beyond those imposed by State law. 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 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 approves a State program;
     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 applications 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, 
February. 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 EJ considerations as part of its SIP 
submittal; the CAA and applicable implementing regulations neither 
prohibit nor require such an evaluation. However, as described in 
section III (Environmental Justice Considerations) of this document, 
the District has an advisory group to address EJ and has taken prior 
EJ-focused actions within the Coachella Valley. The EPA did not perform 
an EJ analysis and did not consider it in this action. Due to the 
nature of this action, this action is expected to have a neutral to 
positive impact on the air quality of Coachella Valley. 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 
Executive Order 12898, to achieve environmental justice for people of 
color, low-income populations, and Indigenous peoples.
    This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act, and the EPA 
will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress and to the 
Comptroller General of the United States. This action is not a ``major 
rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by August 12, 2024. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this action for the purposes of 
judicial review nor does it extend the time within which a 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 section 307(b)(2)).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

    Dated: June 6, 2024.
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

0
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding and reserving paragraph 
(c)(613), and adding paragraph (c)(614) to read as follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan--in part.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (613) [Reserved]
    (614) The following plan was submitted electronically on December 
29, 2020, by the Governor's designee as an attachment to a letter dated 
December 28, 2020.
    (i) [Reserved]
    (ii) Additional materials.
    (A) South Coast Air Quality Management District.
    (1) ``South Coast Air Quality Management District, Final Coachella 
Valley Extreme Area Plan for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone Standard,'' dated 
December 2020, except for the sections titled ``Reasonable Further 
Progress'' and ``Supplemental RACT Demonstration,'' pages 6-1 through 
6-11.
    (2) [Reserved]
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2024-12786 Filed 6-11-24; 8:45 am]
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