[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 184 (Monday, September 23, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 77467-77470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21646]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0418; FRL-12225-01-R9]


Air Plan Revisions; California; San Diego County Air Pollution 
Control District and Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve revisions to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control 
District (SDCAPCD) and Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District 
(MDAQMD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). 
These revisions concern negative declarations for the Control 
Techniques Guidelines

[[Page 77468]]

(CTG) for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry (Oil and Natural Gas CTG). 
We are taking comments on this proposal to approve the SDCAPCD and 
MDAQMD negative declarations into the California SIP. We plan to follow 
with a final action.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 23, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2024-0418 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 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: Eugene Chen, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4304 or by 
email at [email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What documents did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of this/these documents?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted documents?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the documents?
    B. Do the documents meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. Proposed Action and Public Comment
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What documents did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the documents addressed by this proposal with the 
dates that they were adopted by the local air agencies and submitted by 
the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

                                          Table 1--Submitted Documents
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                                                                                                   Submitted to
              Local agency                               Document                     Adopted           EPA
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SDCAPCD................................  2020 Reasonably Available Control            10/14/2020      12/28/2020
                                          Technology Demonstration for the
                                          National Ambient Air Quality Standards
                                          for Ozone in San Diego County (``2020
                                          RACT SIP'')--Negative Declaration for
                                          Oil and Natural Gas CTG.
MDAQMD.................................  70 ppb Ozone Standard Implementation         10/28/2019      12/20/2019
                                          Evaluation: RACT SIP Analysis; Federal
                                          Negative Declarations; and Emission
                                          Statement Certification--Negative
                                          Declaration for Oil and Natural Gas
                                          CTG.
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    For the SDCAPCD submittal, we are only proposing action on the 
negative declaration for the Oil and Natural Gas CTG in Attachment B 
and are not proposing action on any other elements of the submittal. 
Similarly, for the MDAQMD submittal, we are only proposing action on 
the negative declaration for the Oil and Natural Gas CTG in Table 2 and 
are not proposing action on any other elements of the submittal. In 
both cases, the negative declaration for the Oil and Natural Gas CTG 
was submitted for the 2008 and 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS).1 2
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    \1\ Page 10 of MDAQMD 70 ppb O3 Evaluation, Final Staff Report.
    \2\ Page B-10 of SDCAPCD 2020 RACT SIP, Attachment B.
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    On May 6, 2021, the EPA determined that the SDCAPCD negative 
declaration for the Oil and Natural Gas CTG met the SIP submittal 
completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V.\3\ On June 20, 
2020, the MDAQMD submittal, including the Oil and Gas CTG negative 
declaration, was deemed by operation of law to meet the SIP 
completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V.
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    \3\ See Docket Item B-01, Letter dated May 6, 2021, from 
Elizabeth J. Adams, Director, Air Division, EPA Region IX, to 
Richard W. Corey, Executive Officer, CARB.
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B. Are there other versions of these documents?

    There are no other versions of the SDCAPCD submittal, but we 
previously approved the negative declarations from the 2020 RACT SIP 
for the CTGs titled Control of Volatile Organic Emissions from 
Manufacture of Synthesized Pharmaceutical Products (EPA-450/2-78-029), 
Control of Volatile Organic Emissions from Miscellaneous Metal and 
Plastic Parts Coatings (EPA-453/R-08-003), Tables 3 through 6, and 
Control Techniques Guidelines for Fiberglass Boat Manufacturing 
Materials (EPA-453/R-08-004).\4\ There are no other versions of the 
MDAQMD submittal, and we have not previously taken action on any 
elements of the submittal.
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    \4\ 87 FR 38665 (June 29, 2022).
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C. What is the purpose of the submitted documents?

    Volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) in the presence of sunlight can lead to the formation 
of ground-level ozone or ``smog,'' which can result in significant 
impacts to human health and the environment. Section 110(a) of the CAA 
requires states to submit regulations that control VOC emissions.
    Clean Air Act (CAA) sections 182(b)(2) and (f) require that SIPs 
for ozone nonattainment areas classified as ``Moderate'' or above 
implement reasonably available control (RACT) for any source covered by 
a Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) document and for any major source 
of VOCs or NOX. On October 26, 2015, the EPA finalized 
action to revise the 8-hour ozone NAAQS from 0.075 to 0.070 ppm.\5\ On 
June 4, 2018, the EPA

[[Page 77469]]

originally designated San Diego County as Moderate nonattainment for 
the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.\6\ San Diego County has subsequently been 
reclassified from Moderate to ``Severe'' nonattainment.\7\ On June 4, 
2018, the EPA also designated the West Mojave Desert area, which 
includes portions of San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties, as Severe 
nonattainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The SDCAPCD has 
jurisdiction over the entirety of San Diego County, and the MDAQMD has 
jurisdiction over the San Bernardino County portion of the West Mojave 
Desert nonattainment area.
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    \5\ 80 FR 65292.
    \6\ 83 FR 25776.
    \7\ 86 FR 29522. San Diego County voluntarily requested 
reclassification from Moderate to Severe nonattainment. The 
applicable attainment date would be as expeditious as practicable 
but no later than August 3, 2033 for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
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    As a result of their Severe classifications for the 2015 ozone 
NAAQS, SDCAPCD, and MDAQMD must, at a minimum, adopt RACT-level 
controls for all sources covered by a CTG document and for all major 
non-CTG sources of VOCs or NOX within their respective 
nonattainment areas. Any stationary source that emits or has the 
potential to emit at least 25 tons per year (tpy) of VOCs or 
NOX is considered a major stationary source in a Severe 
ozone nonattainment area.\8\
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    \8\ CAA sections 182(d) and (f) and 302(j).
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    Section III.D of the preamble to the EPA's final rule to implement 
the 2008 ozone NAAQS discusses RACT requirements.\9\ It states, in 
part, that RACT SIPs must contain adopted RACT regulations and 
certifications (where appropriate) that existing provisions meet the 
RACT requirement.\10\ Alternatively, for a source category covered by a 
CTG document where a District has no applicable stationary sources or 
emitting facilities, a District may adopt and submit a negative 
declaration documenting that there are no sources covered by the CTG. 
The submitted documents we are acting upon represent these Districts' 
negative declarations for the Oil and Natural Gas CTG for the 2008 and 
2015 ozone NAAQS.\11\
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    \9\ 80 FR 12264 (March 6, 2015). Per 83 FR 62998 (December 6, 
2018), these provisions were retained without significant revision 
for purposes of implementing the 2015 ozone NAAQS,
    \10\ Id. at 12278.
    \11\ Publication of the Oil and Natural Gas CTG occurred in 
October 2016, which was after several Districts had already adopted 
their RACT SIP revisions for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. Due to this 
timing, some Districts submitted their negative declaration for this 
CTG under separate cover, or, in the case of SDCAPCD and MDAQMD, 
relied upon their respective RACT SIP revisions for the 2015 ozone 
NAAQS to also address this CTG for the 2008 ozone NAAQS.
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II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the documents?

    As discussed in section I.C., SDCAPCD and MDAQMD must demonstrate 
that the Districts' rules implement RACT for all sources covered by a 
CTG document as well as each major source of VOCs or NOX. If 
a District has no sources covered by a particular CTG document, thus 
not requiring a RACT rule for such sources, then States may submit 
negative declarations for those CTGs for approval into the SIP. To do 
so, the submittal should provide reasonable assurances that no sources 
subject to the CTG's requirements currently exist in the relevant ozone 
nonattainment area.
    Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate the negative 
declarations include the following:
    1. ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' 57 
FR 13498 (April 16, 1992); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).
    2. EPA 453/B-16-001, Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and 
Natural Gas Industry.

B. Do the documents meet the evaluation criteria?

    The submitted documents contain the SDCAPCD and MDAQMD's 
certifications that there are no sources within the ozone nonattainment 
areas under their respective jurisdictions that are subject to the Oil 
and Natural Gas CTG for the 2008 and 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The 
Districts based their negative declarations on reviews of their 
permitting files, emission inventories, and in consultation with 
District enforcement staff. We reviewed available permitting, 
enforcement, and emission inventories for these two Districts.\12\ In 
addition, we accessed the California Department of Conservation 
Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) Well Finder website, which 
contains an online mapping application of oil and gas industry 
information.\13\ Based on our review of this information, we did not 
identify any sources that would be subject to the Oil and Natural Gas 
CTG, and we agree with the SDCAPCD and MDAQMD negative 
declarations.\14\
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    \12\ See Docket Item B-03, ``CARB EI 2020 SD and MD.xlsx''.
    \13\ Available at https://www.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/Pages/WellFinder.aspx.
    \14\ We note that while there are several natural gas compressor 
stations operating in MDAQMD, they are not subject to the Oil and 
Natural Gas CTG because they are located after custody transfer and 
do not engage in the production of natural gas.
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C. Proposed Action and Public Comment

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to 
approve the SDCAPCD and MDAQMD negative declarations for the Oil and 
Natural Gas CTG because they fulfill the relevant requirements in CAA 
sections 110(a), 110(l), and 182(b)(2). We will accept comments from 
the public on this proposal until October 23, 2024. If we take final 
action to approve the submitted negative declarations as proposed, our 
final action will incorporate these negative declarations into the 
federally enforceable SIP. In addition, it will address the EPA's 
obligation to promulgate a FIP for the SDCAPCD arising from our 
November 16, 2020 finding of failure to submit for the Oil and Natural 
Gas CTG.\15\
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    \15\ 85 FR 72963. Our November 16, 2020 finding of failure to 
submit also triggered offset sanctions and highway funding 
sanctions. These sanctions clocks were extinguished by SDCAPCD's 
December 29, 2020 submittal and our May 6, 2021 letter determining 
that the District's negative declaration submittal was complete. See 
Docket Item B-01.
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III. 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 proposed action merely proposes to approve 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 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

[[Page 77470]]

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, 
April 23, 1997) because it proposes to approve 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 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 the EPA or an Indian tribe 
has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 
Indian country, the rulemaking 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 communities with environmental justice 
(EJ) concerns to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law. 
The EPA defines 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. The EPA did not perform an EJ 
analysis and did not consider EJ in this action. 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 of 
achieving EJ for communities with EJ concerns.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

    Dated: September 16, 2024.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2024-21646 Filed 9-20-24; 8:45 am]
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