Proposed Rule2021-25975
Air Plan Approval; Ohio; Partial Approval and Partial Disapproval of the Muskingum River SO2
Primary source
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Published
November 30, 2021
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove a revision to the Ohio State Implementation Plan (SIP) intended to provide for attaining the 2010 primary, health-based 1-hour sulfur dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS or ``standard'') for the Muskingum River SO<INF>2</INF> nonattainment area. This SIP revision (hereinafter referred to as Ohio's Muskingum River SO<INF>2</INF> attainment plan or plan) includes Ohio's attainment demonstration and other attainment planning elements required under the Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA is proposing to approve the base year emissions inventory and affirm that the nonattainment new source review requirements for the area have been met. EPA is proposing to disapprove the attainment plan, since the plan relies on, among other things, acquisition of a parcel of land by a facility, Globe Metallurgical (Globe), located within the nonattainment area. Globe has recently indicated to EPA and Ohio EPA that it will not be purchasing that parcel of land. Additionally, EPA is proposing to disapprove the plan for failing to meet the requirements for meeting reasonable further progress (RFP) toward attainment of the NAAQS, reasonably available control measures/reasonably available control technology (RACM/RACT), emission limitations and control measures as necessary to attain the NAAQS, and contingency measures. Based on the change in circumstances since the original proposed action, EPA is now proposing a changed course of action.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 227 (Tuesday, November 30, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 30, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 67885-67886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25975]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R05-OAR-2015-0699; FRL-9271-01-R5]
Air Plan Approval; Ohio; Partial Approval and Partial Disapproval
of the Muskingum River SO2 Nonattainment Area Plan
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
partially approve and partially disapprove a revision to the Ohio State
Implementation Plan (SIP) intended to provide for attaining the 2010
primary, health-based 1-hour sulfur dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>) national
ambient air quality standard (NAAQS or ``standard'') for the Muskingum
River SO<INF>2</INF> nonattainment area. This SIP revision (hereinafter
referred to as Ohio's Muskingum River SO<INF>2</INF> attainment plan or
plan) includes Ohio's attainment demonstration and other attainment
planning elements required under the Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA is
proposing to approve the base year emissions inventory and affirm that
the nonattainment new source review requirements for the area have been
met. EPA is proposing to disapprove the attainment plan, since the plan
relies on, among other things, acquisition of a parcel of land by a
facility, Globe Metallurgical (Globe), located within the nonattainment
area. Globe has recently indicated to EPA and Ohio EPA that it will not
be purchasing that parcel of land. Additionally, EPA is proposing to
disapprove the plan for failing to meet the requirements for meeting
reasonable further progress (RFP) toward attainment of the NAAQS,
reasonably available control measures/reasonably available control
technology (RACM/RACT), emission limitations and control measures as
necessary to attain the NAAQS, and contingency measures. Based on the
change in circumstances since the original proposed action, EPA is now
proposing a changed course of action.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 30, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2015-0699 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, or via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#02637070632c716370636a426772632c656d74"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fa9b88889bd4899b889b92ba9f8a9bd49d958c">[email protected]</span></a>. For comments submitted at <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, follow
the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted,
comments cannot be edited or removed from <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. For either
manner of submission, 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. 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 <a href="https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina Harrison, Environmental
Scientist, Attainment Planning and Maintenance Section, Air Programs
Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77
West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-6956,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#573f3625253e24383979303e39361732273679303821"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7e161f0c0c170d1110501917101f3e1b0e1f50191108">[email protected]</span></a>. The EPA Region 5 office is open from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays and
facility closures due to COVID-19.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. What actions did EPA propose in this SIP submission?
On September 29, 2020,\1\ EPA proposed to approve Ohio's
SO<INF>2</INF> plan for the Muskingum River area submitted on April 3,
2015 and October 13, 2015, and supplemented on June 23, 2020. EPA also
proposed to approve and incorporate by reference Ohio EPA's Director's
Final Findings and Orders issued to Globe on June 23, 2020 (DFFOs),
including emission limits and associated compliance monitoring,
recordkeeping, and reporting requirements. In addition, EPA proposed to
approve the base year emissions inventory and to affirm that the new
source review requirements for the area had previously been met.
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\1\ 85 FR 60933 (September 29, 2020).
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EPA's notice of proposed rulemaking provided an explanation of the
provisions in the CAA and the measures and limitations identified in
Ohio's attainment plan to satisfy these provisions. Ohio's plan was
based on, among other things, the proposed acquisition by Globe of a
tract of property to the north of the Globe facility that would have
resulted in increased distance between the emissions source and the
fenceline. EPA found that with the inclusion of this property within
Globe's fenceline, Ohio's modeling results, based on modeling without
receptors on fenced plant property and including the property proposed
for purchase, were adequate to demonstrate that no ambient violations
of the 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS would occur.
On June 1, 2021, EPA learned from Ohio EPA that Globe had decided
not to purchase the land as anticipated by the attainment plan. As the
attainment demonstration relied on the inclusion of this property
within Globe's fenceline, failure to obtain the land renders the
attainment demonstration invalid. Without a valid attainment
demonstration, the proposed plan does
[[Page 67886]]
not meet the requirements for meeting RFP toward attainment of the
NAAQS, RACM/RACT, emission limitations and control measures as
necessary to attain the NAAQS, and contingency measures. EPA indicated
to Ohio EPA and to Globe that final action to disapprove the attainment
demonstration would start sanctions and Federal implementation plan
(FIP) clocks for this area under CAA sections 179(a)-(b) and 110(c),
respectively. EPA notes that approval of a revised attainment
demonstration would remove the sanctions and FIP clocks, and such
measures would be terminated by an EPA rulemaking approving a revised
attainment demonstration.
II. What is EPA's response to comments received on the previous
proposed rulemaking?
The proposed action described above provided a public comment
period that closed on October 29, 2020. EPA received no relevant
comments on the proposed action.
III. What action is EPA taking?
Based on the rationale set forth in the September 29, 2020 proposed
rulemaking, EPA is proposing to approve the base year emissions
inventory and affirming that the new source review requirements for the
area have been met.
Because the area no longer has valid modeling showing attainment,
EPA is proposing to disapprove Ohio's attainment demonstration for the
Muskingum River SO<INF>2</INF> nonattainment area, including the DFFOs,
as well as the requirements for meeting RFP toward attainment of the
NAAQS, RACM/RACT, emission limitations and control measures as
necessary to attain the NAAQS, and contingency measures. This
disapproval will start sanctions clocks for this area under CAA section
179(a)-(b), including a requirement for 2-for-1 offsets for any major
new sources or major modifications 18 months after the effective date
of this action, and highway funding sanctions 6 months thereafter, as
well as initiate an obligation for EPA to promulgate a FIP within 24
months, under CAA section 110(c), unless in the meantime EPA has
approved a plan that satisfies the requirements that EPA is finding
unsatisfied.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable
Federal regulations. 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 CAA. This action
disapproves state law as meeting Federal requirements and does not
impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For
that reason, this action:
<bullet> 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);
<bullet> Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
<bullet> 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.);
<bullet> 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);
<bullet> Does not have federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
<bullet> Is not an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
<bullet> 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 CAA; and
<bullet> Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
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).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides.
Dated: November 17, 2021.
Cheryl Newton,
Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2021-25975 Filed 11-29-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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