Rule2022-00385
Limited Approval and Limited Disapproval of California Air Quality Implementation Plan Revisions; Amador Air District; Stationary Source Permits
Primary source
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Published
January 12, 2022
Effective
February 11, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval of a revision to the Amador Air District's (AAD or "District") portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision governs the District's issuance of permits for stationary sources, and focuses on the preconstruction review and permitting of major sources and major modifications under part D of title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA or "Act"). Under the authority of the CAA, this action simultaneously approves a local rule that regulates these emission sources and directs the District to correct rule deficiencies.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 8 (Wednesday, January 12, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 12, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1683-1685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00385]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0438; FRL-8773-02-R9]
Limited Approval and Limited Disapproval of California Air
Quality Implementation Plan Revisions; Amador Air District; Stationary
Source Permits
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a
limited approval and limited disapproval of a revision to the Amador
Air District's (AAD or ``District'') portion of the California State
Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision governs the District's
issuance of permits for stationary sources, and focuses on the
preconstruction review and permitting of major sources and major
modifications under part D of title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA or
``Act''). Under the authority of the CAA, this action simultaneously
approves a local rule that regulates these emission sources and directs
the District to correct rule deficiencies.
DATES: This rule is effective February 11, 2022.
ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket No. EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0438. All documents in the docket are
listed on the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> 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 <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, 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
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: Amber Batchelder, EPA Region IX, 75
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105; by phone: (415) 947-4174, or by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#12707366717a777e7677603c737f707760527762733c757d64"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4d2f2c392e25282129283f632c202f283f0d283d2c632a223b">[email protected]</span></a>.
[[Page 1684]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we'' and ``our''
refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Proposed Action
II. Public Comments and EPA Responses
III. EPA Action
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Proposed Action
On August 23, 2021 (86 FR 47046), the EPA proposed a limited
approval and limited disapproval of the following rule that was
submitted for incorporation into the California SIP.
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\1\ The submittal was transmitted to the EPA via a letter from
the California Air Resources Board dated October 31, 2019.
Table 1--Submitted Rule
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Local agency Rule No. Rule title Adopted Submitted \1\
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AAD................................... 400 NSR Requirements for New 08/20/19 11/05/19
and Modified Major
Sources in
Nonattainment Areas.
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We proposed a limited approval because we determined that this rule
improves the SIP and is largely consistent with the relevant CAA
requirements. We simultaneously proposed a limited disapproval because
some rule provisions do not fully satisfy the relevant requirements for
preconstruction review and permitting under section 110 and part D of
the Act. First, Section 4.5 of Rule 400 allows the District to approve
interprecursor trading (IPT) of ozone precursors to satisfy emission
offset requirements, provided certain conditions are satisfied.
However, on January 29, 2021, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Sierra Club v. EPA, 984 F.3d 1055, issued a decision holding that the
CAA does not allow IPT for ozone precursors and vacating the provisions
in the EPA's Nonattainment New Source Review (NSR) regulations allowing
IPT for ozone precursors. In light of the Court's decision, the
provision in Section 4.5 allowing for IPT for ozone precursors is no
longer permissible. Second, Section 9.1(b)(iii) of Rule 400 fails to
reference Section 7.4 (Relaxation in Enforceable Limitations). This
apparent typographical error creates a deficiency in Section
9.1(b)(iii) of the rule, because it suggests that the source and the
District need not adhere to the general requirements for establishing
Plant-wide Applicability Limitations (PALs) in Section 9.4, which are
required by 40 CFR 51.165(f)(4). Third, due to an apparent
typographical error, Section 9.5 of the rule does not require the
District to implement the public participation provisions of Section 8
for purposes of processing a request for a PAL to be established,
renewed or increased in accordance with 40 CFR 51.165(f)(5). Therefore,
the provisions of Section 9.5 are deficient. This error also causes a
related deficiency in Sections 9.4(a)(ii), 9.8(b)(iii), 9.10(a), and
9.11(c), because these rule sections cross-reference Section 9.5, which
refers to the wrong section of the rule for public participation
requirements. Fourth, Section 9.10(d)(i) references Section 9.5 when it
should reference Section 9.6. This error appears typographical in
nature. However, this error creates a deficiency because it does not
provide the correct reference for how to perform the emissions level
calculation in accordance with 40 CFR 51.165(f)(10)(iv)(A). Fifth,
Section 9.12(a)(iii) includes a reference to Section 7.12 of the rule
(which does not exist), instead of Section 9.12. This apparent
typographical error creates a deficiency in Section 9.12(a)(iii),
because it does not include the requirement to comply with the
provisions of Section 9.12 in accordance with 40 CFR
51.165(f)(12)(i)(C).\2\
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\2\ We note that the EPA recently adopted a rule known as the
NSR Error Corrections Rule, effective August 18, 2021, which
corrected minor, inadvertent, and non-substantive errors in 40 CFR
parts 51 and 52, which govern NSR permitting programs, and updated
the regulatory text to reflect statutory changes and certain court
decisions vacating elements of the regulatory text, but did not
change the requirements within these programs. See 86 FR 37918 (July
19, 2021). States have discretion as to when to make the changes in
this rule and may choose to combine them with other SIP submittals.
See 86 FR 37918, 37923-24. Accordingly, this recent rulemaking does
not affect our final action.
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II. Public Comments and EPA Responses
The EPA's proposed action provided a 30-day public comment period.
During this period, no comments were submitted on our proposal.
III. EPA Action
No comments were submitted on our proposal. Therefore, as
authorized in sections 110(k)(3) and 301(a) of the Act, the EPA is
finalizing a limited approval of the submitted rule. This action
incorporates the submitted rule into the California SIP, including
those provisions identified as deficient. As authorized under section
110(k)(3) and 301(a), the EPA is simultaneously finalizing a limited
disapproval of the rule.
As a result, the EPA must promulgate a federal implementation plan
(FIP) under section 110(c) unless we approve subsequent SIP revisions
that correct the rule deficiencies within 24 months.
In addition, the offset sanction in CAA section 179(b)(2) will be
imposed 18 months after the effective date of this action, and the
highway funding sanction in CAA section 179(b)(1) six months after the
offset sanction is imposed. Sanctions will not be imposed if the EPA
determines that a subsequent SIP submission corrects the identified
deficiencies before the applicable deadline.
IV. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR
51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the rule
listed in Table 1 of this preamble. The EPA has made, and will continue
to make, these documents available through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>
and at the EPA Region IX Office (please contact the person identified
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this preamble for
more information).
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Additional information about these statutes and Executive orders
can be found at <a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/laws-and-executive-orders">https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/laws-and-executive-orders</a>.
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
This action is not a significant regulatory action and was
therefore not submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for review.
[[Page 1685]]
B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
This action does not impose an information collection burden under
the PRA because this action does not impose additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
I certify that this action will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA. This
action will not impose any requirements on small entities beyond those
imposed by state law.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538, and does not significantly or uniquely affect
small governments. This action does not impose additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law. Accordingly, no additional costs to
state, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, will
result from this action.
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between
the National Government and the states, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities among the various levels of government.
F. Executive Order 13175: Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments
This action does not have tribal implications, as specified in
Executive Order 13175, because 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, and will not
impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal
law. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this action.
G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks
The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those
regulatory actions that concern environmental health or safety risks
that the EPA has reason to believe may disproportionately affect
children, per the definition of ``covered regulatory action'' in
section 2-202 of the Executive Order. This action is not subject to
Executive Order 13045 because it does not impose additional
requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211, because it is
not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)
Section 12(d) of the NTTAA directs the EPA to use voluntary
consensus standards in its regulatory activities unless to do so would
be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. The EPA
believes that this action is not subject to the requirements of section
12(d) of the NTTAA because application of those requirements would be
inconsistent with the CAA.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
The EPA lacks the discretionary authority to address environmental
justice in this rulemaking.
K. Congressional Review Act (CRA)
This action is subject to the CRA, 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).
L. Petitions for Judicial Review
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 March 14, 2022. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this rule 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, Administrative practice and procedure,
Air pollution control, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: January 6, 2022.
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 paragraph (c)(568) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.220 Identification of plan-in part.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(568) The following new regulation was submitted on November 5,
2019 by the Governor's designee as an attachment to a letter dated
October 31, 2019.
(i) Incorporation by reference. (A) Amador Air District.
(1) Rule 400, ``NSR Requirements for New and Modified Major Sources
in Nonattainment Areas,'' adopted on August 20, 2019.
(B) [Reserved]
(ii) [Reserved]
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2022-00385 Filed 1-11-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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