Proposed Rule2022-02675
Air Plan Approval; Connecticut; Negative Declaration for the Oil and Gas Industry
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 9, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Connecticut. The revision provides the State's determination, via a negative declaration, that there are no facilities within its borders subject to EPA's 2016 Control Technique Guideline (CTG) for the oil and gas industry. The intended effect of this action is to approve this item into the Connecticut SIP. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 27 (Wednesday, February 9, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 27 (Wednesday, February 9, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7410-7412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02675]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2022-0089; FRL-9546-01-R1]
Air Plan Approval; Connecticut; Negative Declaration for the Oil
and Gas Industry
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the
State of Connecticut. The revision provides the State's determination,
via a negative declaration, that there are no facilities within its
borders subject to EPA's 2016 Control Technique Guideline (CTG) for the
oil and gas industry. The intended effect of this action is to approve
this item into the Connecticut SIP. This action is being taken under
the Clean Air Act.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 11, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OAR-2022-0089 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, or via email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e69487858d8793958d8795c883948f85a6839687c8818990"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="88fae9ebe3e9fdfbe3e9fba6edfae1ebc8edf8e9a6efe7fe">[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, 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 <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>. Publicly
available docket materials are available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>
or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1 Regional
Office, Air and Radiation Division, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100,
Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the
contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to
schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of
business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding
legal holidays and facility closures due to COVID-19.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Rackauskas, Air Quality Branch,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, (Mail code 05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel. (617)
918-1628, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#166477757d7763657d77653873647f755673667738717960"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d5a7b4b6beb4a0a6beb4a6fbb0a7bcb695b0a5b4fbb2baa3">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
[[Page 7411]]
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA Analysis
III. Proposed Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
On October 27, 2016, EPA published in the Federal Register the
``Final Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas
Industry'' (81 FR 74798). The CTG provided information to state, local,
and tribal air agencies to assist them in determining reasonably
available control technology (RACT) for volatile organic compounds
(VOC) emissions from select oil and natural gas industry emission
sources. CAA section 182(b)(2)(A) requires that for ozone nonattainment
areas classified as Moderate or above, states must revise their SIPs to
include provisions to implement RACT for each category of VOC sources
covered by a CTG document. CAA section 184(b)(1)(B) extends the RACT
obligation to all areas of states within the Ozone Transport Region
(OTR). In addition to Connecticut being classified as nonattainment for
the 2008 and 2015 ozone standards in both the Connecticut portion of
the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT area and Greater
Connecticut areas, Connecticut is a member state of the OTR. States
subject to RACT requirements are required to adopt controls that are at
least as stringent as those found within the CTG either via the
adoption of regulations, or by issuance of single source orders or
permits that outline what the source is required to do to meet RACT. If
no source for a particular CTG exists within a state, the state must
submit as a SIP revision a negative declaration documenting this fact.
II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA Analysis
On December 29, 2020, the Connecticut Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection (DEEP) submitted a negative declaration for
the 2016 Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG.\1\ The term ``negative
declaration'' means that the state has explored whether any facilities
subject to the applicability requirements of the CTG exist within the
state and concluded that there are no such sources within its borders.
As part of this determination, DEEP reviewed the inventory of sources
for facilities covered by the CTGs, interviewed its field staff, and
searched telephone directories and internet web pages, including other
state government databases, to identify and evaluate sources that might
meet the applicability requirements. Connecticut DEEP ultimately
determined there are no sources covered by this CTG in the State. This
is consistent with EPA's understanding of where sources subject to the
Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG are located.
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\1\ This submittal was part of Connecticut's larger RACT and
Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) Certification submittal,
which will be acted upon separately and are not part of this
rulemaking.
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EPA has historically allowed states to submit a negative
declaration for a particular CTG category if the state finds that no
sources exist in the state which would be subject to that CTG. EPA has
addressed the idea of negative declarations numerous times and for
various NAAQS including in the General Preamble to the 1990
Amendments,\2\ the 2006 RACT Q&A Memo,\3\ and the 2008 Ozone
Implementation Rule.\4\ In each of these documents, EPA asserted that
if no sources exist in the nonattainment area for a particular CTG
category, the state would be allowed to submit a negative declaration
SIP revision. This principle also applies to states in the OTR. EPA is
not aware of any information indicating that a facility subject to the
2016 Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG exists within the State of
Connecticut and so we are proposing to approve Connecticut's negative
declaration into the SIP.
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\2\ ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,''
(57 FR 13498at 13512 (April 16, 1992)).
\3\ RACT Q's and A's--Reasonably Available Control Technology
RACT: Questions and Answers Memorandum from William T. Harnett, May
18, 2006.
\4\ ``Implementation of the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for Ozone: State Implementation Plan Requirements,'' (80
FR 12263at 12278 (March 6, 2015)).
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III. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve Connecticut's negative declaration for
the 2016 Oil and Natural Gas Industry CTG. EPA is soliciting public
comments on the issues discussed in this notice or on other relevant
matters. These comments will be considered before taking final action.
Interested parties may participate in the Federal rulemaking procedure
by submitting written comments to this proposed rule by following the
instructions listed in the ADDRESSES section of this Federal Register.
IV. 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, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act.
Accordingly, this proposed action merely approves state law as meeting
Federal requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond
those imposed by state law. For that reason, this proposed 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 Clean Air Act; 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).
[[Page 7412]]
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: February 3, 2022.
Deborah Szaro,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2022-02675 Filed 2-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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