Rule2022-09742
Determination To Defer Sanctions; California; San Diego County Air Pollution Control District
Primary source
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Published
May 12, 2022
Effective
May 12, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim final determination that the State of California has submitted rules that satisfy the requirements of part D of the Clean Air Act (CAA or "Act") permitting program for areas under the jurisdiction of the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (SDAPCD or "District"). This determination is based on a proposed approval, published elsewhere in this Federal Register, of District rules addressing these requirements. The effect of this interim final determination is to defer the imposition of sanctions that were triggered by a previous EPA action that included a limited disapproval of the District's rules.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 92 (Thursday, May 12, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 92 (Thursday, May 12, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29048-29050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09742]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2022-0306; FRL-9713-02-R9]
Determination To Defer Sanctions; California; San Diego County
Air Pollution Control District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Interim final determination.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim
final determination that the State of California has submitted rules
that satisfy the requirements of part D of the Clean Air Act (CAA or
``Act'') permitting program for areas under the jurisdiction of the San
Diego County Air Pollution Control District (SDAPCD or ``District'').
This determination is based on a proposed approval, published elsewhere
in this Federal Register, of District rules addressing these
requirements. The effect of this interim final determination is to
defer the imposition of sanctions that were triggered by a previous EPA
action that included a limited disapproval of the District's rules.
DATES: This interim final determination is effective on May 12, 2022.
However, comments will be accepted until June 13, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2022-0306 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</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>. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public
docket. Do not submit electronically any information you consider
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the
disclosure of which 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>. 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: Laura Yannayon, EPA Region IX, 75
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105; by phone: (415) 972-3534, or by
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7900181717180016175715180c0b18391c0918571e160f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7a031b14141b03151454161b0f081b3a1f0a1b541d150c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, the terms ``we,''
``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. EPA Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
On September 16, 2020, the EPA issued a final action addressing
revisions to the SDAPCD portion of the California State Implementation
Plan (SIP) (``2020 NSR Action'').\1\ The 2020 NSR Action addressed the
District's permitting program for the issuance of New Source Review
(NSR) permits for stationary sources, including review and permitting
of major and minor sources under the Act. In the 2020 NSR Action, we
determined that while the District's SIP revision submittal
strengthened the California SIP, the submittal did not fully meet the
requirements for NSR permitting programs under the CAA.
[[Page 29049]]
Accordingly, the 2020 NSR Action included a limited disapproval under
title I, part D, of the Act, relating to requirements for nonattainment
areas. Pursuant to section 179 of the CAA and our regulations at 40 CFR
52.31, this limited disapproval action started a sanctions clock for
imposition of offset sanctions 18 months after the action's effective
date of October 16, 2020, and highway sanctions 6 months later.
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\1\ 85 FR 57727.
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On October 14, 2021, the District revised its NSR permitting
program rules and on February 2, 2022, the State submitted three
revised NSR permitting rules to the EPA for approval into the San Diego
County portion of the California SIP (``2022 NSR Submittal''),
including revisions to one rule intended to address the limited
disapproval issue identified in the 2020 NSR Action. In the Proposed
Rules section of this Federal Register, we have proposed approval of
the District's 2022 NSR submittal. Based on this proposed approval
action, we are also taking this final rulemaking action, effective upon
publication, to defer imposition of the offset sanctions and highway
sanctions that were triggered by the 2020 NSR Action's limited
disapproval of the District's NSR permitting program, because we
believe that the 2022 NSR Submittal corrects the deficiency that
triggered these sanctions.
The EPA is providing the public with an opportunity to comment on
this deferral of sanctions. If comments are submitted that change our
assessment, as described in this final determination and in our
proposed full approval of the District's 2022 NSR Submittal, with
respect to the deficiency identified as the basis for our limited
disapproval in the 2020 NSR Action, we will take final action proposing
to lift this deferral of sanctions under 40 CFR 52.31. If no comments
are submitted that change our assessment, then all sanctions and any
sanction clocks triggered by our 2020 NSR Action will be permanently
terminated on the effective date of our final approval of the 2022 NSR
Submittal.
II. EPA Action
We are making an interim final determination to defer CAA section
179 sanctions associated with our September 16, 2020 limited
disapproval of the District's NSR permitting program. This
determination is based on our concurrent proposal to fully approve the
District's 2022 NSR submittal, which resolves the deficiency that
triggered sanctions under section 179 of the CAA.
Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that the District's
2022 NSR Submittal addresses the deficiency identified in the 2020 NSR
Action and is fully approvable, relief from sanctions should be
provided as quickly as possible. Therefore, the EPA is invoking the
good cause exception under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in
not providing an opportunity for comment before this action takes
effect (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)). However, by this action, the EPA is
providing the public with a chance to comment on the EPA's
determination after the effective date, and the EPA will consider any
comments received in determining whether to reverse such action.
The EPA believes that notice-and-comment rulemaking before the
effective date of this action is impracticable and contrary to the
public interest. The EPA has reviewed the District's submittal and,
through its proposed action, is indicating that it is more likely than
not that it corrects the deficiencies that were the basis for the
action that started the sanctions clocks. Therefore, it is not in the
public interest to impose sanctions. The EPA believes that it is
necessary to use the interim final rulemaking process to defer
sanctions while we complete our rulemaking process on the approvability
of the District's submittal. Moreover, with respect to the effective
date of this action, the EPA is invoking the good cause exception to
the 30-day notice requirement of the APA because the purpose of this
notice is to relieve a restriction (5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1)).
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
This action defers sanctions and imposes no additional
requirements. 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 Clean Air Act; and
<bullet> Does not provide the EPA with the discretionary authority
to address disproportionate human health or environmental effects with
practical, appropriate, 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 the EPA or an Indian tribe
has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of
Indian country, the rules do 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).
This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), and
the EPA will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress and to
the Comptroller General of the United States. The CRA allows the
issuing agency to make a rule effective sooner than otherwise provided
by the CRA if the agency makes a good cause finding that notice and
comment rulemaking procedures are impracticable, unnecessary or
contrary to the public interest (5 U.S.C. 808(2)). The EPA has made a
good cause finding for this rule as discussed in section II of this
preamble, including the basis for that finding.
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 July 11, 2022. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the EPA Administrator of this final rule does not
affect the finality of this rule for the purpose of judicial review nor
does it extend the time within which 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 CAA section 307(b)(2)).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,
[[Page 29050]]
Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, Incorporation by reference,
Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur dioxide,
Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: April 29, 2022.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2022-09742 Filed 5-11-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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