Rule2022-11972
Determination To Defer Sanctions; California; San Diego County Air Pollution Control District
Primary source
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Published
June 3, 2022
Effective
June 3, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim final determination that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has submitted revised rules on behalf of the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (SDCAPCD or District) that correct deficiencies in its Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) state implementation plan (SIP) provisions concerning ozone nonattainment requirements for controlling volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the transfer of organic compounds into mobile transport tanks and concerning a negative declaration for non- Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) major VOC sources. This determination is based on a proposed approval, published elsewhere in this Federal Register, of SDCAPCD's Rule 61.2 regulating the above source category and of the negative declaration for non-CTG major VOC sources. The effect of this interim final determination is that the imposition of sanctions that were triggered by a previous disapproval by the EPA in 2020 is now deferred. If the EPA finalizes its approval of the SDCAPCD's submissions, relief from these sanctions will become permanent.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 107 (Friday, June 3, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33650-33652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11972]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2022-0439; FRL-9870-03-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 California Air Resources Board (CARB) has
submitted revised rules on behalf of the San Diego County Air Pollution
Control District (SDCAPCD or District) that correct deficiencies in its
Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) state implementation plan (SIP) provisions
concerning ozone nonattainment requirements for controlling volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) from the transfer of organic compounds into
mobile transport tanks and concerning a negative declaration for non-
Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) major VOC sources. This
determination is based on a proposed approval, published elsewhere in
this Federal Register, of SDCAPCD's Rule 61.2 regulating the above
source category and of the negative declaration for non-CTG major VOC
sources. The effect of this interim final determination is that the
imposition of sanctions that were triggered by a previous disapproval
by the EPA in 2020 is now deferred. If the EPA finalizes its approval
of the SDCAPCD's submissions, relief from these sanctions will become
permanent.
DATES: This rule is effective on June 3, 2022. However, comments will
be accepted on or before July 5, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2022-0439 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 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>. 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: Donnique Sherman, EPA Region IX, 75
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4129 or by
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ccbfa4a9bea1ada2e2a8a3a2a2a5bdb9a98ca9bcade2aba3ba"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8ffce7eafde2eee1a1ebe0e1e1e6fefaeacfeaffeea1e8e0f9">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,''
and ``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
On December 3, 2020 (85 FR 77996), the EPA issued a final partial
approval/partial disapproval for the SDCAPCD's 2008 Eight-Hour Ozone
Reasonably Available Control Technology Demonstration for San Diego
County (2008 RACT demonstration) that had been submitted by CARB to the
EPA for approval. The 2008 RACT demonstration action addressed the
SDCAPCD's 2008 ozone standard RACT SIP requirements under the Act. In
our 2008 RACT demonstration action, we determined that while the
SDCAPCD's SIP revision submittal strengthened the SIP, the submittal
did not fully meet the requirements for RACT SIPs under the CAA. Our
2008 RACT demonstration action included a final partial disapproval
action 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 partial disapproval action under
title I, part D started a sanctions clock for imposition of offset
sanctions 18 months after the action's effective date of January 4,
2021, and highway sanctions 6 months later.
On December 29, 2020, CARB submitted to the EPA the SDCAPCD's 2020
RACT submittal, which addressed requirements for the 2015 ozone
[[Page 33651]]
standard, and also included a negative declaration adopted for non-CTG
major VOC sources for the 2008 ozone standard. On April 20, 2021, CARB
submitted to the EPA an amended Rule 61.2 that included a decrease in
the emission limit for bulk terminals to 0.08 pound per 1000 gallons.
This negative declaration and revised rule were intended to address the
partial disapproval issues under title I, part D that we identified in
our 2008 RACT demonstration action. In the Proposed Rules section of
this Federal Register, we have proposed approval of the SDCAPCD's 2020
RACT submittal's negative declaration for non-CTG major VOC sources and
Rule 61.2. Based on this proposed approval action, we are also taking
this interim final determination, effective on publication, to defer
imposition of the offset sanctions and highway sanctions that were
triggered by our 2008 RACT demonstration action, because we believe
that the 2020 RACT submittal's negative declaration for non-CTG major
VOC sources and Rule 61.2 correct the deficiencies that triggered such
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 described in this interim final determination and the
proposed full approval of the SDCAPCD Rule 61.2 and the negative
declaration for non-CTG VOC major sources with respect to the title I,
part D deficiencies identified in our 2008 RACT demonstration action,
we would take final action to lift this deferral of sanctions under 40
CFR 52.31. If no comments are submitted that change our assessment,
then the sanction clocks triggered by our 2008 RACT demonstration
action for mobile transport tanks and non-CTG major VOC sources would
be permanently terminated on the effective date of our final approval
of the SDCAPCD Rule 61.2 and negative declaration for non-CTG VOC major
sources.
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
We are making an interim final determination to defer CAA section
179 sanctions associated with our partial disapproval on the 2008 RACT
demonstration with respect to the requirements of part D of title I of
the CAA. This determination is based on our concurrent proposal to
approve SDCAPCD's 2020 RACT Negative Declaration for Non-CTG Major VOC
Sources submittal and Rule 61.2, which resolve the deficiencies that
triggered sanctions under section 179 of the CAA.
Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that the 2020 RACT
submittal and Rule 61.2 address the deficiencies under part D of title
I of the CAA identified in our 2008 RACT demonstration 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 State's submittals and,
through its proposed action, is indicating that it is more likely than
not that the State has submitted a revision to the SIP that corrects
deficiencies under part D of the Act 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 the
EPA completes its rulemaking process on the approvability of the
State'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).
<bullet> 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
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).
<bullet> Is subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), 5 U.S.C.
801 et seq., 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 August 2, 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
[[Page 33652]]
enforce its requirements (see CAA section 307(b)(2)).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Oxides of
nitrogen, Ozone, Volatile Organic Compounds, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: May 31, 2022.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2022-11972 Filed 6-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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