Proposed Rule2023-15490
Air Plan Approval; California; San Diego County Air Pollution Control District; Oxides of Nitrogen
Primary source
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Published
July 26, 2023
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a revision to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (SDCAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision concerns emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NO<INF>X</INF>) from small boilers, process heaters, steam generators, and large water heaters. We are proposing to approve a local rule to regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the "Act"). The California Air Resources Board (CARB) submitted the rule, on behalf of SDCAPCD, to the EPA as part of the requirement to implement reasonably available control technology (RACT) for major sources of NO<INF>X</INF> for the San Diego County ozone nonattainment area. We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 142 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48150-48152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15490]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2023-0157]; FRL-10778-01-R9
Air Plan Approval; California; San Diego County Air Pollution
Control District; Oxides of Nitrogen
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a revision to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control
District (SDCAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan
(SIP). This revision concerns emissions of oxides of nitrogen
(NO<INF>X</INF>) from small boilers, process heaters, steam generators,
and large water heaters. We are proposing to approve a local rule to
regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the
``Act''). The California Air Resources Board (CARB) submitted the rule,
on behalf of SDCAPCD, to the EPA as part of the requirement to
implement reasonably available control technology (RACT) for major
sources of NO<INF>X</INF> for the San Diego County ozone nonattainment
area. We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a
final action.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 25, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2023-0157 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: Alina Batool, EPA Region IX, 75
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 972-3345 or by
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#325053465d5d5e1c535e5b5c53725742531c555d44"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e58784918a8a89cb84898c8b84a5809584cb828a93">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,''
and ``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. The State's Submittal
A. What rule did the State submit?
B. Are there other versions of this rule?
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
C. The EPA's Recommendations to Further Improve the Rule
D. Public Comment and Proposed Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What rule did the State submit?
Table 1 lists the rule addressed by this proposal with the date
that it was adopted by the SDCAPCD and submitted by the California Air
Resources Board (CARB).
[[Page 48151]]
Table 1--Submitted Rule
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Local agency Rule # Rule title Adopted Submitted
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SDCAPCD............................ 69.2.1 Small Boilers, Process Heaters, \a\ 07/08/ 09/21/20
Steam Generators, and Large Water 20
Heaters.
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\a\ SDCAPCD locally adopted Rule 69.2.1 on March 25, 2009, and locally amended the rule on July 8, 2020. CARB
submitted the version of the rule that SDCAPCD amended on July 8, 2020, for inclusion in the California SIP.
Pursuant to CAA section 110(k)(1)(B) and 40 CFR part 51, appendix
V, the EPA determined that the submittal for SDCAPCD Rule 69.2.1 met
the completeness criteria on March 21, 2021.
B. Are there other versions of this rule?
There are no previous versions of Rule 69.2.1 in the SIP. The
SDCAPCD locally adopted Rule 69.2.1 on March 25, 2009, and an amended
version of the rule (amendment date of July 8, 2020) was submitted by
CARB to the EPA on September 21, 2020, as an attachment to a letter
dated September 18, 2020.
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
Emissions of NO<INF>X</INF> contribute to the production of ground-
level ozone and smog, which harms human health and the environment.
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit plans that provide
for implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of the National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Rule 69.2.1 is a new rule that
controls NO<INF>X</INF> emissions from new units that are manufactured,
sold, offered for sale or distribution, or installed for use within San
Diego County with a heat input rating from 75,000 British thermal units
(Btu) per hour to 2 million Btu per hour. Units of this size are
commonly used at commercial facilities such as restaurants,
laundromats, hotels, apartment buildings, and dry cleaners. The
emissions from the use of these units can result in the formation of
ozone. When inhaled, ozone and NO<INF>X</INF> adversely affect people's
health. Symptoms can include chest pain, shortness of breath, worsening
of bronchitis and asthma, and nausea.
Rule 69.2.1 requires new units that operate on natural gas at a
heat input rating from 75,000 to 400,000 Btu per hour or from 400,000
to 2,000,000 Btu per hour to meet a NO<INF>X</INF> emission limit of 20
parts per million by volume (ppmv). New pool heaters that operate on
natural gas at a heat input rating from 75,000 to 400,000 Btu per hour
have a NO<INF>X</INF> emission limit of 55 ppmv. New units that operate
on non-public utility commission (PUC) gas or liquid fuel at a heat
input rating from 75,000 to 400,000 Btu per hour have a NO<INF>X</INF>
emission limit of 77 ppmv, and units with a heat input rating greater
than 400,000 to 2,000,000 Btu per hour have a NO<INF>X</INF> emission
limit of 30 ppmv. All emission limits are calculated at three percent
oxygen (O<INF>2</INF>). Test methods are provided in Rule 69.2.1 for
new unit compliance testing and certification for sale in San Diego
County. Test methods are also provided for new natural gas-fired units
to ensure compliance with the NO<INF>X</INF> emissions limits. The
EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more information about this
rule.
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
Rules in the SIP must be enforceable (CAA section 110(a)(2)) and
must not interfere with applicable requirements concerning attainment
and reasonable further progress or other CAA requirements (CAA section
110(l)).
Generally, SIP rules must require RACT for sources subject to the
Control Techniques Guidelines (CTGs) as well as each major source of
VOCs and NO<INF>X</INF> in ozone nonattainment areas classified as
moderate or above (CAA section 182(b)(2)). The SDCAPCD regulates an
ozone nonattainment area classified as Severe for both the 2008 and
2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS (40 CFR 81.305; 86 FR 29522 (June 2, 2021)).
Rule 69.2.1 regulates equipment operating at major NO<INF>X</INF>
sources in the San Diego County ozone nonattainment area.\1\ Because
the State submitted the rule to fulfill the obligation to implement
RACT in a nonattainment area for the 2008 and 2015 ozone NAAQS, the
EPA's evaluation focused on whether the rule implements RACT.
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\1\ SDCAPCD, ``2020 Reasonably Available Control Technology
Demonstration for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for
Ozone in San Diego County,'' (``2020 RACT SIP''). Adopted by the
SDCAPCD on October 14, 2020.
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Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate
enforceability, revision or relaxation, and rule stringency
requirements for the applicable criteria pollutants include the
following:
1. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and
Deviations,'' EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, May 25,
1988 (``the Bluebook,'' revised January 11, 1990).
2. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region IX, August 21, 2001 (``the Little
Bluebook'').
3. ``NO<INF>X</INF> Emissions from Industrial/Commercial/
Institutional (ICI) Boilers,'' EPA Region V, March 1994.
4. ``Determination of Reasonably Available Control Technology and
Best Available Retrofit Control Technology for Industrial,
Institutional, and Commercial Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process
Heaters,'' CARB, July 18, 1991.
B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
Rule 69.2.1 establishes stringent emission limits for
NO<INF>X</INF> and includes testing, certification, labeling, and
recordkeeping requirements to assist in ensuring compliance with
emissions standards. Rule 69.2.1 is a new rule that regulates units
that are not currently regulated in the SDCAPCD portion of the
California SIP, thereby strengthening it. The rule is consistent with
CAA requirements and relevant guidance regarding enforceability, RACT,
and SIP revisions. Additionally, all test records for oxides of
nitrogen and carbon monoxide emissions and certification records must
be retained for as long as the new unit model is sold, or for three
calendar years after the date of manufacture. The rule requirements are
discussed in greater detail in the TSD, which is available in the
docket for this action.
Rule 69.2.1 is at least as stringent as the EPA's 1994 Alternative
Control Technology (ACT) document and CARB's RACT/BARCT guidance. The
EPA also evaluated the stringency of the rule's emission limits
compared to other California SIP-approved rules that regulate
NO<INF>X</INF> emissions from small boilers, process heaters, steam
generators, and large water heaters, including Ventura County Air
Pollution Control District Rule 74.11.1, South Coast Air Quality
Management District Rule 1146.2, and San Joaquin Valley Unified Air
Pollution Control District Rule 4308. As described in further detail in
the TSD, the EPA's analysis shows that the submitted rule is as
stringent as analogous SIP-approved California air district rules. As a
result of our evaluation, we are proposing to
[[Page 48152]]
determine that the rule limits implement RACT.
C. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rule
The TSD includes a recommendation to clarify a testing requirement
for the next time SDCAPCD modifies the rule.
D. Public Comment and Proposed Action
As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to
fully approve the submitted rule because it fulfills all relevant
requirements. We will accept comments from the public on this proposal
until August 25, 2023. If we take final action to approve the submitted
rule, our final action will incorporate this rule into the federally
enforceable SIP.
III. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by
reference the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District Rule
69.2.1, ``Small Boilers, Process Heaters, Steam Generators, and Large
Water Heaters,'' locally amended on July 8, 2020, which regulates
NO<INF>X</INF> and CO from small boilers, process heaters, steam
generators, and large water heaters, as described in Table 1 of this
document. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials
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).
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, the EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act.
Accordingly, this proposed action merely proposes to approve 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.
Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629,
Feb. 16, 1994) directs Federal agencies to identify and address
``disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects'' of their actions on minority populations and low-income
populations to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law.
EPA defines environmental justice (EJ) as ``the fair treatment and
meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color,
national origin, or income with respect to the development,
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and
policies.'' EPA further defines the term fair treatment to mean that
``no group of people should bear a disproportionate burden of
environmental harms and risks, including those resulting from the
negative environmental consequences of industrial, governmental, and
commercial operations or programs and policies.''
Under the CAA, 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, the EPA's role is to review state choices,
and approve those choices if they meet the minimum criteria of the Act.
Accordingly, this proposed action approves state law as meeting federal
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law.
The air agency did not evaluate environmental justice
considerations as part of its SIP submittal; the CAA and applicable
implementing regulations neither prohibit nor require such an
evaluation. EPA did not perform an EJ analysis and did not consider EJ
in this action. Due to the nature of the action being taken here, this
action is expected to have a neutral to positive impact on the air
quality of the affected area. Consideration of EJ is not required as
part of this action, and there is no information in the record
inconsistent with the stated goal of E.O. 12898 of achieving
environmental justice for people of color, low-income populations, and
Indigenous peoples. 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 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, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen
oxides, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: July 17, 2023.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2023-15490 Filed 7-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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