Notice2023-16114
Air Pollution Control; Proposed Administrative Action on Clean Air Act Grant to the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources
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
July 31, 2023
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The EPA is proposing to revoke the Fiscal Year 2019 Clean Air Act (CAA) section 105 grant awarded to the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (PRDNER) because it has failed to satisfy the statutory maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement for that year. The EPA is providing prior notice of its intent to revoke PRDNER's Fiscal Year 2019 Clean Air Act section 105 grant. When the proposed action is final, PRDNER will be eligible to receive future CAA section 105 grants to support its air pollution control program.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 145 (Monday, July 31, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 145 (Monday, July 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49461-49462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16114]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R02-OAR-2023-0370; FRL-11172-01-R2]
Air Pollution Control; Proposed Administrative Action on Clean
Air Act Grant to the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and
Environmental Resources
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed administrative action to revoke a grant; request for
comments; and notice of opportunity for public hearing.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing to revoke the Fiscal Year 2019 Clean Air
Act (CAA) section 105 grant awarded to the Puerto Rico Department of
Natural and Environmental Resources (PRDNER) because it has failed to
satisfy the statutory maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement for that
year. The EPA is providing prior notice of its intent to revoke
PRDNER's Fiscal Year 2019 Clean Air Act section 105 grant. When the
proposed action is final, PRDNER will be eligible to receive future CAA
section 105 grants to support its air pollution control program.
DATES: Comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be received
by EPA at the address stated below by August 30, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R02-
OAR-2023-0370 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
Proprietary Business Information (PBI) or 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
[[Page 49462]]
<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: Carmen R. Guerrero P[eacute]rez,
Director, Caribbean Environmental Protection Division, United States
Environmental Protection Agency--Region 2, City View Plaza II--Suite
700, #48 Rd. 165 km 1.2, Guaynabo, PR 00968-8069. Telephone (787) 977-
5802, Email Address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#deb9abbbacacbbacb1f0bdbfacb3bbb09ebbaebff0b9b1a8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0b6c7e6e79796e796425686a79666e654b6e7b6a256c647d">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 105 of the Clean Air Act (CAA)
provides grant funding for the continuing air programs of eligible
State, local, and Tribal agencies. In accordance with 40 CFR 35.145(a),
the Regional Administrator may provide air pollution control agencies
up to three-fifths of the approved costs of implementing programs for
the prevention and control of air pollution. CAA section 105 grants
require two types of cost share requirements, a match requirement and
an MOE requirement. An eligible agency must meet a minimum 40% match.
In addition, to remain eligible for CAA section 105 grants, an eligible
agency must meet an MOE requirement under section 105(c)(1) of the CAA,
42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1).
Program activities relevant to the match consist of both recurring
and non-recurring (unique, one-time only) expenses. The MOE provision
requires that a state or local agency spend at least the same dollar
level of funds as it did in the previous grant year, but only for the
costs of recurring activities. Specifically, section 105(c)(1) of the
CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), provides that, ``No agency shall receive any
grant under this section during any fiscal year when its expenditures
of non-Federal funds for recurrent expenditures for air pollution
control programs [maintenance of effort or MOE level] will be less than
its expenditures were for such programs during the preceding fiscal
year.'' The EPA's implementing regulations at 40 CFR 35.146(a)
reiterate the CAA section 105(c)(1) MOE requirement.
Although the PRDNER has successfully completed a portion of its
Fiscal Year 2019 air pollution control program, PRDNER has faced
challenges that have impacted its ability to meet the statutory MOE
requirement for its Fiscal Year 2019 CAA section 105 grant. By letter
to the EPA dated May 15, 2023, PRDNER explained that compliance with
the MOE has been a challenge due to natural events that affected Puerto
Rico such as hurricanes and earthquakes and the interruptions to the
operations of the Government of Puerto Rico due to the COVID-19
pandemic. The restrictions imposed by the Department of Health to
prevent or reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure affected PRDNER's
performance of grant workplan tasks. These factors combined with fiscal
constraints and the lack of sufficient human resources to complete the
grant workplan tasks created an MOE shortfall. Since PRDNER did not
satisfy the statutory requirement for the maintenance of effort for
Fiscal Year 2019, EPA intends to revoke PRDNER's Fiscal Year 2019 CAA
section 105 grant. Pursuant to section 105(e) of the CAA, the EPA is
providing prior notice of its intent to revoke PRDNER's Fiscal Year
2019 CAA section 105 grant. The proposed administrative action does not
otherwise impact the air pollution control program already carried out
by PRDNER during Fiscal Year 2019, which ended on September 30, 2019.
This notice constitutes a request for public comment and an
opportunity for public hearing as required by CAA section 105(e) and
EPA's implementing regulations at 40 CFR 35.148(b). All written
comments received by August 30, 2023 on this proposal will be
considered. EPA will conduct a public hearing on this proposal if EPA
finds, based on written requests for a public hearing, that the issues
raised are substantial or a significant degree of public interest in
this proposal has been expressed; written requests for a hearing must
be received by EPA at the address above by August 30, 2023. If no
written request for a hearing is received or if EPA determines that the
issues raised are insubstantial or no significant degree of public
interest in this proposed action has been expressed, EPA will proceed
to the final action on this grant.
Lisa Garcia,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 2023-16114 Filed 7-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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