Rule2024-04921
Determination To Defer Sanctions; California; South Coast Air Quality Management District
Primary source
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Published
March 8, 2024
Effective
March 8, 2024
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 a revised rule on behalf of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) that corrects deficiencies in its Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) state implementation plan (SIP) provisions concerning ozone nonattainment requirements for controlling volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NO<INF>X</INF>) from refinery flares. This determination is based on a proposed approval, published elsewhere in this Federal Register, of SCAQMD Rule 1118 regulating that source category. The effect of this interim final determination is that the imposition of sanctions that were triggered by a previous disapproval by the EPA in 2022 is now deferred. If the EPA finalizes its approval of SCAQMD's submission, relief from these sanctions will become permanent.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 47 (Friday, March 8, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 47 (Friday, March 8, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16698-16700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04921]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2023-0568; FRL-11558-03-R9]
Determination To Defer Sanctions; California; South Coast Air
Quality Management 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 a revised rule on behalf of the South Coast Air Quality
Management District (SCAQMD) that corrects deficiencies in its Clean
Air Act (CAA or Act) state implementation plan (SIP) provisions
concerning ozone nonattainment requirements for controlling volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NO<INF>X</INF>) from
refinery flares. This determination is based on a proposed approval,
published elsewhere in this Federal Register, of SCAQMD Rule 1118
regulating that source category. The effect of this interim final
determination is that the imposition of sanctions that were triggered
by a previous disapproval by the EPA in 2022 is now deferred. If the
EPA finalizes its approval of SCAQMD's submission, relief from these
sanctions will become permanent.
DATES: This rule is effective on March 8, 2024. However, comments will
be accepted on or before April 8, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2023-0568 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#b0c3d8d5c2ddd1de9ed4dfdeded9c1c5d5f0d5c0d19ed7dfc6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0b78636e79666a65256f646565627a7e6e4b6e7b6a256c647d">[email protected]</span></a>.
[[Page 16699]]
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 September 22, 2022, (87 FR 57838), the EPA issued a final
limited approval and limited disapproval for the SCAQMD Rule 1118 that
had been submitted by CARB to the EPA on February 16, 2018. In our 2022
action, we determined that while the SCAQMD SIP revision submittal
strengthened the SIP, Section (j) of Rule 1118 allowed the Executive
Officer the authority to approve another test method than those
identified in the rule and without further specificity regarding how
this authority will be exercised, it could functionally allow for a
revision of the SIP without complying with the process for SIP
revisions required by the CAA. As a result, this undermines the
enforceability of the submission, constitutes a SIP deficiency, and
conflicts with CAA Section 110. Pursuant to section 179 of the CAA and
our regulations at 40 CFR 52.31, this limited 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 October 22,
2023, and highway sanctions 6 months later.
The District submitted an amended Rule 1118 (amended January 6,
2023), which was transmitted by CARB to the EPA on May 11, 2023, that
added California Air Resources Board and the EPA as approvers of other
test methods. In the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register,
we have proposed approval of SCAQMD's 2023 submittal of Rule 1118.
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
2022 limited disapproval of Rule 1118, because we believe that the new
version corrects the deficiency 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 Rule 1118, 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 all sanctions and any
sanction clocks triggered by our 2022 action would be permanently
terminated on the effective date of our final approval of Rule 1118.
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
We are making an interim final determination to defer CAA section
179 sanctions associated with our limited disapproval on the 2018
submittal of Rule 1118. This determination is based on our concurrent
proposal to approve the 2023 submittal of Rule 1118, which resolves the
deficiency that triggered sanctions under section 179 of the CAA.
Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that new version of
Rule 1118 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 submittal 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
[[Page 16700]]
circuit by May 7, 2024. 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, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Oxides of
nitrogen, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: February 29, 2024.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2024-04921 Filed 3-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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