Rule2024-09890
Approval of Source-Specific Air Quality Implementation Plan; New York; Finch Paper LLC
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
May 16, 2024
Effective
June 17, 2024
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a revision to the State of New York's State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) related to a Source-specific SIP (SSSIP) revision for Finch Paper LLC, located at 1 Glen Street, Glens Falls, New York. The control options in this SSSIP revision address nitrogen oxide (NO<INF>X</INF>) Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for the Facility sources identified as four power boilers, a wood waste boiler, and four recovery boilers. This action is being taken in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for implementation of the 2008 and 2015 ozone NAAQS. The EPA proposed to approve this rule on January 19, 2024, and received three comments all of which were in favor of the rulemaking.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 96 (Thursday, May 16, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 96 (Thursday, May 16, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42810-42812]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09890]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R02-OAR-2022-0714; FRL 11587-02-R2]
Approval of Source-Specific Air Quality Implementation Plan; New
York; Finch Paper LLC
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a
revision to the State of New York's State Implementation Plan (SIP) for
the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) related to a
Source-specific SIP (SSSIP) revision for Finch Paper LLC, located at 1
Glen Street, Glens Falls, New York. The control options in this SSSIP
revision address nitrogen oxide (NO<INF>X</INF>) Reasonably Available
Control Technology (RACT) for the Facility sources identified as four
power boilers, a wood waste boiler, and four recovery boilers. This
action is being taken in accordance with the requirements of the Clean
Air Act (CAA) for implementation of the 2008 and 2015 ozone NAAQS. The
EPA proposed to approve this rule on January 19, 2024, and received
three comments all of which were in favor of the rulemaking.
DATES: This final rule is effective on June 17, 2024.
ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID Number EPA-R02-OAR-2022-0714. All documents in the docket are
listed on the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website. Although listed in
the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., Controlled
Unclassified Information (CUI) (formally referred to as Confidential
Business Information (CBI)) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, is not placed on the internet and will be publicly available
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are
available electronically through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Longo, Air Programs Branch,
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, 290 Broadway, 25th
Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-3565, or by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#afc3c0c1c8c081c3c6c1cbceefcadfce81c8c0d9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a4c8cbcac3cb8ac8cdcac0c5e4c1d4c58ac3cbd2">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For additional information on regulatory
background and the EPA's technical findings relating to the Facility
RACT, the reader can refer to the Technical Support Document (TSD) that
is contained in the EPA docket assigned to this Federal Register
document.
Table of Contents
I. What is the background for this action?
II. Environmental Justice
III. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed
action?
IV. What action is the EPA taking?
V. Incorporation by Reference
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What is the background for this action?
A SSSIP revision was submitted to the EPA by the State of New York
on May 24, 2022, for Finch Paper LLC, located at 1 Glen Street, Glens
Falls, New York (the Facility), and it replaces and withdraws the SSSIP
that was submitted by the State on September 16, 2008. On January 19,
2024, the EPA published a notice of proposed rulemaking that proposed
to approve a SSSIP revision to addresses NO<INF>X</INF> RACT emission
limits for the Facility's nine boilers. See 89 FR 3620. Specifically,
the notice of proposed rulemaking addressed the following: (1) Source-
specific emission limits and RACT control options for four large power
boilers where the presumptive NO<INF>X</INF> limit is not
technologically and economically feasible; (2) a case-by-case
NO<INF>X</INF> emission limit for the wood waste boiler's biomass fuel;
and (3) NO<INF>X</INF> emission limits for four recovery boilers that
are not covered by other New York RACT regulations, and therefore must
follow 6 NYCRR part 212 as a process operation.
The EPA is determining through this final action that the
NO<INF>X</INF> RACT emission limits included in the May 24, 2022, SSSIP
revision are demonstrated to be RACT for the power boilers, wood waste
boiler and the recovery boilers. The boilers have the lowest emission
limits with the application of control technology that are reasonably
available given the technological and economic feasibility
considerations. Furthermore, the NO<INF>X</INF> RACT emission limits
for the boilers comply with the New York State regulations, 6 NYCRR
part 227, ``Stationary Combustion Installations,'' subpart 227-2,
``Reasonably Available Control Technology for Major Facilities of
Oxides of Nitrogen,'' and 6 NYCRR part 212, ``Process Operations,''
subpart 212-3, ``Reasonably Available Control Technology for Major
Facilities'', and are contained in the Facility's title V operating
permit, 5-5205-00005/00059. The permit was issued by the State on
December 20, 2021, modified on January
[[Page 42811]]
12, 2022, and expires on December 19, 2026.
The specific details for how the NO<INF>X</INF> emission limits
comprise RACT for the power boilers, wood waste boiler and the recovery
boilers, and the rationale for the EPA's approval action, are explained
in the EPA's notice of proposed rulemaking and are not restated in this
final action. For this detailed information, the reader is referred to
the EPA's notice of proposed rulemaking. 89 FR 3620 (January 19, 2024).
II. Environmental Justice Considerations
The CAA and applicable implementing regulations neither prohibit
nor require an environmental justice evaluation and so the State of New
York did not evaluate environmental justice considerations as part of
its SSSIP submittal. The EPA performed an environmental justice
analysis for the purpose of transparency about this rulemaking to the
public and the analysis is not provided for the basis of this action.
The EPA created a Community Report (Report) using its EJ Screen,
Version 2.2, representing a 1-mile ring centered at the Facility. We
analyze both EJ Indexes and Supplemental Indexes because they offer
different perspectives on community level vulnerability based on
different factors. We also use the National percentile for the Report
results and not the State percentile since this SSSIP action is a
Federal action. Lastly, the EPA focused on any environmental index
result that is 80 percentile or greater because environmental indexes
at this level are relatively high compared to the United States
population. The Report shows the Facility ranked greater than 80th
percentile for National Supplemental Indexes, as follows: 83rd
percentile for Superfund proximity; and 81st percentile for being
located near a facility regulated under the Risk Management Program
(extremely hazardous substances). The Report, EJ Screen Community
Report Aug 10 2023--Finch Paper, is contained in the EPA docket
assigned to this Federal Register document.
III. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed
action?
The EPA received three public comments during the 60-day public
comment period of the EPA's proposed approval of New York's SIP
revision. All commenters are in support of the action. The specific
comments may be viewed under Docket ID Number EPA-R02-OAR-2022-0714 on
the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website.
Regarding one commenter, the EPA appreciates the commenter's
support of the proposed action. Regarding the commenter's point about
the EJ Index, the EPA notes that EJ Screen has two indexes, the EJ
Index and the Supplemental Index. Although it is correct to say that
Finch Paper shows no EJ Index above 80th percentile, the EPA notes that
Finch Paper shows above 80th percentile for Supplemental Indexes. The
Supplemental Index includes data on low-income, linguistically
isolated, high school education, unemployment, and low life expectancy.
Please refer to the EJ Screen Report that is contained in the EPA
docket assigned to this Federal Register document. Also, the Facility
is regulated because of the RACT regulations, not because of EJ
concerns. Lastly, this action addresses NO<INF>X</INF> RACT variance
for the boilers--the SSSIP revision does not involve rerouting the
smoke of boilers into separate smoke stacks.
Regarding another commenter, the EPA appreciates the commenter's
support of the proposed action, and notes that the cap-and-trade
program is beyond the scope of this action.
IV. What action is the EPA taking?
The EPA is approving the NO<INF>X</INF> emission limits, for
purposes of satisfying RACT, as contained in the Facility's title V
operating permit, 5-5205-00005/00059, as follows: (1) Condition 1-1,
emission unit 3-00000, four power boilers, at 0.225 NO<INF>X</INF> lb/
MMBtu during ozone season (April 15 through October 15) and at 0.275
NO<INF>X</INF> lb/MMBtu during non-ozone season (October 16 through
April 14) and at 0.378 NO<INF>X</INF> lb/MMBtu when recovery boilers
are not burning liquor or when the wood waste boiler is down during
non-ozone season; (2) condition 47, emission unit 3-10000, No. 9 wood
waste boiler, at 0.28 NO<INF>X</INF> lb/MMBtu; and (3) condition 60,
emission unit 3-20000, recovery boilers, at 464 parts per million
(corrected to 7% oxygen) system wide.
V. Incorporation by Reference
In this document, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that
includes incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of
1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the
Finch Paper LLC NO<INF>X</INF> emission limits described in the
amendments to 40 CFR part 52 as discussed in section I. of this
preamble. These documents are available in the docket of this
rulemaking through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Therefore, these materials have
been approved by the EPA for inclusion in the State Implementation
Plan, have been incorporated by reference by the EPA into that plan,
are fully federally enforceable under sections 110 and 113 of the CAA
as of the effective date of the final rulemaking of the EPA's approval,
and will be incorporated by reference in the next update to the SIP
compilation.\1\
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\1\ 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
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VI. 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 action merely approves State law as meeting Federal
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those
imposed by State law. 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 14094 (88 FR 21879, April 11, 2023);
<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 subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885,
April 23, 1997) because it approves a State program;
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
<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.
In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian
reservation land
[[Page 42812]]
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 it 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).
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.
The 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.'' The 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.'' resulting from the
negative environmental consequences of industrial, governmental, and
commercial operations or programs and policies.''
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation did not
evaluate environmental justice considerations as part of its SSSIP
submittal; the CAA and applicable implementing regulations neither
prohibit nor require such an evaluation. The EPA performed an
environmental justice analysis, as is described above in the section
titled, ``Environmental Justice Considerations.'' The analysis was done
for the purpose of providing additional context and information about
this rulemaking to the public, not as a basis of the action. In
addition, there is no information in the record upon which this
decision is based inconsistent with the stated goal of E.O. 12898 of
achieving environmental justice for people of color, low-income
populations, and Indigenous peoples.
This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act, and the EPA
will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress and the
Comptroller General of the United States. This action is not a ``major
rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by July 15, 2024. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this action for the purposes of
judicial review nor does it extend the time within which a 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 section 307(b)(2)).
List of Subjects 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Lisa Garcia,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, EPA amends 40 CFR part 52
as follows:
PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart HH--New York
0
2. Amend Sec. 52.1670(d) by adding an entry for ``Finch Paper LLC'' at
the end of the table to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1670 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
EPA-Approved New York Source-Specific Provisions
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State effective EPA approval
Name of source Identifier No. date date Comments
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* * * * * * *
Finch Paper LLC................... 5-5205-00005/00059 1/12/2022 5/16/2024 RACT emission limits
Mod 1. for condition 1-1,
condition 47, and
condition 60.
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[FR Doc. 2024-09890 Filed 5-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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