Rule2024-30747
Air Plan Disapproval; Louisiana; Removal of Excess Emissions Provisions; Correction
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
December 30, 2024
Effective
December 30, 2024
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is determining that a portion of a December 7, 2023, final disapproval action of a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Louisiana was in error and making a correction pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 106328-106330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30747]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2019-0212; FRL-10997-04-R6]
Air Plan Disapproval; Louisiana; Removal of Excess Emissions
Provisions; Correction
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final action; correction.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is determining that
a portion of a December 7, 2023, final disapproval action of a state
implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Louisiana
was in error and making a correction pursuant to the Clean Air Act
(CAA).
DATES: This final action is effective on December 30, 2024.
ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID Number EPA-R06-OAR-2019-0212. All documents in the docket are
listed on the <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> website. Although listed in the
index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 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 through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, or please contact the person
identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section for
additional availability information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: General questions concerning this
publication should be addressed to Michael Feldman, Regional Haze and
SO<INF>2</INF> Section, Air & Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region VI, 1201 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas 75270; by
telephone (214) 665-9793 or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2345464f474e424d0d4e4a404b42464f634653420d444c55"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a1c7c4cdc5ccc0cf8fccc8c2c9c0c4cde1c4d1c08fc6ced7">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. How is the preamble organized?
The information presented in this preamble is organized as follows:
Table of Contents
I. General Information
A. How is the preamble organized?
II. Background
III. What is the EPA correcting?
IV. What action is the EPA taking?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
II. Background
On November 8, 2024, the EPA proposed to correct an error in an
earlier EPA action, using the authority of section 110(k)(6) of the
CAA. Specifically, the proposed action explained that the error
occurred in a December 7, 2023, EPA action \1\ disapproving revisions
to the SIP for the State of Louisiana submitted in response to the 2015
SSM SIP Action.\2\
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\1\ 88 FR 85112 (December 7, 2023).
\2\ State Implementation Plans: Response to Petition for
Rulemaking; Restatement and Update of EPA's SSM Policy Applicable to
SIPs; Findings of Substantial Inadequacy; and SIP Calls To Amend
Provisions Applying to Excess Emissions During Periods of Startup,
Shutdown and Malfunction, 80 FR 33840 (June 12, 2015).
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On June 12, 2015, the EPA finalized the 2015 SSM SIP Action, which
clarified, restated, and updated the EPA's national policy regarding
SIP provisions applying to excess emissions during periods of startup,
shutdown, and malfunction (SSM). As part of the 2015 SSM SIP Action,
the EPA issued a finding that certain SIP provisions for 36 states that
were applicable in 45 statewide and local jurisdictions were
[[Page 106329]]
substantially inadequate to meet CAA requirements due to how those SIP
provisions treated excess emissions during SSM periods. Further, the
EPA issued a ``SIP call'' to each of those 45 air agencies, including
the State of Louisiana on the basis that Louisiana's SIP contained
impermissible automatic and discretionary exemptions that were
substantially inadequate to meet CAA requirements.\3\ To respond to the
EPA's SIP call in the 2015 SSM SIP Action, each affected state was
required to submit its corrective SIP revision by November 22, 2016. On
December 7, 2023, the EPA took final action \4\ to disapprove certain
portions of a SIP revision submitted by the State of Louisiana on
November 20, 2016, and supplemented on June 9, 2017, because the EPA
found that Louisiana's SIP revision did not correct the deficiency
identified in Louisiana's SIP in the 2015 SSM SIP Action.\5\
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\3\ See 78 FR 12460, 12521-12522 (February 22, 2013) and 80 FR
33840 at 33967 (June 12, 2015).
\4\ See 88 FR 85112 (December 7, 2023).
\5\ On October 5, 2022, EPA Region 6 finalized approval of a
portion of Louisiana's SIP revision that corrected six of
Louisiana's seven deficient SIP provisions originally identified in
EPA's 2015 SSM SIP Call. See 87 FR 60292. On December 7, 2023 (88 FR
85112), the EPA Region 6 finalized disapproval of Louisiana's SIP
revision that sought to correct the remaining deficient provision.
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As a result of the March 1, 2024, decision from the United States
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Environ. Comm.
Fl. Elec. Power v. EPA, 94 F.4th 77 (D.C. Cir. 2024), certain portions
of the EPA's SIP call in the 2015 SSM SIP Action were vacated by the
D.C. Circuit and therefore have no legal effect. Thus, certain states
subject to the 2015 SSM SIP Action no longer have a legal obligation to
submit the revisions that the EPA had originally determined were
required to correct the deficiencies identified in the SIP call.\6\ In
other words, by partially vacating the EPA's 2015 SSM SIP Action, the
D.C. Circuit's decision rendered Louisiana's SIP submission in response
to the 2015 SSM SIP Action voluntary rather than mandatory. As a
result, the EPA proposed to correct the EPA's December 7, 2023,
disapproval action with respect to the consequences of that
disapproval.
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\6\ In vacating certain portions of the 2015 SSM SIP Action, the
D.C. Circuit's decision did not determine whether the SIP-called
provisions were otherwise lawful under the CAA. See e.g. 94 F.4th at
110 (``We thus do not reach the question whether the called SIPs'
relevant emission restrictions in fact amount to (or must amount to)
``emission limitations'' per the statutory definition.'').
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A more complete explanation of the reasons for the proposed error
correction can be found in the November 8, 2024, proposed action.
Comments on the November 8, 2024, proposed action were due on or before
December 9, 2024. The EPA did not receive any comments on the November
8, 2024, proposed action.
III. What is the EPA correcting?
In this action, the EPA is correcting the erroneous triggering of
mandatory sanctions under CAA section 179 and 40 CFR 52.31 for the
state of Louisiana following its December 7, 2023, disapproval of
Louisiana's SIP revision submitted in response to the 2015 SSM SIP
Call. The EPA is also correcting the erroneous triggering of the EPA's
obligation to issue a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) under CAA
section 110(c)(1)(B). As a result, in finalizing this error correction
action, the imposition of sanctions for the State of Louisiana and the
FIP obligation for the EPA that were triggered as a result of the
December 7, 2023, final disapproval action are no longer in effect.
IV. What action is the EPA taking?
As a result of the D.C. Circuit's decision in Environ. Comm. Fl.
Elec. Power v. EPA, the EPA is determining that, pursuant to section
110(k)(6) of the CAA, a portion of the EPA's December 7, 2023, final
disapproval action of Louisiana's SIP revision was in error with
respect to the consequences of that disapproval. By partially vacating
the EPA's 2015 SSM SIP Action, the D.C. Circuit's decision rendered
Louisiana's SIP submission in response to the 2015 SSM SIP Action
voluntary rather than mandatory. Thus, the EPA is finding that the
triggering of mandatory sanctions and FIP obligation following the
December 7, 2023, final disapproval was erroneous and, through this
action, is terminating the imposition of sanctions for the State and
the FIP obligation for the EPA triggered by that disapproval as they
are no longer legally valid.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. However, this action,
which seeks to correct an error in a prior SIP disapproval action under
section 110(k)(6) of the CAA, is neither an approval nor a disapproval.
This action merely corrects an error in EPA's prior action and does not
impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
<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 because it is an error correction taken
under section 110(k)(6) of the CAA and does not directly or
disproportionately affect children.
<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 CAA.
<bullet> In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any
Indian reservation land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian
tribe has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of
Indian country, the action 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).
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 communities with environmental justice
(EJ) concerns to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law.
EPA defines 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
[[Page 106330]]
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.''
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. Although not a basis for that action, the EPA performed an
EJ analysis for informational purposes only in its June 13, 2023,
proposed disapproval of Louisiana's SIP revision. See 88 FR 38448,
38453-38455 (June 13, 2023) and 88 FR 85112, 85123-85124 (December 7,
2023) for more information. The EPA views this action as a necessary
procedural step following the D.C. Circuit decision and vacatur of
portions of the 2015 SIP call. 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 communities with EJ concerns.
This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act, and the EPA
will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress and to 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by February 28, 2025. 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.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedures,
Air pollution control, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental
relations, and Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: December 19, 2024.
Earthea Nance,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2024-30747 Filed 12-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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