Rule2025-03205
Air Plan Approval; New Jersey; Permits and Certificates for Minor Facilities (and Major Facilities Without an Operating Permit), and Air Emission Control and Permitting Exemptions
Primary source
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Published
February 28, 2025
Effective
March 31, 2025
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a revision to New Jersey's State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), for the purposes of incorporating regulations concerning permits and certificates for minor source facilities, and major source facilities without an operating permit. The intended effect of the NJDEP's revisions to the SIP is to regulate the construction and modification of stationary sources with adequate requirements to ensure that the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are satisfied. The NJDEP's revisions will strengthen the SIP by updating the Federal air permitting program to conform with the State regulations that were in effect at the time of the SIP submission, which will ultimately better serve the regulated community and help to protect the quality of air in the State. The EPA proposed to approve this rule on December 17, 2024, and received no comments.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 39 (Friday, February 28, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 39 (Friday, February 28, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10872-10874]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03205]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R02-OAR-2024-0573; FRL-12459-02-R2]
Air Plan Approval; New Jersey; Permits and Certificates for Minor
Facilities (and Major Facilities Without an Operating Permit), and Air
Emission Control and Permitting Exemptions
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a
revision to New Jersey's State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by
the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), for the
purposes of incorporating regulations concerning permits and
certificates for minor source facilities, and major source facilities
without an operating permit. The intended effect of the NJDEP's
revisions to the SIP is to regulate the construction and modification
of stationary sources with adequate requirements to ensure that the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are satisfied. The
NJDEP's revisions will strengthen the SIP by updating the Federal air
permitting program to conform with the State regulations that were in
effect at the time of the SIP submission, which will ultimately better
serve the regulated community and help to protect the quality of air in
the State. The EPA proposed to approve this rule on December 17, 2024,
and received no comments.
DATES: This final rule is effective on March 31, 2025.
ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID Number EPA-R02-OAR-2024-0573. 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: Nicholas Ferreira, Air Programs
Branch, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, 290 Broadway, 25th
Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-3127, or by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c5a3a0b7b7a0acb7a4ebabaca6adaaa9a4b685a0b5a4eba2aab3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7d1b180f0f18140f1c5313141e1512111c0e3d180d1c531a120b">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. What is the background for this action?
II. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed
action?
III. What action is the EPA taking?
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What is the background for this action?
On December 17, 2024, the EPA published a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking that proposed to approve SIP revisions submitted by the
State of New Jersey, through the NJDEP, on February 24, 2014, and
August 23, 2018 (see 89 FR 102034).\1\ New Jersey's revisions consisted
of new provisions and amendments to New Jersey Administrative Code
(i.e., N.J.A.C.), Title 7, Chapter 27 (i.e., 7:27), subchapter 8,
``Permits and Certificates for minor facilities (and major facilities
without an operating permit)'' (hereinafter referred to as ``subchapter
8''). The last major EPA approval of subchapter 8 into the New Jersey
SIP occurred in 1986. The EPA approved additional amendments to
subchapter 8, made by the NJDEP, into New Jersey's SIP in 1994, 1997,
and 2023. Therefore, the NJDEP's 2014 and 2018 submittals are intended
to strengthen New Jersey's SIP by conforming it with the subchapter 8
State regulations that the State had in effect at the time of
submission to the EPA.
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\1\ The revisions submitted on February 24, 2014, and August 23,
2018, became State effective on September 19, 2011, and January 16,
2018, respectively.
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Section 110(a)(2)(C) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires States to
include in their SIPs, programs that regulate the construction and
modification of stationary sources with adequate requirements to ensure
that the NAAQS are achieved. New Jersey submitted the February 24,
2014, and August 23, 2018, SIP revisions to fulfill this requirement of
the CAA as it applies to minor stationary sources, and major source
facilities without an operating permit.
Under section 110(a) of the CAA, SIP rules must be enforceable, and
the EPA must not approve a revision that interferes with any applicable
requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress (see
CAA section 110(l)). The EPA evaluates minor new source review programs
included as SIP submittals based on the criteria in subpart I of 40 CFR
part 51 and new major sources and major modifications under 40 CFR
51.165 and 51.166 and part C and D of title I of the CAA. The EPA has
determined that the rule revisions that New Jersey submitted, are
mostly consistent with the relevant policy and guidance regarding the
enforceability of the revisions. Additionally, the EPA has determined
that the rule revisions comply with the requirement under CAA section
110(l), that the EPA may not approve a revision that could interfere
with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable
further progress and meet the criteria in subpart I of 40 CFR 51.160
through 51.164.
Therefore, apart from five odor provisions \2\ and one affirmative
defense provision,\3\ the EPA is finalizing its approval of New
Jersey's SIP strengthening amendments. The specific details of New
Jersey's SIP submittals and the rationale for the EPA's approval action
are explained in Section II. ``Summary of the SIP revision and the
EPA's Analysis,'' of the EPA's proposed rulemaking and are not restated
in this final action. For this detailed information, the reader is
referred to the EPA's December 17, 2024, proposed rulemaking (89 FR
102034).
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\2\ The NJDEP acknowledged within the February 24, 2014, cover
letter that was included with its SIP submittal to the EPA, that
these provisions would not be incorporated by the EPA into the
federally enforceable SIP.
\3\ On October 7, 2024, via official letter, the NJDEP formally
requested to withdraw the affirmative defense provision at N.J.A.C.
7:27-8.3(n) from its February 24, 2014, and August 23, 2018,
submittals to the EPA.
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II. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed
action?
The EPA provided a 30-day review and comment period for the
December 17, 2024, proposed rulemaking. The comment period ended on
January 16, 2025, and the EPA received no comments on the proposed
action; therefore, this action is being finalized as the EPA proposed.
III. What action is the EPA taking?
The EPA is approving New Jersey's revisions to N.J.A.C. 7:27-8,
``Permits and Certificates for Minor Facilities (and Major Facilities
without an Operating Permit),'' which will incorporate regulations
under N.J.A.C. 7:27 8.2 through 8.28 (except for five odor provisions
and one affirmative defense
[[Page 10873]]
provision) into the New Jersey SIP, that had State effective dates of
September 19, 2011, and January 16, 2018.
IV. Incorporation by Reference
In this document, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that
includes incorporation by reference as described in Section I of this
preamble. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is
finalizing the incorporation by reference revisions to N.J.A.C. 7:27-8,
``Permits and Certificates for Minor Facilities (and Major Facilities
without an Operating Permit),'' (except for N.J.A.C. 7:27-
8.2(d)(3)(ii)(2), N.J.A.C. 7:27-8.2(e)(2)(ii)), N.J.A.C. 7:27-8.3(j),
N.J.A.C. 7:27-8.3(n), N.J.A.C. 7:27-8.4(k)(2), and N.J.A.C. 7:27-
8.4(q)); \4\ as discussed in Section I, ``What is the background for
this action?'' of this preamble and Section II, ``Summary of the SIP
Revision and the EPA's Analysis,'' in the EPA's December 17, 2024
proposed rulemaking. These documents are available in the docket of
this rulemaking through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Therefore, these materials
are approved by the EPA for inclusion in the SIP, are 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.\5\
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\4\ N.J.A.C. 7:27-8.1, ``Definitions'' was previously approved
into the State's Federally approved SIP on November 28, 2023. See 88
FR 83036.
\5\ 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
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V. 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 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);
<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 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).
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 April 29, 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. This action may not be challenged later in
proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2)).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Ammonia,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen
dioxide, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Sulfur dioxide, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Michael Martucci,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 40 CFR part 52 is
amended 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 FF--New Jersey
0
2. In Sec. 52.1570 the table in paragraph (c), is amended as follows:
0
a. Remove the entries ``Title 7, Chapter 27, Section 8.1,'' ``Title 7,
Chapter 27, Section 8.2,'' and ``Title 7, Chapter 27, Section 8.11.''
0
b. Revise the entry for ``Title 7, Chapter 27, Subchapter 8'' after the
entry ``Title 7, Chapter 27, Subchapter 7.2(k).''
The revision reads as follows:
Sec. 52.1570 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
[[Page 10874]]
EPA--Approved New Jersey State Regulations and Laws
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EPA approval
State citation Title/subject State effective date date Comments
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* * * * * * *
Title 7, Chapter 27, Permits and August 23, 2018....... 2/28/2025, <bullet> Section 8.1
Subchapter 8. Certificates [insert first was previously
for minor page of Federal approved into the
facilities (and Register State's Federally
major citation]. approved SIP on
facilities November 28, 2023
without an (88 FR 83036).
operating <bullet> The
permit). following provisions
are not approved:
(1) five odor
provisions at
8.2(d)(3)(ii)(2),
8.2(e)(2)(ii),
8.3(j), 8.4(k)(2),
and 8.4(q); as well
as (2) an
affirmative defense
provision at 8.3(n).
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[FR Doc. 2025-03205 Filed 2-27-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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