Rule2025-05376
Interim Final Determination To Defer Sanctions, Placer County Air Pollution Control District
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
April 2, 2025
Effective
April 2, 2025
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 Clean Air Act (CAA or "Act") State implementation plan (SIP) revision on behalf of the Placer County Air Pollution Control District (PCAPCD or "District") that corrects deficiencies concerning the District's nonattainment new source review stationary source permitting program. This determination is based on a proposed approval, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, of PCAPCD Rule 502, "New Source Review." The effect of this interim final determination is to defer sanctions that were triggered by the EPA's previous limited disapproval of PCAPCD Rule 502 in 2023.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 62 (Wednesday, April 2, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 2, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 14414-14415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05376]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0620; FRL-12530-02-R9]
Interim Final Determination To Defer Sanctions, Placer County Air
Pollution Control 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 Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') State implementation plan
(SIP) revision on behalf of the Placer County Air Pollution Control
District (PCAPCD or ``District'') that corrects deficiencies concerning
the District's nonattainment new source review stationary source
permitting program. This determination is based on a proposed approval,
published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, of PCAPCD
Rule 502, ``New Source Review.'' The effect of this interim final
determination is to defer sanctions that were triggered by the EPA's
previous limited disapproval of PCAPCD Rule 502 in 2023.
DATES: This interim final determination is effective on April 2, 2025.
However, comments will be accepted on or before May 2, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2024-0620 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 a disability
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: Kira Wiesinger, EPA Region IX, 75
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105; phone: (415) 972-3827; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f186989482989f969483df9a988390b1948190df969e87"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="14637d71677d7a7371663a7f7d6675547164753a737b62">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,''
and ``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. EPA Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
On September 26, 2023,\1\ we published a limited disapproval of
PCAPCD Rule 502 as adopted locally on August 12, 2021, based on
deficiencies identified in the submitted rule. This limited disapproval
action started a sanctions clock for imposition of offset sanctions 18
months after October 26, 2023, and highway sanctions 6 months later,
pursuant to section 179 of the CAA and our regulations at 40 CFR 52.31.
Under 40 CFR 52.31(d)(1), offset sanctions apply 18 months after the
effective date of a disapproval and highway sanctions apply six months
after the offset sanctions, unless we determine that the deficiencies
forming the basis of the disapproval have been corrected.
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\1\ 88 FR 65816.
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On June 13, 2024, the PCAPCD amended Rule 502 to address the
deficiencies identified in our September 26, 2023 limited disapproval
action. The State submitted this amended rule to the EPA on November
15, 2024. In the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register, we
are proposing an approval of this rule because we believe it corrects
the deficiencies identified in our September 26, 2023 disapproval
action and meets other applicable CAA requirements. Based on our
proposed action, we are taking this final rulemaking action, effective
on publication, to defer the imposition of the offset sanctions and the
highway sanctions that were triggered by our September 26, 2023 limited
disapproval.
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 final determination and our proposed
approval of PCAPCD Rule 502, we intend to take subsequent final action
to reimpose sanctions pursuant to 40 CFR 52.31(d). If no comments are
submitted that change our assessment, then all sanctions and sanction
clocks associated with our September 26, 2023 final action will be
permanently terminated on the effective date of a final rule approval.
II. EPA Action
We are making an interim final determination to defer the
imposition of the offset and highway sanctions associated with our
limited disapproval of PCAPCD Rule 502 (as adopted in 2021) based on
our concurrent proposed finding that the State's SIP revision corrects
the deficiencies that initiated sanctions.
Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that the State has
corrected the deficiencies identified in our September 26, 2023 limited
disapproval action, 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
[[Page 14415]]
comment before this action takes effect.\2\ However, by this action,
the EPA is providing the public with an opportunity 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.
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\2\ 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B).
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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 corrected the deficiencies that were the basis
for the limited disapproval that started the sanctions clocks.
Therefore, it is not in the public interest to apply 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.\3\
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\3\ 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1).
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III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
This action defers Federal 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 Order 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 is not a significant regulatory action under
section 3(f)(1) of Executive Order 12866, and because it does not
concern an environmental health risk or safety risk;
<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.
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 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 to the
Comptroller General of the United States. This action is not a ``major
rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 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 action as discussed in section II of this preamble,
including the basis for that finding.
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 June 2, 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
oxides, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: March 14, 2025.
Cheree D. Peterson,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2025-05376 Filed 4-1-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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