Proposed Rule2025-13904
Air Plan Approval; Texas; Reasonably Available Control Technology in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Ozone Nonattainment Area
Primary source
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Published
July 24, 2025
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is supplementing a proposed rule published on March 10, 2021, to approve revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning Nitrogen Oxide (NO<INF>X</INF>) and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements for the Serious Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB), 2008 8-hour ozone National Air Quality Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) nonattainment area. Because of comments received on the March 10, 2021, proposal, we are providing additional analysis, in this proposal, regarding the RACT requirements which apply to sources of VOC in this area. Consistent with this analysis, EPA is proposing to determine that the Texas Rules meet the RACT requirements for sources of VOCs in the HGB Serious ozone nonattainment area for the purposes of the 2008 standard. The NO<INF>X</INF> portion of the RACT analysis in the March 10, 2021, proposal will be addressed in a separate action. The EPA is providing an opportunity for public comment on this supplemental proposal. Comments received on the March 10, 2021, proposal and this supplemental proposal will be addressed in a final rule.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 140 (Thursday, July 24, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 140 (Thursday, July 24, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34790-34792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-13904]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2020-0165; FRL-12829-01-R6]
Air Plan Approval; Texas; Reasonably Available Control Technology
in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Ozone Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is supplementing a
proposed rule published on March 10, 2021, to approve revisions to the
Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning Nitrogen Oxide
(NO<INF>X</INF>) and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Reasonably
Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements for the Serious
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB), 2008 8-hour ozone National Air
Quality Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) nonattainment area.
Because of comments received on the March 10, 2021, proposal, we are
providing additional analysis, in this proposal, regarding the RACT
requirements which apply to sources of VOC in this area. Consistent
with this analysis, EPA is proposing to determine that the Texas Rules
meet the RACT requirements for sources of VOCs in the HGB Serious ozone
nonattainment area for the purposes of the 2008 standard. The
NO<INF>X</INF> portion of the RACT analysis in the March 10, 2021,
proposal will be addressed in a separate action. The EPA is providing
an opportunity for public comment on this supplemental proposal.
Comments received on the
[[Page 34791]]
March 10, 2021, proposal and this supplemental proposal will be
addressed in a final rule.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 25, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2020-0165, at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> or via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#194a7178717077377c74787d597c6978377e766f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ffac979e979691d19a929e9bbf9a8f9ed1989089">[email protected]</span></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 Emad Shahin, (214) 665-
6717, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0a59626b626364246f676b6e4a6f7a6b246d657c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7b28131a131215551e161a1f3b1e0b1a551c140d">[email protected]</span></a>. 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>.
Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available
electronically at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. While all documents in the
docket are listed in the index, some information may not be publicly
available due to docket file size restrictions or content (e.g., CBI).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emad Shahin, 214-665-6717,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#dd8eb5bcb5b4b3f3b8b0bcb99db8adbcf3bab2ab"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d88bb0b9b0b1b6f6bdb5b9bc98bda8b9f6bfb7ae">[email protected]</span></a>. We encourage the public to submit comments via
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Please call or email the contact listed
above if you need alternative access to material indexed but not
provided in the docket.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.
I. Background
On May 13, 2020, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(TCEQ or State) submitted to EPA a SIP revision addressing RACT
requirements for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the two Serious ozone
nonattainment areas in Texas--the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and HGB
areas.\1\ EPA proposed approval of the portions of the submittal that
addressed VOC and NO<INF>X</INF> RACT requirements for the HGB area on
March 10, 2021. For background information regarding the HGB area,
Texas' May 13, 2020, SIP submittal, the ozone NAAQS, and RACT, please
see the EPA's original proposal for this action at 86 FR 13679 (March
10, 2021). In this supplemental proposal, we refer to the May 13, 2020,
Texas SIP revision as ``the RACT submittal'' and we refer to our March
10, 2021, proposed action and Technical Support Document (TSD) as ``the
March 2021 proposal.'' We are supplementing the March 2021 proposal
with respect to VOC RACT. We will address NO<INF>X</INF> RACT in a
separate action.
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\1\ Clean Air Act (CAA) sections 182(b)(2) and (f) require that
SIPs for ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or higher
include implementation of RACT for any source covered by a CTG
document and also for any major source of VOC or NO<INF>X</INF>. The
EPA has defined RACT as the lowest emissions limitation that a
particular source is capable of meeting by the application of
control technology that is reasonably available, considering
technological and economic feasibility. See 44 FR 53761 (September
17, 1979).
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In our March 2021 proposal, we proposed to approve the RACT
submittal for the HGB nonattainment area as meeting the VOC RACT
requirements for an area designated as Serious with the exception of
the requirement to implement RACT for sources covered by the 2016 CTG
for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry.\2\ We proposed to determine that
the Texas rules implemented RACT (i.e., the lowest achievable emission
rate considering technical and economic feasibility) for all sources
subject to all remaining CTG categories. In addition, we proposed that
the Texas rules also implement RACT for major sources in categories not
covered by a CTG (non-CTG RACT).\3\ We also proposed to approve
negative declarations made for fiberglass boat manufacturing materials,
manufacturing of pneumatic rubber tires, flat wood paneling coatings,
letterpress printing, and automobile and light-duty truck assembly
coatings sectors in the HGB area.
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\2\ In a separate action, EPA finalized approval of the Texas
SIP revision regarding RACT requirements for sources covered by the
2016 Oil and Natural Gas Control Techniques Guidelines for the DFW
and HGB nonattainment areas for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. See 88
FR 55379 (August 15, 2023).
\3\ Sources emitting VOCs in a quantity greater than the Serious
area major source definition (50 tpy) and not covered by a CTG
category or previously approved RACT rule.
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During EPA's public comment period, we received a comment claiming
that our proposed action would approve a state submission that relied
on outdated RACT determinations. EPA has since reviewed additional
information and conducted additional analysis. We are providing this
supplemental proposal, and an associated Supplemental TSD, containing a
compendium of EPA's review of relevant rules (from a variety of other
states) currently in place to implement VOC RACT for CTG covered
sources across the country. Based on our review of these state rules,
and in comparison to Texas' May 13, 2020 SIP submission, we confirm our
previous proposal that Texas' rules meet RACT requirements for the 2008
ozone NAAQS.
II. Evaluation
EPA performed an analysis which can be found in the Supplemental
TSD \4\ evaluating the relevant RACT rules in various states including
Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire,
Ohio, Vermont, and Wisconsin. EPA found Texas' rules to be generally
consistent with or more stringent than control measures in other
states' regulations and CTGs. In addition, we reviewed the EPA's RACT/
BACT/LAER clearinghouse database, which contains case-specific
information on the best available air pollution control technologies
that have been required to reduce the emission of air pollutants from
stationary sources.\5\ EPA has not identified any new control
technologies that are reasonably available considering technological
and economic feasibility for these sources. Based upon our findings,
EPA confirms our previous proposal that Texas VOC RACT regulations are
still representative of RACT for the HGB nonattainment area for the
purpose of the 2008 ozone NAAQS standard.
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\4\ Available in the docket for this action.
\5\ See: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/catc/ractbactlaer-clearinghouse-rblc-basic-information">https://www.epa.gov/catc/ractbactlaer-clearinghouse-rblc-basic-information</a>.
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III. Supplemental Proposed Action
The EPA is supplementing our March 2021 proposal addressing
revisions to the Texas SIP with respect to the VOC RACT requirements
for the HGB Serious nonattainment area for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. In
this supplemental proposal, we are providing an opportunity for public
comment on EPA's VOC RACT analysis that further supports the March 2021
proposed approval record in showing that Texas VOC RACT regulations do
implement RACT level controls, consistent with sections 182(b)(2) and
(c) of the CAA. The EPA will address all comments received on our March
2021 proposal and on this supplemental proposal in our final action.
[[Page 34792]]
IV. 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 Clean Air Act
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 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> Is not subject to Executive Order 14192 (90 FR 9065,
February 6, 2025) because SIP actions are exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866;
<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 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).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: July 16, 2025.
Walter Mason,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2025-13904 Filed 7-23-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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