Rule2025-13905
Interim Final Determination To Stay or Defer Sanctions; California; Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District
Primary source
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Published
July 24, 2025
Effective
July 24, 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 Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD or "District") that corrects deficiencies concerning the District's New Source Review (NSR) stationary source permitting program. This determination is based on a proposed conditional approval, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, of MDAQMD Rules. The effect of this interim final determination is to stay the application of the offset sanction and to defer or stay the action of the highway sanction that were triggered by the EPA's limited disapproval of MDAQMD Rules on June 30, 2023.
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)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34766-34768]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-13905]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2025-0625; FRL-12877-01-R9]
Interim Final Determination To Stay or Defer Sanctions;
California; Mojave Desert Air Quality Management 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 Mojave Desert Air Quality Management
District (MDAQMD or ``District'') that corrects deficiencies concerning
the District's New Source Review (NSR) stationary source permitting
program. This determination is based on a proposed conditional
approval, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, of
MDAQMD Rules. The effect of this interim final determination is to stay
the application of the offset sanction and to defer or stay the action
of the highway sanction that were triggered by the EPA's limited
disapproval of MDAQMD Rules on June 30, 2023.
DATES: This interim final determination is effective July 24, 2025.
However, comments will be accepted on or before August 25, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2025-0625 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: Shaheerah Kelly, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region IX (AIR-3-2), telephone number: (415) 947-
4156, email address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#177c727b7b6e39647f767f727265767f5772677639707861"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e9828c858590c79a8188818c8c9b8881a98c9988c78e869f">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,''
and ``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. EPA Evaluation and Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
On June 30, 2023, we published a limited approval and limited
disapproval of Rules 1301, 1302 (except 1302(C)(5) and 1302(C)(7)(c),
which were not submitted for inclusion in the SIP),\1\ 1303, 1304, and
1305, as amended on March 22, 2021.\2\ We based our limited disapproval
action on deficiencies identified in the submitted rule. This limited
approval and limited disapproval action started a sanctions clock for
imposition of offset sanctions eighteen (18) months after July 31,
2023, and highway sanctions six (6) months later, pursuant to section
179 of the Act 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 6 months after the offset
sanctions, unless we
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determine that the deficiencies forming the basis of the disapproval
have been corrected.
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\1\ Subsections 1302(C)(5)(d) and 1302(C)(7)(c)(iii) of Rule
1302 specifically state that subsections 1302(C)(5) and
1302(C)(7)(c) are not submitted to the EPA and are not intended to
be included as part of the California SIP.
\2\ 88 FR 42258.
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On March 25, 2024, the MDAQMD amended Rules 1301, 1302, 1303, 1304,
and 1305. These amended and adopted rules were intended to address the
deficiencies that were the basis for our limited disapproval in our
June 30, 2023 action.
On August 7, 2024, the California Air Resources Board (CARB)
submitted Rules 1301, 1302, 1303, 1304, and 1305 to the EPA,\3\ and in
a June 17, 2024 letter, CARB committed to submit to the EPA a revised
MDAQMD Rule 1304 within one year of the EPA's final conditional
approval. CARB is the governor's designee for California SIP
submittals. In the Proposed Rules section of today's Federal Register,
we are proposing conditional approval of MDAQMD Rules 1301, 1302
(except 1302(C)(5) and 1302(C)(7)(c)), 1303, 1304, and 1305 because we
believe they correct the deficiencies identified in our June 30, 2023
limited disapproval action in accordance with CAA section 110(k)(4),
and meet other applicable CAA requirements. Based on today's proposed
action, we are taking this final rulemaking action, effective on
publication, to stay the imposition of the offset sanction and defer or
stay the imposition of the highway sanction that was triggered by our
June 30, 2023 limited disapproval.
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\3\ The submittal for Rules 1301, 1302, 1303, 1304, and 1305 was
transmitted to the EPA via a letter from CARB dated August 6, 2024,
and received by the EPA on August 7, 2024.
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The EPA is providing the public with an opportunity to comment on
this stay of the offset sanction and deferral or stay of the highway
sanction. If comments are submitted that change our assessment
described in this final determination and our proposed conditional
approval of MDAQMD Rules 1301, 1302 (except 1302(C)(5) and
1302(C)(7)(c)), 1303, 1304, and 1305, we will take final action to lift
this stay of the offset sanction and deferral or stay of the highway
sanction pursuant to 40 CFR 52.31(d). If no comments are submitted that
change our assessment, then all sanctions and sanction clocks triggered
by our June 30, 2023 final action will continue to be stayed or
deferred unless and until the conditional approval converts to a
disapproval or the EPA proposes to or takes final action to disapprove
in whole or in part the revised SIP the State submits to fulfill the
commitment in the conditionally-approved submittal, at which time the
sanctions would reapply.\4\ Any sanction clock triggered by our June
30, 2023 final action would be permanently stopped and sanctions
applied, stayed, or deferred would be permanently lifted upon a final
EPA finding that the deficiency forming the basis of the finding has
been corrected.\5\
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\4\ See 40 CFR 52.31(d)(3)(ii) and (iii).
\5\ See 40 CFR 52.31(d)(5).
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II. EPA Evaluation and Action
We are making an interim final determination to stay the
application of the offset sanction and to defer or stay the application
of the highway sanction associated with our limited disapproval of
MDAQMD Rules 1301, 1302, 1303, 1304, and 1305 (as amended on March 25,
2024). This determination is based on a concurrent proposal to
conditionally approve, pursuant to CAA section 110(k)(4), MDAQMD Rules
1301, 1302 (except 1302(C)(5) and 1302(C)(7)(c) which were not
submitted for inclusion in the SIP), 1303, 1304, and 1305.
Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that the State's
August 7, 2024 submittal more likely than not adequately addresses the
deficiencies identified in the EPA's June 30, 2023 limited disapproval
action when considered together with the MDAQMD's and CARB's commitment
to adopt and submit revisions of MDAQMD Rule 1304 to the EPA, and
because the EPA is concurrently proposing to conditionally approve the
submittal, the EPA has determined that 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 comment before this action takes
effect.\6\ 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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\6\ 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 stay the application of the offset sanction and defer or
stay the application of the highway sanction while the EPA completes
its rulemaking process on the conditional 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.\7\
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\7\ 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1).
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III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
This action stays or defers 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> 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 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
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specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), and
the EPA will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress and to
the Comptroller General of the United States. 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by September 22, 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 CAA 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: July 15, 2025.
Joshua F.W. Cook,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2025-13905 Filed 7-23-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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