Proposed Rule2025-17080
Air Plan Approval; Texas; Reasonably Available Control Technology in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Ozone Nonattainment Area
Primary source
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Published
September 5, 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>) Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements for the Serious Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB), 2008 8- hour ozone National 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 RACT requirements which apply to sources of NO<INF>X</INF> in this area. Consistent with this analysis, EPA is proposing to determine that Texas' rules meet NO<INF>X</INF> RACT requirements for the 2008 standard under the Serious classification. The volatile organic compounds (VOC) portion of the RACT analysis in the Serious area Attainment Demonstration submittal is 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 170 (Friday, September 5, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 170 (Friday, September 5, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42887-42889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-17080]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2020-0165; FRL-12952-01-R6]
Air Plan Approval; Texas; Reasonably Available Control Technology
in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Ozone Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
[[Page 42888]]
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>) Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT)
requirements for the Serious Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB), 2008 8-
hour ozone National 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 RACT
requirements which apply to sources of NO<INF>X</INF> in this area.
Consistent with this analysis, EPA is proposing to determine that
Texas' rules meet NO<INF>X</INF> RACT requirements for the 2008
standard under the Serious classification. The volatile organic
compounds (VOC) portion of the RACT analysis in the Serious area
Attainment Demonstration submittal is 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.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 6, 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#e889809d8289c689869d9889a88d9889c68f879e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="43222b3629226d222d363322032633226d242c35">[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 Anupa Ahuja, (214) 665-
2701, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ec8d8499868dc28d82999c8dac899c8dc28b839a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3e5f564b545f105f504b4e5f7e5b4e5f10595148">[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: Anupa Ahuja, EPA Region 6 Office,
Infrastructure and Ozone Section, 214-665-2701, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#aacbc2dfc0cb84cbc4dfdacbeacfdacb84cdc5dc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2d4c4558474c034c43585d4c6d485d4c034a425b">[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\ The 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 associated Technical Support
Document (TSD) as ``the March 2021 proposal.'' We are supplementing the
March 2021 proposal with respect to NO<INF>X</INF> RACT. We will
address the VOC RACT component of the RACT submittal in a separate
action.
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\1\ Clean Air Act (CAA) section 182(b)(2) and (f), in
combination, 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 major source threshold for Serious
ozone nonattainment areas is 50 tons per year. CAA 182(c). 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 NO<INF>X</INF>
RACT requirements for an area designated as Serious. We proposed to
determine that the Texas rules implemented RACT (i.e., the lowest
achievable emission rate considering technical and economic feasibility
\2\) for all sources subject to RACT requirements.
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\2\ See 44 FR 53761 (September 17, 1979).
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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. The EPA has since reviewed additional
information and conducted additional analysis. We are providing this
supplemental proposal and an associated Supplemental TSD containing our
review of relevant information to confirm our previous proposal that
Texas' rules meet Serious area NO<INF>X</INF> RACT requirements for the
2008 ozone NAAQS.
II. EPA's Evaluation
A detailed analysis is provided in the supplemental TSD for this
action, and the supplemental TSD and other supporting documents are
available in the docket for this action at regulations.gov.
The EPA has reviewed the proposed RACT analysis in the attainment
demonstration, Appendix F, and the proposed and final records provided
by TCEQ for their Chapter 117 rule revisions which includes
explanations and determinations on NO<INF>X</INF> control technologies,
economic and technical feasibility, and NO<INF>X</INF> emissions
reductions expected. The EPA also examined relevant technical
information that was available to the State at the time they developed
their SIP submission, including Best Available Control Technology
(BACT) determinations, recent documents issued by the EPA that
contained information on the performance of NO<INF>X</INF> control
technologies, resulting emissions reductions, and other state rules to
compare to Texas' SIP submittal and in other states where similar
source categories exist in NAAs.\3\ These documents are identified in
the TSD and are available in the docket.
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\3\ 2017 OTC White Paper on Control Technologies and OTC State
Regulations for Nitrogen Oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>) Emissions from
Eight Source Categories, 2019 OTC Regulatory and Technical Guideline
for Control of Nitrogen Oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>) Emissions from
Natural Gas Pipeline Compressor Fuel-Fired Prime Movers, 2023 EGU
NO<INF>X</INF> Mitigation Strategies Final Rule TSD, 2023 Final Non-
EGU Sectors TSD. These documents are available in the docket at
regulations.gov.
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The EPA finds that records confirm our proposal that previously
approved Texas Chapter 117 NO<INF>x</INF> RACT rules
[[Page 42889]]
continue to comprise RACT level of control for the HGB nonattainment
area for the 2008 ozone NAAQS.
III. Supplemental Proposed Action
The EPA is supplementing our March 2021 proposal addressing
revisions to the Texas SIP with respect to the NO<INF>X</INF> 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 supplemental NO<INF>X</INF> RACT analysis
that further supports the March 2021 proposed approval record in
showing that Texas NO<INF>X</INF> RACT regulations do implement RACT
level controls, consistent with section 182(b)(2), (c), and (f) of the
CAA. The EPA will address all comments received on our March 2021
proposal and on this supplemental proposal in our final action.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, 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 that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this
action merely proposes to approve 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 the EPA or an Indian Tribe
has demonstrated that a Tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of
Indian country, the proposed 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, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: August 26, 2025.
Walter Mason,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2025-17080 Filed 9-4-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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