Proposed Rule2026-07894
Kentucky; Approval and Promulgation of State Plan for Designated Facilities and Pollutants; Control of Emissions From Existing Municipal Solid Waste Landfills
Primary source
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Published
April 23, 2026
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) section 111(d) State Plan submitted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky (Commonwealth) through the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (Cabinet) via a letter dated June 11, 2024, for implementing and enforcing the Emissions Guidelines (EG) and Compliance Times applicable to existing municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills (hereinafter "State Plan" or "MSW Landfill State Plan"). The State Plan provides for implementation and enforcement of the EG, as finalized by EPA on August 29, 2016, applicable to existing MSW landfills that commenced construction, modification, or reconstruction on or before July 17, 2014. The State Plan establishes emission limits, monitoring, operating, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements for affected MSW landfills.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 78 (Thursday, April 23, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 78 (Thursday, April 23, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 21758-21760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07894]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 62
[EPA-R04-OAR-2025-1180; FRL-12940-01-R4]
Kentucky; Approval and Promulgation of State Plan for Designated
Facilities and Pollutants; Control of Emissions From Existing Municipal
Solid Waste Landfills
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) section 111(d) State Plan
submitted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky (Commonwealth) through the
Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (Cabinet) via a letter dated
June 11, 2024, for implementing and enforcing the Emissions Guidelines
(EG) and Compliance Times applicable to existing municipal solid waste
(MSW) landfills (hereinafter ``State Plan'' or ``MSW Landfill State
Plan''). The State Plan provides for implementation and enforcement of
the EG, as finalized by EPA on August 29, 2016, applicable to existing
MSW landfills that commenced construction, modification, or
reconstruction on or before July 17, 2014. The State Plan establishes
emission limits, monitoring, operating, recordkeeping, and reporting
requirements for affected MSW landfills.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 26, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. [EPA-R04-
OAR-2025-1180] at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.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>. 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. 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, the full
[[Page 21759]]
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please
visit <a href="http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamara Hayes, Regulatory and Community
Air Toxics Section, Air Analysis and Support Branch, Air and Radiation
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Ms. Hayes can be reached via
telephone at (404) 562-9582 and via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c1a9a0b8a4b2efb5a0aca0b3a081a4b1a0efa6aeb7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="781019011d0b560c1915190a19381d0819561f170e">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 111 of the CAA, ``Standards of Performance for New
Stationary Sources,'' directs EPA to establish emission standards for
stationary sources of air pollution that could potentially endanger
public health or welfare. These standards are referred to as New Source
Performance Standards (NSPS). Section 111(d) addresses the process by
which EPA and states regulate standards of performance for existing
sources. When NSPS are promulgated for new sources, section 111(d) and
EPA regulations require that EPA publish an EG to regulate the same
pollutants from existing facilities. While NSPS are directly applicable
to new sources, EGs for existing sources (designated facilities) are
intended for states to use to develop a state plan to submit to EPA.
State plan submittals and revisions under CAA section 111(d) must
be consistent with the applicable EG and the requirements of 40 CFR
part 60, subpart B, and part 62, subpart A. The regulations at 40 CFR
part 60, subpart B, contain general provisions applicable to the
adoption and submittal of state plans under CAA section 111(d).
Additionally, 40 CFR part 62, subpart A, provides the procedural
framework by which EPA will approve or disapprove such plans submitted
by a state. Once approved by EPA, the state plan becomes federally
enforceable. If a state does not submit an approvable state plan to
EPA, EPA is responsible for developing, implementing, and enforcing a
federal plan.
The MSW landfill NSPS for new landfills and EG for existing
landfills were first promulgated by EPA on March 12, 1996, in 40 CFR
part 60, subparts WWW and Cc, respectively (61 FR 9905). On August 29,
2016, EPA finalized revisions to the MSW landfill NSPS and EG in 40 CFR
part 60, subparts XXX and Cf, respectively (81 FR 59332; 81 FR 59276).
The 2016 EG revision updated the control requirements and monitoring,
reporting, and recordkeeping provisions for existing MSW landfills.
The current MSW landfill EG, 40 CFR part 60, subpart Cf, concerns
the regulation of landfill gas and its components, including methane,
from MSW landfills for which construction, reconstruction, or
modification was commenced on or before July 17, 2014. The deadline to
submit a state plan to EPA was May 30, 2017. On May 21, 2021, EPA
finalized the MSW landfill Federal Plan in 40 CFR part 62, subpart OOO
(86 FR 27756). The MSW landfill Federal Plan applies to states that do
not have an EPA-approved state plan based on 40 CFR part 60, subpart
Cf. The MSW landfill Federal Plan is currently in effect in Kentucky.
The Commonwealth previously submitted an MSW Landfill State Plan,
adopting 40 CFR part 60, subpart Cc, that was approved by EPA on April
20, 1999 (64 FR 19290), and took effect on June 21, 1999. To fulfill
the obligation under CAA section 111(d) to submit a revised state plan
reflecting amendments to the MSW landfill EG, the Commonwealth
submitted a revised MSW Landfill State Plan on June 11, 2024.\1\ The
Commonwealth's State Plan submittal incorporates by reference the
applicable provisions under the MSW landfill EG at 40 CFR part 60,
subpart Cf. For the reasons discussed below, EPA finds that the
Kentucky MSW Landfill State Plan meets the relevant requirements of the
CAA section 111(d) implementing regulations at 40 CFR part 60, subpart
B, and 40 CFR part 60, subpart Cf. The sources subject to the Federal
Plan for MSW Landfills will become subject to the Commonwealth's State
Plan upon approval by EPA. The submittal is included in the public
docket for this rulemaking (Docket No. EPA-R04-OAR-2025-1180).
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\1\ EPA received this submission on June 12, 2024, in a letter
dated June 11, 2024. Throughout this notice of proposed rulemaking,
this submission will be referred to as the June 11, 2024,
submission.
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II. Summary and Analysis of Kentucky's MSW Landfill State Plan
Submittal
EPA has reviewed the Kentucky MSW Landfill State Plan submittal in
the context of the plan completeness and approvability requirements of
40 CFR part 60, subparts B and Cf, and 40 CFR part 62, subpart A. EPA's
detailed rationale and discussion on the Kentucky MSW Landfill State
Plan can be found in the EPA Technical Support Document (TSD), located
in the docket for this rulemaking.
The Kentucky MSW Landfill State Plan submittal package includes all
materials necessary to be deemed administratively and technically
complete according to the criteria of 40 CFR 60.27. Included within the
Kentucky MSW Landfill State Plan are regulations under the Kentucky
Administrative Regulations (KAR), specifically, 401 KAR 61:036,
``Emission guidelines and compliance times for municipal solid waste
(MSW) landfills.'' The Commonwealth houses its implementation for the
state plan requirements in this regulation. Necessary State legal and
enforcement authorities required for plan approval are located
elsewhere in the Commonwealth's regulations and have been reviewed and
approved of by EPA, as explained in the TSD.
III. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve the Kentucky MSW Landfill State Plan
submitted by the Cabinet pursuant to 40 CFR part 60, subparts B and Cf.
Therefore, EPA is proposing to amend 40 CFR part 62, subpart S, to
reflect this action. This approval is based on the rationale previously
discussed herein and in further detail in the TSD associated with this
action.
The EPA Administrator continues to retain authority for approval of
alternative methods to determine the nonmethane organic compound
concentration or a site-specific methane generation rate constant (k),
as stipulated in 40 CFR 60.30f(c).
IV. Incorporation by Reference
In this document, EPA is proposing to include regulatory text that
incorporates by reference the State Plan. In accordance with
requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, EPA is proposing to incorporate by
reference KAR 61:036, which became effective in the Commonwealth of
Kentucky on June 3, 2021. The regulatory provisions of this section of
the Kentucky rule incorporate all the CAA 111(d) state plan elements
required by the EG for existing MSW landfill units promulgated at 40
CFR 60, subpart Cf. The emissions standards and compliance times
established within the Kentucky State Plan are at least as stringent as
those required by the EG for existing MSW landfill units subject to
subpart Cf. EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials
generally available through the docket for this action, EPA-R04-OAR-
2025-1180, at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and at EPA Region 4 Office
(please contact the person identified in the FOR
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FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this preamble for more
information).
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a 111(d)
plan submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and
applicable Federal regulations. In reviewing 111(d) plan submissions,
EPA's role is to approve State choices, provided they meet the criteria
and objectives of the CAA and EPA's implementing regulations.
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
proposed 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 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 Kentucky MSW Landfill State Plan 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 62
Administrative practice and procedure, Air pollution control,
Aluminum, Environmental protection, Fertilizers, Fluoride,
Incorporation by reference, Industrial facilities, Intergovernmental
relations, Methane, Ozone, Phosphate, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds, Waste
treatment and disposal.
(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7411.)
Dated: April 14, 2026.
Kevin McOmber,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2026-07894 Filed 4-22-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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