    EO12866_Oil and Gas Proposed CTG Withdrawal 2060-AT76 Proposal_20171206
                                                                      6560-50-P
                                       
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0216; FRL-xxxx-xx-xxx]
RIN 2060-AT76
Notice of Proposed Withdrawal of the Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed withdrawal; request for comment.
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting public comment on a potential withdrawal of the Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry. The final CTG provided recommendations for reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from existing oil and natural gas industry emission sources in ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or higher and states in the Ozone Transport Region (OTR). The CTG relied upon underlying data and conclusions made in the final rule titled "Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources," published in the Federal Register on June 3, 2016 (2016 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS)). On June 5, 2017, the EPA announced that it is convening a proceeding for reconsideration of certain provisions of the 2016 NSPS, in which it intends to look broadly at the entire 2016 NSPS. In light of the fact that the EPA is reconsidering the 2016 NSPS and because the recommendations made in the CTG are fundamentally linked to the conclusions in the 2016 NSPS, the EPA believes it is prudent to withdraw the CTG in its entirety. The EPA also believes that the withdrawal will be more efficient for states in revising their state implementation plants (SIPs). The EPA is seeking comment on a potential withdrawal of the CTG.  
DATES: Comments must be received on or before [INSERT DATE 45 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. 
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0216, at: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 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, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jonathan Witt, Sector Policies and Programs Division, Fuels and Incineration Group (E143-05), Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711; telephone number: (919) 541-5645; email address: witt.jon@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
I. Background 
On October 27, 2016, the EPA published in the Federal Register the "Release of Final Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry." 81 FR 74798. The CTG provided information to state, local, and tribal air agencies to assist them in determining reasonably available control technology (RACT) for VOC emissions from select oil and natural gas industry emission sources. Section 182(b)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires that for ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate, states must revise their SIPs to include provisions to implement RACT for each category of VOC sources covered by a CTG document issued between November 15, 1990 and the date of attainment. CAA section 182(c) through (e) extends this requirement to states with ozone nonattainment areas classified as Serious, Severe, and Extreme. CAA section 184(b) further extends this requirement to states in the OTR.
Section 182(b)(2) of the CAA requires that a CTG document issued between November 15, 1990, and the date of attainment include the date by which states must submit their SIP revisions. In the final action issuing the CTG, the EPA established a SIP submission deadline of October 27, 2018, for addressing sources covered by the CTG. 81 FR 74799. According to the CTG implementation memo issued on October 20, 2016, "[t]he emissions controls determined by the state to be RACT for sources covered by the Oil and Gas CTG must be implemented as soon as practicable, but in no case later than January 1, 2021." This implementation period includes the two-year period between the publication of the CTG in the Federal Register notice and the SIP submission date of October 27, 2018. Because the October 27, 2018, deadline is not imminent, no state has an impending RACT SIP deadline associated with the CTG. 
The CTG relied upon underlying data and conclusions from the 2016 NSPS, as well as the final rule titled "Oil and Natural Gas Sector: New Source Performance Standards and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants Reviews," published in the Federal Register on August 16, 2012 (2012 NSPS). 77 FR 49490. The RACT recommendations for VOC emission reductions contained in the final CTG were based on a review of the 2012 NSPS and the 2016 NSPS. 81 FR 74799. In the final CTG, the EPA states, "[s]everal of the technical support documents (TSDs) prepared in support of the NSPS actions for the oil and natural gas industry include data and analyses considered in developing RACT recommendations in this CTG." RACT recommendations for storage vessels, compressors, pneumatic controllers, and equipment leaks from natural gas processing plants were based on the 2012 NSPS TSDs, and RACT recommendations for pneumatic pumps and fugitive emissions from well sites and compressor stations were based on the 2016 NSPS TSDs. It should be noted that facilities throughout the oil and natural gas sector (e.g., well sites, compressor stations, and natural gas processing plants) may contain some sources subject to the 2012 NSPS and other sources subject to the 2016 NSPS. On June 5, 2017, the EPA announced that it is convening a proceeding for reconsideration of certain provisions of the 2016 NSPS, in which it intends to look broadly at the entire 2016 NSPS. 82 FR 25730.
II. Discussion
The EPA is seeking comment on a proposed withdrawal of the CTG. If finalized, the withdrawal would remove the mandatory RACT review requirement for affected sources in ozone nonattainemnt areas classified as Moderate or higher and states in the OTR. The withdrawal would not impact sources otherwise covered by the major source thresholds for RACT review (100 tons per year (tpy) for Moderate areas, 50 tpy for Serious areas, 25 tpy for Severe areas, and 10 tpy for Extreme areas). The EPA notes that during the period that the EPA is considering comments on a potential withdrawal of the CTG, states remain obligated, where applicable, to revise their SIPs to address RACT requirements for oil and gas sources covered by the CTG in ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or higher and the states in the OTR. States may implement any required emissions reductions before the EPA has approved their SIP. The EPA believes that a withdrawal of the CTG will not hinder states from proceeding, where desired or otherwise required, with any intended review of controls for emissions from the oil and natural gas industry. Nothing contained in this request for comment, or potential final withdrawal, would prohibit a state from choosing to implement the recommendations contained in the withdrawn CTG. The CTG merely provides recommendations for air agencies to consider for emissions reductions, and its withdrawal will not preclude states from seeking emissions reductions from sources in the oil and gas industry, if they so choose or are otherwise required to do so. However, the withdrawal of the CTG will relieve air agencies of the requirement to address RACT for non-major sources in this sector (and the associated need to consider the recommendations in the CTG for the time being).
The EPA notes that after it issued the 2016 NSPS, it exercised its discretion to issue the CTG to inform air agencies of  "determinations as to what constitutes RACT for VOC for those oil and natural gas industry emission sources in their particular areas." 81 FR 74799. The EPA emphasized that the information contained in the CTG was "provided only as guidance." Id. The guidance did not "change, or substitute for, requirements specified in applicable sections of the CAA or the EPA's regulations; nor is it a regulation itself."  Id. The RACT recommendations in the CTG posed no "legally binding requirements on any entity." Id. It only provided "recommendations for air agencies to consider in determining RACT."  Id. The CTG noted that the recommendations were based on "data and information currently available to the EPA." Id.
In light of the fact that we are reconsidering the 2016 NSPS and because the recommendations made in the CTG are fundamentally linked to the conclusions in the 2016 NSPS, the EPA believes it is prudent to withdraw the CTG in its entirety. The deadline for incorporating RACT recommendations into SIPs has not yet passed, so states may wish to wait for the final outcome of any action related to the CTG and the EPA's reconsideration of the NSPS before finalizing any additional controls on oil and gas sources covered by the CTG, unless otherwise required by the Clean Air Act's ozone nonattainment provisions. During the time the EPA anticipates taking to complete the reconsideration of the 2016 NSPS, states would not have had to fully implement any new RACT determinations for oil and gas sources. In addition, the EPA believes it is more efficient for states not to be required to revise their SIPs to comply with aspects pertaining to the 2012 NSPS and then potentially have to revise their SIPs again after reconsideration of the 2016 NSPS. Withdrawing the CTG in its entirety will allow a more holistic consideration of control options for these sources (e.g., shared control devices).  
For the reasons outlined above, the EPA believes it is prudent to withdraw the CTG in its entirety. The EPA is seeking comment on a potential withdrawal of the CTG. 


_______________________
Dated: 
	
	
	
	
_________________________
E. Scott Pruitt,
Administrator.

