[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 5, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25981-25983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12020]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2018-0098; FRL-9978-71--Region 1]


Air Plan Approval; Rhode Island; Control of Volatile Organic 
Compound Emissions, Control of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions, and Sulfur 
Content of Fuels

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of Rhode Island. This revision updates Rhode Island Air Pollution 
Control Regulations (APCRs) for volatile organic compound (VOC) 
emissions, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, sulfur content in fuel 
requirements and associated general definitions. The intended effect of 
this action is to propose approval of the revised regulations. This 
action is being taken under the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 5, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OAR-2018-0098 at www.regulations.gov, or via email to 
[email protected]. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either 
manner of submission, 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 www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. Publicly available 
docket materials are available at www.regulations.gov or at the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, 
Office of Ecosystem Protection, Air Quality Planning Unit, 5 Post 
Office Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all 
possible, you contact the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's 
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m., excluding legal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David L. Mackintosh, Air Quality 
Planning Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England 
Regional Office, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, (Mail code OEP05-2), 
Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel. 617-918-1584, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.

Table of Contents

I. Background and Purpose
II. EPA's Evaluation of the Submittal
III. Proposed Action
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background and Purpose

    On February 10, 2017, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental 
Management (DEM) submitted to EPA a State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revision containing six revised Air Pollution Control Regulations 
(APCRs): No. 8, ``Sulfur Content of Fuels;'' No. 19, ``Control of 
Volatile Organic Compounds from Surface Coating Operations;'' No. 27, 
``Control of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions;'' No. 35, ``Control of Volatile 
Organic Compounds and Volatile Hazardous Air Pollutants from Wood 
Products Manufacturing Operations;'' No. 36, ``Control of Emission from 
Organic Solvent Cleaning;'' and General Definitions. The amended APCRs 
became effective in Rhode Island on January 9, 2017.
    EPA has previously approved these Rhode Island APCRs into the Rhode 
Island SIP. APCR No. 8, ``Sulfur Content of Fuels,'' was last approved 
on October 7, 2015 (80 FR 60541), APCR No. 19, ``Control of Volatile 
Organic Compounds from Surface Coating Operations,'' on July 22, 2016 
(81 FR 47708), APCR No. 27, ``Control of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions,'' 
and APCR No. 35. ``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds and Volatile 
Hazardous Air Pollutants from Wood Products Manufacturing Operations,'' 
on July 22, 2016 (81 FR 47708), APCR No. 36, ``Control of Emission from 
Organic Solvent Cleaning,'' on March 13, 2012 (77 FR 14691), and APCR 
General Definitions on March 13, 2012 (77 FR 14691).

II. EPA's Evaluation of the Submittal

    Rhode Island's submittal states that RI DEM has revised APCR No. 8, 
``Sulfur Content of Fuels,'' to correct a mistake made when it revised 
the regulation in 2014. The purpose of the 2014 revision was to limit 
the sulfur content of certain fuel oils, which the regulation divided

[[Page 25982]]

into two categories--``Distillate Oil, Biodiesel, or Alternative Fuel'' 
and ``Residual Oil''--establishing lower limits for the first category 
than for the second. The submittal states that the placement of 
alternative fuel in the same category as distillate oil and biodiesel 
in the 2014 revision was in error and that it should have been included 
with residual oil. Sometime after the 2014 revision was incorporated 
into the SIP, the mistake was brought to RI DEM's attention along with 
documentation that showed it is not possible to achieve equally low-
sulfur limits for waste oils \1\ and distillate fuel oils, because 
waste oils are generally comprised of used residual oil, which has an 
inherently higher sulfur content than distillate oil. The different 
sulfur levels stem from the distillation of crude oil during refinement 
and are inherent to the various fractions of crude oil. Therefore, the 
agency agrees that compliance with the current version of APCR No. 8, 
``Sulfur Content of Fuels,'' is not technically feasible and that 
placing alternative fuel in the lower sulfur level grouping was 
incorrect. This proposed action corrects the mistake, moving 
alternative fuel from the first category (with distillate oil and 
biodiesel) into the second (with residual oil), effectively allowing a 
higher sulfur content for alternative fuel.
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    \1\ Pursuant to state regulations, ``waste oil'' is a type of 
``alternative fuel.'' APCR No. 8.1.1; see also APCR No. 20.1.1.
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    EPA proposes to replace the previously approved version of APCR No. 
8 with the version submitted by Rhode Island on February 10, 2017. EPA 
proposes to approve APCR No. 8 into the SIP, with the exception of 
Sections 8.7, ``Fuel Supply Shortages,'' and 8.8.3, ``Application,'' 
which were not submitted by the state. Although Section 8.8.3 had been 
previously approved into the SIP, EPA requested that the state strike 
this section when submitted as a SIP revision for the reasons indicated 
in the response to comments document included with the state's 
submittal, a copy of which is included in the docket for today's 
proposal. Therefore, this action will remove Section 8.8.3 from the 
SIP.
    RI DEM has updated APCR No. 19, ``Control of Volatile Organic 
Compounds from Surface Coating Operations,'' to acknowledge that the 
emission limitations in this regulation do not apply if the source is 
controlled by the emission limit requirements in APCR No. 44, ``Control 
of Volatile Organic Compounds from Adhesives and Sealants.'' This 
change is consistent with the EPA Control Technique Guidelines (CTGs) 
for coating operations and industrial adhesives (EPA-453/R-08-005, 
September 2008), which consider a VOC source to be subject to the 
requirements of only one CTG with respect to VOC Reasonably Available 
Control Technology (RACT). Additionally, RI DEM revised the 
registration requirements in APCR No. 19 to be consistent with the 
requirements in APCR No. 14, ``Record Keeping and Reporting,'' 
requiring emission statements to be submitted by April 15th of each 
year instead of ``within 45 days of the end of the calendar year.'' EPA 
proposes to approve APCR No. 19 into the SIP, excluding Section 19.2.2, 
which was not submitted by the state.
    RI DEM has revised APCR No. 27, ``Control of Nitrogen Oxides 
Emissions,'' to reduce the frequency of compliance testing required 
under the regulation from annually to once every five years, reduce the 
frequency of tune-ups required for industrial-commercial-institutional 
boilers from annually to biennially, allow the tune-up procedure for 
boilers specified in federal regulations (40 CFR 63, Subpart JJJJJJ) as 
an acceptable substitute procedure for the procedure specified in 
Appendix A of the regulation, and revise the method for determining 
compliance with the emission limits to allow compliance to be 
demonstrated based upon the average results of three one-hour test runs 
(rather than demonstrating compliance with each individual test run) to 
be consistent with federal requirements. EPA proposes to approve APCR 
No. 27 into the SIP, excluding Section 27.7.3, which was not submitted 
by the state.
    RI DEM has revised APCR No. 35, ``Control of Volatile Organic 
Compounds and Volatile Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP) from Wood 
Products Manufacturing Operations,'' so the HAP applicability threshold 
applies to major source of HAP from wood products manufacturing 
operations, as opposed to all operations at the facility. EPA proposes 
to approve APCR No. 35 into the SIP, excluding Sections 35.2.3 and 
35.9.3, which were not submitted by the state.
    RI DEM has revised APCR No. 36, ``Control of Emissions from Organic 
Solvent Cleaning,'' to provide an exemption from most requirements for 
small cold cleaners (internal volume of 1 liter or less), provide an 
alternative means of compliance for spray gun cleaning operations, 
clarify the performance standard when an air pollution control system 
is used as an alternative to low vapor pressure solvents, and revise 
recordkeeping requirements to allow users of certain machines 
additional time to compile monthly records to be consistent with the 
requirements in other Rhode Island APCR regulations and permits. EPA is 
proposing to approve APCR No. 36 into the SIP, with the exception of 
Sections 36.2.2 and 36.14.2, ``Application,'' which Rhode Island did 
not submit to EPA. Although Section 36.14.2 was previously approved 
into the SIP, today's proposal would remove it from the SIP for similar 
reasons discussed earlier with respect to Section 8.8.3.
    Finally, RI DEM has revised APCR General Definitions to amend the 
definition of ``volatile organic compound'' to be consistent with the 
EPA definition at 40 CFR 51.100(s). EPA is proposing to approve the 
revised definition of ``volatile organic compound'' into the SIP.
    The above revisions satisfy section 110(l) of the CAA, which 
prohibits EPA from approving a SIP revision ``if the revision would 
interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and 
reasonable further progress . . . or any other applicable requirement 
of [the Clean Air Act].'' In particular, many of the revisions to APCR 
Nos. 19, 27, and 36, including changes to reporting dates, tune-up 
procedures and frequency, and compliance methods and testing frequency, 
do not impact emission control requirements and will not affect 
emissions or ambient concentrations of a pollutant or its precursors. 
With respect to the revision to APCR No. 8, as noted earlier, the 
current standard for alternative fuel, was not obtainable, meaning that 
the revision will not affect actual sulfur content or emissions. 
Furthermore, Rhode Island is currently designated as attainment for all 
criteria pollutants, and levels of sulfur dioxide, PM2.5, 
and PM10, which can be affected by the sulfur content of 
fuel in general, are well below those standards. This regulatory change 
will therefore not interfere with maintenance of the standards. The 
revision to APCR No. 35 changes the applicability threshold regarding 
HAP emissions but retains the appropriate VOC thresholds for the source 
category. The other revision to APCR No. 36 exempts de minimis sources 
(solvent cleaners with internal volume of 1 liter or less) consistent 
with EPA's approval of other state rules controlling VOC emissions from 
industrial cleaning solvent sources. See, e.g., 79 FR 32873 (June 9, 
2014). Any increase in emissions resulting from these revisions to APCR 
Nos. 35 and 36 are not expected to be significant, and the two rules 
otherwise generally retain the same VOC emission control requirements 
as the previous SIP-

[[Page 25983]]

approved version of these rules. Moreover, as indicated above, Rhode 
Island is designated as attainment for ozone. Thus, the SIP revisions 
satisfy the requirements of Section 110(l) of the CAA because they will 
not interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and 
reasonable further progress or any other applicable requirement of the 
CAA. Accordingly, we are proposing to approve Rhode Island's revised 
regulations into the Rhode Island SIP.
    EPA is proposing to approve the Rhode Island SIP revision for these 
six APCR revisions (excluding those provisions indicated above that 
were not submitted by the state), which was submitted on February 10, 
2017. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this 
notice or on other relevant matters. These comments will be considered 
before taking final action. Interested parties may participate in the 
Federal rulemaking procedure by submitting written comments to this 
proposed rule by following the instructions listed in the ADDRESSES 
section of this Federal Register.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the February 10, 2017 RI DEM SIP 
submittal consisting of the six revised APCRs: No. 8, ``Sulfur Content 
of Fuels'' (with the exception of sections 8.7 and 8.8.3); No. 19, 
``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds from Surface Coating 
Operations'' (with the exception of section 19.2.2); No. 27, ``Control 
of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions'' (with the exception of section 27.7.3); 
No. 35, ``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds and Volatile Hazardous 
Air Pollutants from Wood Products Manufacturing Operations'' (with the 
exception of sections 35.2.3 and 35.9.3); No. 36, ``Control of Emission 
from Organic Solvent Cleaning'' (with the exception of sections 36.2.2 
and 36.14.2); and the definition of ``volatile organic compound'' in 
General Definitions.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference Rhode Island APCRs No. 8 ``Sulfur Content of Fuels,'' No. 19 
``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds from Surface Coating 
Operations,'' No. 27 ``Control of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions,'' No. 35 
``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds and Volatile Hazardous Air 
Pollutants from Wood Products Manufacturing Operations,'' No. 36 
``Control of Emission from Organic Solvent Cleaning,'' and General 
Definitions. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these 
documents generally available through www.regulations.gov.

V. 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 Act and 
applicable Federal regulations. See 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 proposed 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 proposed action:
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review 
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders12866 (58 
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     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.);
     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);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     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; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    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, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile 
organic compounds.


    Dated: May 25, 2018.
Alexandra Dunn,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2018-12020 Filed 6-4-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


