[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 96 (Monday, May 18, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29627-29628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08862]



[[Page 29627]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R02-OAR-2019-0674; FRL-10007-94-Region 2]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; New Jersey; 
Negative Declaration

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of New Jersey 
for purposes of making a negative declaration regarding the October 
2016 Oil and Natural Gas Control Techniques Guidelines (2016 Oil and 
Gas CTG). This action is being taken in accordance with the 
requirements of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This final rule is effective on June 17, 2020.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID Number EPA-R02-OAR-2019-0674. All documents in the docket are 
listed on the http://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in 
the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as 
copyrighted material, is not placed on the internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket 
materials are available electronically through http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Omar Hammad, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 2 Office, 290 Broadway, New York, New York 10007-1866, 
at (212) 637-3347, or by email at Hammad.Omar@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section is 
arranged as follows:

Table of Contents

I. What is the background for the action?
II. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed 
action?
III. What action is the EPA taking?
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What is the background for this action?

    On May 13, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental 
Protection (NJDEP) submitted to the EPA, a State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) revision consisting of a negative declaration for the 2016 Oil 
and Gas CTG.
    Per the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG, the oil and natural gas industry 
includes oil and natural gas operations involved in the extraction and 
production of crude oil and natural gas, as well as the processing, 
transmission, storage, and distribution of natural gas. For oil, the 
industry includes all operations from the well to the point of custody 
transfer at a petroleum refinery. For natural gas, the industry 
includes all operations from the well to the customer.
    The NJDEP cross referenced the source operations covered in the 
2016 Oil and Gas CTG and its applicability to New Jersey. New Jersey 
asserts that there are no sources within its respective State that 
would be subject to the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG. New Jersey asserts that 
it is not anticipated that crude oil or natural gas extraction will be 
occurring in New Jersey for the foreseeable future.
    On January 22, 2020 (85 FR 3556), the EPA published a notice of 
proposed rulemaking that proposed to approve the State of New Jersey's 
May 13, 2019 SIP submittal, for purposes of making a negative 
declaration that no sources exist in the State of New Jersey that would 
be subject to the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG. The reader is referred to EPA's 
January 22, 2020, proposed action for more detailed background and 
EPA's evaluation of New Jersey's SIP revision submittal.

II. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed 
action?

    In response to the EPA's January 22, 2020, proposed rulemaking on 
New Jersey's SIP revision submittal, the EPA is providing responses to 
the comments that were received. The specific comments may be viewed 
under Docket ID Number EPA-R02-OAR-2019-0674 on the http://www.regulations.gov website.
    Comment: This negative declaration would leave New Jersey at least 
temporarily exempt from the October 2016 Oil and Natural Gas Control 
Techniques Guidelines in a future scenario of discovering oil and/or 
natural gas within the confines of New Jersey.
    Response: EPA has historically allowed states to submit a negative 
declaration for a particular CTG category if the state finds that no 
sources exist in the state which would be subject to that CTG. EPA has 
addressed the idea of negative declarations numerous times and for 
various NAAQS including in the General Preamble to the 1990 
Amendments,\1\ the 2006 RACT Q&A Memo,\2\ and the 2008 Ozone 
Implementation Rule.\3\ In each of these documents, EPA asserted that 
if no sources exist in the nonattainment area for a particular CTG 
category, the state would be allowed to submit a negative declaration 
SIP revision.
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    \1\ ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' 
(57 FR 13498 at 13512 (April 16, 1992)).
    \2\ ``RACT Qs & As--Reasonably Available Control Technology 
(RACT): Questions and Answers'' Memorandum from William T. Harnett, 
May 18, 2006.
    \3\ ``Implementation of the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards for Ozone: State Implementation Plan Requirements,'' (80 
FR 12263 at 12278 (March 6, 2015)).
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    Nothing in the Clean Air Act (CAA) or EPA's implementing rules or 
guidance suggests that states must have a SIP approved regulation for a 
category of CTG sources that does not exist in the state. Should a new 
source of the type covered by the existing CTG be constructed in a 
state after approval of a negative declaration, EPA expects the state 
to develop a regulation and submit it to EPA for approval into the SIP 
in accordance with the relevant timing provided for by the CAA. At this 
time, because New Jersey does not have any sources subject to the 2016 
Oil and Gas CTG, no regulation is required to be developed and 
submitted to EPA for SIP approval.
    Comment: If EPA has or is in the process of withdrawing the CTG 
then EPA shouldn't be requiring states to spend valuable time and 
resources on this non-applicable ``requirement''. EPA should remove 
this CTG and disapprove New Jersey's SIP as unnecessary as well as any 
other state's SIP attempting to address this 2016 CTG.
    Response: This SIP submittal addresses a final document that EPA 
announced on October 27, 2016, in the Federal Register (81 FR 74798) 
``Release of Final Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and 
Natural Gas Industry.'' This CTG is still in place. There is no final 
action that withdraws this requirement. The State is addressing their 
obligations in response to the final CTG with this submittal.
    Comment: ``It does not make sense for the state of New Jersey . . . 
to be looking to get rid of more of the rules and regulations. This 
seems like we are going backwards, away from the goal of making New 
Jersey a cleaner state . . . I feel that the EPA should be taking a 
closer look into the regulations the state of New Jersey is trying to 
get around.''
    Response: This action does not remove any rules or regulations from 
the New Jersey SIP. The negative

[[Page 29628]]

declaration simply asserts that no sources exist in the State of New 
Jersey that are subject to the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG. The EPA has 
reviewed New Jersey's submittal and agrees with the State's evaluation.

III. What action is the EPA taking?

    On May 13, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental 
Protection (NJDEP) submitted to the EPA a SIP revision consisting of a 
negative declaration for the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG.
    The EPA is approving the revision to the SIP submitted by the State 
to address the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG for the Ozone Transport Region and 
nonattainment RACT requirements for both the 2008 and 2015 ozone 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards and is approving their negative 
declaration that no sources exist in the State of New Jersey that would 
be subject to the 2016 Oil and Gas CTG.

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 CAA and applicable 
Federal regulations. 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 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:

     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), and 13563 (76 FR 382, January 21, 
2011);
     Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 
2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempt under 
Executive Order 12866;
     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 CAA; 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, this rulemaking action, pertaining to New Jersey's 
Negative Declaration SIP submission, would not be 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 any 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, Volatile organic compounds.

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: April 21, 2020.
Peter Lopez,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.

    Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart FF--New Jersey

0
2. In Sec.  52.1582, add paragraph (q) to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1582  Control strategy and regulations: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (q) Negative declarations. The State of New Jersey has certified to 
the satisfaction of the EPA that no sources are located in the State 
which are covered by the following Control Techniques Guidelines:
    (1) Oil and Natural Gas Industry (October 2016).
    (2) [Reserved]

[FR Doc. 2020-08862 Filed 5-15-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


