[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 16 (Friday, January 24, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4231-4233]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00541]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2019-0311; FRL-10004-21-Region 5]


Air Plan Approval; Illinois; Emissions Statement Rule 
Certification for the 2015 Ozone Standard

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) submission from the Illinois Environmental 
Protection Agency (IEPA) dated May 16, 2019. The submission provides 
IEPA's certification that its existing emissions statement program, 
titled ``Annual Emissions Report'', remains in effect and satisfies the 
Clean Air Act (CAA) emissions statement requirement for the Illinois 
portions of the Chicago, Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin (IL-IN-WI) and St. 
Louis, Missouri-Illinois (MO-IL) nonattainment areas under the 2015 
ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). Under the CAA, 
states' SIPs must require stationary sources in ozone nonattainment 
areas classified as marginal or above to annually report emissions of 
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Oxides of Nitrogen 
(NOX).

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective March 24, 2020, unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by February 24, 2020. If adverse comments 
are received by EPA, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct 
final rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule 
will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2019-0311 at http://www.regulations.gov or via email to 
Arra.Sarah@epa.gov. 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, 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, 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 http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen D'Agostino, Attainment 
Planning and Maintenance Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-1767, Dagostino.Kathleen@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information 
section is arranged as follows:

I. Background
II. IEPA's Emissions Statement Certification and EPA's Evaluation of 
the State's Submission
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    On October 1, 2015, EPA promulgated a revised 8-hour ozone NAAQS of 
0.070 parts per million (ppm). See 80 FR 65292 (October 26, 2015). 
Effective August 3, 2018, EPA designated nonattainment areas for the 
2015 ozone NAAQS. See 83 FR 25776 (June 4, 2018). The Chicago, IL-IN-WI 
and St. Louis, MO-IL areas were designated as marginal nonattainment 
areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
    Section 182(a)(3)(B) of the CAA requires states with ozone 
nonattainment areas classified as marginal and above to submit 
revisions to their SIPs to require the owner or operator of each 
stationary source of NOX or VOC to provide the state with an 
annual statement documenting the actual emissions of NOX and 
VOC from their source. Under section 182(a)(3)(B)(ii), a state may 
waive the emissions statement requirement for any class or category of 
stationary sources which emits less than 25 tons per year of VOC or 
NOX if the state, in its base year emissions inventory, 
provides an inventory of emissions from such class or category of 
sources. States and EPA have generally interpreted this waiver 
provision to apply to sources (without specification of a specific 
source class or source category) emitting less than 25 tons per year of 
VOC or NOX.
    Many states, including Illinois, adopted emissions statement rules 
for stationary sources in nonattainment areas under the 1-hour ozone 
NAAQS, which EPA approved as part of each state's SIP. In cases where 
an existing emissions statement requirement is still adequate to meet 
the requirements under the 2015 ozone NAAQS, states may provide the 
rationale for that determination to EPA in a written statement for 
approval in the SIP to meet the requirements of section 182(a)(3)(B). 
See 83 FR 62998, 63001, 63023 (December 6, 2018) and 80 FR 12264, 12291 
(March 6, 2015).

II. IEPA's Emissions Statement Certification and EPA's Evaluation of 
the State's Submission

    IEPA submitted a SIP revision on May 16, 2019 certifying that the 
previously SIP-approved emissions statement regulations meet the 
emissions statement requirement for areas

[[Page 4232]]

designated as nonattainment for the 2015 ozone standard pursuant to 
sections 110 and 182 of the CAA. In its submission, IEPA stated that it 
has information collection authority under Section 4 of the Illinois 
Environmental Protection Act, and that IEPA collects NOX and 
VOC emissions statements under 35 IAC Part 254, titled ``Annual 
Emissions Report,'' which applies to any source located in an ozone 
nonattainment area that has the potential to emit 25 tons per year or 
more of VOC or NOX from all emission units during the 
reporting year. IEPA further stated that these regulations also apply 
to permitted smaller sources which are required to submit and certify 
source-wide totals of actual emissions from all regulated air 
pollutants emitted. Finally, IEPA confirmed, that in general, 
facilities subject to Part 254 must submit actual emissions data for 
NOX and VOC on an annual basis and must certify that the 
information provided is accurate to the best of the certifier's 
knowledge.
    EPA approved the ``Annual Emissions Report'' rules into the 
Illinois SIP on May 15, 2002 (67 FR 34614). Based on this approval and 
IEPA's certification, the regulations at 35 IAC Part 254 are sufficient 
to meet the emissions statement requirements of CAA section 
182(a)(3)(B) for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving, as a SIP revision, IEPA's certification that 
Illinois' ``Annual Emissions Report'' rules at 35 IAC Part 254 meet the 
requirements of CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) under the 2015 ozone standard 
for the Illinois portions of the Chicago, IL-IN-WI and St. Louis, MO-IL 
ozone nonattainment areas.
    We are publishing this action without prior proposal because we 
view this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse 
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal 
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will 
serve as the proposal to approve the state plan if relevant adverse 
written comments are filed. This rule will be effective March 24, 2020 
without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse written 
comments by February 24, 2020. If we receive such comments, we will 
withdraw this action before the effective date by publishing a 
subsequent document that will withdraw the final action. All public 
comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent final rule 
based on the proposed action. EPA will not institute a second comment 
period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do 
so at this time. Please note that, if EPA receives adverse comment on 
an amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision 
may be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final 
those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse 
comment. If we do not receive any comments, this action will be 
effective March 24, 2020.

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 approves 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 Orders 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 
2011);
     Is not expected to be an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 
9339, February 2, 2017) regulatory action because this action is not 
significant 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, 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).
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and 
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by March 24, 2020. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this action for the purposes of judicial review nor 
does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may 
be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or 
action. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are 
encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel notice of 
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules 
section of this issue of the Federal Register, rather than file an 
immediate petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so 
that EPA can withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in 
the proposed rulemaking. This action may not be challenged later in 
proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2) of the 
CAA.)

[[Page 4233]]

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Oxides of nitrogen, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: December 30, 2019.
Cheryl L Newton,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    40 CFR part 52 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.


0
2. In Sec.  52.720, the table in paragraph (e) is amended by adding an 
entry for ``Ozone (8-hour, 2015) certification of emissions statement 
regulations'' following the entry for ``Ozone (8-hour, 2008) 
Nonattainment New Source Review Requirements'' to read as follows:


Sec.  52.720   Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                       EPA-Approved Illinois Nonregulatory and Quasi-Regulatory Provisions
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                                        Applicable          State
      Name of SIP provision            geographic or      submittal     EPA approval date         Comments
                                    nonattainment area       date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
Ozone (8-hour, 2015)               Chicago and St.         5/16/2019  1/24/2020, [insert    Certification that
 certification of emissions         Louis areas.                       Federal Register      Illinois'
 statement regulations.                                                citation].            previously approved
                                                                                             regulations at 35
                                                                                             IAC Part 254 meet
                                                                                             the emissions
                                                                                             statement
                                                                                             requirements for
                                                                                             the 2015 ozone
                                                                                             NAAQS.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. 2020-00541 Filed 1-23-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


